In 1230, Marcher Lord William de Braose was executed by Llywelyn Fawr (the Great) for his affair with the Lady of Wales, Siwan (Joan)

In 1230, Marcher Lord William de Braose was executed by Llywelyn Fawr (the Great) for his affair with the Lady of Wales, Siwan (Joan)

This happens to be one of my favourite tales in history. Unfortunately, I don't have the space here to go into the level of detail I'd like, but I'll be writing about this on my blog at a later date. Though if you have any questions here, feel free to ask away! As the story goes, William was being held prisoner and traditionally, as Llywelyn’s wife, it was Siwan’s responsibility to tend to his wounds. Throughout this time, it's believed an affection developed between the two. Then, one fateful night, Llywelyn caught them both in the act in his very own chambers. Immediately, the pair were separated. Joan was sent away to be placed under house arrest for a year and William was sentenced to death. It's said he was “hanged from a tree in a certain manor called Crokein” with more than 800 people in attendance. Llywelyn was allegedly advised, by some, against going ahead with the execution, fearing it may result in tensions, but it seemed Llywelyn was acting on jealousy. In the words of J.E. Lloyd “it was the outraged husband, not the astute politician, who hanged William de Braose.” Despite this though, Llywelyn managed to persuade William's widow, Eva, to maintain the betrothal of her daughter, Isabella de Braose, to his son, Dafydd. When Siwan’s imprisonment came to an end, she was immediately restored to favour. The image above is a depiction of an imprisoned Siwan from the play ‘Siwan’, written by Saunders Lewis and first produced in 1956.