House of Aberffraw
| House of Aberffraw | |
|---|---|
 Traditional Arms of the Aberffraw House of Gwynedd |
|
| Country | Wales |
| Parent house | House of Gwynedd |
| Titles | King of the Britons, King of the Welsh, Prince of Wales, Prince of the Welsh, Prince [and king] of Gwynedd, of Powys, Prince of Aberffraw, Lord of Snowdon, of Ynys Môn, of Meirionnydd, and of Ceredigion. |
| Founded | c. 9th century |
| Founder | Anarawd ap Rhodri |
| Final ruler | Owain Lawgoch (in exile) |
| Current head | Not definitely provable. However, the most likely will be one of the descendants of Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd, who was his father's heir and oldest surviving son. Hywel ab Owain has existing male descendants in the 21st century, as can be confirmed by records at the College of Arms. There also exist other Welsh families who claim descent from other branches of the dynasty. |
| Cadet branches | House of Rhiw Llwyd; leading to Wynn of Gwydir, Anwyl of Tywyn./ Other Welsh families through other lines |
The House of Aberffraw is a historiographical and genealogical term historians use to illustrate the clear line of succession from Rhodri the Great of Wales through his eldest son Anarawd.
Anarawd and his immediate heirs made the village of Aberffraw on Anglesey (Ynys Môn) their early principal family seat.
In the 10th century, Rhodri the Great had inherited Gwynedd from his father and Powys from his mother, and he added Seisyllwg (Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire) by a dynastic marriage to Angharad of Seisyllwg. Rhodri's influence in the rest of Wales was significant, and he left a lasting legacy.
The family were able to assert their influence within Gwynedd, their traditional sphere of influence, but by the 11th century they were ousted from Powys (Mid Wales) and Deheubarth (West Wales) by a series of strong rulers from the House of Dinefwr in Deheubarth, their dynastically junior cousins. The Dinefwr family were descended from the second son of Rhodri the Great. However, Gruffudd ap Cynan Aberffraw was able to recover his heritage and position as Prince of Gwynedd from Norman invaders by 1100. Owain Gwynedd, Gruffudd's son, defeated King Henry II of England and the vast Angevin host in 1157 and 1166, which led to Owain being proclaimed as Princeps Wallensium, the Prince of the Welsh, by other Welsh rulers. This proclamation reasserted and updated the Aberffraw claims to be the principal royal family of Wales, as senior line descendants of Rhodri the Great. This position was further reaffirmed in the biography The History of Gruffydd ap Cynan. Written in Latin, the biography was intended for an audience outside Wales. The significance of this claim was that the Aberffraw family owed nothing to the English king for their position in Wales, and that they held authority in Wales "by absolute right through descent", wrote historian John Davies.
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Wikipedia