TWT #122 –

On May 2nd, 1230, Prince Llywelyn the Great hanged William de Braose, his former captive and recent ally, after catching William sleeping with his wife, Joan, during Easter celebrations.

Honestly, Llywelyn kind of bit himself in the ass on this one.

In 1228, William was fighting outside Montgomery in the Welsh marches when he was captured. To be released, William had to agree to three terms:

He paid a ransom of £2,000 Agree to never take up arms against Llywelyn again And arrange a marriage between Williams eldest daughter Isabella, and Llywelyn’s only legitimate son Dafydd (what a terrible name, by the way).

Unfortunately (for both of these guys), there wasn’t a 4th clause stating that William wouldn’t sleep with Joan, Llywelyn’s wife…

Apparently William wasn’t that important, this is the only image I can find of him

When de Braose was held captive, it seems like he struck up quite the relationship with Joan. About a year after his release, William visited Llywelyn’s court for a friendly Easter celebration…and visited Joan’s bed for a friendly Easter fornication.

And Llywelyn walked in on the two.

I can tell why William fell for Joan, she had a rockin’ body*

Jailing them both (separately, obviously) Llywelyn deliberated on what to do with de Braose. Eventually he landed on hanging him from a tree, in the middle of the day, in front of 800 men.

Surprisingly, Llywelyn honored the marriage agreement (seeing as how there was land involved as a dowry), and kept his wife Joan locked down on house arrest for a year.

So remember, no matter how terrible your day is, at least you didn’t walk in on your wife sleeping with the man you set free.

*my deepest condolences for that terrible joke, folks.