Hywel ap Ieuaf

Who was Hywel ap Ieuaf?

Hywel ap Ieuaf was a King of Gwynedd in north-west Wales from 979 to 985.

Hywel was the son of Ieuaf ap Idwal who had ruled Gwynedd jointly with his brother Iago ab Idwal until 969. In that year the sons of Idwal quarrelled and Iago took Ieuaf prisoner. Hywel is first recorded as accompanying Iago to Chester to meet King Edgar of England in 973, when together with a number of other kings including the kings of Scotland and of Strathclyde he pledged that he would be the king's henchmen on sea and land. Later chroniclers made the kings into eight, all plying the oars of Edgar's state barge on the River Dee.

In 974 Hywel raised an army and drove his uncle from Gwynedd temporarily. Iago was able to return, but was forced to share power with his nephew. In 978 Hywel made another attempt to take the kingdom from his uncle, raiding the monastery at Clynnog Fawr. In this raid Hywel has helped by English troops, possibly provided by Aelfhere, Earl of Mercia. Hywel defeated Iago in battle in 979, and the same year Iago was captured by a force of Vikings, possibly in Hywel's pay, and vanished from the scene. Hywel was left as sole ruler of Gwynedd, but apparently did not set his father free, since according to J.E. Lloyd, Ieuaf remained in captivity until 988.