1121. The trail of a mass murderer and a hunt for a runaway nun. King Henry I has lost his heir in the sinking of The White Ship and his reign is fraught with the succession crisis. The king is obsessed with relics and prophecies. He summons his daughter, the Empress Maud, to return to England, and considers putting a woman on the English throne.
Welsh Warrior Queen: Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd ap Cynan
The Anarchy, the third book in my Conquest trilogy, has just been reissued. The trilogy focuses on the turbulent life of the Welsh noblewoman, Nest ferch Rhys, and the Norman king, Henry I, at the end of the 11th century and into the 12th century.
One of the central events in The Anarchy is the Welsh uprising against the Normans after the death of King Henry in 1135 and the extraordinary role played in the uprising by Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd ap Cynan.
After the deaths of King Rhys ap Tewdwr and his two sons and the murder of a third son by invading Normans in 1093, Nest’s infant brother, Gruffudd ap Rhys, was the rightful king of the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth (covering modern-day Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and parts of Ceredigeon) but his lands were occupied by the Normans. When his family was massacred and his sister Nest was taken hostage, Gruffudd was spirited off to safety in Dublin.
Deheubarth and Cantref Mawr
Sometime between 1113 and 1115, Gruffudd, now a young man, returned from Ireland. He stayed for a while with his sister Nest and her Norman husband Gerald FitzWalter, who was the steward of Pembroke Castle. Perhaps Gruffudd thought he could best scope the situation from behind enemy lines, and perhaps Gerald thought he could best keep an eye on the disinherited Welsh king by giving him hospitality.
Gruffudd began gathering disgruntled young Welsh warriors to his cause. In 1115, he fled to the court of the northern Welsh king, Gruffudd ap Cynan to evade the anger of the Norman king, Henry. In Gwynedd, Gruffudd wooed the Welsh king’s daughter, Gwenllian. They eloped and married, living in mountainous and forested hideouts, undertaking raids. Gruffudd continued to attack Norman castles with some limited success and was accused of treason in 1116.
King Henry pardoned him and gave him Cantref Mawr, which was some compensation for the kingdom Gruffudd had lost. Cantref Mawr included the Welsh castle of Dinefwr, the main seat of the princes of Deheubarth, and presented the natural obstacles of mountains, dense shrub, and rivers to an invading army, which made it of strategic value. Gruffudd was accused of treason again in 1127 and had to flee to Ireland.
Dinefwr Castle
After Henry’s death, the Normans’ grip on Wales faltered during the anarchy of King Stephen’s reign. Stephen had usurped the throne from Henry’s daughter, his cousin Matilda. In 1136, the Welsh rebels saw an opportunity and rose against the occupiers, with Gruffudd ap Rhys playing a prominent part.
Gruffudd marched with his followers to join the princes of Gwynedd in an attack on Cardigan.
While Gruffudd was away, Gwenllian led a Welsh army against Maurice of London at the Norman motte and bailey castle at Kidwelly, which had been constructed by King Henry’s main advisor, Bishop Roger of Salisbury. Gwenllian was killed along with one of her sons and another son was captured. This was the only major battle in medieval Wales in which a woman is documented as commanding an army. Gerald of Wales (the great-nephew of Gruffudd and Gwenllian) described Gwenllian as riding at the head of an army, ‘like some second Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons’.
In the autumn of 1136, Gwenllian’s husband Gruffudd ap Rhys and the princes of Gwynedd met the Normans near Cardigan in the battle of Crug Mawr. ‘Vengeance for Gwenllian!’ became the battle cry of the Welsh warriors. The Welsh gained victory against the Normans at Crug Mawr but Gruffudd’s success was short-lived as he died the following year (possibly murdered by his new wife, according to the chronicler Florence of Worcester).
Gruffudd’s sons, Anarawd and Cadell (sons by a wife before Gwenllian), and then Gruffudd and Gwenllian’s sons, Maredudd and Rhys, took the title of Prince of Deheubarth in succession. Rhys was particularly successful in his contention against the Normans and reached an accord with King Henry II.
The site near Kidwelly, where Gwenllian and her son fell, is known as Maes Gwenllian and a memorial to the warrior queen has been erected outside the castle.
Kidwelly Castle and memorial to Gwenllian
You can find out more here:
Tracey Warr
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About the Author
Tracey Warr was born in London, lived in southwest Wales and now lives in southern France. The castles and landscapes of Wales and France inspire her historical fiction. She is the author of five historical novels set in medieval Europe and centred on strong female leads. Her writing awards include an Author’s Foundation Award and a Literature Wales Writer’s Bursary. Before becoming a full-time writer she worked as a contemporary art curator and art history academic. Tracey manages author launch interviews for the Historical Novel Society website. She is part of the team organising the next Historical Novel Society UK conference at Dartington Hall, Devon 6–8 September 2024. For more information see https://meandabooks.com and find Tracey on Facebook and Twitter @TraceyWarr1
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