Gruffudd Fychan ap Gruffudd ap Madog

Gruffudd Fychan was steward of the lordship of Oswestry for the earl of Arundel (1346-1348).

Events

Date of Birth: unknown.

Place of Birth: unknown.

Date of Death: by 1370.

Place of Death: unknown.

The date is given by Davies (p. 130) and by Smith. In 1370/71, Gruffudd’s wife is described as “lately the wife of Gruffudd of Glyndyfrdwy”.

Relationships

Father: Gruffudd ap Madog ap Gruffudd Fychan.

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 4; Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 5). It is given by Davies (p. 130) and by Bollard (p. 426).

Mother: Elizabeth le Strange.

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 5). It is given by Davies (p. 136) and by Smith.

Spouse: Elen ferch Thomas ap Llywelyn.

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Rhys ap Tewdwr 7, Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 5). It is given by Mostyn (p. 29), by Bridgeman (p. 248), by Dwnn (2:54), by Lloyd (Powys Fadog, 1:197, 4:146), by Pierce, and by Davies. Davies (endnote 20 to page 139) notes that the relationships given by Bartrum for Owain Glyn Dŵr’s family are supported in almost every connection by contemporary records such as deeds.

Relationship outside of marriage: Alice ferch Ieuan.

This relationship is given by Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 5).

Children (by Elen):

(Complete source citations for facts about the children on this page are currently outside of the scope of this project.)

Owain Glyndŵr (born 1359, or earlier; died about 1416) married Margred ferch David Hanmer. The famous Owen Glendower, leader of the last Welsh rebellion against the English.

Isabel married Adda ab Iorwerth Ddu ab Ednyfed Gam.

Tudur married Mawd ferch Ieuaf.

Lowri married Robert Puleston.

Morfudd married Dafydd ab Ednyfed Gam.

Children (by Alice):

Lleucu married Badi o’r Rhuddallt.

Commentary

According to Y Ddyfaden ar Ben Owain Glyndŵr (15th or 16th century, cited by Bollard in Owain Glyndŵr: A Casebook p. 216-217), Tudur was Owain’s twin. The story goes that Tudur’s severed head was at first taken to be that of Owain, but was eventually distinguished by those who knew Owain by the absence of a wart which Owain had on his forehead. Bollard suggests that there may have been a confusion between gefeilliaid [twins] and gyfeilliaid [companions].

Lloyd (Owen Glendower pp.18-19) notes that the best contemporary evidence for Owain’s birth date is a record in the 1386 Scropes-Grosvenor trial which states that Owain was then aged 27 and more. Nevertheless, Lloyd notes, a manuscript used by Pennant gave the precise date of 28 May 1354 “and elsewhere states that Owen rose in the forty-sixth year of his age.” Lloyd also notes that a “fairly persistent tradition” has it that Owain was born in 1349. Lloyd does not regard the apparently better evidence for the 1359 date to be decisive.

References

Bartrum, Peter C., “Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 5” in An Electronic Version of Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1500.

[The sources Bartrum cites for Gruffudd are: Rhandiroedd Powys (8), a MS written by 1493; Peniarth 129 (59, 68), copied about 1500 from a 1497 MS by Gutun Owain; and Peniarth 127 (29, 156), written by Syr Thomas ap Ieuan ap Deicws between about 1510 and 1523.]

Bartrum, Peter C. “Rhandiroedd Powys” in National Library of Wales journal, Volume 18, pp. 231-237 (1973). [Bartrum notes that it contains definite errors, but seems to have been regarded as authoritative by genealogists of the sixteenth century.]

Bollard, John K. “Owain Glyndŵr, Princeps Wallie” in Livingston, Michael, and John K. Bollard (eds.). Owain Glyndŵr: A Casebook (Liverpool University Press, 2013), pages 425-430.

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

Davies, R.R. The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr. (Oxford U.P., 1995).

Dwnn, Lewys, and Samuel Rush Meyrick. Heraldic visitations of Wales and part of the marches between the years 1586 and 1613 by Lewys Dwnn. (Llandovery: William Rees, 1846).

Livingston, Michael, and John K. Bollard (eds.). Owain Glyndŵr: A Casebook (Liverpool University Press, 2013).

Lloyd, Jacob Youde William. The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog and the Ancient Lords of Arwystli, Cedewen and Meirionydd. (London: T. Richards, 1881-1887).

Lloyd, J.E. Owen Glendower (Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1931).

Pierce, Thomas Jones. “Owain Glyndwr” in Welsh Biography Online.

Smith, Llinos, ‘Glyn Dŵr , Owain (c.1359–c.1416)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10816, accessed 11 May 2014]