Events
Date of Birth: unknown.
Date of Death: unknown.
Relationships
Father: Madog ap Maredudd (died 1160).
This relationship is shown by Bartrum (EVWG “Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 3”), and given by Roderick (p. 4), and by Giraldus Cambrensis (1:1).
Mother: Susanna ferch Gruffudd ap Cynan.
This relationship is shown by Bartrum (EVWG “Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 3”) and given by Roderick (p. 4).
Spouse: Rhys ap Gruffudd (“yr Arglwydd Rhys”).
This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Rhys ap Tewdwr 4, Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 3, “Plant yr Arglwydd Rhys” note 1), and given by Bridgeman (p. 68), by Roderick (p. 4), by Stephenson (p. 51), and 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.” Gwenllian is said to have married her stepson, Maelgwn Hen, after Rhys’s death.
(supposed) Spouse: Maelgwn Hen.
This relationship is shown by Bartrum (EVWG “Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 3”; “Plant yr Arglwydd Rhys”).
Children (by Rhys ap Gruffudd):
Gruffudd (died 1201) married Matilda de Briouze.
Rhys Gryg (died 1234) married (1) Ellyw ferch Thomas (or Trahaearn); possibly married (2) Matilda ferch Richard, widow of William de Braose; possibly married (3) Gwenllian ferch Elidir ab Owain.
Margred married Gwenwynwyn.
Maredudd Gethin (died 1201) married Gwenllian ferch Hywel.
Gwenllian (died 1236) married (1) Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd; married (2) Ednyfed Fychan.
References
Bartrum, Peter C (ed.) Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts. (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1968).
Bartrum, Peter C. (ed.), “Plant yr Arglwydd Rhys” in National Library of Wales journal XIV. pp. 97-104.
Bartrum, Peter C., “Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 3” in An Electronic Version of Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1500.
The sources Bartrum cites for Gwenllian are his own Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts and Peniarth 137 (73) by “Syr” Thomas ap Ieuan ap Deiews (a MS written between 1510 and 1523); Peniarth 128 (46b) “Llyfr Edward ap Roger” (a MS written before 1582); Peniarth 132 (128, 133) by Gruffudd Hiraethog and Lewys ab Edward; and Peniarth 135 by Gruffudd Hiraethog.
Bridgeman, George T.O. History of the Princes of South Wales (Wigan: Thomas Birch, 1876).
Giraldus Cambrensis. Opera, Volume VI: Itinerarium Kambriæ (James F. Dimock, ed.) (London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1868).
Lloyd, John Edward, A History of Wales. 2 volumes (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1911-1912).
Oman, Sandra. “Yr Argllwyd Rhys ap Gruffudd, Brenin of Deheubarth” in Tree: Wales. Welsh Medieval Database Primarily of Nobility and Gentry.
Pierce, Thomas Jones. “Rhys ap Gruffudd” in Welsh Biography Online.
Pryce, Huw. “Rhys ap Gruffudd” in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004).
Roderick, A.J. "Marriage and Politics in Wales, 1066-1282" in Welsh History Review Vol. 4, no. 1 (June 1968) pp. 3-20.
Stephenson, David. Medieval Powys: Kingdom, Principality and Lordships, 1132-1293. (The Boydell Press, 2016).
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).