mmThe t’ was a grandson of both Owain Gwyns daughter, Joan. In 1212 JoA description of some famous people from this part of Welsh history

1 Merfyn ap Gwriad – Merfyn Frych [King = K]   Died: 844

Merfyn ruled Gwynedd from around 825 to his death in 844. He was the first of the Kings of Gwynedd not to have been descended from the male line of Cunedda. Unfortunately, little is known about his reign but he was succeeded by his son, Rhodri Mawr.

2 Rhodri ap Merfyn – Rhodri Mawr [K]    Died: 878

Rhodri lived from c.820 until 878. He succeeded his father as the King of Gwynedd, and then went on to unite Powys and Ceredigion. He defended Wales against Saxon and Viking raids and his reign was viewed as a turning point in the history of Wales.

3 Hywel ap Cadell – Hywel Dda [K]     Died: 950

Hywel was a grandson of Rhodri Mawr and he established the House of Deheubarth. He eventually ruled most of country as King and called a meeting in Whitland where Welsh laws were decided. By the end of his reign Wales had one language, one religion and one set of laws.

4 Maredudd ab Owain [K]      Died: 999

Maredudd was the grandson of Hywel Dda and became King of Gwynedd in 986. On the death of his father in 988 he also became King of Deheubarth. Maredudd spent a large part of his reign defending the country from Viking raids.

5 Llywelyn ap Seisyll [K]      Died: 1023

Llewelyn defeated Aeddan ap Blegywryd in a battle in 1018 to become King of Gwynedd. He also became King of Deheubarth in 1022 when he won a battle in Abergwili near Carmarthen. According to the Brut y Tywysogion, Llywelyn’s reign was a prosperous one.

6 Gruffudd ap Llywelyn [K]      Died: 1063

Gruffudd was King of Gwynedd and Powys between 1039 and 1055. He then became King of Wales in 1055 and protected the country from foreign attacks. He was killed in Snowdonia but his reign was important for the country - he was the last person to be called the King of Wales.

7 Bleddyn ap Cynfyn [K]      Died: 1075

Bleddyn was the grandson of Maredudd ab Owain and became King of Gwynedd in 1063. Following his victory at the Battle of Mechain in 1069 he became King of Powys. Rhys ab Owain of Deheubarth probably killed Bleddyn in 1075.

8 Rhys ap Tewdwr [K]      Died: 1093

Rhys became King of Deheubarth in 1079 and formed an alliance with Gruffudd ap Cynan of Gwynedd. He ruled his kingdom until 1088 when he was driven into exile by the sons of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn. Rhys returned a few months later to reclaim Deheubarth but was killed by the Normans in a battle in Brycheiniog.

9 Gruffudd ap Cynan [K]      Died: 1137

Gruffudd was born in Dublin in 1055 and was half Welsh and half Viking. In 1081 he joined forces with Rhys ap Tewdwr and won the Battle of Mynydd Carn, but he was later captured by the Normans and held prisoner for 12 years. He escaped and went on to rule Gwynedd as King for almost 40 years and was regarded as the ‘defender and pacifier of all Wales’.

10 Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd      Died: 1136

Gwenllian was the daughter of Gruffudd ap Cynan and the wife of Gruffudd ap Rhys. When her husband was fighting in Gwynedd, Gwenllian was left to defend the area around Cydweli. She was killed after the battle at Maes Gwenllian but her name lived on as a rallying cry for the Welsh in battle.

11 Gruffudd ap Rhys       Died: 1137

Gruffudd was the son of Rhys ap Tewdwr and was married to Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd. In 1136 he joined forces with his brothers-in-law, Owain Gwynedd and Cadwaladr, to fight Norman rule. After his wife’s death he fought in the Battle of Crug Mawr, near Cardigan, where the Norman army suffered a heavy defeat.

12 Madog ap Meredudd [K]      Died: 1160

Madog was the grandson of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and married Susanna, the daughter of Gruffudd ap Cynan. His marriage brought a peaceful alliance between Powys and Gwynedd for many years until Owain Gwynedd attacked northern Powys. In 1157 Madog joined Henry II’s campaign against Owain but then lived out the rest of his life peacefully and was buried in Meifod.

13 Owain Gwynedd [K – Prince = P]     Died: 1170

Owain ruled Gwynedd as King from 1137 until his death in 1170. He was the first person to call himself ‘Prince of Wales’ and to form an alliance with the King of France. He successfully led the defence of Wales against an invasion by Henry II of England at the Battle of Crogen in 1165.

14 Rhys ap Gruffudd – Yr Arglwydd Rhys    Died: 1197

The Lord Rhys was the son of Gruffudd ap Rhys and Gwenllian and was born in 1132. He ruled Deheubarth from 1155 and became the most powerful ruler of Wales after the death of Owain Gwynedd. Rhys supported the monasteries of Whitland and Strata Florida and built Cardigan Castle - where the first Eisteddfod was held in 1176.

15 Llywelyn ap Iorwerth - Llywelyn Fawr    Died: 1240

‘Llywelyn the Great’ was a grandson of both Owain Gwynedd and Madog ap Maredudd, and he became the sole ruler of Gwynedd in 1199. He entered into a treaty with King John of England in 1201 and also married John’s daughter, Joan. In 1212 John applied pressure on other Welsh Princes who joined with Llywelyn in a war which played its part in the Magna Carta being written.

16 Llywelyn ap Gruffudd - Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf [P]  Died: 1282

Llywelyn was the grandson of Llywelyn Fawr and became the ‘Prince of Wales’. In 1267 he signed a treaty which recognized Henry III as his over-lord and, in return, Llywelyn received homage from the other Welsh princes. Llywelyn took up arms in 1282 against the oppressive rule of Edward I - but was killed at Cilmeri near Builth.

17 Dafydd ap Gruffudd [P]      Died: 1283

Dafydd was the younger brother of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and succeeded him as Prince of Wales in 1282. He transferred his allegiance between Llywelyn and the English a number of times until he eventually reconciled with his brother in 1277. He was captured in June 1283 and in the following October he became the first nobleman to be executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered.

18 Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn      Died: 1337

Gwenllian was born in June 1282 and was the only child of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and Eleanor de Montfort. Both of her parents had died before she was 6 months old and Edward I of England regarded her as a possible future threat. Gwenllian was taken to the convent in Sempringham where she spent the rest of her life, dying there in 1337 at the age of 54.

19 Owain ap Tomos - Owain Lawgoch [P]    Died: 1378

Owain ap Tomos was the grandson of Rhodri ap Gruffudd – a brother of Llywelyn and Dafydd – and grew up in Tatsfield near London. He became a soldier who fought throughout Europe and led an army of mercenaries fighting for the French in the Hundred Years' War. In 1378, Owain was killed near Mortagne-sur-Gironde in France by an English spy to prevent him from returning as ‘Prince of Wales’.

20 Owain ap Gruffudd Fychan - Owain Glyndŵr [P]  Died: 1415

Owain was the ‘Son of Prophecy’ who would save Wales in its hour of greatest need. In 1400 he led an uprising against Henry Bolingbroke who had imposed harsh laws and fines on the Welsh after usurping the English throne - Owain was then proclaimed ‘Prince of Wales’. By 1404 Owain controlled the whole of the country but his campaign failed after a number of heavy defeats and he is thought to have died in September 1415.

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