Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 34.djvu/23

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Llywelyn
17
Llywelyn

his soul if he did not renounce his alliance with the excommunicated sons of Simon, and surrender his newly won castles to Edward, who had been restored to his earldom of Chester (Fœdera, i. 461). But Llywelyn chased away Fitzgerald and L'Estrange, and paid no heed to the papal threats, though in December he obtained safe-conducts for his ambassadors sent to meet the papal legate, and again negotiated for a truce (ib. i. 460-7). But with the surrender of Kenilworth almost the last hopes of the Montfort party expired. Yet the bad terms offered by the victors alienated Gilbert of Gloucester from the king, and Llywelyn joined, in April 1267, his old enemy the Earl of Gloucester in his efforts to obtain better terms for the 'disinherited' (Brut y Tywysogion, p. 355). But in June Gloucester submitted, and the extension to the defenders of Ely of the terms of Kenilworth brought the war in England to a conclusion. The papal legate, Ottobon, had long been striving to include Llywelyn in the general pacification. In the late summer Ottobon went with the king to the Welsh marches, and on 21 Sept. he received from Henry a commission to make a truce with Llywelyn on his own terms (Fœdera, i. 473). He persuaded Llywelyn to accept the liberal conditions which he offered him. On Sunday, 25 Sept., was signed at Shrewsbury the first formal treaty of peace that had been arranged for many years between Wales and King Henry (ib. i. 474). By the treaty of Shrewsbury Henry formally granted to Llywelyn the same terms offered to him by Leicester in 1265. The principality of Wales was to be held by him on condition of homage to the crown. But Llywelyn was himself authorised to receive the homage of all the 'Welsh barons' (save Maredudd ab Rhys), so that, except in the marchlands, he became the immediate lord of nearly all Wales, thus effacing the old distinction of north and south. The limits of the principality were liberally defined, and in particular the four cantreds, about which there had been so much fighting, were dissevered from Edward's earldom of Chester and restored to the Prince of Wales. An indemnity of twenty-four thousand marks, payable by instalments,was imposed on Llywelyn. Moreover Davydd, a royalist partisan all through the barons' wars, was fully restored to his old possessions. The whole agreement was ratified by papal authority, and was rightly considered a great triumph for Llywelyn (Brut y Tywysogion, p. 357). On the same 25 Sept. Llywelyn received a safe-conduct to meet the king at Montgomery (Fœdera, i. 473), whither Henry advanced from Shrewsbury. On 29 Sept., at Montgomery, Llywelyn formally ratified the treaty and performed homage to Henry for the principality (ib. i. 474).

During the rest of the reign of Henry III, the only aggression of Llywelyn noticed by the chroniclers was his attack on Caerphilly Castle in October 1270 (Brut y Tywysogion, p. 359). This was the result of a new dispute between him and the Earl of Gloucester ('History of Caerphilly Castle' in Archæologia Cambrensis, new ser. i. 285-90). In consequence of this and similar acts, various commissions were appointed to negotiate for the maintenance of the peace (Fœdera, i. 479, 486). But during this unwonted period of repose Edward revived his old plan for making Cardigan and Carmarthen shire-ground (Deputy-Keeper's Thirty-first Report, p. 11; Carmarthen Charters, p. 47; Rotulus Walliæ, 8 Edw. I, p. 18; the 'Welsh Shires' in Y Cymmrodor, vol. ix. pt. ii. p. 212), and Llywelyn quietly waited an opportunity for retaliation.

In November 1272 Henry III died, and on 20 Nov. Edward I was proclaimed his successor. The absence of the new king on crusade gave Llywelyn his opportunity. On 29 Nov. the regents appointed a commission to receive the oath of fealty due by Llywelyn to the new monarch (Fœdera, i. 498). On the same day Llywelyn was cited to perform homage, and on 2 Dec. was warned that a fresh instalment of his debt to the crown was payable at Christmas. But Llywelyn made no sign. Early in 1273 the commissioners reported his contempt with dismay (ib. i. 499). In the summer Llywelyn busied himself, despite the regents' remonstrance, with building a great castle near the royal stronghold of Montgomery. In September he wrote to the regents informing them that he was uncertain whether he should attend the coronation of the new king. Meanwhile the chronic border troubles assumed the dimensions of a serious violation of the truce, and in April 1274 the regents summoned a meeting at Montgomery to settle various pending disputes (ib. i. 510). But Llywelyn refused satisfaction. In August he obtained from Gregory X an order that he should not be cited anywhere outside of Wales. He still neglected to perform his homage, and actively negotiated with the ruffianly sons of Simon de Montfort, now notorious throughout Christendom for the brutal murder of Henry of Cornwall, or of Almaine [q. v.], at Viterbo. It was arranged that he should marry their sister, Eleanor de Montfort (Ann. Dunstaple, p. 266; Ann. Worcester, p. 470), and thus carry out a long-cherished plan of

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