Elen of Wales ★

1200s–1230s

Born around 1207, daughter of Llywelyn the Great of Gwynedd and Joan, Lady of Wales. Married John of Scotland, 9th Earl of Huntingdon, around 1222; he died in 1237.

1230s–1250s

Her uncle Henry III then made her marry Robert de Quincy; their daughter Hawise married Baldwin Wake. Died in 1253.

Family Background

Elen ferch Llywelyn was born around 1207, daughter of Llywelyn the Great of Gwynedd and Joan, Lady of Wales, herself the illegitimate daughter of King John of England — giving Elen a place at the intersection of Welsh and English royal politics.

First Marriage to John of Scotland

Around 1222 Elen married John of Scotland, 9th Earl of Huntingdon, tying the Welsh princely house to Scottish nobility. The marriage ended with John's death in 1237 at age thirty, leaving Elen a widow in her late twenties.

Forced Second Marriage

Elen's maternal uncle, King Henry III, then compelled her into a second marriage to Robert de Quincy, son of Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester, a match imposed on her rather than chosen — a vivid example of how thirteenth-century kings used marriage to control the nobility. Their daughter Hawise married Baldwin Wake, Lord Wake of Liddell.

Death and Legacy

Elen died in 1253, around age forty-six. Her descendants carried real weight in English royal history: her great-granddaughter Margaret Wake (Hawise's granddaughter) became mother of Joan of Kent, wife of Edward the Black Prince and mother of Richard II.