22/06/2026
in 1265 Simon de Montfort and Prince Llywelyn of Wales agreed to the Treaty of Pipton. It was named after Llywelyn’s camp at Pipton on the Wye inside Cantref Selyf, mid-Wales.
Simon was desperate for military support, and to that end agreed to all of Llywelyn’s demands. He did so in the name of Henry III, who was being dragged about as Simon’s prisoner. This was because Simon needed the king to put his seal to official documents, otherwise they had no validity.
The letter patent of Henry III issued at Hereford on 22 June, effectively summarised the terms. They had been conveyed to Llywelyn a few days earlier, and considered by the prince and his council before he ratified them by issue of letters patent on 19 June.
Llywelyn’s letters, dated ‘in camp at Pipton’ or ‘at Pipton’, are among the most important of the original texts from Llywelyn’s court that have survived. They register the prince’s acceptance of a financial commitment into which he was prepared to enter in exchange for the lands and rights granted to him by the king in Wales. As such it was a precursor to the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267, but on more favourable terms to the prince.
The document was probably drawn up at Hereford and carried to Llywelyn by Peter de Montfort, who then conveyed the prince’s acceptance back to Simon. There is nothing to suggest that Llywelyn and Simon met in person to discuss the terms.
The terms effectively wiped out the English royal presence in Wales, and all of Henry’s gains in the past decades. Any written bonds made against Llywelyn or his predecessor, Prince Dafydd, were destroyed. Everything they held in Wales prior to these bonds would be restored. This included the lordship of all the magnates of Wales plus the principality, Painscastle, the hundred of Ellesmere, and the castles of Hawarden and Montgomery. In addition the king promised to recognise Llywelyn’s title as Prince of Wales and help him to conquer those lands held by his enemies. The sting in the tail was a fine of 30,000 marks (about £20,000), which Llywelyn had to pay in exchange.
Further, it was stated that if the king acted against these terms, he could be deposed. It may be that Simon was seriously contemplating deposing Henry and taking the crown for himself.
He knew that Henry would never agree to the above terms, if he was acting of his own will. Instead they were extracted from him by force, which had no validity in medieval jurisprudence. The latter was a bit of a joke, given the amount of coercion in this period, but still a point of law.
