Gwenllian Ferch Gruffydd - Gwenllian's Legacy

Gwenllian's Legacy

Gwenllian's actions can be compared to another Celtic leader: Boadicea (Buddug). This is the only known example of a medieval period woman leading a Welsh army into battle. The field where the battle is believed to have taken place, close to Kidwelly Castle and north of the town, is known as Maes Gwenllian (Welsh, meaning 'Field of Gwenllian'). A spring in the field is also named after her, supposedly welling up on the spot where she died.

For centuries after her death, Welshmen cried-out Revenge for Gwenllian when engaging in battle. Gwenllian and her husband also harassed Norman, English, and Flemish colonists in Deheubarth, taking goods and money and redistributed them among the Deheubarth Welsh who were themselves dispossessed by those colonizers, like a pair of Robin Hoods of Wales, as historian and author Philip Warner writes.

Gwenllian's youngest son went on to become a notable leader of Deheubarth, The Lord Rhys.

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