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Hywel Dda

Hywel Dda (880-950) was King of Dyfed from 905 to 909 (succeeding Llywarch ap Hyfaidd), Prince of Seisyllwg in 909 (succeeding Cadell ap Rhodri), Prince of Deheubarth from 909 to 950 (preceding Owain ap Hywel, Rhodri ap Hywel, and Edwin ap Hywel), Prince of Gwynedd from 920 to 950 (succeeding Idwal Foel and preceding Iago ab Idwal), King of Powys from 942 to 950 (succeeding Llywelyn ap Merfyn and preceding his three sons), and King of the Britons from 942 to 950 (succeeding Idwal and preceding Dyfnwal ab Owain).

Biography[]

Hywel Dda Tettenhall

Hywel at the Battle of Tettenhall

Hywel Dda was born in 880, the son of Capell ap Rhodri of Seisyllwg, and he was already in control of Dyfed by the time he assumed his father's lands in Ceredigion. In 910, while Prince of Deheubarth, he led an army to assist his Anglo-Saxon neighbors against an invading Viking army at the Battle of Tettenhall in exchange for all of the spoils from the battle. Immediately after the battle, Hywel rejected King Edward the Elder of Wessex's offer of an alliance, insisting that Wales did not need Saxon help, and that there would be no more favors. He later inherited the monarchy of several more Welsh nations, and he went on a pilgrimage to Rome in 928. Upon his return to Wales, Hywel Dda forged an alliance with Aethelstan of England, and he seized control of Gwynedd in 942 following Idwal Foel's death in battle, dispossessing his children. Hywel became the ruler of all of Wales except for Morgannwg and Gwent, but his death led to his kingdom splitting into three.

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