Gwladys ferch Dafydd was the daughter of Dafydd ap Gruffudd, the last free 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...

, and Elizabeth Ferrers

Elizabeth Ferrers

Elizabeth Ferrers was a daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby and his second wife Margaret de Quincy...

. She probably spent most her life in the company of her father in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and 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...

.

Upon the death of his brother Llywelyn the Last

Llywelyn the Last

Llywelyn ap Gruffydd or Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf , sometimes rendered as Llywelyn II, was the last prince of an independent Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England....

, on 10 December 1282, Dafydd ap Gruffydd briefly took over as Prince of Wales. Hearing the news, Edward I

Edward I of England

Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...

 gathered his forces to unseat the newly named prince. Dafydd, his family and a few stalwart supports went into hiding in the forests of the Snowdonian Alps. Sensing a losing effort, most of his countrymen gave up hope of continuing the Gwynedd regime. In June 1283, Gwladys was arrested with her father, mother, brothers (Llywelyn

Llywelyn ap Dafydd

Llywelyn ap Dafydd , de jure Prince of Gwynedd , was the eldest son of Dafydd ap Gruffydd the last free ruler of Gwynedd and his wife Elizabeth Ferrers. Nothing is known of his early life, though it is thought he was probably born some time around 1267...

 and Owain

Owain ap Dafydd

Owain ap Dafydd , de jure Prince of Gwynedd , was the younger son of Dafydd ap Gruffydd the last free ruler of Gwynedd and self-proclaimed Prince of Wales...

) and sisters.

Dafydd was hung, drawn and quartered for treason. Dafydd's sons were imprisoned. Gwladys was dispatched to Gilbertine

Gilbertine Order

The Gilbertine Order of Canons Regular was founded around 1130 by Saint Gilbert in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, where Gilbert was the parish priest...

 convent in Sixhills

Sixhills

Sixhills is a village in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, about south-east from Market Rasen. It lies just south of the A631 between Market Rasen and Ludford....

, Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

as a young child. Edward I ordered annual payment of 20 pounds for Gwaldys' upkeep at the Sixhills convent, where she spent the remainder of her life. She is thought to have died there in 1336, outliving her other siblings. She may have had other illegitimate sisters but their names and fates as well as her mother are unknown.