Treaty of Aberconwy

1277

The Treaty of Aberconwy marked the capitulation (at least temporarily) of Llewelyn, Prince of Wales (Llewelyn the Last) to Edward I. According to the terms of the Treaty, Llewelyn had to pay a huge fine of £50,000, swear fealty to Edward at Rhuddlan, and travel to Edward's Christmas Court in London to repeat the oath of homage.

The Treaty of Aberconwy forced Llewelyn to cede his lands outside Gwynedd to the English monarch, yet still allowed him to retain the title Prince of Wales (a bit ironic, as Edward's other demands essentiually forced Llewelyn to surrender his authority outside his power base in Gwynedd.)

To really understand the Treaty of Aberconwy, you have to go back a decade to the Treaty of Montgomery (1267), by which Henry III agreed to recognise Llewelyn as Prince of Wales, and accepted that the title should descend to Llewelyn's heirs. According to the Treaty of Montgomery, all other Welsh rulers had to do homage to Llewelyn, while Llewelyn agreed to do homage to the English monarch in exchange for his support. Llewelyn contributed to his own downfall by refusing to do the homage to Henry or Edward, his heir. The concessions granted by the earlier treaty were effectively removed by the later Treaty of Aberconwy, and Llewelyn had to undergo the humiliation of swearing oaths of fealty to Edward.

Time period(s): Medieval

Tags: Treaty of Aberconwy   Edward I   Llewelyn ap Gruffudd   Llewelyn the Last