Dafydd ap Gruffydd

Dafydd ap Gruffydd
Prince of Wales Prince of Aberffraw and Lord of Snowdon
Coat of Arms of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the Edling of Gwynedd
Reign	1282–1283
Predecessor	Llewelyn the Last
Successor	Edward II as Prince of Wales Llywelyn ap Dafydd as titular Prince of Gwynedd
Born	11 July 1238 Gwynedd, Wales
Died	3 October 1283 (aged 45) Shrewsbury, England
Spouse	Elizabeth Ferrers
Issue	Llywelyn ap Dafydd Owain ap Dafydd Gwladys ferch Dafydd
Welsh	Llywelyn The Great
House	House of Aberffraw
Father	Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ab Iorwerth
Mother	Senana ferch Caradog

Dafydd ap Gruffydd (or Dafydd ap Gruffudd, angl. David, son of Gruffydd; Welsh pronunciation: [ˈdavɨ̞ð ap ˈɡrɨ̞fɨ̞ð]) (11 July (?) 1238 – 3 October 1283) was Prince of Wales from 11 December 1282 until his execution on 3 October 1283 by King Edward I of England. He was the last independent ruler of Wales.

He was a prince of Gwynedd, a younger son of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn and his wife, Senena, and thus grandson of Llywelyn Fawr. In 1241, he is recorded as having been handed over to Henry III of England as a hostage with his younger brother, Rhodri, as part of an agreement. He may have come of age under Welsh law on 11 July 1252, on which date he issued, in front of his mother, Senena, and the Bishop of Bangor, a charter as lord of the commote of Cymydmaen, at the outer reaches of the Llŷn Peninsula. In 1253, he was called upon to pay homage to King Henry III of England.

In 1255, he joined his brother, Owain, in a challenge to their brother, Llywelyn, but Llywelyn defeated them at the Battle of Bryn Derwin. Dafydd was imprisoned, but Llywelyn released him the following year and restored him to favour. In 1263, he joined King Henry in an attack on his brother. After Llywelyn was acknowledged by King Henry as Prince of Wales in 1267, Dafydd was again restored to Llywelyn's favour, but in 1274, he joined King Edward I of England to challenge Llywelyn once again. In 1277, following the Treaty of Aberconwy, he was reconciled, finally, with his brother.

At Easter 1282, Dafydd ap Gruffudd attacked Hawarden Castle, thereby starting the final conflict with Plantagenet-ruled England, in the course of which Welsh independence was lost. In December Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, had been lured into what was probably a trap and killed on 11 December 1282 (see corr. of Archbishop John Peckham, Lambeth Palace Archives). Dafydd was his brother's successor and became the last Tywysog of Gwynedd and Prince of Wales. Dafydd was leader of his nation only for a few months after his brother's death.