Iago ab Idwal was a

King of Gwynedd Prior to the Conquest of Wales by Edward I, Conquest of Wales, completed in 1282, Wales consisted of a number of independent monarchy, kingdoms, the most important being Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd, Kingdom of Powys, Powys, Deheubarth (originally ...

(r. 950 979) and possibly

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

. Iago was the son of the earlier King

Idwal the Bald Idwal Foel (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 ...

but, upon Idwal's death in combat in 942, his uncle

Hywel the Good Hywel Dda, sometimes anglicised as Howel the Good, or Hywel ap Cadell (died 949/950) was a king of Deheubarth who eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllwg in 920 and shortly thereafter established Deheubarth ...

invaded

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 ...

and seized the throne. On Hywel's death in 950, Iago and his brother Idwal (called "Ieuaf") were able to drive out their cousins at the Battle of Carno and reclaim the kingdom. Fighting continued, with the brothers raiding as far south as

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed was also the name of the area's county council and the name remains in use f ...

in 952 and their cousins raiding as far north as the

Conwy Valley , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , push ...

in 954. The southern princes were finally defeated at the Battle of

Llanrwst Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and the historic county of Denbighshire. It developed round the wool trade and became known als ...

and chased back to

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 ...

. Having won, the brothers then began to quarrel among themselves. Iago took Ieuaf prisoner in 969 and ruled another decade, with a brief hiatus in 974, before Ieuaf's son

Hywel Hywel (), sometimes anglicised as Howel or Howell, is a Welsh masculine given name. It may refer to: * Saint Hywel, a sixth-century disciple of Saint Teilo and the king of Brittany in the Arthurian legend. *Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog, 9th-century ki ...

usurped A usurper is an illegitimate or controversial claimant to power, often but not always in a monarchy. In other words, one who takes the power of a country, city, or established region for oneself, without any formal or legal right to claim it as ...

him in 979. There appears to be no surviving record of Iago's fate.

Children

*Custennin ab Iago

References

* 979 deaths Monarchs of Gwynedd Monarchs of Powys House of Aberffraw 10th-century Welsh monarchs Year of birth unknown Welsh princes {{Wales-bio-stub