Owain ap Gruffudd ab yr arglwydd Rhys

There was armed struggle for the inheritance of Gruffudd ab yr arglwydd Rhys. Eventually, Owain inherited the northern portion of Ceredigion, which was later exchanged for other territory.

The poet “Y Prydydd Bychan” addressed a poem to Owain (Anwl, p. 149-150).

Events

Date of Birth:unknown.

Date of Death: 17 January 1235.

Place of Death: Strata Florida.

The date is given by Pryce (p. 196). The date 1235 is given by Bridgeman (p. 213), by Smith (ODNB sub “Gruffudd ap Rhys”), and by the Annales Cambriæ (Williams, p. 81). From Brut y Tywysogion under the year 1235 (Williams, pp. 322-325): “The ensuing year, Owain, son of Gruffudd, son of the lord Rhys, a gentleman by race, and courteous in manners, wise, generous, and praiseworthy, died at Strata Florida, on the Wednesday after the octave of the Epiphany, and was buried with Rhys, son of the lord Rhys, his brother, in the chapter house of the monks.” The Wednesday after the octave of the Epiphany was 17 January in 1235, if the year 1235 is reckoned as starting 1 January. The Annales Cambriæ also gives die Mercurii post octavus Epiphaniæ as the date of death.

Date of Burial: 1235.

Place of Burial: Strata Florida.

The burial is given in Brut y Tywysogion under the year 1235 (Williams, pp. 322-325).

Relationships

Father: Gruffudd ab yr arglwydd Rhys (died 25 July 1201).

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Rhys ap Tewdwr 6), and given by Bridgeman (p. 78), by Pryce (Acts Table 3), and by Smith (ODNB, “Gruffudd ap Rhys”).

Mother: Matilda de Briouze (died 29 December 1210).

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Rhys ap Tewdwr 6) and given by Bridgeman (p. 78).

Spouse: a daughter of Gwion Sais.

This relationship is shown by Bartrum (Rhys ap Tewdwr 6).

Children:

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

Maredudd (died 1265) married (1) a daughter of Thomas ap Rhodri; married (2) Elen ferch Sir Gilbert de Valle; married (3) Elinor ferch Maelgwn Fychan.

References

Anwyl, E. (ed.) The Poetry of the Gogynfeirrd from the Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales (Denbigh: Gee & Son, Ltd., 1819).

Bartrum, Peter C., “Rhys ap Tewdwr 6” in An Electronic Version of Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1500. [The sources Bartrum cites for Owain are: Brut y Tywygogion; Peniarth 131 (221, 257, 292, 306) -- a MS written about 1500 by Ieuan Brechfa; Peniarth 137 (31) -- a MS written in the early 1500s by ‘Syr’ Thomas ap Ieuan ap Deiews; Peniarth 138 (830) -- a MS written about 1562 by Thomas ap Llywelyn ab Ithel of Bodfari.]

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

Oman, Sandra. “Owain ap Gruffudd” in Tree: Wales. Welsh Medieval Database Primarily of Nobility and Gentry.

Pryce, Huw. The Acts of the Welsh Rulers 1120 - 1283 (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2005)

Smith, J.B. “Gruffudd ap Rhys” 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).

Abstracts and Transcriptions

From Brut y Tywysogion:

1208: The ensuing year, Rhys and Owain, sons of Gruffudd, attacked the castle of Llangadog, which they burned, killing some of the garrison, and imprisoning others.

under 1209: ...Maelgwn, son of Rhys, made peace with the king, without regarding the oath and engagement that existed between him and Rhys, and Owain, his nephews, the sons of Gruffudd, son of Rhys; and he collected a vast army of French and Welsh, directing his course towards Penwedig, and came to Cilcenin, where he encamped. And then, Rhys and Owain, the sons of Gruffudd, collected three hundred men out of select families, who by night attacked the army of Maelgwn, killed many, captured others, and put the remainder to flight. And in that battle, Cynan, son of Howel, nephew to Maelgwn, and Gruffudd, son of Cynan, Maelgwn’s chief counsellor, were captured; and Einion, son of Caradog, and an immense number of others, were slain. And then, Maelgwn disgracefully fled, escaping on foot…

under 1210: ...And thereupon all the Welsh princes, except Rhys and Owain, the sons of Gruffudd, son of Rhys, made peace with the king; and the king returned victoriously, and with extreme joy, to England. And then, the king commanded those princes to take with them all the troops of Morganwg and Dyved, with Rhys the Hoarse, and Maelgwn, son of Rhys, and their forces, and to go against the sons of Rhys, son of Gruffudd, son of Rhys, to compel them to surrender themselves into his hands, or to retire into banishment and out of all the kingdom. And then the seneschal of Cardiff, the man who was the leader of the army, and Rhys, and Maelgwn, sons of the lord Rhys, urged their troops and their strength, and repaired to Penwedig. And since Rhys and Owain, the sons of Gruffudd, could not withstand a power of that magnitude, and there was not a place for them in Wales for them to repair to, they sent messengers to Foulke, to bring about a peace. And they made peace with him; and they consented that the king should have the territory between the Dyvi and Aeron; and Foulke built a castle for the king at Aberystwyth. And then, Rhys and Owain, the sons of Gruffudd, went, under the safe conduct of Foulke, to the court of the king; and the king received them as friends. And whilst they were repairing to the king’s court, Maelgwn, son of Rhys, and his brother Rhys the Hoarse, repented of their terms with the king, and made an attack upon the new castle at Aberystwyth, and demolished it. And when Rhys and Owain, the sons of Gruffudd, son of Rhys, returned from the king’s court, after making their peace with him, they entered Lower Aeron, the territory of Maelgwn, son of Rhys, and killed and burned and ravaged in the district.

under 1213: And the following morning, being Friday, [the young Rhys’s] brother Owain came to him, and Foulke, the seneschal of Cardiff, with their forces. The following day, they entered the territory of Rhys the Hoarse, arrayed with their troops, and placed young Rhys with his force in the van, and Foulke with his force in the centre, and Owain, son of Gruffudd, with his force in the rear. And it was not long before Rhys the Hoarse met them; and in the attack with the first division, Rhys the Hoarse and his men were overpowered, and he retreated and fled, after having many of his men killed, and others taken.

under 1216: A year after that, and then there was a partition of land between Maelgwn, son of Rhys, and his brother, Rhys the Hoarse, and Rhys and Owain, the sons of Gruffudd, son of Rhys, at Aberdovey, in the presence of Llywelyn, son of Iorwerth, when all the Welsh princes, for the most part, and all the wise men of Gwynedd were summoned thither together….And to young Rhys, and his brother Owain, the sons of Gruffudd, son of Rhys, were allotted the castle of Aberteivi, and the castle of Nant yr Ariant, with three cantrevs of Ceredigion….

under 1217: ...And when young Rhys and Owain, the sons of Gruffudd, son of Rhys, saw that their uncle was going against the treaty which he had entered into with the good men of England and Wales, they rose up against him, and wrested the whole of Buellt from him, except the castles.

under 1222: The ensuing year, died young Rhys, son of Gruffudd, son of the lord Rhys...And after that, Owain, son of Gruffudd, his only brother, obtained part of his territory…

under 1231: ...And from thence [young Maelgwn, son of Maelgwn, son of Rhys] came to Owain, son of Gruffudd, son of the lord Rhys, his cousin, and the men of Llywelyn, son of Iorwerth, to fight against the castle, and before the end of a few days, they broke the castle with engines; and the garrison was compelled to quit the walls, and to deliver up the castle.

under 1233: ...And then the earl [of Pembroke] entered into treaty with Llywelyn, son of Iorwerth, and the Welsh princes; and immediately he, and Owain, son of Gruffudd, son of the lord Rhys, assembled a vast army, and proceeded against Aber Mynyw, and burned it, and slaughtered the king’s men, who were there in garrison. Afterwards, they soon reduced these towns and castles, to wit, Cardiff and Abergavenny, Pen Gelli, Blaen Llyvni, and Bwlch y Dinas, and razed them all to the ground, except Cardiff. That year, Maelgwn the Little, son of Maelgwn, son of Rhys, and Owain, son of Gruffudd, son of the lord Rhys, and Rhys the Hoarse, with their sons, and the army of Llywelyn, son of Iorwerth, and the army of the earl of Pembroke, assembled against Caermarthen. They fought against it for three months, and made a bridge over the Tywi. And then the sailors came armed, with the flood tide, to break down the bridge. When the Welsh perceived that their expedition prospered not, they returned to their respective countries.

From Annales Cambriæ:

Annus MCCXIII. ...Resus et Owinus filii Grifini, Francorum auxilio, Denewr et Lanam Deweri ceperunt, Reso Parvo domino terræ vi expulso....

Annus MCCXXXV. Owinus filius Grifini, vir nobilis genere, moribus, præditus largitate mirabili, fere incomparabilis fama excellentissima, perspicuus apud domum de Strata Florida, die Mercurii post octavas Epiphaniæ fine glorioso quievit, ibique juxta fratrem suum Resum in capitulo monachorum extat tumulatus....