Rhwng Gwy a Hafren
"Between the Wye and the Severn": although the expression is geographical rather than political - much like "East Anglia" in England - it is used here to bring together the histories of the protracted struggle by the Normans to conquer Elfael, Maelienydd and Gwrtheyrnion, c.1090s-1277. Although the region may once have formed part of the kingdom of Powys, by 1066 it was separate, with separate native dynasties. Work by historians Bruce Coplestone-Crow and later Paul Remfry has led to the claim that this area is in fact the kingdom of Cynllibiwg, a term used in medieval records but never before identified. The term Fferegs is also used for this region and it has been suggested that it refers to the area Rhwng Gwy a Hafren together with Buellt and Cwmwd Deuddwr.
Rhwng Gwy a Hafren: Norman conquest 1086-1277
Domesday Book (1086) shows the position on the border at the end of William the Conqueror's reign: there had been no effective opposition in Radnor, and certain Norman knights claimed by royal grants Radnor, Knighton, Norton, Cascob and surrounding districts, "but the region had not yet recovered from the ravages of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and there were no Norman settlements in these villages". Osbern fitz Richard, lord of Richard's Castle, claimed vills on the border of Maelienydd "which at the time yielded him nothing but the game he hunted". Ralph Mortimer claimed Pilleth.
The Normans first began the conquest of Elfael, Gwrtheyrnion and Maelienydd under William Rufus (1087-1100), as part of their drive during the 1090s; it was around 1095 that Philip de Braose was established at Radnor, now the centre of a Norman lordship.
The offensive continued during the reign of Henry I (1100-1135) but the mountainous terrain "deterred alien colonization and inhibited the establishment of firm Norman control". Also, the district was too barren to attract English settlers. The Braose family targeted Elfael, while the Mortimers undertook the conquest of Maelienydd and Gwrtheyrnion.
During the reign of Stephen (1135-1154) the Normans experienced reverses in many parts of Wales, but interestingly this was not universal: "In the Central March, especially in Builth, Maelienydd and Elfael, the Anglo-Normans under Philip de Braose, Hugh Mortimer and Helias de Say were pushing forward ruthlessly and building castles. . . to impose lordship"; though it was still a very uncertain hold. The chronicles speak of a "reconquest" of Elfael and Maelienydd by Hugh Mortimer in 1144: presumably the Welsh were active here, under the leadership of Madog ab Idnerth and his sons. Madog ab Idnerth died in 1140: two of his sons (Hywel and Cadwgan) were slain in 1142 by Helias of Say, lord of Clun; a third, Maredudd, was killed by Hugh Mortimer in 1144; the remaining two, Cadwallon and Einion Clud, lived to rule over Maelienydd and Elfael respectively.
The ruler of Deheubarth, the Lord Rhys, placed a value on the area during his years of supremacy (1172-1197). He led raids into the area in 1169 and 1197, established a castle at Rhaeadr (in Gwrtheyrnion) in 1177 and entered into alliances and marriage bonds with the native princelings. (Cadwallon ap Madog of Maelienydd was his first cousin, and Einion Clud of Elfael, Cadwallon's brother, was his son-in-law. Einion ap Rhys of Gwrtheyrnion was another son-in-law.)
In 1177 Cadwallon ap Madog of Maelienydd was one of the Welsh princes who gathered with Henry II at Oxford. His brother Einion Clud of Elfael died in the same year, succeeded by his son, Einion ab Einion Clud (also known as Einion o'r Porth).
During the later years of Henry II (after 1172) the king sought to restrain the Marcher lords: in 1179 when Roger Mortimer had Cadwallon of Maelienydd killed whilst under a royal safe-conduct, Henry confiscated his lands (including his castle of Cymaron) and had several of his followers executed or otherwise punished. Cadwallon was succeeded by his son Maelgwn.
The succession of King Richard I (1189-1199) meant an end to the policy of coexistence between the Welsh and English, and the Marcher lords were no longer constrained by the Crown: in 1195 Roger Mortimer returned from exile (he had been forced abroad on treason charges in 1191) and renewed the assault on Elfael, rebuilding his castle of Cymaron. The Lord Rhys responded to the new situation and "unfurled his banner as of yore for a great campaign against the English" in 1196. Much ground had been lost during the previous decade. In Maelienydd the Mortimer castle of Cymaron had deprived the sons of Cadwallon (Maelgwn and Hywel) of much of their inheritance. In Elfael the death of Einion o'r Porth in 1191 gave the Normans an opening: William de Braose thereupon took possession of the cantref and built a castle in each commote (one in the valley of the Colwyn for Upper Elfael, and rebuilding one in the valley of the Machawy for Lower Elfael, at Painscastle). The middle March was therefore a good place to strike against the Marcher barons. After attacking Carmarthen Rhys crossed through Builth and captured and burnt Colwyn castle. He and his army then moved across the heights of Radnor Forest to Radnor itself, which had been held by the Braose family since the days of William Rufus: its lord was absent in south Wales, but his neighbours Roger Mortimer of Wigmore and Hugh de Say of Richards Castle came to its defence. They were utterly defeated; at least 40 knights were killed. From there they moved on the new Braose castle in Lower Elfael, Painscastle: here the castle was saved when William Braose was able to come to terms with Rhys. This was Rhys' last campaign.
After the death of Rhys in 1197 the ruler of southern Powys, Gwenwynwyn, chose this region to make his bid as a national deliverer. (The death of Maelgwn in 1197 had further weakened the Welsh position in this area.) Painscastle had survived Rhys' campaign of 1196, and it still linked the Braose lordships of Radnor and Brecon. Gwenwynwyn therefore decided that it would be an appropriate place to start, and led a force from all over native Wales against the castle. After a siege of three weeks the castle was relieved by an English army under Geoffrey fitz Peter, the justiciar, and the Welsh were decisively defeated there on 13 August 1198. That was the end of Gwenwynwyn's bid for supremacy.
When Llywelyn ap Iorwerth of Gwynedd annexed southern Powys from Gwenwynwyn in 1208, the minor dynasties of the central March (Cedewain, Maelienydd and Elfael) now came under his sphere of influence, a fact confirmed by Llywelyn's gains of 1212-18. This brought him up against the Marcher lords who had been attempting for 150 years to conquer the region; but Llywelyn "shored up" the native rulers and frustrated the ambitions of the Mortimers.
It was during the reign of King John (1199-1216) that the Braose family was overthrown, when John turned on his favourite William III in 1208 and forced him to flee the country. The Braose lordships were taken under royal control. But during the civil war in which John's reign ended (1214-16) members of the family were able to recover most of them, including Radnor, by allying with the Welsh; under an agreement Elfael, together with its castles of Painscastle and Colwyn, was left to be occupied by Gwallter ab Einion Clud. Just before his death, John had been on the Welsh border July-August 1216, and burned the Braose castles of Hay and Radnor.
Llywelyn came to terms with Henry III (1216-1272) in 1218, though there were still important questions to be settled, such as who owned Maelienydd, claimed by Hugh Mortimer from its Welsh lords, relatives and vassals of Llywelyn. Evidence of the importance of the region to the English Crown is shown by the fact that Henry III devoted his campaign of 1231 to reconstructing the castle of Painscastle in stone, at a time when Llywelyn was campaigning freely in the area, burning the new royal castle at Montgomery, then Radnor castle and town, and also the towns of Hay and Brecon. At this time Llywelyn won a skirmish on the Wye near Hay, with the aid of "a trick played upon the English by a monk of Cwm Hir" (in retaliation for which Henry burned one of the abbey granges and fined the abbot 300 marks). In 1233 Llywelyn attacked the Braose lands again and the defences Radnor were rebuilt. Also in 1233 Henry III granted the former Braose interest in Elfael to Ralph Tony. The lordship was (technically, at least) to remain with the Tony family until 1309.
As soon as Llywelyn died in 1240 the Marcher barons, seeing the weakness of the position of his son Dafydd, went on the offensive again, and Ralph Mortimer resumed his family's drive against Maelienydd and Gwrtheyrnion. Following the successful royal campaign against Dafydd in 1241 the native rulers of those areas were forced to submit to royal authority.
In 1246 Roger Mortimer inherited his father's border manors, including the castles of Wigmore, Cefnllys and Knucklas which, together with Maelienydd, Gwrtheyrnion and Radnor, were turing the family into major players in the March.
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, last prince of Gwynedd, also had a keen interest in the region: within six years (1256-62) he had conquered Gwrtheyrnion and Maelienydd and secured the allegiance of Elfael. He conquered Gwrtheyrnion from Roger Mortimer 1256-8 and unusually kept it for himself (he usually followed his grandfather's policy of granting such conquests to his followers as rewards). Builth was captured in 1260. The submission of the native Welsh claimant to Elfael, "Owein ab Maredud o Eluael" followed in 1260 (Llywelyn had hitherto secured his loyalty by keeping his son hostage). But his main opportunity in the area came in late November 1262. The Welshmen of Maelienydd captured Roger Mortimer of Wigmore's new castle of Cefnllys and proceeded to dismantle it. Roger arrived with the young Humphrey de Bohun to repair it, but Llywelyn took the opportunity to come upon them with a great force and beset them in the ruined fortress: in the end they had to accept his offer of a safe conduct to the border and Llywelyn went on to take Maelienydd. By Christmas he had reduced the castles of Bleddfa, Knucklas, Knighton, Norton and Presteigne, before moving south to Brecon.
When Henry III became embroiled in civil war in 1263 Llywelyn sided with the baronial opposition. Roger Mortimer remained loyal to the Crown and in February 1264 Henry of Montfort led a baronial army against his Marcher possessions: the castle and town of Radnor were destroyed with the aid of a southern Welsh army from Llywelyn. In reprisal, Prince Edward and the loyal Marchers captured the Bohun castles of Huntingdon, Hay and Brecon which was given to Mortimer. But at the battle of Lewes the royal party was defeated, and Earl Simon de Montfort gained Llywelyn's help in bringing the Marchers who still opposed him to heel.
Llywelyn took advantage of the death of Roger Tony in 1264 to conquer Elfael at last: the Tony heir, Ralph, was a minor). He probably kept it until 1277.
Llywelyn showed his dominance of the middle March by choosing to make his formal agreement with the party of Simon de Montfort at Pipton-on-Wye on 19 June 1265. Among other clauses, as part of the treaty, Llywelyn was to get Montgomery and Painscastle. Earl Simon's death at the battle of Evesham in August 1265 rendered the treaty obsolete, but even so Llywelyn maintained his position in Wales, as was reflected in the peace he eventually made with the English Crown.
The Treaty of Montgomery of 25 September 1267 saw Llywelyn at the height of his success; among his gains he was recognized as lord of Gwrtheyrnion. Roger Mortimer was allowed to build a castle in Maelienydd, but his claim to the district was acknowledged to be an open question, and Llywelyn kept control there. Elfael was not mentioned in the treaty, but Llywelyn seems to have kept hold of that too (its "Norman claimant", Ralph Tony, was still a minor). These ambiguities were a recipe for future trouble - just what exactly was the position of Elfael? -and Llywelyn was soon protesting that Roger Mortimer was rebuilding Cefnllys castle on a scale that contravened the treaty.
Another cause of tension here was that many of the native Welsh had come to terms with their English lords (the constable of Cefnllys castle when it was captured in 1262 had been one Hywel ap Meurig, a prominent local Welshman). Such men were reluctant to transfer allegiance to Llywelyn, and one method he used to secure their obedience was the taking of hostages.
In 1277 Edward I fought his first successful campaign against Llywelyn, which reduced him to the narrow confines of Gwynedd. One important outcome was that it allowed the Marcher lords to finally secure the territories Between the Wye and the Severn: Ralph Tony took Elfael, and Roger Mortimer at last gained Maelienydd and Gwrtheyrnion, which succumbed after some 200 years of resistance.
As a footnote to the story of the conquest of this region, it was while Llywelyn was trying to open up a new front on the Wye Valley that he was killed at Builth in 1282. [G.R.]
[R.R. Davies, Howse, Lloyd, Walker]
The Normans first began the conquest of Elfael, Gwrtheyrnion and Maelienydd under William Rufus (1087-1100), as part of their drive during the 1090s; it was around 1095 that Philip de Braose was established at Radnor, now the centre of a Norman lordship.
The offensive continued during the reign of Henry I (1100-1135) but the mountainous terrain "deterred alien colonization and inhibited the establishment of firm Norman control". Also, the district was too barren to attract English settlers. The Braose family targeted Elfael, while the Mortimers undertook the conquest of Maelienydd and Gwrtheyrnion.
During the reign of Stephen (1135-1154) the Normans experienced reverses in many parts of Wales, but interestingly this was not universal: "In the Central March, especially in Builth, Maelienydd and Elfael, the Anglo-Normans under Philip de Braose, Hugh Mortimer and Helias de Say were pushing forward ruthlessly and building castles. . . to impose lordship"; though it was still a very uncertain hold. The chronicles speak of a "reconquest" of Elfael and Maelienydd by Hugh Mortimer in 1144: presumably the Welsh were active here, under the leadership of Madog ab Idnerth and his sons. Madog ab Idnerth died in 1140: two of his sons (Hywel and Cadwgan) were slain in 1142 by Helias of Say, lord of Clun; a third, Maredudd, was killed by Hugh Mortimer in 1144; the remaining two, Cadwallon and Einion Clud, lived to rule over Maelienydd and Elfael respectively.
The ruler of Deheubarth, the Lord Rhys, placed a value on the area during his years of supremacy (1172-1197). He led raids into the area in 1169 and 1197, established a castle at Rhaeadr (in Gwrtheyrnion) in 1177 and entered into alliances and marriage bonds with the native princelings. (Cadwallon ap Madog of Maelienydd was his first cousin, and Einion Clud of Elfael, Cadwallon's brother, was his son-in-law. Einion ap Rhys of Gwrtheyrnion was another son-in-law.)
In 1177 Cadwallon ap Madog of Maelienydd was one of the Welsh princes who gathered with Henry II at Oxford. His brother Einion Clud of Elfael died in the same year, succeeded by his son, Einion ab Einion Clud (also known as Einion o'r Porth).
During the later years of Henry II (after 1172) the king sought to restrain the Marcher lords: in 1179 when Roger Mortimer had Cadwallon of Maelienydd killed whilst under a royal safe-conduct, Henry confiscated his lands (including his castle of Cymaron) and had several of his followers executed or otherwise punished. Cadwallon was succeeded by his son Maelgwn.
The succession of King Richard I (1189-1199) meant an end to the policy of coexistence between the Welsh and English, and the Marcher lords were no longer constrained by the Crown: in 1195 Roger Mortimer returned from exile (he had been forced abroad on treason charges in 1191) and renewed the assault on Elfael, rebuilding his castle of Cymaron. The Lord Rhys responded to the new situation and "unfurled his banner as of yore for a great campaign against the English" in 1196. Much ground had been lost during the previous decade. In Maelienydd the Mortimer castle of Cymaron had deprived the sons of Cadwallon (Maelgwn and Hywel) of much of their inheritance. In Elfael the death of Einion o'r Porth in 1191 gave the Normans an opening: William de Braose thereupon took possession of the cantref and built a castle in each commote (one in the valley of the Colwyn for Upper Elfael, and rebuilding one in the valley of the Machawy for Lower Elfael, at Painscastle). The middle March was therefore a good place to strike against the Marcher barons. After attacking Carmarthen Rhys crossed through Builth and captured and burnt Colwyn castle. He and his army then moved across the heights of Radnor Forest to Radnor itself, which had been held by the Braose family since the days of William Rufus: its lord was absent in south Wales, but his neighbours Roger Mortimer of Wigmore and Hugh de Say of Richards Castle came to its defence. They were utterly defeated; at least 40 knights were killed. From there they moved on the new Braose castle in Lower Elfael, Painscastle: here the castle was saved when William Braose was able to come to terms with Rhys. This was Rhys' last campaign.
After the death of Rhys in 1197 the ruler of southern Powys, Gwenwynwyn, chose this region to make his bid as a national deliverer. (The death of Maelgwn in 1197 had further weakened the Welsh position in this area.) Painscastle had survived Rhys' campaign of 1196, and it still linked the Braose lordships of Radnor and Brecon. Gwenwynwyn therefore decided that it would be an appropriate place to start, and led a force from all over native Wales against the castle. After a siege of three weeks the castle was relieved by an English army under Geoffrey fitz Peter, the justiciar, and the Welsh were decisively defeated there on 13 August 1198. That was the end of Gwenwynwyn's bid for supremacy.
When Llywelyn ap Iorwerth of Gwynedd annexed southern Powys from Gwenwynwyn in 1208, the minor dynasties of the central March (Cedewain, Maelienydd and Elfael) now came under his sphere of influence, a fact confirmed by Llywelyn's gains of 1212-18. This brought him up against the Marcher lords who had been attempting for 150 years to conquer the region; but Llywelyn "shored up" the native rulers and frustrated the ambitions of the Mortimers.
It was during the reign of King John (1199-1216) that the Braose family was overthrown, when John turned on his favourite William III in 1208 and forced him to flee the country. The Braose lordships were taken under royal control. But during the civil war in which John's reign ended (1214-16) members of the family were able to recover most of them, including Radnor, by allying with the Welsh; under an agreement Elfael, together with its castles of Painscastle and Colwyn, was left to be occupied by Gwallter ab Einion Clud. Just before his death, John had been on the Welsh border July-August 1216, and burned the Braose castles of Hay and Radnor.
Llywelyn came to terms with Henry III (1216-1272) in 1218, though there were still important questions to be settled, such as who owned Maelienydd, claimed by Hugh Mortimer from its Welsh lords, relatives and vassals of Llywelyn. Evidence of the importance of the region to the English Crown is shown by the fact that Henry III devoted his campaign of 1231 to reconstructing the castle of Painscastle in stone, at a time when Llywelyn was campaigning freely in the area, burning the new royal castle at Montgomery, then Radnor castle and town, and also the towns of Hay and Brecon. At this time Llywelyn won a skirmish on the Wye near Hay, with the aid of "a trick played upon the English by a monk of Cwm Hir" (in retaliation for which Henry burned one of the abbey granges and fined the abbot 300 marks). In 1233 Llywelyn attacked the Braose lands again and the defences Radnor were rebuilt. Also in 1233 Henry III granted the former Braose interest in Elfael to Ralph Tony. The lordship was (technically, at least) to remain with the Tony family until 1309.
As soon as Llywelyn died in 1240 the Marcher barons, seeing the weakness of the position of his son Dafydd, went on the offensive again, and Ralph Mortimer resumed his family's drive against Maelienydd and Gwrtheyrnion. Following the successful royal campaign against Dafydd in 1241 the native rulers of those areas were forced to submit to royal authority.
In 1246 Roger Mortimer inherited his father's border manors, including the castles of Wigmore, Cefnllys and Knucklas which, together with Maelienydd, Gwrtheyrnion and Radnor, were turing the family into major players in the March.
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, last prince of Gwynedd, also had a keen interest in the region: within six years (1256-62) he had conquered Gwrtheyrnion and Maelienydd and secured the allegiance of Elfael. He conquered Gwrtheyrnion from Roger Mortimer 1256-8 and unusually kept it for himself (he usually followed his grandfather's policy of granting such conquests to his followers as rewards). Builth was captured in 1260. The submission of the native Welsh claimant to Elfael, "Owein ab Maredud o Eluael" followed in 1260 (Llywelyn had hitherto secured his loyalty by keeping his son hostage). But his main opportunity in the area came in late November 1262. The Welshmen of Maelienydd captured Roger Mortimer of Wigmore's new castle of Cefnllys and proceeded to dismantle it. Roger arrived with the young Humphrey de Bohun to repair it, but Llywelyn took the opportunity to come upon them with a great force and beset them in the ruined fortress: in the end they had to accept his offer of a safe conduct to the border and Llywelyn went on to take Maelienydd. By Christmas he had reduced the castles of Bleddfa, Knucklas, Knighton, Norton and Presteigne, before moving south to Brecon.
When Henry III became embroiled in civil war in 1263 Llywelyn sided with the baronial opposition. Roger Mortimer remained loyal to the Crown and in February 1264 Henry of Montfort led a baronial army against his Marcher possessions: the castle and town of Radnor were destroyed with the aid of a southern Welsh army from Llywelyn. In reprisal, Prince Edward and the loyal Marchers captured the Bohun castles of Huntingdon, Hay and Brecon which was given to Mortimer. But at the battle of Lewes the royal party was defeated, and Earl Simon de Montfort gained Llywelyn's help in bringing the Marchers who still opposed him to heel.
Llywelyn took advantage of the death of Roger Tony in 1264 to conquer Elfael at last: the Tony heir, Ralph, was a minor). He probably kept it until 1277.
Llywelyn showed his dominance of the middle March by choosing to make his formal agreement with the party of Simon de Montfort at Pipton-on-Wye on 19 June 1265. Among other clauses, as part of the treaty, Llywelyn was to get Montgomery and Painscastle. Earl Simon's death at the battle of Evesham in August 1265 rendered the treaty obsolete, but even so Llywelyn maintained his position in Wales, as was reflected in the peace he eventually made with the English Crown.
The Treaty of Montgomery of 25 September 1267 saw Llywelyn at the height of his success; among his gains he was recognized as lord of Gwrtheyrnion. Roger Mortimer was allowed to build a castle in Maelienydd, but his claim to the district was acknowledged to be an open question, and Llywelyn kept control there. Elfael was not mentioned in the treaty, but Llywelyn seems to have kept hold of that too (its "Norman claimant", Ralph Tony, was still a minor). These ambiguities were a recipe for future trouble - just what exactly was the position of Elfael? -and Llywelyn was soon protesting that Roger Mortimer was rebuilding Cefnllys castle on a scale that contravened the treaty.
Another cause of tension here was that many of the native Welsh had come to terms with their English lords (the constable of Cefnllys castle when it was captured in 1262 had been one Hywel ap Meurig, a prominent local Welshman). Such men were reluctant to transfer allegiance to Llywelyn, and one method he used to secure their obedience was the taking of hostages.
In 1277 Edward I fought his first successful campaign against Llywelyn, which reduced him to the narrow confines of Gwynedd. One important outcome was that it allowed the Marcher lords to finally secure the territories Between the Wye and the Severn: Ralph Tony took Elfael, and Roger Mortimer at last gained Maelienydd and Gwrtheyrnion, which succumbed after some 200 years of resistance.
As a footnote to the story of the conquest of this region, it was while Llywelyn was trying to open up a new front on the Wye Valley that he was killed at Builth in 1282. [G.R.]
[R.R. Davies, Howse, Lloyd, Walker]