King of England :
Henry III 1216-72
Background information :
The 1240's were a bad decade for those Welsh with nationalist ambitions. In 1240 Llywelyn ap Iorwerth died and his lands and titles passed to his son Dafydd. A meeting between this new leader and King Henry took place in Gloucester that year after which Henry started handing out titles to lands that were still under Dafydds control and over which no agreements had been reached. In a clever move Henry had restored these lands to their previous incumbents prior to Iorwerths domination in return for sworn oaths of loyalty to the Crown. As mentioned on the previous page many were happy to oblige. This redistribution of lands caused, inevitably, Dafydd to revolt in 1241 but it was abortive as the chieftans of his territories all sought peace with the Crown and its chief ally, the ever-stronger Ralph Mortimer.

During this period Ralph started to build new castles in Maelienydd to protect his aquisitions there. These included Knucklas NW of Knighton. In 1244 Dafydd revolted again this time having some success and defeating the Crown forces although the site of that battle remains unknown. In this revolt he was joined by the men of Maelienydd, Elfael remaining loyal to the Crown. The following year saw this revolt crushed by Royal forces near Montgomery and thereafter Dafydd retreated to the N where he mounted guerilla-type raids until his death in 1246. He was succeeded by Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, his nephew and an elder brother, Owain Goch. The same year Ralph Mortimer died and was succeeded by his son Roger. The defeated Welsh leaders of Maelienydd tried to beg for the reinstatement of at least part of their ancestral lands offering their fealty to the Crown but were refused due to the fickle previous form and died in poverty.