Family Notes

[Johnson.FTW]

[1144734.FTW]

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REFN41729
[G675.ged]
One interesting story from Joan and Llyw elyn's marriage:  about 1230/1231,
Llywelyn returned home unexpectedly to find Joan alone in their bedroom
with
William de Braose.  This story is recounte d in "Here Be Dragons" and one
other "purely historical" source. William was l ater hanged on Llywelyn's
order.
From "The Genealogist" article by Wm. Addam s Reitwiesner: He was
discovered in Joan's chambers, accused of being her lov er, and promptly
and publicly hanged.  While the story that William and Joan w ere lovers
has
been generally accepted, the Annals of Margam (in T. Gale, ed , Historiae
Britannicae et Anglicanae Scriptores XX (Oxford, 1687), 2-18, [an no]
MCCXXX)
implies that the "intimacy" was devised by Llywelyn to avenge hi mself on
William for political injuries inflicted not only by William but by t he
entire
Braose family; the execution was hailed by the Welsh as a vindicat ion of a
blood-feud against the Braoses dating from at least 1176.  Indeed, sh ortly
after the execution Llywelyn wrote to William's widow Eva and to William
Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, Eva's brother, stating, in effect, that so far
a s
he was concerned, the intended marriage between Llywelyn's son Dafydd and
E va's daughter Isabella could go forward as planned, and that he could not
have prevented the Welsh magnates from taking their vengeance.  See J.
Goronwy Ed wards, Calendar of Ancient Correspondence concerning Wales
(Board of Celtic S tudies of the University of Wales, History and Law
Series, 2)(Cardiff, 1935), pp 51-52, nos.  XI.56a, 56b.  The marriage in
fact took place three months l ater.