It is well known by all historians and statesmen that a too severe treaty is always the parent of new wars, and the Treaty of Rhuddlan was undoubtedly too severe. The latent discontent which was felt throughout Wales, and especially in the North, was greatly exacerbated by the oppressive administration of the king's Welsh lands by his officials. Justice was denied. Englishmen {93} might murder and steal with impunity so long as their victims were only Welsh. Offices were sold; and extortionate fines were exacted. The old Welsh laws were disregarded, the excuse being that they conflicted with the king's superior sense of justice. So terrible was the oppression, and so impossible was it to obtain redress by constitutional means, that in 1282 revolts broke out in many parts of the country. Llewelyn had scrupulously abstained from giving the least encouragement to any of these revolts; but once they had broken out of their own accord, he perceived how essential it was that they should be directed by one mind, and placed himself at their head. This time Edward determined to make an end of his troublesome vassal, and to crush the independent power of the Welsh chieftain once and for all. Llewelyn prepared himself to meet the enormous English army which was marching against him, his mind filled with evil forebodings, and his heart heavy with sorrow at the recent death of his wife. The meddlesome Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury, after first excommunicating Llewelyn, tried to mediate. But Edward insisted upon unconditional surrender, and {94} that Llewelyn would not stoop to make. Meanwhile winter was coming on, and Edward had only succeeded in reaching Penmaenmawr. To try to penetrate the towering mountain barrier of Arfon at that season of the year would be reckless folly; and so he retreated to Rhuddlan to await the return of spring. Accorded this brief respite, Llewelyn paid what was intended to be a flying visit to South Wales, in order to encourage his allies. In a lonely dell near Builth, on December 11th, the last Prince of Wales was slain in a chance skirmish with some Cheshire soldiers who were quite ignorant of his identity. He was refused Christian burial by the Archbishop; and whether his body eventually found a resting place within the sacred precincts of Cwm Hir, as tradition says it did, we have no means of ascertaining.