"[He] acquired the Kingdom of Dyfed on marrying Elen, the daughter of the King of Dyfed. He may have ordered the killing of his brother-in-law, Llywarch of Dyfed in order to secure the kingship of Dyfed for himself (John Davies: A History of Wales, London, 1993, pg. 87). He is remembered as 'Hywel the Good' and was responsible for sponsoring a compilation of Welsh Law, making St. Davids in Dyfed the ecclesiastical centre of Wales, and for issuing the first Royal coinage of Wales. However, there is no evidence that coinage was used in any scale in Wales before the time of Hywel's grandson Maredudd ap Owain.
"Disorder reigned after Hywel's death, with Viking raids and English incursions spreading havoc, which the rivalries of competing petty kings and princes did nothing to mitigate. No fewer than 35 violent deaths of rulers are recorded in the Brut y Tywsogion (Chronicle of the Princes) between 950 and the Norman Conquest."153 |