Anarawd ap Gruffydd (died 1143) was a

Prince of Deheubarth A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

in Southwest Wales.

Lineage

Anarawd was the eldest son of

Gruffydd ap Rhys Gruffydd ap Rhys (c. 1090 – 1137) was Prince of Deheubarth, in Wales. His sister was the Princess Nest ferch Rhys. He was the father of Rhys ap Gruffydd, known as 'The Lord Rhys', who was one of the most successful rulers of Deheubarth duri ...

. On the death of his father in 1137, Anarawd took over the rule of

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; lit. "Right-hand Part", thus "the South") was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under the House of ...

Resistance

In 1136 he and his brother Cadell ap Gruffydd joined with the Prince of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

Owain Gwynedd Owain ap Gruffudd ( 23 or 28 November 1170) was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. He was called Owain the Great ( cy, Owain Fawr) and the first to be ...

and the latter's brother

Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd (c. 1100 – 1172) was the third son of Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd, and brother of Owain Gwynedd. Appearance in history Cadwaladr first appears in the historical record in 1136, when following the killing of the lo ...

in an assault on

Cardigan Castle Cardigan Castle ( cy, Castell Aberteifi) is a castle overlooking the River Teifi in Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales. It is a Grade I listed building. The castle dates from the late 11th-century, though was rebuilt in 1244. Castle Green House was b ...

which was in Norman hands. The assault was aided by a fleet of

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

ships, but an agreement was reached and the siege lifted.

Dispute with Canterbury

In 1140 Anarawd again supported Owain Gwynedd, this time in the dispute with the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

about the appointment of a

Bishop of Bangor The Bishop of Bangor is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor. The see is based in the city of Bangor where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Cathedral Church of Saint Deiniol. The ''Report of the Commissioners appointed ...

Death by treachery

However, in 1143 Anarawd was treacherously killed by the men of Owain's brother Cadwaladr. Cadwaladr himself was strongly suspected of having ordered the killing. This greatly angered Owain, for Anarawd had been a key ally and was about to marry Owain's daughter. Owain sent his son

Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd (circa 11201170), Prince of Gwynedd in 1170, was a Welsh poet and military leader. Hywel was the son of Owain Gwynedd, prince of Gwynedd, and an Irishwoman named Pyfog. In recognition of this, he was also known as ''Hy ...

to strip Cadwaladr of his lands in

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

in punishment.

Succession

Anarawd was followed on the throne of Deheubarth by his brother Cadell. His son, Einion ab Anarawd, was killed by his own servant in 1163, apparently on the orders of

Roger de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford, 5th Lord of Clare, 5th Lord of Tonbridge, 5th Lord of Cardigan (1116–1173) was a powerful Anglo-Norman noble in 12th-century England. He succeeded to the Earldom of Hertford and Honor of Clare, Tonbridge an ...

References

John Edward Lloyd Sir John Edward Lloyd (5 May 1861 – 20 June 1947) was a Welsh historian, He was the author of the first serious history of the country's formative years, ''A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest'' (1911). Ano ...

(1911) ''A history of Wales from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest'' (Longmans, Green & Co.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruffyd, Anarawd ap 1143 deaths Anarawd Monarchs of Deheubarth 12th-century Welsh monarchs Year of birth unknown Welsh princes