Second Dynasty of Gwynedd
| Second Dynasty of Gwynedd | |
|---|---|
Arms of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (d. 11 December 1282), one of the most important members of the dynasty | |
| Parent family | Coeling (alleged, agnatic) First Dynasty (enatic) |
| Country | Kingdom of Gwynedd |
| Place of origin | Isle of Man |
| Founded | 826 |
| Founder | Merfyn Frych |
| Final ruler | Dafydd ap Gruffudd |
| Final head | Owain Lawgoch |
| Historic seat | Aberffraw |
| Deposition | 1283 |
| Cadet branches | Cadelling |
The Second Dynasty of Gwynedd, also known as the House of Aberffraw and contemporaneously as the Merfynion, 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, and 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 thus was not a member of the First Dynasty of Gwynedd, though he was married to a woman of this line. Therefore, the dynasty was known contemporaneously as the MerỼynyaỼn, literally 'descendants of Merfyn'. However, this name would and did also apply to the Dynasty of Deheubarth, who descendants of Anarawd's brother Cadell ap Rhodri, so modern scholarship refers to the branch of the family associated which ruled Gwynedd as the Second Dynasty of Gwynedd.