David Stephenson is an Honorary Research Fellow in Medieval Welsh History at Bangor University. He is the author of Political Power in Medieval Gwynedd, Medieval Powys 1132–1293 and Medieval Wales, c.1050–1332.

• PrefaceAcknowledgements Genealogical Chart Map Prologue: Crisis at Cefnllys Chapter 1: Questions of Ancestry Chapter 2: Diligence, Danger and Distinction: The career of Hywel ap Meurig Intermezzo: The sons of Hywel ap Meurig Chapter 3. Philip ap Hywel: Administrative eminence and political peril Chapter 4: The empire builders: Master Rees ap Hywel and his sons Chapter 5: Continuity and new directions: Sir Philip Clanvowe Chapter 6: The last of the line: the later Clanvowes Chapter 7: Some reflectionsBibliographyIndex

A brilliant study of a lesser Welsh family, whose two centuries in the service of the English Crown and great Marcher barons were packed with determined careerism, intrigue and, above all, upward social mobility.

David Stephenson is an Honorary Research Fellow in Medieval Welsh History at Bangor University. He is the author of Political Power in Medieval Gwynedd, Medieval Powys 1132–1293 and Medieval Wales, c.1050–1332.

• PrefaceAcknowledgements Genealogical Chart Map Prologue: Crisis at Cefnllys Chapter 1: Questions of Ancestry Chapter 2: Diligence, Danger and Distinction: The career of Hywel ap Meurig Intermezzo: The sons of Hywel ap Meurig Chapter 3. Philip ap Hywel: Administrative eminence and political peril Chapter 4: The empire builders: Master Rees ap Hywel and his sons Chapter 5: Continuity and new directions: Sir Philip Clanvowe Chapter 6: The last of the line: the later Clanvowes Chapter 7: Some reflectionsBibliographyIndex

A brilliant study of a lesser Welsh family, whose two centuries in the service of the English Crown and great Marcher barons were packed with determined careerism, intrigue and, above all, upward social mobility.

David Stephenson is an Honorary Research Fellow in Medieval Welsh History at Bangor University. He is the author of Political Power in Medieval Gwynedd, Medieval Powys 1132–1293 and Medieval Wales, c.1050–1332.

• PrefaceAcknowledgements Genealogical Chart Map Prologue: Crisis at Cefnllys Chapter 1: Questions of Ancestry Chapter 2: Diligence, Danger and Distinction: The career of Hywel ap Meurig Intermezzo: The sons of Hywel ap Meurig Chapter 3. Philip ap Hywel: Administrative eminence and political peril Chapter 4: The empire builders: Master Rees ap Hywel and his sons Chapter 5: Continuity and new directions: Sir Philip Clanvowe Chapter 6: The last of the line: the later Clanvowes Chapter 7: Some reflectionsBibliographyIndex

A brilliant study of a lesser Welsh family, whose two centuries in the service of the English Crown and great Marcher barons were packed with determined careerism, intrigue and, above all, upward social mobility.