But Simon in the hour of triumph was now near his fall, which was made inevitable by the defection of Gilbert de Clare and whole of the Gloucester interest. The causes of the quarrel as given in the chronicles are mainly personal. Simon, with all his greatness, was quick-tempered and overbearing, inclined to seize power for himself, and perhaps even avaricious; one may infer this from the statement of a friendly chronicler, William Rishanger: “his habitual prayer to God was that he would save him from avarice and covetousness of worldly goods.” But, apart from merely personal questions, it is to be noticed that the closer the relations between Simon and Llywelyn became, the less cordial became his relations to Gilbert de Clare. Thus when Simon co-operated with Llywelyn in bringing Mortimer and the Marchers to submission in December, 1264, Gilbert began to intrigue with them; and soon after the famous parliament of 1265 had transferred to Simon the earldom of Chester—thus relieving Llywelyn of his most dangerous neighbour, Prince Edward—Gilbert definitely joined Mortimer and Edward. The meeting between the three at Ludlow is very important; for Prince Edward now, at the instance of Gloucester, definitely pledged himself to the cause of reform and good government. It may be said for the Red Earl of Gloucester that in deserting Simon he did not desert his cause. To ensure the future of English liberties it was no longer necessary to support De Montfort: “henceforth it was not Simon but Edward who best represents the cause of orderly national progress.”

A few days after the desertion of Gloucester Simon made his first formal treaty with Llywelyn, ceding to him Hawarden, Ellesmere, Montgomery, Maud’s Castle, a line of fortresses along the eastern border, recognising his right to the title of Prince of Wales, and to the homage of all the Welsh barons, while Llywelyn engaged to supply Simon with five thousand spearmen and raid the estates of Mortimer and De Clare. The first part of the campaign of Evesham was carried out in Gwent. Prince Edward held the line of the Severn, separating Simon at Hereford from his English partisans. Simon, while waiting for his English supporters to concentrate, entered Monmouthshire, where Llywelyn’s spearmen joined him and ravaged the Gloucester estates, trying to entice the royalists into Wales. Edward followed; but—his pupil in war as in politics—the young prince outgeneralled him at every point, and Simon only escaped at Newport by hurried flight across the river, burning the bridge behind him. He kept the Usk between him and his enemy, but this involved a long march north, through mountains and barren country, and he got back to Hereford with a half-starved army, only to find the line of the Severn held more strongly than ever. We cannot follow out the rest of the campaign, marked as it was by brilliant strategy on the part of the young Edward, which proved him a born master of the art of war. In the final battle all the advantages were on his side, and one cannot blame the spearmen of Gwynedd for trying to save themselves by flight at the “murder of Evesham.” The body of the great Earl of Leicester was shamefully mutilated by the conquerors, and his head sent as a fitting present to Matilda de Braose, wife of Roger Mortimer.

The struggle continued for two years both in England and Wales. In England Simon’s adherents held out owing to the severity of the terms which the victorious party insisted on. They are known as “The Disinherited,” and their cause was championed by the two enemies—Llywelyn and Gilbert de Clare. The “Brut” states that in 1267, “Llywelyn confederated with Earl Clare; and then the earl marched with an immense army to London; and through the treachery of the citizens he got possession of the Tower. And when King Henry and his son Edward heard of this they collected an immense army and marched to London and attacked it, and upon conditions they compelled the earl and citizens to submit.” “The Annals of Winchester,” a contemporary English chronicle, relate the same event, but omit any mention of Llywelyn: “Earl Gilbert took London, and the Disinherited flocked to him as to their saviour; peace was settled in June, and many of the Disinherited were pacified at the instance of the Earl of Gloucester.” It is clear that each of these rivals posed as champion of the Disinherited, but for opposite reasons. Llywelyn’s object was to encourage their resistance and keep England divided by civil war; Gilbert’s to insist on better terms in order to induce them to yield. Gilbert was successful in bringing about peace and reform. The Disinherited were allowed to pay a fine instead of losing all their property, and many of the legal reforms demanded by the baronial party at the beginning of the struggle were embodied in the Statute of Marlborough. And now the Earl of Gloucester employed his resources in strengthening his Glamorgan lordship to resist the threatened invasion of Llywelyn by building Castell Coch and Caerphilly.

Llywelyn continued his victorious career as long as war lasted. In 1266 he inflicted a crushing defeat on Mortimer at Brecon. In the autumn of next year, when peace had been established in England, he came to terms, through the mediation of the papal legate, in the Treaty of Montgomery. Llywelyn kept the four cantreds of the Middle Country; also Cydewain, Ceri, Gwerthrynion, Builth, and Brecon. But Maelienydd was restored to Roger Mortimer, though Llywelyn reserved his right to appeal to the law against this article. Further, the Prince of Gwynedd received the hereditary title of Prince of Wales, and was recognised as overlord of all the Welsh barons in Wales, except Meredydd ap Rhys, who remained immediate vassal of the King of England: his territories therefore in the Vale of Towy were withdrawn from the power of Llywelyn. The Prince of Wales in return did homage and agreed to pay him 25,000 marks by instalments. The treaty is less favourable to Llywelyn than that of 1265. His rights in Deheubarth were curtailed, and he gave up his claims to Ellesmere and Montgomery, and possession of Maelienydd.

The papal legate who arranged the treaty is not to be congratulated on his draftsmanship. Many things were left undecided, and a series of disputes arose. Thus Llywelyn seems to have claimed suzerainty over the Lord of Senghenydd as one of the “Welsh barons,” though that term was surely only meant to include the Welsh barons who held directly of the king, not the vassals of the Lord of Glamorgan. But it is evident that Llywelyn did not try to abide by the treaty. He continued to intrigue with the English barons, posing as the successor of Simon de Montfort, and failing to see that Edward I. was the political heir of the great earl. He tried to throw off the suzerainty of England, with the result that he lost the independence of his country. He lived in an atmosphere of enthusiasm and flattery, and failed to realise the limits of his power. The bards by whom he was surrounded exercised a “highly pernicious influence in practical concerns,” and ill-repaid his generosity by urging him to attempt the impossible.

“His bards are comely about his tables,
I have seen him generously distributing his wealth,
And his meadhorns filled with generous liquors.
I never returned empty-handed from the North.
The bards prophesy that he shall have the government and sovereign power;
Every prediction is at last to be fulfilled.”

But if Llywelyn lacked the hard head of the practical statesman, if he did not, like his grandfather, merit the title of “the Great,” he will always remain an attractive and striking figure in history; he possessed qualities which made him an ideal representative of the Cymric race in the Middle Ages:—

“A bold and bounteous lion—the most reckless of givers,
Man whose anger was destructive; most courteous prince;
A man sincere in grief, true in loving,
Perfect in knowledge.”

UNWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON.

SOME WELSH BOOKS.
WALES. By Owen M. Edwards. Crown 8vo, cloth, 5s. (“The Story of the Nations” Series.)
THE WELSH PEOPLE. By John Rhys, M.A., and David Brynmor-Jones, Q.C., M.P. Third Edition, revised. Demy 8vo, cloth, 16s.
THE WELSH LIBRARY.
Edited by Owen M. Edwards, Author of “Wales.” Each volume Foolscap 8vo. 2s. Cloth, 1s. Paper.
Vols. 1-3. THE MABINOGION.
(In Preparation.)
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.