Cadwaladr ap Gruffudd

c. 12th century–1172

Cadwaladr ap Gruffudd was a twelfth-century Welsh prince, the son of Gruffudd ap Cynan and the younger brother of Owain Gwynedd. He held lands in Ceredigion and elsewhere but repeatedly quarrelled with Owain, at times seeking support from Anglo-Norman rulers and from Ireland. Cadwaladr joined the Second Crusade in 1147 and later regained part of his position in Wales. He died in 1172 and was buried at Bangor.

Cadwaladr appears mainly in historical fiction concerned with the dynasty of Gwynedd and the contested Welsh frontier, rather than in a famous novel devoted solely to his life. Writers can use his shifting alliances to challenge a simple division between united Welsh resistance and Norman aggression. His career shows that family rivalry, regional lordship and personal survival were often as important as later ideas of national unity.

Ellis Peters’s The Summer of the Danes places Cadwaladr ap Gruffudd within a narrative shaped by crime, espionage and covert power, social change and the pressures of ordinary life, and religion, belief and institutional authority.

Series

Series featuring Cadwaladr ap Gruffudd (1 series)

Chronicles of Brother Cadfael in Order

by Ellis Peters 19 books 4.5

The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael follow a former soldier and crusader who has become the herbalist of Shrewsbury Abbey. Between 1137 and 1145, Cadfael investigates deaths, disappearances and disputed identities while working within the rhythms of Benedictine life and the law of medieval England. The twenty novels unfold…

All books in this series