1039
Gruffydd defeated the forces of Leofric earl of Mercia, at Rhyd-y-groes near Welshpool.
The battle of Pen Cadeir (Carmarthen) took place and Gruffydd ap Llewellyn overcame Hywel, and captured his wife and took her to be his own wife.1040
The action of Pwll Dyvach “Nr Carmarthen” between Gruffydd and Hywel; for Hywel came the third time to S. Wales, accompanied by many of the black Danes, and Gruffydd met them and put them to flight. With that opportunity another army of Danes and Saxons came and devastated Dyfed cruelly; and Hywel and his men, in their flight, met with them, and pursued them closely, killing and taking them, others escaped to their ships.
1041
Cynan who represented the North Wales line fled to Ireland in 1041 where he married a daughter of the Danish king of Dublin, and after two fruitless attempts to recover his inheritance by the assistance of the Irish died in Ireland leaving a son Gruffydd.
1042
Hywel son Of Edwin King of Deheubarth, mediated the devastation of South Wales, accompanied by an army of people from Ireland, and against him was Gruffydd son of Llewelyn. And after a great battle and the vast slaughter of the army of Hywel, and of the Irish as Aber Tywi near Llandovery, Hywel fell and was slain and Gruffydd was victorious.
1042
Cynan, son of lago, son of Idwal, came to Gwynedd from Ireland with a great army, and seized the Prince Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn; and the men of the country took up arms, and rescued the prince from the hands of the Irishmen, and drove them back to sea with great loss.
1043
Deceit and treachery on the part of Hywel, son of Edwin, and the sons of Rhydderch, son of Iestyn; and they killed one hundred and fifty of the faithful men of Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn, son of Seisyllt, in the Vale of Tywi, being the chief men of that country. The same year the great snow which fell on New Year’s Day, and did not melt until the feast of Patrick, occurred, and much cattle were lost.
The same year Hywel, lord of Glamorgan, died at the age of a hundred and thirty years. He was the wisest prince in “Wales, and the most beloved by every one of his tribe; and he loved peace and equity. And Iestyn, son of Gwrgan, was placed in his room; and he was the worst prince ever seen in Wales, and loved neither peace nor equity; and he did nothing but what caused molestation and spoliation to his country and nation: on which account no wise or orderly person assisted him when he was opposed. The same year Hywel, son of Edwin, was slain in the action of Abertywi by Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn, after a hard fight. The same year Joseph; bishop of Teilo, died; a very wise, godly, and learned man. He instituted good order on the saints’ days; that prayer to God, showing good works, almsgiving, proper remembrance of God, and his saints and their praiseworthy works, should alone take place.
1043
Owain lord of Glamorgan died in this year, he was 110 years of age, and the wisest and most beloved Prince of the time which he lived.
1043
Iestyn son of Gwrgan however, succeeded to the government at Hywel’s death, in 1043; and having a spouse called Denis, daughter of Bleddyn ab Cynvyn, Prince of Powys, he built a castle a few miles to the west of Cardiff, which he called, after her name, Denis Powys, and this designation is still preserved, under the modern name of Dinas-Powis, as that of one of the civil divisions of the shire.
Deceit and treachery on the part of Hywel, son of Edwin, and the sons of Rhydderch, son of Iestyn; and they killed one hundred and fifty of the faithful men of Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn, son of Seisyllt, in the Vale of Tywi, being the chief men of that country. The same year the great snow which fell on New Year’s Day, and did not melt until the feast of Patrick, occurred, and much cattle were lost.
The same year Hywel, lord of Glamorgan, died at the age of a hundred and thirty years. He was the wisest prince in “Wales, and the most beloved by every one of his tribe; and he loved peace and equity. And Iestyn, son of Gwrgan, was placed in his room; and he was the worst prince ever seen in Wales, and loved neither peace nor equity; and he did nothing but what caused molestation and spoliation to his country and nation: on which account no wise or orderly person assisted him when he was opposed. The same year Hywel, son of Edwin, was slain in the action of Abertywi by Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn, after a hard fight. The same year Joseph; bishop of Teilo, died; a very wise, godly, and learned man. He instituted good order on the saints’ days; that prayer to God, showing good works, almsgiving, proper remembrance of God, and his saints and their praiseworthy works, should alone take place.
1045
Glamorgan had been without a bishop since the death of Joseph in Rome in 1045.
1050
Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn, led a great army of Welsh and Irish against the Saxons, and fought a battle at Hereford. After a hard fight Gruffydd conquered the Saxons, and mightily killed and burnt.
The same year Caradoc and Rhys, the two sons of Rhydderch, son of Iestyn, came with a great host of men from Glamorgan and Gwent, against Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn, to wrest from him the government of S. Wales; and Gruffydd met them, and a battle took place between them, dissimilar to any that ever occurred, except the battle of Camlan “Arthurian battle”; and so many were slain on both sides that the two armies were obliged to return, without its being possible to say that either was victorious, so bloody was the engagement. And while the sons of Rhydderch, son of Iestyn, were engaged in that expedition, the Saxons from the Summer country came and burnt Dindryvan “Dunraven” and Trevuvered “Treferedd”, in Glamorgan, the castles of Caradoc, son of Rhydderch, son of Iestyn; and took a vast spoil of corn, cattle, sheep, and goods of every description they could find; and burnt and destroyed houses, and made dreadful devastation, against the peace firmly made on oath between the prince of Glamorgan and the king and earls of the Saxons.
1054
The same year Cynan, son of Iago, came with a great host of his family from Ireland, with the intention of reaching Gwynedd, and gaining his territory from Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn; and while on sea, on their way to Wales, tempestuous winds arose, and the greatest part of the ships foundered and the men were drowned. And about the same period some of the men of Gwent and Glamorgan came to the Vale of Tywi, and finding there persons not well affected to Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn, who wished to unite with Caradoc, son of Rhydderch, they slew many of those faithful to Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn, and pillagedothers severely. Then Gruffydd came against them, and devastated Dyfed, the Vale of Tywi, and Gower, dreadfully.
1055
Gruffydd allied with leofric’s son Aelfgar who had been exiled from England through the machinations of the sons of Godwine earl of Wessex, the allies burned Hereford and Gruffydd expelled a large proportion of the population of the borderland. Thus the Welsh reposed Whitford and Hope, Bangor Iscoed and Chirk, Presteigne and Radnor.
1056
Rhys, brother of Gruffydd, led an army into Glamorgan and Gwent, and committed great devastations; but the inhabitants, rising in their own defence, drove him towards the marches, and, having taken him prisoner, cut off his head, and sent it to the English monarch, Edward the Confessor, who was then at Gloucester.
1056
When Herwald was appointed bishop of Llandaff Cathedral, it was recorded that he had been elected by the clerics of Glamorgan under the patronage of the king of Glamorgan and his overload namely Gruffydd ap Llewellyn of Gwynedd who also swore to be a loyal sub-king Edward the Confessor.
1057
Gruffydd, son of Rhydderch, son of Iestyn, arrived at man’s estate, collected a very numerous army, and went against Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn, prince of Gwynedd; and a fierce and bloody battle took place, in which Gruffydd, son of Rhydderch, was slain. In the same year Algar, earl of Chester, and the Prince Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn, combined, and between them collected a mighty host, and marched against those Saxons in Mercia, of whom Ranwlf was prince; and in that battle Gruffydd was victorious, and put the Saxons to flight, and pursued them hard as far as Hereford, and penetrated to the heart of the town after them, slaughtering them without mercy, until a living soul was not found in the whole town and he took vast spoil from thence, and the chief men saved he imprisoned. The same year King Edward went against Gruffydd, and Algar as far as Gwynedd, where a battle took place, in which Gruffydd l nobly defeated the Saxons. Then he heard of the devastation of S. Wales by other Saxons, and went against them, and put them to a shameful flight.
1060
Owain, son of Gruffydd, son of Rhydderch, son of Iestyn, died by poison: then Caradoc, son of Rhydderch, son of Iestyn, hired Harallt to come with an army to S. Wales. Then, conjointly with a great host of the men of Glamorgan and Gwent, they went against Gruffydd, who came to meet them with a very great host of the men of Gwynedd, Powys, and S. Wales; and a battle ensued, in which Gruffydd was killed through the treachery and deceit of Madoc Min, bishop of Bangor, the same one who devised the deceit through which his father, Llewellyn, son of Seisyllt, was killed. After Gruffydd, son of Llewellyn, was slain, his head was cut off and taken as a present to Harallt. The year this occurred was 1061. And so Gruffydd lost his life; and he and his father were the noblest princes that had been, until their time, in Wales; and the best for bravery and war, and for peace and for government, and for generosity and justice; and by their wisdom and understanding they united Gwynedd, Powys, and S. Wales, so that the Welsh were strengthened against the Saxons and all enemies and strangers. And Glamorgan and Gwent did not join this confederacy on account of the lineage of those countries, the sons and grandsons of Iestyn, son of Gwrgan, since the time of Aeddan, son of Blegywryd the Aged, son of Owain, son of Hywel, of the lineage of Bran ab Llyr Llediaith; and that was the reason why the Welsh were not able to recover the sovereignty of Britain.
1062
Caradoc son Rhydderch ab Iestyn and treacherous murdered Gruffydd ap Llewelyn, Prince of Gwynedd. After the murder of Gruffydd, the son of Llewellyn, Meredydd, the son of Owain, the son of Edwin, was made prince of S. Wales by Harallt and Edward, king of the Saxons. The uterine brothers of the prince that was killed, namely Gruffydd, the son of Llewellyn, obtained Gwynedd and Powys; that is to say, Bleddyn, the son of Cynvyn, the son of Gwerystan, lord of Cibion, and Rhiwallawn his brother. They were made princes of Gwynedd and Powys by right of their being the heirs of the princes of Dynevor (in descent), from Cadell, son of Rhodri the Great; for the heiress of that principality was Angharad, daughter of Owain, the son of Hywel Dda, and she was married to Llewellyn, the son of Seisyllt. After the murder of Llewellyn she was married to Cynvyn, son of Gwerystan, lord ofCibwyr in Gwent, son of Gwaithvoed, son of Gloddien, son of Gwrydr the Tall, son of Caradawc, son of Llew the Right handed, son of Ednyved, son of Gwinau, son of Gwaenoc the Red, son of Crydion, son of Corf, son of Cynawg, son of lorwerth Hirvlawdd, son of Tegonwy, son of Teon, son of Gwineu the Happy Dreamer, son of Bywlew, son of Bywdeg, son of Rhun of the Crimson Shaft, son of Llary, son of Casnar Wledig, king of Gwent, son of Gloyw the Widelanded, lord of Gloucester, son of Lludd, son of Beli the Great, son of Manogan, king of the Isle of Britain. And these brothers, namely Bleddyn and Rhiwallawn, took the sovereignty of the land of Powys from the lineage of Brochwel Ysgithrawc, which was contrary to right. At this time Cynan, the son of lago, the right owner of Gwynedd, was in retreat in Ireland, and no one would join his party in Wales; for his family was not beloved on account of their cruelties in slaying and putting out the eyes of those that opposed them in their irregularities.
1063
Harold, Godwin’s son and successor as earl of Wessex led forces of land and sea to defeat Gruffydd who was then perused from place to place and he was killed somewhere in Snowdonia on the 5th August 1063. It is rumoured that he was killed by his own men, some state that he was killed by Cynan ap Iago whose father Iago ab Idwal was put to death by Gruffydd in 1039 if this is son his death may be attributed to filial loyalty.
1135
Henry the first dies, no sooner had King Stephen taken over the throne the boundary dispute he summoned Gruffydd to court to answer the complaints by his Norman neighbours. Gruffydd seemed to have ignored this complaint, assembled his army, and having applied to his father in law Gruffydd ap Cynan of North Wales, who was now an old man and had probably repented over his treacherous conduct some twenty three years before. He sent his sons Cadwaladyr and Owain who will be known as Owain Gwynedd, with a considerable force of North Wales men to the assistance of Gruffydd ap Rhys. They suddenly attacked the Normans in Cardiganshire, and drove out all the retainers of the De Clare’s put of the country, taking Aberystwyth Castle and being joined by Hywel ap Meredith of Brecknock and Rhys ap Madoc ap Idnerth, they took the castles of Richard de La Mar, and the castles of Dinerth and Caerwedros the combined forces.
It is said by Lewis Morris the author of “Celtic Remains” the army under Gruffydd ap Rhys amounted to 6,000 foot, 3,000 horsemen well-armed near the River Teifi fought all the power of the Normans, Flemings and the English, They killed 3,000 in the field, several were drowned in flight, several carried away as captives. The English were under the command of Stephen, the castellan of Cardigan (who had married Nesta Gerald de Windsor widow), with his stepsons and Robert Fitz Martin, son of the conqueror of the Cemmaes “Northern Powys”, this great battle was fought near Cardigan. Fleeing the battle the Normans retreated southwards and were encountered in the Vale of Neath by the men of the hill country of Glamorgan under the grandson of Iestyn ap Gwrgan, who massacred 3,000 of them, the miserable remnant escaping into the Norman castles in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Gruffydd at the conclusion of the campaign, which had proved so successful, invited all the princes and chieftains of Wales, Gwynedd, Powys, South Wales, Glamorgan and Mercia to attend a great feast in the Vale of Towy in all probability at his castle of Dinefwr, his father’s royal palace. He provided every dainty of meat and drink, every disputation of wisdom and amusement of vocal and instrumental music, and welcome bards and minstrels and maintained all games of phantasy and illusion and all shows and all manly games. Gruffydd son of Cynan and his sons came to that feast and many chieftains from many districts of Wales and they feasted over forty days, they then left to their homes, and gave honourable gifts to those bards and minstrels, scholars and distinguished persons of every description that merited to them.
1135
There is no record where Gruffydd ap Rhys is buried, The Bishop of St David’s Bernard (1115- 1147) so it was unlikely to be there. It may have been at the palace of Dinefwr where it is said where he died or alongside is father Rhys ap Tewdwr at the monastery of Ystrad Fflur where is uncle Bleddyn ap Maenarch.
1144
Hywel and Cynan two of Owain Gwynedd’s warlike son’s alarmed at the return of the Normans and Flemings into Ceredigion, and fearing the loss of Aberteifi, which had rewarded the interference of their family in the affairs of Deheubarth, led an army to relieve the be leaguered castle, uncounted the invaders, and gave them a signal overthrow, garrisoned the town and returned triumphantly to their home. In this year a young Gilbert, fourth Earl de Clare, having resolved to retrieve his Welsh inheritance entered Dyfed in warlike strength. He rebuilt the castles of Caerfyrddin and Uchtryd, and having secured standing room, proceeded quietly to regain many other fortresses, until the chief part of the territories, both in Ceredigion and Dyfed, of which his parents had been dispossessed, including Royal Dinefwr, fell under is power, contenting himself with this success, he garrisoned all the strongholds, and left the country to the care of his feudatories.
1145
Rhys ap Gruffydd during this time had been quietly biding his time determined to oust Earl Gilbert de Clare from his father’s castles of Dinefwr and Carmarthen, of which the De Clare’s had become possessed since the death of Gruffydd ap Rhys. Joined by his brother Cadell, who appears to have been a brave and gallant soldier, they succeeded in regaining possession of Dinefwr, where after Rhys resided, Carmarthen and Llanstephan castles and defeated a large army of Normans English and Flemings who attacked them. Cadell, the eldest, obtained possession of Dinefwr and in conjunction with his brothers. Meredydd and Rhys advanced bodily to besiege Carmarthen Castle which was yielded up to them on condition that the lives of the garrison should be spared. In advancing towards the neighbouring castle Llanstephan, the princes were encountered by a strong body of Normans and Flemish troops, whom they worsted in the field, and afterwards won the castle, of which Meredydd was left in charge, while Rhys and Cadell marched forward. William de la Hay and the sons of Gerald de Windsor then collected their forces and suddenly attacked and invested the castle of Llanstephan. Meredydd, though surprised, was not unprepared being a man of great courage. He suffered the assailants to fix and to ascend their scaling ladders, then instantly giving the word of command to his men, they applied levers and overturned the ladders with their living freight, and in confusion and distress which ensued sallied forth, took many prisoners and out the rest of the forces to flight.
1150
Cadell who was very fond of field sports and residing near Tenby was hunting in the great forest of Coedtraeth which lay between Saundersfoot and Pendine was set upon by some Flemings from the neighbourhood who had placed themselves in ambush set upon Cadell who was unarmed sportsmen. They wounded Cadell so grievously that he narrowly escaped with his life; upon reaching home where he lay a long time in dangerously ill. When he recovered he entrusted all his affairs to his brothers Rhys Meredydd. It is said that he took a pilgrimage to the East, it is said that he visited Rome in 1157 and eventually became a monk in the Abbey Strata Florida which Rhys ap Gruffydd founded, and died there in 1178.
When the brothers heard what happened to their brother they entered the country and devastated it, they rendered Aber Llychwr’s, Gower into a heap of ruins, burnt the castle of Llan Rhidian and took great spoil with them to the castle of Dinefwr and strengthened that castle and put a faithful and experienced garrison in it.
1162
King Henry with a large army advanced into Wales to punish Rhys, who took the field with all the forces he could raise; and the king, having marched into Pencader, Brecknockshire, the men of Brecknock interposed between the king and Rhys and terms were arranged between them. Rhys swore fealty to the English king and his son at Woodstock, delivering up two of his nephews as hostages one being the gallant Einion, son of Anarawd the other was Cadwgan son of his brother Meredydd. The king pledged himself to grant Rhys the Great Cantref and Dinefwr. The hostages were entrusted by the king to Earl of Gloucester, who treacherously caused them both to be slain; Einion was murdered in bed by his own servant, Walter ap Llywarch at the instigation it is said of the Earl de Clare, and Cadwgan in the like manner by one Walter ap Riccart this could be Walter de Clifford., son of Richard Fitz Pons.
1163
When Rhys ap Gruffydd saw that the king fulfilled nothing of what he had promised, and that he could not thus submit honourably, he manfully entered the territory of Roger, Earl of Clare, the man on whose account his nephew Einion, son of Anarawd, had been slain; and dismantled and burned the castle of Aberrheidol (Aberystwyth), and the castle of the son of Gwynion. From there marching to Cardigan and into Pembrokeshire, harried the country with fire and sword, and swept away nearly every Norman garrison in the district, bringing the whole of Cardiganshire and Carmarthen under subjection “except Cardigan Castle” and carried away immense booty to his castle of Dinefwr.
1166
The quarrels having broken out among the chieftains of Powys, Rhys joined Owain Gwynedd in punishing Owain Cyveiliog, and taking from him his castles of Caereinion and Tavalwern “in the parish of Llanbrynmair” in the county of Montgomery. Rhys received is share of the latter castle as it lay near his territories; Caereinion was granted to Owain Vychan to hold it under Owain Gwynedd. Owain Cyveiliog having obtained the assistance of a numerous band of English and Normans retook Caereinion and burnt it to the ground; at the same time Rhys and Owain Gwynedd attacked the strong castle of Rhuddlan, in the Vale of Clwyd and after three months siege they took it, hey then took Prestatyn Castle, and having reduced the whole of Tegeingl “three commot’s, Counsyllt, Prestatyn and Rhuddlan” to subjection of Owain Gwynedd, Rhys returned home to his own dominions.
After this Rhys built a fortress at Abereinion and made an inroad into Brecknock, where he met with a repulse; but he returned again with a stronger force destroyed Builth Castle, obliged the King’s Justiciary to assume an appearance of peaceful complacency and marched back at to Dinefwr. At this time he was in possession of all Cardingshire and Carmarthenshire, a considerable portion of northern Pembrokeshire, a part of Montgomeryshire that had seized from Owain Cyveiliog “quite possible lying south of the river Dovey”. It also appears that he may have had a large tract of country of Brecon adjoining Carmarthenshire and a part of Radnorshire lying between the Rivers Wye, Elan and Claerwen.
1171
Acknowledged by Henry II.
1176
First Eisteddfod held at Cardigan Castle
1189
In this year Rhys’s son Maelgwn was seized by the advice of his elder brother Gruffydd and confined as a lunatic. Maelgwn lunacy may have been a cover up for his attempted rebellion against his family, he succeeded in escaping from prison in 1192 and with a party of his friends seized upon the Castle of Ystrad Meurig and arose a revolt against his father’s authority. It is also in another book by Rev. the Hon. G.T.O. Bridgeman “History of the Prices of South Wales” said that Gruffydd son of Rhys had taken Maelgwn unknown by his father to William de Breos into custody who had taken him from Dinefwr.
1195
Hywel Sais “Saxon” so called because he had for resided at Court of the King of England for many years as hostage, released his father from captivity and his friends and retainers rallying around him. The old prince very soon ousted Maelgwn from Dinefwr. Rhys’s troubles were however were not at an end, his son Rhys and Meredydd obtained by treachery possession of Dinefwr and Llandovery castle during Rhys’s absence in some other part of his territory. Their success was short lived, their father “laid private wait for them, and by treason of their own men (who were afraid any further to offend their Lord and Prince) they were taken”, at Ystrad Meurig, and brought before their father, who placed them in confinement.
1196
Around this time Bishop Peter de Leia of St David’s visited Rhys at Dinefwr, with a view of remonstrating with him for disturbing the peace of Holy Church and of his master the King of England; but Rhys treated him with indifference and the Bishop departed from the interview in displeasure. In the middle of the night may be at the instigation of Rhys his sons dragged the Bishop out of bed he had only had on woollen undergarment and drawers, into the wood this was a serious matter because the Bishop was elderly and it was in April. The Bishop was relieved when some of the retainers of William de Broes who was staying at Dinefwr rescued him. In the following morning the Bishop departed he solemnly excommunicated Rhys and his wicked sons and all is territory under and interdict “debarring person, place from ecclesiastical functions and privileges”.
1197
Rhys Grug forced to pay homage by Henry II by peace-making Llywelyn ap Iorwerth of Gwynedd.
1198
The youngest son of Lord Rhys took possession of the castle of Dinefwr.
1204
Maelgwn, son of Rhys, lost the keys of all his dominions, with Llanymddyfri, and Dinefwr (Llandeilo), for the sons of his brother Gruffydd manfully won them from him.
1485
Rhys ap Thomas helped Henry VII and for this he had the Dinefwr lands given back to him.
1527
Rhys ap Gruffudd of Dinefwr was beheaded for treason by Henry VIII.
1527
Rhys ap Gruffudd beheaded for treason by Henry VIII
1531
Griffith Rice (Rhys) Dinefwr, who was convicted of murder, was pardoned by Elizabeth I. He was Mayor of Carmarthen and High Sheriff of the County.
1531
Griffith Rice, convicted of murder pardoned by Elizabeth I J.P. Mayor of Carmarthen and High Sheriff of the County |
