Aberffraw, 939- 942 AD
Aberffraw, 939- 942 ADRegarding kings having a clear concept of kingship, Idwal Foel and Hywel ap Cadell were at opposite poles. Hywel was a great admirer of King Alfred of Wessex and, indeed, copying his role model, went on a pilgrimage to Rome as a young man. Whether Hywel drew inspiration from Alfred or his grandson, Aethelstan, concerning the union of smaller kingdoms into one state or whether he longed to follow his grandfather, Rhodri Mawr’s example, nobody knew. The steady unification of southern Wales either by conquest or matrimony was clear for everyone to behold. That he also yearned to add Gwynedd and Powys to his overlordship, would bring him on a direct collision course with Idwal Foel.
Idwal had no great territorial ambitions, being content, on the w
