Dafydd ap Llywelyn

Dafydd ap Llywelyn (c.1208-46), prince of Gwynedd (1240-6). The only son of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, prince of Gwynedd, and Joan, daughter of King John, he was declared heir to his father's principality. Dafydd's elevation alienated his illegitimate elder brother Gruffydd; in 1239 Dafydd deprived Gruffydd of some lands and imprisoned him. When Llywelyn died (1240), Henry III determined to curb Dafydd's ambitions. At Gloucester (15 May) he was knighted by the king, who received his homage; but Llywelyn's acquisitions outside Gwynedd were withheld and the homage of other Welsh nobles was reserved to the king. After Gruffydd died (1 March 1244) while trying to escape from the Tower of London, Dafydd resolved to resist the king: he gained support from Welsh nobles, sought endorsement from the pope, styled himself prince of Wales, and resumed his father's policy of creating a modern, feudal principality. Henry III launched an expedition against him (1245), but it was Dafydd's sudden death at Aber (25 February 1246) that halted his ambitions.