Battle of Bryn Derwin

Battle of Bryn Derwin
Date June 1255 Location Eifionydd Result Victory for Llywelyn
Belligerents
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd	Dafydd ap Gruffudd, Owain Goch ap Gruffydd

The Battle of Bryn Derwin was fought in Eifionydd in Gwynedd in June 1255, between Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and his brothers, Dafydd ap Gruffudd and Owain Goch ap Gruffydd.

Llywelyn had ruled over a truncated Kingdom of Gwynedd jointly with Owain since the death of the previous Prince of Wales, Dafydd ap Llywelyn, in 1246, having agreed in the Treaty of Woodstock to split Gwynedd west of the Conwy , but relations between the two men apparently deteriorated in the early 1250s.

From the Welsh government:

"Owain and Llywelyn came to terms with King Henry, but were restricted by the terms of the Treaty of Woodstock in 1247 to Gwynedd Uwch Conwy, the part of Gwynedd west of the River Conwy, which was divided between them. Gwynedd Is Conwy, east of the river, was taken over by the king. Though initially paying homage to the English, Owain and Llywelyn soon broke with Henry III in protest over the ruthless raids being conducted on the Welsh borders. The third brother, Dafydd ap Gruffudd, came of age soon afterwards, and King Henry accepted his homage and announced his intention of giving him a part of the already much reduced Gwynedd. Llywelyn refused to accept this, and Owain and Dafydd formed an alliance against him. This led to theBattle of Bryn Derwin in June 1255. Llywelyn defeated Owain and Dafydd and captured them, thereby becoming sole ruler of Gwynedd Uwch Conwy."

The battle lasted for no more than an hour, and resulted in a victory for Llywelyn; Dafydd and Owain were both imprisoned. Dafydd was soon released and went on to play a central role in the royal government of Gwynedd until his defection and subsequent removal to England in the mid-1260s. Llywelyn reluctantly released Owain in 1277 under the terms of the Treaty of Aberconwy, after some 20 years of captivity .

Upon being released, Owain retired to his estate in north-west Wales and never again mounted a serious challenge to his brother Llywelyn's rule. He is thought to have died c. 1282.

Subsequent military campaigns by Llywelyn in 1257 and 1260 recovered much lost Welsh territory, and his undisputed leadership within Wales ushered in a period of stability that would last until the mid-1270s.

See also

• Llywelyn ap Gruffudd
• Dafydd ap Gruffudd
• Owain ap Gruffudd

Sources

• J. B. Smith, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd: Prince of Wales (Cardiff, 1998).