But, backed up by the
liberty-loving sons of Snowdon and by his sea-roving kinsmen, he made
Gwynedd strong and prosperous. He drove the Normans from Anglesey;
he attacked and killed Robert of Rhuddlan; he saw the red King of
England himself forced by storm and rain to beat a retreat from
Snowdon. He was loved by his people during his youth of adventure
and battle, and during his old age of safe counsel and love of peace.
His wife Angharad and his son Owen live with him in the memory of his
country. When he died, in 1137, it was said that he had saved his
people, had ruled them justly, and had given them peace.
In the Severn country the princes of Powys were fighting against the
Normans also, especially against the family of Montgomery. The sons
of Bleddyn--Cadogan, Iorwerth, and Meredith--were driving the
invaders from the valley of the Severn, and from Dyved, defeating
their armies in battle, and storming their castles. Sometimes they
would make alliances with them, and defy the King of England. But it
is difficult to follow each of them. The history of one of them,
Owen ap Cadogan, is like a romance. He was brave and handsome, in
love with Nest, and a very firebrand in politics. The army of Henry
I.
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