Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog

Who was Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog?

Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog was King of Gwynedd. He rose to power following a destructive dynastic struggle in which he deposed his brother, King Cynan Dindaethwy ap Rhodri. During Hywel's reign Gwynedd's power was largely confined to Anglesey. It was a time of substantial territorial loss to Mercia.

Hywel is said to be the son of Rhodri Molwynog on the assumption that he was Cynan's brother, for example as stated in Lloyd's History of Wales, which does not cite its source. Sources such as the Annales Cambriae mention him by name only. The genealogy of Jesus College MS. 20 gives him as the son of Caradog ap Meirion, while it gives Cynan as the son of Rhodri Molwynog.

A destructive war between King Cynan and Hywel raged on Anglesey between 812 and 816, ultimately ending with Cynan's defeat and banishment, and Hywel's rise to the throne. Coenwulf of Mercia took advantage of Gwynedd's weakness in 817, occupying Rhufoniog and laying waste to the mountains of Eryri, the defensive stronghold of Gwynedd. In 818 there was a notable battle at Llanfaes on Anglesey. The combatants are not identified, but the site had been the llys of King Cynan.