"OwenMEdwards-AShortHistoryOfWales" - читать интересную книгу автора (Edwards Owen M)

Wales to fight a Norman army or to take a Norman castle.



CHAPTER VIII--GRIFFITH AP CONAN AND GRIFFITH AP REES



In the battle of Mynydd Carn, a young chief led the shining shields
of the men of Gwynedd. He was Griffith, the son of a prince of the
line of Cunedda and of a sea-rover's daughter. He was mighty of
limb, fair and straight to see, with the blue eyes and flaxen hair of
the ruling Celt. In battle, he was full of fury and passion; in
peace, he was just and wise. His people saw at first that he could
fight a battle; then they found he could rule a country. And it was
he that was to say to the Norman: "Thus far shalt thou come, and no
further."

When Bleddyn died in 1075, Griffith came to Gwynedd, and found that
his father's lands were under new rulers. Robert of Rhuddlan and
Trahaiarn of Arwystli were mighty foes; but Griffith drove both of
them back; and, by his prowess and success in battle, broke the spell
of conquest which kept Gwynedd in bonds. But his enemies attacked
him again from all sides; and, while Hugh the Wolf and Robert of
Rhuddlan were laying Gwynedd waste, Trahaiarn and Griffith met at the
hard-fought battle of Bron yr Erw. Griffith lost the day, and again
became a sea-rover. He sailed to Dyved, and there he met Rees, the
King of Deheubarth, who also was of the line of Cunedda, and had been
driven from his land by the Normans. The two chiefs joined, and they
crushed Trahaiarn at Mynydd Carn. Then they turned against the
Normans.

Rees soon fell in battle, and left two children, Nest and Griffith.
The beauty of Nest and the genius of Rees ap Griffith fill an
important page in the history of their country. Nest became the
mother of the conquerors of Ireland; Rees became the greatest of all
the kings of South Wales.

The Normans found that the Welsh had taken heart. Of their
opponents, they feared three: Griffith ap Conan, Owen of Powys, and
Griffith ap Rees. The kings of England, the two sons of the
Conqueror--red, brutal William and cool, treacherous Henry--had to
come to help their barons.

Griffith ap Conan had a long life of strife and success. In his
struggle with Hugh the Wolf, he was once in The Wolf's prison, and
more than once he had to flee to the sea. But, backed up by the
liberty-loving sons of Snowdon and by his sea-roving kinsmen, he made
Gwynedd strong and prosperous. He drove the Normans from Anglesey;
he attacked and killed Robert of Rhuddlan; he saw the red King of