DAFYDD ab IFAN ab EINION
(
fl.
1440-1468
).
His fame rests on his defence of
Harlech castle
for the
Lancastrians
(
1460-8
) during the
Wars of the Roses
. His father,
Ieuan ab Einion
of
Cryniarth
and
Hendwr
[in
Edeirnion, Mer.
], was a descendant of
Llywelyn ap Cynwrig
of
Cors-y-Gedol
; his mother,
Angharad
, was daughter and heiress of
Dafydd ap Giwn Llwyd
of
Hendwr
; his wife was
Margaret
, daughter of
John
Puleston
of
Emral
,
Flints.
Like so many young
Welshmen
of his day, he served with the
English
forces in
France
during the latter part of the
Hundred Years’ War
— in
Rouen
, according to
Dafydd Nanmor
. That he did serve abroad is corroborated by
Guto'r Glyn
.
When the
English
power in
Normandy
collapsed in
1450
Dafydd
returned to
England
, possibly with the troops under his fellow-countryman
Mathew
Gough
(q.v.)
. In
1453
his name appears in a
Record of Inquisitions
for
Merioneth
to the effect that some of his cattle had been stolen near
Ffestiniog
. Two years later the rival
Roses
were at war.
Dafydd
is stated to have been authorized by
queen
Margaret
to hold
Harlech
. During the campaign which culminated in the
battle of Northampton
(
July 1460
), the
queen
took refuge in
Harlech
, and that may have been the occasion on which she put
Harlech
in
Dafydd
's keeping. The castle now became a refuge for prominent
English
Lancastrian partisans
, and a convenient link between
Margaret
and her supporters.
Dafydd
was repeatedly called upon to surrender, though no active steps were taken to enforce the summons. However, when
Jasper
Tudor
(q.v.)
landed with a
Lancastrian force
at
Barmouth
(
June 1468
),
Edward
IV
sent
William (lord) Herbert
(q.v.)
with a powerful army to reduce
Harlech
, and
Dafydd
at last submitted (
1 Aug. 1468
). Fifty prisoners were taken. Two of the most prominent
English
Lancastrian leaders
,
Elwick
and
Troublok
, were taken to the
Tower of London
and executed.
Dafydd
was apparently included in a general pardon (
1 Dec. 1468
), while
Herbert
's reward was the
earldom of Pembroke
. The date of
Dafydd
's death appears to be unknown.
Bibliography:
-
Annales Rerum Anglicarum
. Rolls Series,
1861–4
, 773, 788-91;
-
Giraldi Cambrensis Opera
. Rolls Series,
1861–91
, 328;
-
Historical Collections of a Citizen of
London (1189–1469)
, Camden Society, 1876
, 208-9,237;
-
Calendar of Patent Rolls
. Record
Publication, 1891 ff
, 1461-7 (271, 352, 355, 457, 529), 1467-72 (163, 127);
-
Archaeologia Cambrensis
,
1848
, 71-2;
-
Three Fifteenth Century Chronicles, with
historical memoranda
, London, 1880
, 182;
-
Rotuli Parliamentorum
. Record
Publication, 1771–1832
, 1 Ed. IV, and 1464, 512;
-
The Poetical Works of Dafydd Nanmor
,
Cardiff, 1923
(ed.
Thomas Roberts
and
Ifor Williams
), pp.60-2;
-
Gwaith Guto'r Glyn
, 1939
(ed.
J. Llywelyn Williams, Ifor Williams
), p.41;
-
Dafydd Llwyd
,
Peniarth Manuscript in the National Library of
Wales
112 (679);
-
Tudur Penllyn
,
Peniarth Manuscript in the National Library of
Wales
112 (682);
-
Heraldic Visitations
of Wales and Part of the Marches
, 1846
, ii, 215-6;
-
H. T. Evans
,
Wales and the Wars of the Roses
,
1915
.
Author:
Howell Thomas Evans, M.A. (1878-1950), Aberaeron
