Editing Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (section)

== Genealogy and early life ==
Llywelyn was the second of the four sons of [[Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Iorwerth]], the eldest son of [[Llywelyn ab Iorwerth]], and [[Senana ferch Caradog]],<ref name=Pierce/><ref name=Tout14/> the daughter of Caradoc ap Thomas ap Rhodri, Lord of Anglesey.<ref>{{cite book |author=Colin A. Gresham |title=Eifionydd: a Study in Landownership from the Medieval Period to the Present Day |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6n08AAAAMAAJ |year=1973 |publisher=University of Wales Press |isbn=978-0-7083-0435-8 |page=345}}</ref>{{refn|According to several non-contemporary Welsh genealogical tracts, the mother of Llywelyn was Rhanullt, daughter of [[Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson|Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles]]. If correct, these sources could indicate that Llywelyn's father married a daughter of Rǫgnvaldr in about 1220. Contemporary sources, however, show that Llywelyn's mother was Senana.|group=note}}

The eldest was [[Owain Goch ap Gruffudd]] and there were two younger brothers, [[Dafydd ap Gruffydd]] and [[Rhodri ap Gruffudd]].<ref name=Pierce/><ref name=Tout14/> Llywelyn is thought to have been born around 1222 or 1223. He is first heard of holding lands in the [[Vale of Clwyd]] around 1244.

Following his grandfather's death in 1240, Llywelyn's uncle, [[Dafydd ap Llywelyn]] (who was Llywelyn the Great's eldest legitimate son), succeeded him as ruler of [[Gwynedd]]. At this time, Llywelyn went on crusade with [[Richard of Cornwall]], brother of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] of [[England]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hurlock |first=Kathryn |title=Wales and the Crusades, c. 1095–1291 |publisher=University of Wales Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0708324271 |location=Cardiff |pages=111–112, 193–199}}</ref>

Llywelyn's father, Gruffudd (who was Llywelyn's eldest son but illegitimate), and his brother, Owain, were initially kept prisoner by Dafydd, then transferred into the custody of King Henry III of England. Gruffudd died in 1244 from a fall while trying to escape from his cell at the top of the [[Tower of London]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Wynford Vaughan-Thomas |title=Wales, a History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a_orAAAAMAAJ |year=1985 |publisher=M. Joseph |isbn=978-0-7181-2468-7 |page=10}}</ref> The window from which he attempted to escape the Tower was bricked up and can still be seen to this day.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historyhit.com/the-last-prince-of-wales-the-death-of-llywelyn-ap-gruffudd/ 
|website=historyhit.com |title=The Last Prince of Wales: The Death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd |date=12 June 2023 |access-date=28 November 2023}}</ref> King Henry could no longer use Gruffudd against him, war broke out between Dafydd II and King Henry in 1245.<ref>{{cite DWB|id=s-DAFY-APL-1246|title=Dafydd ap Llywelyn (died 1246), prince}}</ref> Llywelyn supported his uncle in the savage fighting that followed.<ref name=Turvey99/> Owain, meanwhile, was freed by Henry III after his father's death and was given a portion of [[Snowdonia]] (Eryri) by Henry at the treaty of Woodstock in 1247.<ref>{{cite DWB|id=s-OWAI-APG-1260|title=Owain ap Gruffudd or Owain Goch (fl. 1260), a prince of Gwynedd}}</ref>