Gruffudd ap Rhys, prince of Deheubarth

Gruffudd appears to have been his father’s preferred successor. This led to conflict with his father’s illegitimate elder son, Maelgwn ap Rhys. Gruffudd imprisoned Maelgwn, who escaped in 1192. In 1194, Maelgwn imprisoned their father, Rhys. At Rhys’s death in 1197, the struggle continued. By the time of his death in 1201, Gruffudd had secured much of his inheritance. (Smith, ODNB “Gruffudd ap Rhys”; Lloyd, 2:578-584, 2:616-618).

Events

Date of Birth: unknown.

Date of Death: 25 July 1201.

Place of Death: Strata Florida.

The date is given by Smith (ODNB, “Gruffudd ap Rhys”). The date and place are given in Brut y Tywysogion under the year 1201 (Williams, pp. 256-257): “...on the feast of St. James the Apostle, Gruffudd, son of Rhys, died at Strata Florida, after having taken upon him the religious habit; and there he was buried.”

Date of Burial: 1201.

Place of Burial: Strata Florida.

The burial is given in Brut y Tywysogion under the year 1201 (Williams, pp. 256-257).

Relationships

Father: Rhys ap Gruffudd (died 1197).

This relationship is given in Brut y Tywysogion. It is also given in the Cronica de Wallia in Exeter Cathedral Library Manuscript 3514 (quoted in Bartrum, “Plant yr Arglwydd Rhys”). It is shown by Bartrum (Rhys ap Tewdwr 4, Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 3), and given by Pryce (Acts Table 3), and by Smith (ODNB “Gruffudd ap Rhys”).

Mother: Gwenllian ferch Madog ap Maredudd.

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Rhys ap Tewdwr 4, Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 3, “Plant yr Arglwydd Rhys” note 1) and given by Smith (ODNB “Gruffudd ap Rhys”). Giraldus Cambrensis, whose mother was a first cousin of Rhys, in Itinerarium Kambriæ (1:1) describes how Rhys’s wife caused him to change his mind about going to the Holy Land: “...donec uxor ejus, et communi patriæ vitio in quarto gradu cognata, Gwendoloena scilicet Maidoci Powisensis filia, ipsum a nobili proposito, peccatis exegentibus, muliebriter instans penitus avertit.” (That is, Rhys’s wife, Gwenllian, daughter of Madog of Powys, was related to Rhys in the fourth degree, after “the common vice of the country.”)

Spouse: Matilda de Briouze (died 29 December 1210).

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Rhys ap Tewdwr 6), and given by Bridgeman (p. 78), and by Smith (ODNB “Gruffudd ap Rhys”). Brut y Tywysogion under the year 1209 (Williams pp. 266-267) refers to “Mahallt y Brewys mam meibon Gruffudd uab Rys” (Mahalt de Bruse, the mother of the sons of Gruffudd, son of Rhys). Annales Cambriæ (Williams p. 57) refers to William de Briouze as Gruffudd’s father-in-law.

Children (by Matilda de Briouze):

(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project. Most of the information below comes from Bartrum.)

Rhys Ieuanc (died 1222).

Owain (died 1235) married a daughter of Gwion Sais.

Children (mother uncertain):

Cydifor.

Lleucu married Madog Foel.

Lleucu married Llowdden.

Evidence

From Brut y Tywysogion:

1197. … After the death of the lord Rhys, his son Gruffudd succeeded him in the government of the dominion, which was held by Maelgwn his brother, when the said Maelgwn, after being banished before from his territory, came, accompanied by his men, and also by the family of Gwenwynwyn, to Abertystwyth, and subjugated the town and castle, killing many of the people, and carrying others into bondage, and taking possession of the whole of Ceredigion with its castles. And after seizing his brother Gruffudd, he sent him to the prison of Gwenwynwyn, who agreeably to his desire sent him to an English prison….

1198. … [Maelgwn] collected a vast army, and proceeded to attack Pain’s castle; and after he had fought against it, without projectiles and engines of war, for nearly three weeks, he was ignorant of the future issue. When the English had intelligence of that, they liberated Gruffudd, son of Rhys, whom they had in prison, and collected the strength of England to accompany him, with the intention of pacifying the Welsh. And then the Welsh would not accept peace of the English, but, after obtaining the castle, they threatened to burn the towns, and carry off their spoils; and the English, not brooking that, attacked them, and in the first battle put them to flight, making a vast slaughter of them….That year, Gruffudd, son of Rhys, manfully got possession of his share of his territory from Maelgwn his brother, excepting two castles, namely, Aberteivi and Ystrad Meurug. As to one of them, namely, Aberteivi, Maelgwn swore upon several relics, in the presence of monks, after taking hostages for peace from Gruffudd, that he would deliver up the castle and hostages together to Gruffudd on a fixed day. And that oath he disregarded, giving up neither the castle nor the hostages; divine power, nevertheless, set the hostages free from the prison of Gwenwynwyn….

1199. The ensuing year, Maelgwn, son of Rhys, got possession of the castle of Dineirth, which Gruffudd, son of Rhys, had built; and of the men he found there some he slew, and others he imprisoned. And then Gruffudd, son of Rhys, possessed himself, through treachery, of the castle of Cilgerran….

1200…. In that year, Maelgwn, son of Rhys, sold Aberteivi, the key of all Wales, for a trifling value, to the English, for fear of and out of hatred to his brother Gruffudd….

From Annales Cambriæ:

under 1197: ...Grifinus filius Resi, statim post obitum patris sui curiam Regis adivit, ibique factus hæres domum rediit. Mailgonus Resi filius circa Augustum Grifinum fratrem suum cepit, et Wenevinwe filio Owini custodiendum tradidit, quem postmodum Wenevinwen regi pro Carrec Huwa dedit. Resus Parvus et Maredut filii Resi a carcere Grifini fratris sui soluti sunt.

1198. Annus MCXCVIII. Grifini Resi filius a carcere regis solutus est.

under 1200. Annus MCC. Mailgonus filius Resi, ut vidit quod solus terram patris sui tenere non potuit, quin Francis vel Grifino fratri suo partem daret, eligit potius cum hostibus partiri quam cum fratre. Vendidit igitur regi castellum Aberteiwi pro parvo argenti pondere, et pro maledictione cleri et populi totius Walliæ….

under 1201. ….Grifinus Resi filius terram Maredut fratris sui scilicet Cantrefbechan, sum oppido Llanamdewri sibi cepit; sed ante mensem exactum Grifinus quadam infirmitate correptus ibidem obiit….

References

Bartrum, Peter C. (ed.), “Plant yr Arglwydd Rhys” in National Library of Wales journal XIV. pp. 97-104.

Bartrum, Peter C., “Rhys ap Tewdwr 4”, “Rhys ap Tewdwr 6”, and “Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 3” in An Electronic Version of Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1500. [The sources Bartrum cites for Gruffudd are Brut y Tywysogion and his article “Plant yr Arglwydd Rhys”.]

Bridgeman, George T.O. History of the Princes of South Wales (Wigan: Thomas Birch, 1876).

Giraldi Cambrensis. Opera, Volume VI: Itinerarium Kambriæ (James F. Dimock, ed.) (London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1868).

Guy, Ben. Medieval Welsh Genealogy. (The Boydell Press, 2020).

From Guy’s critical edition of the Gutun Owain recension of the Llywelyn ab Iorwerth genealogies, which were based on an archetype created no later than the first half of the fourteenth century from an original compilation dating to the early thirteenth century, partly based on earlier written sources (Note that Guy is striving for textual rather than genealogical accuracy):

16.3 Plant Gruffudd ap yr arglwydd Rys: Owain, a Rys Ievangk, Kedivor, Owain: yw mam oedd Vallt verch arglwydd <Brewys>.

Lloyd, John Edward, A History of Wales. 2 volumes (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1911-1912).

Oman, Sandra. “Gruffudd ap Rhys, Brenin of Cantref Mawr” in Tree: Wales. Welsh Medieval Database Primarily of Nobility and Gentry.

Pryce, Huw. The Acts of the Welsh Rulers 1120 - 1283 (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2005)

Smith, J.B. “Gruffudd ap Rhys” in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004).

Williams ab Ithel, John (ed.). Annales Cambriæ (London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts; 1860).

Williams ab Ithel, John (ed.). Brut y Tywysogion; or, The Chronicle of the Princes (London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts; 1860).