Emma of Anjou

Emma (or Emme) of Anjou (c.1140–c.1214)[1] was an illegitimate daughter of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and half-sister of King Henry II of England. She was married to Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, a Welsh prince.[2] She is occasionally confused with Emma de Laval (1200-1264), the daughter of Guy V de Laval.[3] Emma married Dafydd in the summer of 1174, after an unsuccessful rebellion by the queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and her older sons had led her half-brother the king to disperse Eleanor's court in Aquitaine and bring Emma back to England.[4]

Emma had four children by Dafydd:

  • Owain
  • Einion
  • Gwenllian
  • Gwenhwyfar, who married one Meurig ap Roger,[1] the son of a Powys nobleman who had allied himself with Henry II[5]

In 1176, after her husband's rule in the Kingdom of Gwynedd had been challenged by his brother, Emma is known to have visited King Henry II and received a gift of manors in Shropshire and Worcestershire.[1] After Henry's death in 1189, she continued to attempt to protect her children's interests by making representations to Henry's heirs.[6]

In 1196, Emma and her husband, at the request of their son, Owain,[1] gave property to Haughmond Abbey.[7] Shortly afterwards, Dafydd was deposed by his nephew, Llywelyn the Great, and was forced into exile in England, where he died in 1203.

References
  1. Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 2011. Douglas Richardson. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4610-4513-7.
  2. John Edward Lloyd. "Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd (died 1203), king of Gwynedd". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  3. John McNeill; Daniel Prigent (2003). Anjou: medieval art, architecture, and archaeology. British Archaeological Association. p. 160.
  4. Lisa Hilton (2008). Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 137. ISBN 9780753826119.
  5. Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru. University of Wales Press. 2002. p. 16.
  6. Thirteenth Century England. Boydell Press. 1986. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-84383-122-8.
  7. Eyton, Antiquities of Shropshire, Volume 10, p. 249
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