Gruffudd ap Hywel ap Gruffudd ab Ednyfed Fychan

Family/Spouse: Nest. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Rhys ap Griffith was born in of Llansadwrn in Cantrefmawr, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales; died on 10 May 1356 in Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales; was buried in Carmarthen Priory, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

Notes:

Flourished about 1300-1340. Also called Hywel y Pedolau, i.e., "of the horseshoes."

From the Dictionary of Welsh Biography:

According to a story recorded by Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt about 1650, Hywel ap Gruffydd ap Iorwerth was descended from Hwfa ap Cynddelw, founder of one of the so-called "Fifteen Tribes." His mother was said to have nursed Edward II after his birth at Caernarvon in 1284; as a result, Hywel enjoyed the favour of the king and was knighted by him. He was a man of great physical strength, able to bend horseshoes with his hands. No record evidence exists to support the legend, but medieval poets used his name to typify physical prowess. [...]

It may confidently be suggested that Hywel "y Pedolau" of the legend represents the historical Hywel ap Gruffydd who figures prominently during the early years of the 14th cent. as a member of that Welsh official class, led by Sir Gruffydd Llwyd in North Wales and Sir Rhys ap Gruffydd in South Wales which showed such remarkable loyalty to Edward II throughout his reign. Early in Edward's reign his brother, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd ap Iorwerth, claimed to be the hereditary pencenedl (chief of kindred) of the line of Hwfa ap Cynddelw. [...] He served in Scotland, presumably in the Bannockburn campaign, and in 1326-7 he was imprisoned in Caernarvon castle, together with his brother Iorwerth and eleven others, for their adherence to Edward II before his abdication and death. He was probably the Hywel ap Gruffydd who represented Anglesey in the Parliament of 1327, and in 1331 he accused William de Shaldeford, who had been deputy to Roger Mortimer, justice of North Wales in 1327, of having encouraged Mortimer to encompass the death of Edward II in order to frustrate an attempt to rescue him by his Welsh adherents. The date of his death is not known, but he may have been the Anglesey man of the same name who swore fealty to the Black Prince in 1343.