Hywel Dda King of Deheubarth ^{1 2 3}

   Other names for Hywel were Howel Dda King of Deheubarth, Howell Dha King of South Wales, Hywel the Good, Hywel ap Cadell ap Rhodri and Hywel ap Cadell ap Rhodri Mawr King of Deheubarth.

  Research Notes:

Lawgiver of Cambria

From A History of Wales, p. 83:

"If the intention of the rulers of Dyfed and Brycheiniog in seeking the patronage of Alfred was to remain free from the clutches of the house of Rhodri, they failed. About 904, Llywarch ap Hyfaidd, king of Dyfed, died; his kingdom came into the possession of Hywel ap Cadell ap Rhodri, the ruler of Seisyllwg and the husband of Elen, Llywarch's daughter. It would appear that Hywel also took possession of Brycheiniog, for its royal line ends with Tewdwr ap Griffri, who died about 930. The enlarged kingdom came to be known as Deheubarth, a unit of central importance in the history of Wales during the following four centuries.

"...Deheubarth was united with the territories of Idwal ab Anarawd ap Rhodri--Gwynedd and Powys--in 942, and Hywel died in 950 (or perhaps 949) the ruler of a kingdom which extended from Prestatyn to Pembroke."
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From Wikipedia - Hywel Dda :
Hywel Dda (c. 880 - 950), (English : Hywel the Good;, sometimes anglicized to Howell the Good) was a well-thought-of king[1] of Deheubarth in south-west Wales , who, using his cunning, eventually came to rule Wales from Prestatyn to Pembroke .[2] As a descendant of Rhodri Mawr through his father Cadell , Hywel was a member of the Dinefwr branch of the dynasty and is also named Hywel ap Cadell. He was recorded as King of the Britons in the Annales Cambriae and the Annals of Ulster .

He is remembered as one of the most responsible native Welsh rulers of all time. His name is particularly linked with the development of the Welsh laws , generally known as the Laws of Hywel Dda. The latter part of his name ('Dda' or 'Good') refers to the fact that his laws were just and good. The historian Dafydd Jenkins sees in them compassion rather than punishment, plenty of common sense and a sense of respect towards women.[1]

Hywel Dda was certainly a well-educated man, even by modern standards, having a good knowledge of Welsh, Latin, and English.[1]

In April 2008 a merger of Pembrokeshire & Derwen, Ceredigion and Mid Wales, and Carmarthenshire NHS Trusts was named the Hywel Dda NHS Trust in his honour.


Biography
Hywel was born at around 880, the younger son of Cadell , himself the son of Rhodri the Great . In 905, Cadell, having conquered Dyfed , gave it to his son to rule on his behalf. Hywel was able to consolidate his position by marrying Elen, whose father Llywarch ap Hyfaidd had ruled Dyfed until his death. Following his father's death in 909, he acquired a share of Seisyllwg , and on his brother's death in 920, he merged Dyfed and Seisyllwg, creating for himself a new kingdom, which became known as Deheubarth . Following the death of his cousin Idwal Foel in 942, he also seized the Kingdom of Gwynedd .

Accomplishments
Peace with Wessex
Hywel's reign was a violent one, and he achieved an understanding with Athelstan of England . Athelstan and Hywel ruled part of Wales jointly. Such was the relationship between the neighbouring countries that Hywel was able to mint his own coinage in the English city of Chester . He was the first Welsh ruler to produce coinage for at least a thousand years, since the coinage of his Celtic predecessors. His study of legal systems and his pilgrimage to Rome in 928 combined to enable him to formulate advanced ideas about law. A comparative study of law and lawmaking at the time reveals a deep concern for law and its documentation throughout Europe and also the Islamic world, the Cordoba Islamic Law translation schools being a fine example, from Greek to Arabic to Latin. The Hywel 'Law' book was written partly in Latin, about laws of court, law of country and the law of justices.

Opinions vary as to the motives for Hywel's close association with the court of Athelstan. J.E. Lloyd claimed Hywel was an admirer of Wessex [3], while D.P. Kirby suggests that it may have been the action of a pragmatist who recognized the realities of power in mid-10th century Britain.[4] It is notable that he gave one of his sons an Anglo-Saxon name, Edwin. His policies with regard to England were evidently not to the taste of all his subjects. Athelstan and Hywel had similar interests. They both developed a coinage; they both had a kingdom; both were attributed a Law book. Hywel was aware of the greater power and acceded to it.

A Welsh language poem entitled Armes Prydein , considered by Sir Ifor Williams to have been written in Deheubarth during Hywel's reign, called for the Welsh to join a confederation of all the non-English peoples of Britain and Ireland to fight the Saxons. The poem may be linked to the alliance of Norse and Celtic kingdoms which challenged Athelstan at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937.[citation needed ] No Welsh forces joined this alliance, and this may well have been because of the influence of Hywel.[citation needed ] On the other hand neither did he send troops to support Athelstan.
Welsh Law
The conference held at Whitland circa 945, was an assembly in which Welsh law was codified and set down in writing for posterity. According to tradition, much of the work was done by the celebrated clerk, Blegywryd. Following Hywel's death, his kingdom was soon split into three. Gwynedd was reclaimed by the sons of Idwal Foel, while Deheubarth was divided between Hywel's sons. However, his legacy endured in the form of his laws, which remained in active use throughout Wales until the conquest and were not abolished by the English Parliament until the 16th century. A surviving copy of a Latin text of the Law (ms Peniarth 28) is held at The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth and can be seen online.[1] More than 30 manuscripts were recently selected for a discussion of the "Law" of Hywel, by a Welsh professor of Medieval studies, Hywel Emanuel. Only five of them were considered to be of sufficient antiquity, dating back to the 13thC or earlier, to merit serious attention. Three of them were in Latin and two in Welsh.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Pilgrimage: to Rome, Abt 929. ⁴

Hywel married Elen ferch Llywarch, daughter of Llywarch ap Hyfaidd King of Dyfed and Unknown. (Elen ferch Llywarch was born about 885 in Dyfed, Wales and died in 943.)