Hywel the Good

The first major Welsh leader to step forward after the death of Rhodri the Great was his grandson. Cadell's son Hywel (Hywel ap Cadell ap Rhodri to give him his full name) was king of Seisyllwg following his father's death in 900. In 904 he gained Dyfed through marriage - or alternately, by ordering the death of his brother-in-law Llywarch of Dyfed - and in 930 he added Brycheiniog to his new kingdom, called Deheubarth.

In 942 Hywel extended Deheubarth to the north to include Powys and Gwynedd. By the time of his death in 950 Hywel controlled all of modern Wales but for Glamorgan and Gwent in the south east.

Why was Hywel called "The Good" by later generations? Certainly it was not for his meekness, as the story of his acquisition of Dyfed suggests. Like all successful rulers of that period, Hywel could be ruthless when it was called for. His claim to "goodness" rests on the tradition that it was Hywel who first brought together and codified the Laws of Wales.

One version of the story tells that Hywel went on a pilgrimage to Rome in about 928, and there he had his laws blessed by the Pope. Another story tells that Hywel summoned scholars and leaders from all across Wales to a meeting at Whitland, on the border between Seisyllwg and Dyfed. There they drew together the customs and traditional standards of conduct from across Wales and combined them in a systemised code of law.

Hywel enjoyed more relaxed relations with the English than his predeccessors, because he chose to take the course of least resistance and acknowledge the English king as his overlord.

Though the cost of tribute money must have irked Hywel, it was a wise acknowledgement of the English power. On at least seven occassions Hywel journeyed to the court of Athelstan, son of Alfred the Great, to witness royal charters. He was also present at the coronation of Athelstan's successor, Eadred, in 946.

Despite this acceptance of English power, the Welsh antagonism towards their neighbours was never far from the surface. Hywel died in 950, and though his kingdom of Deheubarth passed to his son Owain, it was without Powys and Gwynedd. In general, though, the trend in Wales was for a consolidation of the smaller kingdoms into several powerful, large kingdoms. Thus, after Hywel's death Wales had only three large kingdoms (Deheubarth, Powys & Gwynedd, and Glamorgan).

History of Wales - main index

Text © David Ross and Britain Express 2001