Idwal Foel
Idwal Foele (Idwal the Bald) (died c. 942) or Idwal ab Anarawd (Idwal son of Anarawd) was a 10th-century King of Gwynedd in Wales. A member of the House of Aberffraw, he inherited the throne from his father, Anarawd ap Rhodri. William of Malmesbury credited him as "King of the Britons" in the manner of his father.[1][2]
Life
[edit]Idwal inherited the throne of Gwynedd on the death of his father Anarawd ap Rhodri in 916. His paternal grandparents were Rhodri Mawr, King of Gwynedd and Angharad ferch Meurig of Ceredigion.[3] Idwal allied himself with King Æthelstan of England upon the latter's accession in 924. As Æthelstan was eager to establish his authority across Britain, Idwal honoured him by visiting the English court in 927, 928 and 937. On the first of these visits, he signed charters agreeing to campaign with Æthelstan against the Scots, and marched with Hywel Dda of Deheubarth and Morgan ab Owain of Gwent against Owain ap Dyfnwal, King of Strathclyde that year. Owain was forced to submit to the English king and appear at court by Christmas.[4]
Æthelstan died in 939 and was succeeded by his half-brother Edmund. In 942 Idwal, apparently fearing that the Saxons would support Hywel in usurping him, launched an attack on the Saxons in Wales along with his brother Elisedd. The Annales Cambriæ record his failure: "Idwal and his brother Elisedd are killed in battle against the Saxons".[1][4] The throne of Gwynedd should have passed to Idwal's sons Iago and Ieuaf, but Hywel Dda invaded and drove them from the kingdom. He reigned for eight years before the brothers were able to return and reclaim their patrimony following his death in 950.[2]
Children
[edit]- Meurig[5] whose grandson was Iago ab Idwal ap Meurig;[6]
- Iefan;[5]
- Iago;[7]
- Cynan;[5]
- Ieuaf ("the younger") or "Idwal Fychan" ("little Idwal");[8]
- Rhodri.
References
[edit]- ^ a b William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum.
- ^ a b "IDWAL FOEL ('the Bald '; died 942), king of Gwynedd | Dictionary of Welsh Biography". biography.wales. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
- ^ "Anarawd ap Rhodri (d. 916), king in Wales". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/458. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
- ^ a b John Edward Lloyd (1911). A history of Wales: from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest. Longmans, Green & Co. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
- ^ a b c Williams, Jane; A History of Wales: Derived from Authentic Sources, p. 151, Longmans, Green, & Co., 1869. Accessed 19 February 2013.
- ^ "MEURIG ab IDWAL FOEL (died 986), nobleman of Gwynedd | Dictionary of Welsh Biography". biography.wales. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
- ^ Thornton, David E. (23 September 2004). Iago ab Idwal Foel (d. c. 979), king of Gwynedd. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
- ^ "IEUAF (or IDWAL) ab IDWAL FOEL (died 985), joint king of Gwynedd | Dictionary of Welsh Biography". biography.wales. Retrieved 29 April 2025.