Gwladys ferch Dafydd (died c. 1336) was the daughter of

Dafydd ap Gruffydd Dafydd ap Gruffydd (11 July 1238 – 3 October 1283) was Prince of Wales from 11 December 1282 until his execution on 3 October 1283 on the orders of King Edward I of England. He was the last native Prince of Wales before the conquest of Wa ...

, the last free

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

, and

Elizabeth Ferrers Elizabeth Ferrers (c. 1250 – c. 1300) was a daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby, and his second wife Margaret de Quincy (born 1218). Her maternal grandparents were Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, and Helen of Gallowa ...

. She probably spent most of her early life in the company of her father in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

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 ...

. Upon the death of his brother Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, on 10 December 1282, Dafydd ap Gruffydd briefly took over as Prince of Wales. Hearing the news,

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

gathered his forces to unseat the newly named prince. Dafydd, his family and a few stalwart supporters went into hiding in the forests of Snowdonia. Sensing a losing effort, most of his countrymen gave up hope of continuing the Gwynedd regime. In June 1283, Gwladys was arrested with her father, mother, brothers (

Llywelyn Llywelyn, Llewelyn or Llewellyn is a name of Welsh language origins. See Llywelyn (name) for the name's etymology, history and other details. As a surname Arts *Carmen Llywelyn, American actress and photographer * Chris Llewellyn (poet), American ...

and

Owain Owain () is a name of Welsh origin, variously written in Old Welsh as Ougein, Eugein, Euguen, Iguein, Ou(u)ein, Eug(u)ein, Yuein, and in Middle Welsh as Ewein, Owein, and Ywein. Other variants of the name Owain include Ewein, Iguein, Owein, Ouein, Y ...

) and sisters. Dafydd was hanged, drawn and quartered for treason. Dafydd's sons were imprisoned. Gwladys was dispatched to the

Gilbertine The Gilbertine Order of Canons Regular was founded around 1130 by Saint Gilbert in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, where Gilbert was the parish priest. It was the only completely English religious order and came to an end in the 16th century at the ...

convent in

Sixhills Sixhills is a village in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, about south-east from Market Rasen. It lies just south of the A631 between Market Rasen and Ludford. It is in the civil parish of North Willingham. The Church of Al ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, as a young child. Edward I ordered annual payment of 20 pounds for Gwladys's upkeep at the Sixhills convent, where she spent the remainder of her life. She is thought to have died there in 1336, outliving her brothers. She is known to have had sisters, who were illegitimate. Their names and fates are unknown, but Edward I considered sending them to Lincolnshire convents; whether he did so is not entirely clear.Redford, Jill Elizabeth (2010) ''An Edition of the Cartulary of Alvingham Priory (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Laud Misc. 642)''. Ph.D. thesis, University of York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwladys Ferch Dafydd 1336 deaths Welsh royalty Gilbertine Order 14th-century Welsh nobility 13th-century births 13th-century Welsh nobility 13th-century Welsh women 14th-century Welsh women