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

he persuaded the council of princes at Strata Florida to accept David
as his successor.



CHAPTER XI--THE LAST LLYWELYN



David II., a mild and well-meaning prince, was too weak to carry his
father's policy out. He tried to maintain peace, and did homage to
his uncle, the King of England. But, as the head of the patriotic
party, his more energetic brother, Griffith, opposed him. By guile
he caught Griffith, and shut him in a castle on the rock of
Criccieth. The other princes shook off the yoke of Gwynedd, and
Henry III. tried to play the brothers against each other. David sent
Griffith to Henry, who put him in the Tower of London. In trying to
escape, his rope broke, and he fell to the ground dead. Soon
afterwards, in 1246, in the middle of a war with Henry, David died of
a broken heart.

The sons of Griffith--Owen, Llywelyn, and David--at once took their
uncle's place; and by 1255 Llywelyn ap Griffith was sole ruler. By
that year Henry III. had given his young son Edward the earldom of
Chester, which had fallen to the crown, and the lands between the Dee
and the Conway, which he claimed by a treaty with the dead Griffith.
Thus Edward and Llywelyn began their long struggle.

Between 1255 and 1267 Llywelyn tries to recover his grandfather's
position in Wales. In 1255 his power extended over Gwynedd only. He
found it easy to extend it over most of Wales, because the rule of
the English officials made the Welsh chiefs long for the protection
of Gwynedd. The Barons' War paralysed the power of the King, and
Llywelyn made an alliance with Simon de Montfort and the barons.
Even after Montfort's fall in 1265 the barons were so powerful that
the King was still at their mercy. In 1267 Llywelyn's position as
Prince of Wales was recognised in the Treaty of Montgomery. His sway
extended from Snowdon to the Dee on the east, and to the Teivy and
the Beacons on the south--practically the whole of modern Wales,
except the southern seaboard. Within these wide bounds all the Welsh
barons were to swear fealty to Llywelyn, the only exception being
Meredith ap Rees of Deheubarth.

The second struggle of Llywelyn's reign took place between 1267 and
1277. He tried to weld his land into a closer union, and many of the
chiefs of the south and east became willing to call in the English
King. Two of them, his own brother David and Griffith of Powys, fled
to England, and were received by Edward, who had been king since
1272. Llywelyn and Edward distrusted each other. Edward wished to
unite Britain in a feudal unity, and to crush all opponents.