Madog ap Gruffudd Fychan ap Gruffudd Maelor
Lord of Glyndyfrdwy and half of Cynllaith
Events
Date of Birth: unknown.
Place of Birth: unknown.
Date of Death: 12 November 1304 or 11 November 1305.
Place of Death: Rhuddallt.
The dates and place are given by Lloyd (p. 13). The 1304 date is given by a 1318 inquisition, and the 1305 date is given by a 1321 jury verdict. An inquisition (CIPM 6:no 256) taken 14 January 1320/21 states that Madog had died 15 years previously on St Martin's Day (11 November).
Place of Burial: the Abbey of Valle Crucis.
His grave marker was found before the front altar in 1956. It reads “Hic iacet Madoc fil’ Grifini dci Vychan”.
Relationships
Father: Gruffudd Fychan ap Gruffudd Maelor ap Madog.
This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 4), and given by Lloyd (p. 12), by Stephenson, and by Davies (p. 130).
Mother: Margred ferch Griffri.
This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 4).
(possible) Spouse: Margred ferch Rhys Ieuanc.
This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 4).
Spouse: Gwenllian ferch Ithel Fychan.
This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 4), and given by Lloyd (p. 13), and by Bollard (p. 426).
Children (by Margred):
(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.)
Margred married Gruffudd ab Owain.
Children (by Gwenllian):
Gruffudd married (1) Elizabeth le Strange; married (2) Lleucu ferch Deio.
Commentary
The traditional construction makes the Madog of this page “Madog Fychan”, and makes him the son of Madog Crupl (died about 1304) and Margred ferch Rhys Ieuanc. Bartrum originally gave this (Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 4). Lloyd (p. 12 fn 4) argued that Madog Fychan and Madog Crupl were the same person: “The evidence makes it quite certain that there was only one Madog in the Glyn Dyfrdwy pedigree; probably ‘Madog Grupl’ (the cripple), as found in many genealogies, is an alias of Madog ap Gruffydd and points to some constitutional weakness.” Bartrum later came to agree with this, citing CIPM volume 6, no. 128, which seems to settle the issue. Bartrum suggests that Margred and Gwenllian may both have been wives of the one Madog.
Bollard (p. 426) still expresses some doubt about the identification, as the use of the appellative “Fychan” was unusual in the early 1300s when a son was not named after his father. However, Lloyd (p. 13 fn 2) cites Rot. Parl. i. 306 (nos. 74 and 75), which explicitly name Madog “Maddoc Vaghan ap Griffith.”
References
Bartrum, Peter C., “Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 4”, “Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 5” in An Electronic Version of Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1500.
[The sources Bartrum cites for Madog Fychan ap Madog Crupl ap Gruffudd are:
Rhandiroedd Powys (6), a MS written by 1493; Peniarth 131 (179), written by Gutun Owain about 1480; Peniarth 129 (59), 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. He cites the same sources for Madog Crupl ap Gruffudd Farwn Gwyn ap Gruffudd.]
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.
Calendar of Inquisitions Post-mortem and Other Analogous Documents Preserved in the Public Record Office Volume VI. Edward II.(London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1910).
Davies, R.R. The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr. (Oxford U.P., 1995).
Livingston, Michael, and John K. Bollard (eds.). Owain Glyndŵr: A Casebook (Liverpool University Press, 2013).
Lloyd, J.E. Owen Glendower (Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1931).
Stephenson, David. Medieval Powys: Kingdom, Principality and Lordships, 1132-1293. (The Boydell Press, 2016).