Before Wales was conquered in the 1280s and came under the rulership of the English king, the country consisted of a number of independent kingdoms. It was rare for there to be only one ruler of the whole of Wales. The names of those who are known to have ruled over one or more Welsh kingdom can be seen below.
The only person known to have ruled the whole of Wales was Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, who became King of Wales from 1055-1063. The Tudor dynasty who ruled England and Wales following the Battle of Bosworth were a royal house of Welsh origins.
The kingdoms of Deheubarth, (which included Ceredigion, Dyfed, Seisyllwg and Deheubarth), Gwynedd, Morgannwg and Powys all had their own rules until 1282 when the Welsh conquest was completed.
Many of the best recorded rulers are from the Kingdom of Gwynedd, which was ruled by the House of Cunedda, the House of Manaw, the House of Aberffraw, the House of Dinefwr, the House of Rhuddlan and the House of Mathrafal at various points.
Important figures:
Gruffydd ap Llyweln, King of Wales from 1055-1063.
Owain Glyndwr, founder of the first Welsh parliament and the last native-born leader to unite Wales.
Owen Tudor, descendant of a prominent family in the Kingdom of Gwynedd and the grandfather of Henry VII of England.
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