Dafydd Benfras was a Welsh language

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 court poet regarded by Saunders Lewis

Saunders Lewis

Saunders Lewis was a Welsh poet, dramatist, historian, literary critic, and political activist. He was a prominent Welsh nationalist and a founder of the Welsh National Party...

 and others as one of the greatest of the 'Poets of the Princes' (Beirdd y Tywysogion).

Dafydd Benfras was a poet of the court of the kingdom of Gwynedd

Kingdom of Gwynedd

Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...

 and most of his surviving poems are elegies and praise-poems to its princes. He composed an ode to Llywelyn the Great

Llywelyn the Great

Llywelyn the Great , full name Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, was a Prince of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually de facto ruler over most of Wales...

 celebrating his battles and victory over King John of England

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

, and wrote an elegy to Llywelyn's son and successor as prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...

, Dafydd ap Llywelyn

Dafydd ap Llywelyn

Dafydd ap Llywelyn was Prince of Gwynedd from 1240 to 1246. He was for a time recognised as Prince of Wales.- Descent :...

, on his death in 1246.