When John died in 1216, and his young son Henry succeeded him, the policy of England was guided by William Marshall Earl of Pembroke. William Marshall was one of the ministers of Henry II., and by his marriage with the daughter of Strongbow, the conqueror of Ireland, he had become Earl of Pembroke. It was with him that Llywelyn had now to deal. He was too strong in Pembroke to be attacked, but his very presence made it easier for Llywelyn to retain the allegiance of the chiefs who would have been in danger from the Norman barons if Llywelyn’s protection were taken away. In 1219 the great William Marshall died; and changes in English politics forced his sons into an alliance with Llywelyn. Llywelyn’s title of Great is given him by his Norman and English contemporaries. He was great as a general; his detection of trouble before the storm broke, his instant determination and rapidity of movements, his ever-ready munitions for battle and siege, made his later campaigns always successful. He felt that he was carrying on war in his own country; so his wars were not wars of devastation, but the crushing of armies and the razing of castles. He took an interest in the three great agents in the civilisation of the time—the bard, the monk, and the friar. The bard was as welcome as ever at his court; the monk, welcomed by Owen Gwynedd before, was given another home at Aber Conway. Llywelyn extended his welcome to the friar, and he was given a home at Llan Vaes in Anglesey, on the shores of the Menai. The friar brought a higher ideal than that of the monk; his aim was salvation, not by prayer in the solitude of a mountain glen, but by service where men were thickest together—even in streets made foul by vice, and haunted by leprosy. Of the Mendicant Orders, the Franciscans were the best known in Wales; and, of all Orders of that day, it was they who sympathised most deeply with the sorrows of men. And it was this which, a little later on, brought them so much into politics. Great and successful in war and policy, in touch with the noblest influences in the life of the time, Llywelyn applied himself to one last task. His companions and allies had nearly all died before him; but he wished that the peace and unity, which they had established, should live after them. He had two sons—Griffith, who was the champion of independence; and David, who wished for peace with England. Llywelyn laid more stress on strong government at home than on the repudiation of feudal allegiance to the King of England. So he persuaded the council of princes at Strata Florida to accept David as his successor. XI THE LAST LLYWELYN