ry of Wales are so closely bound up together that it is
impossible to study either apart from the other. In illustration of
this general statement I will ask you to consider briefly the history
of twelve years, from 1255 to 1267--a period of special interest to
us, because these are the years in which Llywelyn's power was founded
and built up.

In 1255 occurred three events of great importance to Wales: (1)
Llywelyn overthrew his brothers in battle; (2) Edward Longshanks took
possession of his Chester estates; (3) Edmund Crouchback was formally
proclaimed king of Sicily.

1. David, younger son of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, died in 1246, leaving
no descendants, and the Principality was seized by the three sons of
his elder brother Gruffydd--Owain the Red, Llywelyn, and David. For
some years they held together, because Henry III. opposed the
accession of any of them, claiming the Principality as a lapsed fief
under a treaty made with the last prince, David ap Llywelyn. But after
a time the king accepted the homage and recognised the rights of the
sons of Gruffydd. Being thus freed from direct hostility of the
English king, the joint rulers soon quarrelled, and came to open war
in 1255. "By the instigation of the devil," says the Brut y
Tywysogion, "a great dissension arose between the sons of
Gruffydd--namely, Owain the Red and David on the one side, and
Llywelyn on the other. And thereupon Llywelyn and his men awaited
without fear, trusting in God, at Bryn Derwin the cruel coming of his
brother accompanied by a vast army, and before the end of one hour
Owain was taken and David fled, after many of the army were killed and
others captured, and the rest had taken to flight. And then Owain the
Red was imprisoned; and Llywelyn took possession of the territory of
Owain and David without any opposition." Thus Gwynedd was united under
one ruler.

2. It was the policy of Henry III. to collect the earldoms into the
hands of his relations. Thus the great palatine earldom of Chester,
having lapsed to the Crown through failure of heirs, was granted in
1254 to the king's eldest son, Edward. Besides Chester and its
dependencies Edward received Montgomery and the royal lands in South
Wales (Cardigan and Carmarthen), Ireland and Gascony--in fact all the
territory outside England over which the king had rights. These
possessions were calculated to give the heir to the throne a varied
experience and splendid training in the art of governme