The First Prince of Wales?: Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, 1063-75

by Sean Davies

Overview

Bleddyn ap Cynfyn was a Welsh king who ruled over Gwynedd and Powys in the eleventh century. He was at the heart of the events that forged Britain before, during, and after the Norman Conquest of 1066, one of its most significant historical periods. 

The First Prince of Wales? offers important new context for those events through which Bleddyn strove to recreate the kingdom of Wales—though outside pressures and internal intrigues meant his successors would compete, ultimately, to rule only a principality. By exploring Bleddyn’s ambitions, Sean Davies gives a new, wider perspective on one of the most tumultuous and formative periods in English history.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783169368
Publisher:	University of Wales Press
Publication date:	01/15/2017
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Sean Davies has studied medieval Wales for more than two decades and has published extensively on the subject. He is a former BBC journalist who works as a writer and editor.
 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

List of Illustrations ix

List of Abbreviations xi

Introduction xiii

1 The Kingdoms Unite 1

2 Bleddyn's Rise to Power 9

3 The New Kings 27

4 Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans 51

5 Opportunity and Disaster 73

6 The Principalities Divide 91

Notes 115

Bibliography 127

Index 141

What People are Saying About This

Ralph Griffiths

“Davies’s book provides a fresh, bold, and persuasive account of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, king of Gwynedd and Powys and with ambitions to rule more widely in Wales. In six succinct and clearly written chapters, he skilfully deploys a range of often difficult sources to reassess the king’s place in the turbulent politics of the mid-eleventh century.”
 

Editorial Reviews

“Davies’s book provides a fresh, bold, and persuasive account of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, king of Gwynedd and Powys and with ambitions to rule more widely in Wales. In six succinct and clearly written chapters, he skilfully deploys a range of often difficult sources to reassess the king’s place in the turbulent politics of the mid-eleventh century.”

Ralph Griffiths