Aberfrau

The House of Aberffraw takes its name from its royal court at Aberffraw on Anglesey. It was founded around 826 when Merfyn Frych, a ruler from the Isle of Man with a claim through his mother, seized Gwynedd; his son Rhodri Mawr built a Welsh hegemony.

Restored after the Norman incursions by Gruffudd ap Cynan in 1098, the house reached its height under Llywelyn the Great and his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, recognised as Prince of Wales in 1267. Edward I's conquest ended its power: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was killed in battle in 1282 and his brother Dafydd was executed at Shrewsbury in 1283, the last native prince to rule Gwynedd.

The family's claim lived on through exiled descendants, above all Owain Lawgoch, who campaigned against the English from France until his assassination in 1378.