|
Historical background |
|
|
Iago ab Idwal Foel |
|
|
|
|
|
Iago was one of three (perhaps four) sons of the King of Gwynedd and Powys, Idwal Foel (Idwal the Bald). After his father's death in battle against the Saxons in 943, Iago and his two brothers, Idwal Ieuaf and Meurig, were driven from their lands by their uncle, Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, who then established himself as king in both North and South Wales; only Gwent remained independent.
Hywel died in 950, and the brothers immediately returned and launched a campaign of reconquest against the Hywel's sons. This brutal dynastic war would last for 36 years and would only end when Hywel's grandson Maredudd ab Owain slew Cadwallon ab Idwal Ieuaf. All Wales was fatally wounded by this struggle, its kingdom vulnerable to royal pretenders and foreign aggressors. In a series of battles and raids Idwal's sons managed to wrest Gwynedd and Ynys Môn (Anglesey) from the control of Hywel's sons, and by 961 the "Book of the the Princes" records that the sons of Idwal were in possession of their lands. Unfortunately the brothers were surrounded by enemies. Ealdorman Aelfhere of Mercia raided extensively through their domains in 967, and in the following year the brothers had to repulse a Viking invasion by Ivarr of Limerick, who had been dispossessed of his own kingdom by Brian Boru. But by far the most dangerous enemy were other family members. Iago, possibly with the connivance of Meurig, had his brother Idwal Ieuaf imprisoned in 969 - he was to die there in 988. In 971 King Magnus of the Isles raided Ynys Môn, and the following year Magnus' brother Godfrey led another attack. (It is this raid that is depicted in the script that forms the centrepiece of the Festival.) Apparently the raid was a success and Godfrey won a great treasure. Nothing else is recorded. Iago met his downfall at the hands of his nephew, Hywel ab Idwal Ieuaf. In 973 both Iago and Hywel submitted to King Edgar at the celebrated meeting in Chester. In 974 Hywel drove Iago out of Gwynedd and blinded Meurig. Five years later Iago was captured by the Vikings and disappears from recorded history. An interesting footnote is that it was from the line of the blinded Meurig that the medieval Princes of Gwynedd (Llewelyn the Great and Llewelyn the Last) were descended. |
|
| Godfrey Haraldsson | |
|
|
|
|
Godfrey was the great-grandson of Ivarr of Limerick, who died in 873. This Ivarr was the brother of Olaf the White, and is often (perhaps wrongly) identified as Ivarr the Boneless. Godfrey's brother, Magnus, appears to have inherited the throne of the Isles in 940, and he (along with Iago ab Idwal) submitted to King Edgar in 973. After Magnus' death in about 977, it may be assumed that Godfrey inherited his lands and title.
Godfrey's first raid on Ynys Môn was in 972. He also forced the Irish to pay heavy tribute in the same year. In 979 he joined with Iago ab Idwal's son, Custennin, to raid the Lleyn Peninsula and Ynys Môn. Custennin was killed by Hywel ab Idwal Ieuaf later that year at the battle of Gwaith Hirbarwch. In 982 Godfrey's men are said to have raided Dyfed and pillaged Saint David's, although there is no mention of Godfrey himself taking part in the raid. In 987 Godfrey finally achieved his ambition, defeating Maredudd ab Owain, grandson of Hywel Dda, at the battle of Ynys Môn, in which 1,000 Welshmen were said to have been killed and 2,000 captured. Maredudd fled the island and retreated to Deheubarth. It may be assumed that Godfrey held Ynys Môn and possibly all Gwynedd until his death in 989. |
