Hywel Dda "The Good": Laws, English Overlordship, and the end of the United Merfynion

Medieval Welsh History 825-950: The Merfynion Dynasty Part 4: 

Hi all, and thank you for your continued support and help in running this blog! I am super excited today to be bringing you the last of the early Merfynion kings - and their last ruler as a united kingdom, Hywel Dda! So if this is your first visit, and you're interested in learning about Celtic Studies as a whole, you may want to check out my Guide on Self-Studying Celtic Studies! If you're fascinated by Celtic literature (and who isn't) try my article giving a feminist take on the Mabinogi! If you're interested in reading where Hywel Dda - and the Merfynion - actually came from, you may want to try the first three articles in the series - on Merfyn Frych, Rhodri Mawr, and Anarawd ap Rhodri and the Sons of Rhodri Mawr! 

Hywel Dda "the Good"

Hywel Dda was the son of Cadell ap Rhodri, and the nephew of Anarawd ap Rhodri. As we have already seen, speculation links him to the driving back of the Vikings from Anglesey in 902. He's certainly a warrior. The genealogies tell us that he married Elen, daughter of Llywarch ap Hyfaidd, the last of the old Dyfed line. This, however, certainly seems a little convenient - discerning readers may have noticed that the same claim, to have married the last female relative of the last male of the dynasty that is taken over is made of Gwriad, Merfyn, and Rhodri. It may be that the genealogies therefore likely exaggerated the no doubt very convenient idea of these marriages. 

From the year 910, Hywel succeeded from his father in ruling the conquered kingdom of Dyfed in the south of Wales. Until 920 he ruled jointly with his brother Clydog over Dyfed, but after Clydog's death in 920, he ruled alone. After the death of Anarawd in 916, the son of Anarawd, Idwal Foel, ruled Gwynedd - but the overlordship was maintained by Hywel Dda, the successor in this respect to Anarawd. His overlordship is attested by his consistent mention first in the charters of Aethelstan. Maybe one of the first things that he had to deal with was the 916 attack on Brycheiniog by Aethelflaed in response to the death of Anarawd, maybe taking advantage of the brief window of unsurety that came with succession of power. 

                                                          Long-faced, but WOW snappy dresser!

  But, of course, Hywel himself had inherited another aspect of Anarawd's reign that was the overlordship of Wessex - the overlordship of Edward the Elder. In 816, on the accession of Edward to Mercia after the death of Aethelflaed, a version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records 'there sought Edward as lord the kings of the Welsh, Hywel, Clydog, and Idwal'. Yet he was still allowed to keep his kingship, just as Anarawd had been. Edward's overlordship would last until the year 924, when Athelstan came to to throne. He is recorded as being in attendance to Athelstan for several years, along with Clydog and Idwal - this was most likely compelled, as a form of overlordship required the king to attend the overlord's court on special occasions. A version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that there was a meeting held by Aethelstan by the River Eamont, including Hywel, Constantine II of the Scots, Owain, king of Gwent, and Ealdred Ealdulfing from Bambergh. One historian in particular noted this, and concluded that Hywel was an 'Anglophile', intent in following English ways, and in particular the shining example of Alfred. He used as evidence the fact that he named a son of his Edwin, an English name as a gesture of respect. It could be - or another historian has even suggested that the naming of Edwin was a gesture of contempt, as Athelstan had quarrelled with his brother Edwin and had him drowned in the year 933. 

Even when, in 934, King Constantine II in Scotland broke the treaty with the English and began an alliance with the Vikings, Hywel Dda did not join him. Instead, he is recorded as accompanyimg Aethelstan on his campaign to Scotland, at least as far as Nottingham. In 927, when Sihtric, king of York, died, and Gunfrith, king of Dublin attempted to succeed him, it seems Hywel and Owain marched in Aethelstan's army to defeat Gunfrith - here he is the only Merfynion king mentioned. At Easter 928, Hywel and Idwal were present at Exeter, which coincided with Athelstan's expulsion of Cornish Britons from Exeter. While it is unknown to what extent the Cornish Britons were really beaten, the succession of kings of the Cornish Britins ends around this time. Hywel was in attendence at Frome in 834, and possibly at Christmas in Dorchester in 835. He does not appear from that point in the charters of Athelstan, nor at the court of Edmund. Overall, however, the lack of opposition was probably due to the single fact that Mercia was geographically much too close for comfort. The Scandinavian potential allies were too far to be of any real assistance in a bid against the English; and even if Hywel banded with them and this led to the extension of the Danelaw into England that would only mean that he would be their next target. Gwynedd still lay on the useful and strategic path from Dublin to York. It's questionable whether any real expansion occured during the reign of Hywel Dda, although it is very possible that he annexed Brycheiniog after the death of its king, Tewdyr. 

  The most common Welsh vernacular text from 1250-1500 are versions of the Cyfraith Hywel, or the Laws of Hywel Dda. The main source for the image of Hywel as a great reformer and law maker come from editions of the prologue of this volume, which differ drastically from one another and are more reflective of the time they were written than the reign of Hywel. Whether the lawbooks were correctly attributed to Hywel or whether they were simply later ascribed to him is a matter of debate. Some laws seem to reflect Hywel's time better than that of the writers, but this may be due merely to the nature of Welsh law. They have the same character as the Senchas Mar, the principal Irish lawbook, which is internal to legal professionals rather than the work of the king, but differs in that they are much more royalist, and in the royal sections there are signs of English influence. [1]. I would like to think it's composed during the reign of Hywel Dda, but that is pure bias.

  Some extremely unreliable prologue attributes Hywel's pilgrimage to Rome, taken in 929, to get papal authority for the laws they had just revised; this is most likely inaccurate, due to reasons just mentioned. Another suggestion is that it was in emulation of Alfred's own pilgrimage as a boy. Of course it needn't have been either of these - we can see a precedent in Cyngen of Powys's pilgrimage the last century. It may have gone some way towards reinforcing his unique epithet "Dda"- 'the good', which is said by Kirby (I'm not sure how agreed on this is) to be indicative of a royal hagiographical cult. 

  Idwal Foel ap Anarawd's death came in 942, along with his son Elise, in battle with the English. This suggests that he had supported Olaf Gunfrithson in his second bid to take over Britain - likely due to the key position of Gwynedd for Viking purposes and the previous history of Idwal's father, Anarawd, in allyship with the northmen. The poem Armes Prydein, a fiercely anti-English and pro-Norse alliance poem, seems to have been composed during this period within the provenance of Idwal Foel's rebellion. Hywel succeeded him as king. Hywel expelled the two sons of Idwal Foel, Ieuaf and Iago, from Gwynedd. In 949 Hywel makes an appearance in the charters of Eadred of Wessex, maybe due to a tightening of control after the English king's failed expedition in Northumbria. When Hywel died in 949 or 950, the broader hegemony over a united Wales crumbled. While his son, Owain, succeeded him in the south, the sons of Idwal Foel regained control of Gwynedd after a battle in 951. 

[1] I would like to acknowledge here, clearly, my depth of the use of T. M. Charles-Edwards Wales and the Britons. I feel guilty using so much of his work in my articles, except the book is my Bible, and would be a very valuable addition to the library of all Welsh history nerds. He's not my sole source, but he's a heck of a lot of it. Hithertho, my excuse has been that there aren't a lot of accessible resources relating to the Merfynion during this period; however that should not be seen as the case here as there are plenty more sources of relative accuracy. I here express my undying gratitude that book exists. Amen.  

Thank you!

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