Llandeilo Carmarthenshire United Kingdom

Æthelstan, the first English king to achieve lordship over northern Britain, had inherited his authority over the Welsh kings from his father and aunt.

Gwent had in the 910s acknowledged the lordship of Wessex, and Deheubarth and Gwynedd had accepted that of Æthelflæd of Mercia; following Edward's takeover of Mercia, they had transferred their allegiance to him.

According to William of Malmesbury, after the meeting at Eamont in 927, Æthelstan had summoned the Welsh kings to Hereford, where he imposed a heavy annual tribute and fixed the border between England and Wales in the Hereford area at the River Wye.

The dominant figure in Wales is Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, described by the historian Thomas Charles-Edwards as "the firmest ally of the 'emperors of Britain' among all the kings of his day".

Welsh kings have attended Æthelstan's court between 928 and 935 and witnessed charters at the head of the list of laity (apart from the kings of Scotland and Strathclyde), showing that their position was regarded as superior to that of the other great men present.

The alliance has produced peace between Wales and England, and within Wales, lasting throughout Æthelstan's reign, though some Welsh resent the status of their rulers as sub-kings, as well as the high level of tribute imposed upon them.

In Armes Prydein Vawr (The Great Prophecy of Britain), a Welsh poet foresaw the day when the British would rise up against their Saxon oppressors and drive them into the sea.

Hywel Dda, king of Deheubarth, annexes Gwynedd and Powys in 942 to become ruler of most of Wales.

Maredudd, the son of Owain ap Hywel Dda, king of Deheubarth, had taken his father's place when the lattter had grown too old to lead in battle, and had captured Gwynedd from Cadwallon ab Ieuaf in 986.

On Owain's death in 988, Maredudd had also become ruler of Deheubarth.

He may have controlled all Wales apart from Gwent and Morgannwg.

He is recorded as raiding Mercian settlements on the borders of Radnor and as paying a ransom of one penny a head to rescue some of his subjects who had been taken captive in Viking raids.

Danish raids are a constant problem during Maredudd's reign.

Godfrey Haroldson in 987 had raided Anglesey, killing one thousand and carrying away two thousand as captives.

Maredudd dies in 999 and is described by the annalists as "the most famous king of the Britons".

Following his death, the throne of Gwynedd is recovered for the line of Idwal Foel by Cynan ap Hywel.

Gruffydd is the son of Rhydderch ab Iestyn who had from 1023 to 1033 been able to take over the kingdom of Deheubarth.

He had received the lordship of Caerleon in 1031 and strengthened its fortifications.

Already king of part of Morgannwg, Gruffydd had become involved with Deheubarth in 1044 when that kingdom was taken over from Hywel ab Edwin by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, already king of Gwynedd.

Gruffydd and his brother Rhys had secured control of Morgannwg, by 1045, and the native chronicles mention that in 1045 the two brothers performed some treacherous action against Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, the king of Gwynedd and Powys.

The exact nature of this treachery is not specified, however.

Although both Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and the brothers were rivals to rule Deheubarth, in the end, the two brothers became the rulers of the disputed territory.

Gruffydd ap Rhydderch is said to be a powerful king who stoutly resists raids by the Danes and attacks by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.

Rhys ap Gruffydd, Prince of Deheubarth, had had other reasons for rebellion when all the Welsh princes had united in 1164 in an uprising against Henry II, for he had returned to Deheubarth from England to find that the neighboring Norman lords were threatening Cantref Mawr.

His nephew, Einion ab Anarawd, who was the captain of his bodyguard, had been murdered at the instigation of Roger de Clare, Earl of Hertford.

The murderer had been given the protection of the Clares in Ceredigion.

Rhys had first appealed to the king to intercede; when this failed, he had invaded Ceredigion and recaptured all of it apart from the town and castle of Cardigan.

The Welsh revolt had led in 1165 to another invasion of Wales by King Henry.

Henry had attacked Gwynedd first, but instead of following the usual invasion route along the north coast he attacked from the south, following a route over the Berwyn hills.

He was met by the united forces of the Welsh princes, led by Owain Gwynedd and including Rhys.

Torrential rain had forced Henry's army to retreat in disorder without fighting a major battle, and Henry had vented his spleen on the hostages, having Rhys's son Maredudd blinded.

Rhys's other son, Hywel, was not among the victims.

Rhys had returned to Deheubarth where he captured and burned Cardigan Castle.

He had allowed the garrison to depart, but held the castellan, Robert Fitz-Stephen, as a prisoner.

Shortly afterwards, Rhys captured Cilgerran castle.

The King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, deprived of his kingdom by the High King of Ireland, had asked Rhys ap Gruffydd in 1167 to release Robert Fitz-Stephen from captivity to take part in an expedition to Ireland.

Rhys had not obliged at the time, and the exiled king had gone from here to England and Aquitaine in France in order to have the consent of King Henry II of England to recruit soldiers.

Rhys had released Fitz-Stephen the following year.

Rhys benefits in 1169 and 1170 from the Norman invasion of Ireland, which is largely led by the Cambro-Norman lords of south Wales.

The departure of the Norman lords enables Rhys to strengthen his position, and the death of Owain Gwynedd in late 1170 leaves him as the acknowledged leader of the Welsh princes.