Tywysog

Tywysog is Welsh for a ruling Prince or King ("brenin"), which gradually superseded the latter term as a formal title in the High Middle Ages. The feminine form is Tywysoges. The work Brut y Tywysogion is the Annals of the Princes of Wales and is a historical narrative of the deeds of the various rulers of the kingdoms, large and small, which existed in Wales from the end of Roman rule in Britain in c.410AD to the final conquest of Wales and the death of its last consecrated native Tywysog Llywelyn ap Gruffudd of Gwynedd in 1282, who was also the first to bear the title Tywysog Cymru (Prince of Wales). Owain Glyndŵr, Lord of Glyndyfrdwy, and heir to the Kingdom of Powys, was also proclaimed Tywysog Cymru in 1400 but his rule had come to an end by 1412.

Tywysog is cognate with "taoiseach" in Irish and "tòiseach" in Scottish Gaelic; the latter forms an element in "MacIntosh" (Mac an Tòisich) (see Clan Mackintosh). Both words originally had a similar meaning in the Goidelic languages to "tywysog", with "taoiseach" coming to mean the Irish head of government, and "tòiseach" a Scottish clan chief. The word "tywysog" itself derives from Welsh "tywys" "to lead", so the literal meaning of "tywysog" is "one who leads".

In modern Welsh the word "tywysog" can be used to refer to any prince.