Rhys ap Gruffudd : diforc'h etre ar stummoù

 

{{cquote|This meant the delegation to him of any authority which the king might have claimed over his fellow Welsh rulers; it might also have involved some authority over the king's Anglo-Norman subjects ... Rhys was more than a native Welsh ruler; he was one of the great feudatories of the Angevin empire.<ref>Carr p. 45</ref>}}

The agreement between Henry and Rhys was to last until Henry's death in 1189. When Henry's sons rebelled against him in 1173 Rhys sent his son Hywel Sais to Normandy to aid the king, then in 1174 personally led an army to [[Tutbury]] in Staffordshire to assist at the siege of the stronghold of the rebel Earl [[William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby|William de Ferrers]].<ref>Turvey p. 60</ref> When Rhys returned to Wales after the fall of Tutbury, he left a thousand men with the king for service in Normandy. King Henry held a council at [[Gloucester]] in 1175 which was attended by a large gathering of Welsh princes, led by Rhys. It appears to have concluded with the swearing of a mutual assistance pact for the preservation of peace and order in Wales.<ref>Warren p. 167</ref> In 1177 Rhys, [[Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd|Dafydd ab Owain]], who had emerged as the main power in Gwynedd, and [[Cadwallon ap Madog]] from [[Rhwng Gwy a Hafren]] swore fealty and liege homage to Henry at a council held at Oxford.<ref>Warren p. 168</ref> At this council the king gave Meirionnydd, part of the kingdom of Gwynedd, to Rhys. There was some fighting in Meirionnydd the following year, but Rhys apparently made no serious attempt to annex it.