Hywel ap Ieuaf (died 985) was a King 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 ...

in north-west

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

from 979 to 985. Hywel was the son of

Ieuaf ap Idwal Idwal ab Idwal ( en , Idwal son of Idwal, died 988), usually known as Ieuaf ( cy, Junior) to distinguish him from his father Idwal Foel, was joint king of Gwynedd in northern Wales from 950 to 969. He possibly also ruled Powys for some time. Ieua ...

who had ruled Gwynedd jointly with his brother

Iago ab Idwal Iago ab Idwal was a King of Gwynedd (r. 950 979) and possibly Powys. Iago was the son of the earlier King Idwal the Bald but, upon Idwal's death in combat in 942, his uncle Hywel the Good invaded Gwynedd and seized the throne. On Hywel's ...

until 969. In that year the sons of Idwal quarrelled and Iago took Ieuaf prisoner. Hywel is first recorded as accompanying Iago to

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

to meet King

Edgar of England Edgar ( ang, Ēadgār ; 8 July 975), known as the Peaceful or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. The younger son of King Edmund I and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, he came to the throne as a teenager following ...

in 973, when together with a number of other kings including the kings of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and of

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

he pledged that he would be the king's henchman on sea and land. Later chroniclers made the kings into eight, all plying the oars of Edgar's state barge on the River Dee. In 974 Hywel raised an army and drove his uncle from Gwynedd temporarily. Iago was able to return, but was forced to share power with his nephew. In 978 Hywel made another attempt to take the kingdom from his uncle, raiding the monastery at

Clynnog Fawr Clynnog Fawr, often simply called "Clynnog", is a village and community on the north coast of Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is in the historic county of Caernarfonshire. The community includes Pant Glas. Clynnog Fawr lies on ...

. In this raid Hywel was assisted by English troops, possibly provided by Aelfhere, Earl of Mercia. Hywel defeated Iago in battle in 979, and the same year Iago was captured by a force of Vikings, possibly in Hywel's pay, and vanished from the scene. Hywel was left as sole ruler of Gwynedd, but apparently did not set his father free, since according to J.E. Lloyd, Ieuaf remained in captivity until 988. In 980 Hywel faced a challenge from Iago's son, Custennin ab Iago, who attacked Anglesey in alliance with Gofraid mac Arailt, a Viking chief from the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. Hywel defeated them in battle, killing Custennin and putting Gofraid and his men to flight. Now securely in possession of Gwynedd, Hywel aimed to expand his kingdom to the south. He again made an alliance with Aelfhere of Mercia and attacked

Brycheiniog Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans be ...

and

Morgannwg Morgannwg was a medieval Welsh kingdom formed via the merger of the kingdoms of the Kingdom of Glywysing and the Kingdom of Gwent. Formation of Morgannwg First under King Morgan the Generous (fl. ) until the end of the reign of his descendant I ...

with some success, although he was not able to annex these kingdoms. However, in 985 his English allies turned on him and killed him, possibly alarmed by his growing power. He was succeeded by his brother Cadwallon ap Ieuaf, who had not been on the throne long when Gwynedd was annexed by

Maredudd ap Owain Maredudd ab Owain (died ) was a 10th-century king in Wales of the High Middle Ages. A member of the House of Dinefwr, his patrimony was the kingdom of Deheubarth comprising the southern realms of Dyfed, Ceredigion, and Brycheiniog. Upon the d ...

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 ...

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hywel ab Ieuaf, Prince of Gwynedd 985 deaths Monarchs of Gwynedd 10th-century Welsh monarchs Year of birth unknown