Second Dynasty of Gwynedd
Royal family of Wales
The Second Dynasty of Gwynedd or Merfynion, sometimes known as the House of Aberffraw, was a dynasty which ruled over Gwynedd with minor interruptions from the ninth to thirteenth centuries. The family was deposed in 1283 with the conquest of Wales by Edward I, which resulted in the execution of the last ruler of Gwynedd, Dafydd ap Gruffudd on October 3 of that year. The final politically active descendant of the main branch of the Second Dynasty of Gwynedd, Owain Lawgoch, was assassinated in July 1378.
Merfyn Frych was the first ruler of Gwynedd not to be a male-line descendant of Cunedda and was therefore not from the First Dynasty of Gwynedd, though his mother Ethyllt was of this line. The dynasty was known after him as the Merfynion, literally 'descendants of Merfyn'. The Dynasty of Deheubarth was a cadet branch of the Merfynion, as it was founded by Cadell ap Rhodri, a grandson of Merfyn Frych.
Early history
The Second Dynasty was established with the conquest of Gwynedd by Merfyn Frych around the year 826. Merfyn was the King of the Isle of Man, and was through his mother Esyllt a grandson of Cynan Dindaethwy, a king of the First Dynasty of Gwynedd. In the 810s, Gwynedd was subject to a civil war between Cynan and Hywel Farf-fehinog, with both claimants representing two different branches of the First Dynasty of Gwynedd, but Cynan died in 816. Gwynedd itself appears to have been a client kingdom of Mercia at this time.
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