Welsh rebellions against English rule
[3] In November 1276, Edward I of England declared war on Llywelyn ap Gruffudd over a series of disputes,[4] and in 1277 led 15,500 men into Wales.
[5] War broke out again in 1282, as a result of a rebellion by Llywelyn's brother Dafydd ap Gruffydd, who was discontented with the reward he had received from Edward in 1277.
[6] The war turned in Edward's favour when Llywelyn ap Gruffudd unexpectedly marched out of North Wales towards Builth in mid-Wales.
[9] Following the deaths of Llywelyn and Dafydd, Edward ended Welsh independence, introducing the royal ordinance of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284.
[13] In 1277, Rhys ap Maredudd submitted to English king Edward I, and surrendered the castle of Dinefwr, but was allowed to retain Dryslwyn.
Rhys abstained from the revolt in West Wales and assisted Edward in attacking Llanbadarn and patrolling Ceredigion on behalf of the English king in the absence of the royal commander.
He revolted against Edward, 8 June 1287 in Iscennen expelling Giffard; he continued across west Wales to Llanbadarn and possibly Brycheiniog.
The revolt was a response to new royal administrators in north and west Wales and the imposition of taxes such as that levied on one fifteenth of all movables.
However, due to bad weather Edward's army had not yet sailed and he quickly cancelled the French campaign to deal with the Welsh uprising.
[18] In December 1294 King Edward led an army into north Wales to quell the revolt, stopping at Wrexham, Denbigh, Abergele, and elsewhere on his way to Conwy Castle, which he reached shortly before Christmas.
[19] Madog barely escaped from this episode with his life and was a fugitive until his capture by Ynyr Fychan of Nannau and hand over to John de Havering in Snowdonia in late July or early August 1295.
[21] When he was commanded to appear before the king, Llywelyn raised an army of Welsh Glamorgan men which laid siege to Caerphilly Castle.
[22] It marked the last serious challenge to English rule in Wales until the attempts of Owain Lawgoch to invade with French support in the 1370s.
[23][24] In May 1372 in Paris, Owain Lawgoch (English: Owen with the red hand) announced that he intended to claim the throne of Wales.
The alarmed English government sent a spy, the Scot John Lamb, to assassinate Owain, who had been given the task of besieging Mortagne-sur-Gironde in Poitou.
[25] The Issue Roll of the Exchequer dated 4 December 1378 records "To John Lamb, an esquire from Scotland, because he lately killed Owynn de Gales, a rebel and enemy of the King in France ...
[25][30] The immediate and initial cause of Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion is likely the incursion onto his land by Baron Grey of Ruthin and the late delivery of a letter requiring Glyndŵr to provide armed services to King Henry IV of England, as well as unfair mediation of this dispute by the English king.
