Gwenwynwyn ab Owain Cyfeiliog ap Gruffudd

Lord of Powys

Events

Date of Birth: unknown.

Place of Birth: unknown.

Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 29) gives Gwenwynwyn a number of 5 in his generational dating system, implying a birth date of, very roughly, about 1170.

(probable) Date of Death: 1216.

Place of Death: unknown.

The date is given by Pierce. Tout/Carr give 1216 with a question mark. Lloyd (2:650) states that Annales Cambriæ s.a. 1215 (= 1216) is the only authority for the date, but that Gwenwynwyn does not appear in any records after that date.

Relationships

Father: Owain Cyfeiliog ap Gruffudd ap Maredudd.

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 29), and given by Pierce, by Stephenson, and by Tout/Carr.

Mother: Gwenllian ferch Owain Gwynedd ap Gruffudd.

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 29) and given by Pierce.

Spouse: Margred ferch yr Arglwydd Rhys.

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 29).

Spouse: Margaret, daughter of Robert Corbet.

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 29), and given by Stephenson, and by Tout/Carr. They do not make clear which Robert Corbet was Margaret’s father. Eyton (7:15) specifies the Robert, although his source is unclear. The relationship is shown by a contemporary grant in Pryce (no. 579).

Children (by Margred, before their marriage):

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

Madog of Mawddwy and Caereinion.

Children (by Margaret):

Gruffudd married Hawise le Strange.

Evidence

Gwenwynwyn is mentioned in Brut y Tywysogion in numerous places between the years 1186 and 1216.

Pryce gives many documents made by Gwenwynwyn (nos. 541-578).

References

Bartrum, Peter C., “Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 29” in An Electronic Version of Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1500.

[The sources that Bartrum cites for Gwenwynwyn are: Brut y Tywysogion and his own Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts.]

Bartrum, Peter C (ed.) Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts. (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1968).

The sources Bartrum gives for Gwenwynwyn include:

Achau Brenhinoedd a Thywysogion Cymru,

2. Plant Ywein Gwynedd

(a) “Ioruerth a Maelgwn a Gwenlliant, mam Wenwynwyn ap Owain Kyveiliawg, plant Owain Gwynedd. Ai Mam oedd Wladus verch Lywarch ap Tryhaearn ap Kyradawc ap Gwyn ap Gollwyn ap Ydnywain ap Bleddynt…”

8 (g) “ Gwenwynwyn ap Ywain Kyveilioc ap Gruffudd ap Meredudd ap Bleddyn ap Kynvyn ap Gwerystan ap Gweithfoet ap Gwny ap Gwlydden ap Gwrydyr ap Karadawg…”

Brut y Tywysogion (171 f.)

Eyton, R.W. Antiquities of Shropshire Volume 7 (London, 1858).

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

From Guy’s critical edition 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):

12 Plant Ywain Gwyned:

12.1 Iorwerth a Maelgwn a Gwenlliant mam Wenwynwyn ap Ywain Kyfeiliawg, plant Ywain Gwyned, a Gwladus oed eu man, ferch Llewarch ap Trehayarn ap Karadawg ap Gwynn ap Gollwyn ap Ednywain ap Bledynt ap Bledrus ap Kynawg Mawr ap Iorwerth Hirvlawt ap Tegonwy ap Teon

A 3.6 Gwenwenwen mab Ewein Kefeiliawg m. Gruffud m. Maredud ap Bledyn ap Kynfyn ap Gwerystan ap Gweithfoet ap <Gwyn> ap Gwlyden ap Gwrydyr ap Karadawg ap Lles Llawddeawg ap Ednyfet ap Gwynan ap <Gwynnawc varyfsych> ap Keidiaw ap Koryf ap Kaenawg ap Tegonwy ap Teon ap Gwineu Deu Vreudwyt ap Bywyr Lew ap Bywdeg ap Run Rud Baladyr ap Llary ap <Kasnar> Wledig ap Llud ap Beli Mawr.

3.6.1 Gwenlliant ferch Ewein ap Gruffud oed fam Wenwynwyn.

Lloyd, John Edward. A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912).

Pierce, Thomas Jones. “Gwenwynwyn” in Welsh Biography Online.

Pryce, Huw. The Acts of the Welsh Rulers. (University of Wales Press, 2005).

Stephenson, David. Medieval Powys: Kingdom, Principality and Lordships, 1132-1293. (The Boydell Press, 2016), especially chapter 4, "The Ascendancy and Fall of Gwenwynwyn".

Tout, T.F. (A.D. Carr, rev.) “Gwenwynwyn” 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. Brut y Tywysogion; or, The Chronicle of the Princes (London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts; 1860).