King of England :
Henry II 1154-89
Background information :
The decade of the 1170's was characterised by the Crown possesion of various lands in the area through Ralph le Poer, sherrif of Hereford and Henry's right hand man. First came the Lordship of Kington, after Adam Port had taken part in a failed rebellion in 1172-3. With this came Presteigne, which had been sub-let to the Fraxino family. Meanwhile the Welsh had managed to push Hugh Mortimer back out of Maelienydd and again the border was ablaze. In 1175 Henry invited all of the Marcher Lords and Welsh Kings to a meeting at Gloucester. Rhys ap Gruffydd had met him earlier that year at Worcester and had promised the return of New Radnor as part of a proposed settlement with the Normans. The

outcome was that the Welsh kept their kingdoms but were to pay a fine, exactly the same as Hugh Mortimers from 1165 after he'd marched into Maelienydd, much to the ire of Hugh and his son Roger, who had Einion Clud assasinated in 1176 and Cadwallon murdered in 1179, for which Roger was imprisoned by Henry for two years at Winchester. Not to be outdone, William Braose jr., who took over the family estates from his father around 1175, set about earning his nickname 'The Ogre of Abergavenny' by arranging the massacre of Seisyll ap Dyfnwal, a S Welsh leader, and all his family, after inviting them to a banquet (good job they didnt complain about the dirty fork). Following the death of Cadwallon the Kingdoms passed to Maelgwn, his son but not before Ralph le Poer had moved into Maelienydd on account of Cadwallons debts to the Crown.