Principality of Wales - Foundations

Foundations

The 13th century Principality of Wales was based on the historic lands ruled by the Aberffraw family, lands in north Wales traditionally including Ynys Môn, Gwynedd-Uwch-Conwy (Gwynedd above the Conwy, or Upper Gwynedd), and the Perfeddwlad (the Middle Country) also known as Gwynedd-Is-Conwy (Gwynedd below the Conwy, or Lower Gwynedd). Additional lands were acquired through vassalage or conquest, and by regaining lands lost to Marcher lords, particularly that of the Perfeddwlad, Powys Fadog, Powys Wenwynwyn, and Ceredigion.

Previous Welsh rulers had styled themselves in a variety of ways, usually in relation to a certain patrimony like "Lord of Ceredigion" or "King of Builth". The most powerful were often referred to (by others at least) as "King of the Britons". As Wales was a defined geographical area with agreed borders, yet outside the bounds of England, anyone bestowed with the title Prince of Wales would have suzerainty over any local Welsh ruler but without the territorial ambitions on England of a King of the Britons - which implied "liberating" the Britons who still resided in places long considered a part of England such as Devon, Cornwall, Cumberland and other places, albeit in fewer and fewer numbers.

The Aberffraw family had long claimed primacy over all other Welsh lords, including those of Powys and of Deheubarth. In The History of Gruffydd ap Cynan, written in the late 12th century, the family asserted its rights as the senior line of descendants from Rhodri the Great who had conquered most of Wales during his lifetime. Gruffydd ap Cynan's biography was first written in Latin and intended for a wider audience outside Wales. The significance of this claim was that the Aberffraw family owed nothing to the English king for its position in Wales, and that they held authority in Wales "by absolute right through descent," wrote historian John Davies.