Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd

Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd ( – 1203) was Prince of Gwynedd from 1170 to 1195. For a time he ruled jointly with his brothers Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd and Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd. Dafydd was the son of Owain Gwynedd by Cristin ferch Goronwy ab Owain (married ). Since Owain and Cristin were first cousins, the marriage was not accepted by the church, which regarded Dafydd as illegitimate. Dafydd first appeared on the scene in 1157 when King Henry II of England invaded Gwynedd. Dafydd was involved in the skirmish near Basingwerk in which King Henry was nearly killed. In 1165, he was recorded as having settled in the Vale of Clwyd and as having attacked Tegeingl, gaining much plunder. Upon the death of Owain Gwynedd in 1170, his sons fell into dispute over lordship of Gwynedd. Together, Dafydd and Rhodri attacked and killed their brother Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd that same year. Dafydd drove out Maelgwn in 1173, sending him fleeing to Ireland. Other brothers, Iorwerth Drwyndwn and Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd, were killed in 1174, removing two more contenders for the throne. The same year Dafydd captured and imprisoned his brothers Maelgwn (who had returned from Ireland) and Rhodri. He was now sole ruler of Gwynedd, and that same year he married Emma (or Emme) of Anjou, the half-sister of King Henry II of England, in summer 1174. Emme was an illegitimate daughter of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou. They had four children: Owain Einion Gwenllian Gwenhwyfar