A. +Source.+--_Annals of Dunstable_, p. 291. (_Annales Monastici_, vol.
iii.--Rolls Series.)
A.D. 1282.--In the same year the Welsh rebelled a second time against
their lord, the King of England; the chief reason for the rebellion was
that the lord King had introduced English laws and customs into their
territory, and had decreed that county and hundred courts should follow.
Another reason was that the Justiciar of Chester had caused certain of
the men of David, brother of the Prince of Wales, to be hung, contrary
to the usage of the Welsh. Further, by command of the lord the King, the
woods of the said David had been cut down for the construction of a safe
highway for travellers, as the result of the misdeeds of robbers.
B. +Source.+--_Annals of Oseney_, pp. 287 _et seqq._ (_Annales
Monastici_, vol. iv.--Rolls Series.)
A.D. 1281.--About the Festival of the Annunciation of the Blessed Mary,
Llewellyn, violating the peace which he had some time before entered
into with the King of England, at the instigation and with the
assistance of his brother David, on whom the King of England had
bestowed lands and possessions in England, and whom he had honoured with
kindness among the nobles of his household, did not shame, with a large
band of robbers, to devastate, plunder, and burn, in frequent raids,
those lands, belonging to the King of England and the Marchers, which
lay nearest to him; he even attacked the Castles of Flint and Rhuddlan,
which the King had begun to build on the borders of Wales to ward off
the threatened attacks of the Welsh. When the King, who was at that time
keeping Easter at Devizes, heard the news, he sent off a few of his men
immediately to check, even a little, the advance of the Welsh, until he
himself could take more serious measures. Then, summoning the nobles of
the kingdom, he appointed a Parliament to be held at Worcester on the
Festival of the Nativity of S. John the Baptist. Meanwhile Roger de
Clifford, who was endeavouring to protect the lands lying next his own
from the fury of the marauding bands, was captured, mortally wounded, by
David and his accomplices, after several of his family had been cruelly
put to death. The King, hearing this, decreed in the Parliament
above-mentioned that all the nobles of the kingdom should meet him with
horses and arms in Wales on the Feast of S. Peter ad Vincula; and when a
large army assembled, he laid waste, ravaged, and burned the
strongholds, lands, and villages of the Prince of Wales, which lay near
him. But the Welsh resisted courageously, and one day, when a detachment
from the King's army was advancing somewhat carelessly and allowing
itself to become too far separated from the main body, suddenly a
countless host of Welshmen, bursting forth from hiding-places in the
woods and marshes, attacked our men, who were relatively very few in
number. In the struggle were slain the son of lord William de Valence,
nephew of the lord King, Richard de Argentoein, and several others, the
remainder escaping with difficulty.
The King remained in the region of Rhuddlan until about the Feast of All
Saints, and in the meantime the lord John, Archbishop of Canterbury, was
sent to Llewellyn at Snowdon to treat for peace with him, or rather to
advise and induce him to observe the peace which he had previously made
with the King, and confirmed in writing and by oath, especially since
the conditions had been carried out. But his mission was fruitless, for
Llewellyn could not be induced to make peace. While the Archbishop
delayed for three days in Snowdon, the English nobles, showing more
foolishness than courage, secretly entered Snowdon, thinking that by
craft they could seize it by their own unaided strength. But the Welsh,
forewarned of their approach, advanced in force against them, and
joining battle, easily prevailed over the small detachment of nobles and
put them to flight. The fugitives thought to save themselves by crossing
a certain river, but, owing to ignorance of the force of the current,
several were drowned, namely, Luke de Tani, William de Dodingsele,
William la Zouche, and others; the rest escaped with difficulty. This
happened on the Festival of S. Leonard. When the Archbishop came down
from Snowdon without accomplishing his aim, he uttered sentence of
excommunication against Llewellyn as a violator of his oath, and a
perjurer, and against David, his brother, and all their accomplices and
abettors.
About the same time died the lord Roger Mortimer, one of the most famous
men of his age, and a valiant soldier. On his death, the lord Edmund,
his eldest son and heir, together with his brother--perchance, as is
believed, to appease the King--laid an ambush for the said Llewellyn;
for, being informed of his movements by spies, the said Edmund gathered
together a large and powerful force, and, more by chance than was
imagined at that time, fell in with Llewellyn when he had descended from
the mountains of Snowdon for some unknown reason and was traversing the
lower ground with the few followers who still adhered to him, and put
him, and those of his men who were unable to escape, to death by the
sword. The head of the Prince, whom he recognized among the slain, he
cut off and sent to the lord King. This memorable triumph of the slaying
of Llewellyn happened, under God, about the Feast of S. Thomas the
Apostle, before Christmas. The King, glorying in his victory, ordered
the head to be taken to London, and affixed it to the Tower on a spear
as a memorial of so notable a success.
A.D. 1282.--The King of England, encouraged by the aforesaid victory,
and seeing a way open to him for the fulfilment of his desires, lest
there should be any impediment to his carrying his wishes into effect,
entered in triumph with his men the safe and secret hiding-place of the
Welsh, to wit, the province of Snowdon; he held Easter in a monastery of
Cistercian monks, called in their tongue Aberconway, and situated within
the bounds of the aforesaid province. Then he was able to control, as
master, the castles and fortified places, both within Snowdon and
without, except a certain castle, called in their tongue Bere. Into this
castle David, the brother of Llewellyn, who had fled before the King on
learning of his coming, had in vain introduced a garrison, promising to
send them speedy assistance, while he himself took refuge in secret and
almost inaccessible woods and swamps. The castle itself was surrounded
by an impassable marsh, and possessed no entrance except by narrow paths
artificially constructed to overcome the natural difficulties of the
ground. When the King found this out, he carefully closed up the
entrances and exits and besieged the defenders so straitly that, giving
up hope of any succour, they were compelled to surrender the castle and
trust to the clemency of the King, who graciously granted them freedom
of life and limb. Then the King, by a lavish distribution of gifts and
presents, entered privily into an agreement with some of the natives who
knew the hidden ways and secret retreats, and they, not without joy,
compelled David to withdraw from his refuge, and surrendered him to the
King, who sent him, as was only just, to be imprisoned, along with his
wife and son, at Rhuddlan. This took place about the Feast of S.
Botulf.... About Michaelmas, the King, summoning the nobles and mayors
of the cities to meet him at Salisbury, held a Parliament, and caused
David, who had been imprisoned at Rhuddlan, to be brought before him;
and after consideration of his misdeeds, had him condemned to death, by
advice of the magnates.