Maredudd ab Owain ap Hywel Dda, king of Gwynedd and of Deheubarth

King of Gwynedd and of Deheubarth

Events

Date of Birth: about 930.

This estimated date is given by Bartrum (EVWG “Early Series [42]”).

Date of Death: 999.

This date is given by Thornton (ODNB). It is recorded in Brut y Tywysogion s.a. 998 and in Annales Cambriæ (Williams p. 22).

Relationships

Father: Owain ap Hywel Dda ap Cadell (died 988).

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (EVWG “Early Series [42]”), and given by Maund (1991, pp. 17-20; 2000, p. 55), and by Thornton (ODNB; 1997, p. 569). It is recorded in Brut y Tywysogion and in Annales Cambriæ.

(supposed) Mother: Angharad ferch Llywelyn ap Merfyn.

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (EVWG [42]). Bartrum in EWGT (p. 141) notes that later genealogists asserted this relationship as a way to give Bleddyn ap Cynfyn a claim to the rule of Powys through descent from Merfyn ap Rhodri Mawr, who was supposedly allotted Powys in the division of the realm of Rhodri Mawr. Thornton (1997, p. 569) notes that the evidence for this marriage is late and unreliable.

Spouse: unknown.

Children:

(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.)

Cadwallon (about 960 - 992).

Rhys (born about 970).

Lleucu (born about 970) married Llawr.

Angharad (born about 980) married (1) Llywelyn ap Seisyll; married (2) Cynfyn ap Gwerystan.

References

Baldwin, Stewart. Llywelyn ap Iorwerth ancestor table. (Hosted at Rootsweb.ancestry.com. Accessed 23 May 2014).

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

The sources Bartrum gives for Maredudd are:

Jesus College MS. 20 -- (dated to the first part of the 14th century):

27. “Rees gryc mab merch Madawc m. Meredud m. Bledynt [m.] Kynwyn m. Gwedylstan. (m. Kynvin). Y (Kynvin) [Bledynt] hwnnw, a Gruffud vab Llewelyn, (a Thrahayarn m. Cradawc, trí) broder oedynt, meibon y Hagharat merch Maredud mab Ewein m. Howel da.

31. “Howel m. Gronwy m. Agharat merch Lawr. Mam Hagharat oed Leuku merch Maredud m. Ewein m. Howel da.”

Achau Brenhinoedd a Thywysogion Cymru (probably based on 15th century MSS):

(e): “Mam Vleddyn ap Kynvyn, Yngharad verch Veredydd ap Owain ap Howel dda ap Kadell ap Rodri Mawr…”

2. (f): “Mam Iwerydd: Yngharad verch Veredydd ap Owain ap Hawel dda ap Kadell ap Rodri mawr.”

7. (j): “Plant Ewein m. Howel dda: Maredudd ag Eyniawn.”

(k): “Plant Maredudd ap Ewein: Katwallawn ag Angharat mam Ruffudd ap Llewelyn ap Seisill, a mam Vleddyn ap Kynfyn, a mam Rriwallon ap Kynvyn ac Ewerydd.”

Brut y Tywysogion (7 f)

Bartrum, Peter C.,“Early Series [42]” in An Electronic Version of Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1500.

The source Bartrum cites for Maredudd is his own Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts.

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):

11.1.4 Mam Vledyn ap Kynfyn: Angharat ferch Maredyd ap Ywein ap Hywel Da ap Kadell ap Rodri Mawr ap Merfyn Vrych a[p] Gwryat ...

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

Maund, K.L. Ireland, Wales, and England in the Eleventh Century (The Boydell Press, 1991).

Maund, Kari. The Welsh Kings (Tempus, 2000).

Thornton, David E. "Maredudd ab Owain (d. 999): The Most Famous King of the Welsh" in Welsh History Review Vol. 18, no. 4 (Dec. 1997), pp. 567-597.

Thornton, David E. “Maredudd ab Owain (d. 999)” 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).