Rhys ap Tewdyr, King of Deheubarth

Notes:

From the Dictionary of Welsh Biography:

RHYS ap TEWDWR (d. 1093), king of Deheubarth; grandson of Cadell ab Einion ab Owain ap Hywel Dda. In 1075 he took possession of Deheubarth on the death of his second-cousin, Rhys ab Owain ab Edwin. In 1081 he was dislodged by Caradog ap Gruffydd , but later in the year, with the help of Gruffudd ap Cynan, he was firmly reinstated after the historic battle of Mynydd Carn. In the same year William the Conqueror made a demonstration of power in South Wales, traversing the land as far as S. Davids; it is reasonably certain that during the visit the two kings came to an agreement as to their future good relations, which lasted to the end of William's reign. A few years later it is recorded that Rhys is paying the king £40 a year for Deheubarth, thereby becoming a vassal of the Norman Crown and establishing a precedent with lasting consequences on Anglo-Welsh relations.

Henceforth, with the exception of the closing tragedy of his career, Rhys had only to contend with the jealousies of his fellow princes. In 1088 he was attacked by the young rulers of Powys and was obliged to seek refuge in Ireland, but he soon returned and, with Danish help, decisively defeated his opponents (see Madog, Rhiryd, and Cadwgan ap Bleddyn). Again in 1091 he was opposed by a group of his own vassals in Dyfed, who sought to restore the kingship to the senior line of Hywel Dda in the person of Gruffydd ap Maredudd ab Owain. At Llandudoch (S. Dogmaels) on the Teifi the rebels were defeated and Gruffydd killed. Meanwhile the Norman conquest of the south had gathered a new momentum after William's death in 1087, and among the territories then being over-run was the old kingdom of Brycheiniog. It was while resisting the Norman advance in this all-important approach to his own dominions that Rhys was killed in uncertain circumstances near Aberhonddu (Brecon).

He was virtually the last of the ancient kings of Deheubarth, and it was in a different political setting that the power of the dynasty was eventually revived by his grandson -- Rhys ap Gruffydd. He m. Gwladus, daughter of Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn. He was survived by two sons, Gruffydd ap Rhys and Hywel, and by a daughter, Nest.

Family/Spouse: Gwladus ferch Rhiwallon. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: (Unknown wife of Rhys ap Tewdyr). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1136

Notes:

Also called Nest ferch Tewdwr.

"NEST (fl. 1120), a princess of Deheubarth, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr (q.v.) by Gwladus, daughter of Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn. About 1100 she m. Gerald of Pembroke; there were at least three sons of the union -- William, Maurice, and David Fitz-Gerald (qq.v.) -- and a daughter, Angharad, wife of William of Manorbier and mother of Giraldus Cambrensis (q.v.). Clearly a woman of great charm and beauty, she became the mistress of many lovers. Her romantic abduction (almost in her husband's presence) by her kinsman, Owain ap Cadwgan (q.v.), in 1109, has earned her notoriety as the 'Helen of Wales.' Her numerous offspring included Robert Fitz-Stephen (q.v.) and Henry 'filius regis' -- her child by king Henry I. The date of her death is unknown, but she lived until well after 1136. There were others of the same name less famous than the subject of this notice: Nest, daughter of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn (q.v.), Nest, the wife of Bernard Newmarch, and Nest, daughter of Gruffydd ap Rhys (q.v.)." [Dictionary of Welsh Biography]

Family/Spouse: Henry I, King of England. Henry (son of William I, King of England and Matilda of Flanders, Queen Consort of England) was born in 1068; died on 1 Dec 1135 in Lyon-la-Forêt, near Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Normandy, France; was buried in Reading Abbey, Berkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Gerald of Windsor. Gerald (son of Walter fitz Other and Beatrice) was born in 1070; died after 1116. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Owain ap Cadwgon. Owain (son of Cadwgon ap Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and (Unknown wife or mistress of Cadwgon ap Bleddyn)) died in 1116. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was definitely a son of Rhys ap Tewdyr. He may or may not have been a son of Rhys's first wife, Gwladus verch Rhiwallon.

Family/Spouse: Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd. Gwenllian (daughter of Gruffydd ap Cynan ab Iago, King of Gwynedd and Angharad ferch Owain) died in 1136. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called Henry fitz Henry. Killed during Henry II's invasion at Anglesea.

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

Notes:

"FITZGERALD, MAURICE (d. 1176), one of the conquerors of Ireland; son of Gerald de Windsor, chief follower of Arnulf Montgomery and castellan of Pembroke Castle (1093-post 1116), by his wife Nest (q.v.), daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr. Maurice and WILLIAM, two of the sons of Gerald and Nest, and lords respectively of Llanstephan and Emlyn, came into prominence as leaders of the Anglo-Norman settlers in West Wales against the great revolt of the native princes in 1136. In 1146 they were at the head of the unsuccessful attempt to recover Llanstephan Castle from the Welsh. Later in his career Maurice Fitzgerald took part, with his half-brother Robert Fitzstephen (q.v.), in the conquest of Ireland. In 1169 he landed in Wexford with his followers and led the English contingent against Dublin. He finally settled in the cantref of Kildare which earl Richard granted to him for his services. It is said that his wife (living in 1171) was Alice, granddaughter of Roger de Montgomery. Maurice, who was a brave and modest man of few words, d. at Wexford c. 1 Sept. 1176. [William d. 1174.]" [Dictionary of Welsh Biography]

"His brother, Bishop David, granted him the Stewardship of St. Davids hereditarily. Under Stephen [between 1136 and 1146] the sons of Gerald were hard pressed by the Welsh in their effort to dislodge the Norman interlopers from the lands they had seized. The occasion of Maurice's going to Ireland, where he and his descendants were to flourish so exceedingly, was the promise, in 1167, of Dermot MacMurrough, the dispossessed King of Leinster, to give Wexford to him and to his half-brother, Robert FitzStephen, if they would help him to regain the kingdom -- a promise which he duly honoured. Preceded by FitzStephen, and accompanied by his nephew Raymond, Maurice landed at Wexford in 1169 with two ships of armed followers, and with the aid of his Norman allies Dermot recovered Dublin. The coming over of Henry II, and the political dispositions which he made, fettered the progress of the Geraldines; although at his departure [Easter 1172] the King left Maurice one of the three keepers of Dublin. After spending some time in Wales, Maurice returned to Ireland, where the Keeper, Earl Richard, Strongbow, was consolidating the Normans in the face of the Irish by making them grants of land in fee, and by arranging marriages between members of the factious families. There is no record of his marriage. He d. 1 Sep 1176, at Wexford." [Complete Peerage X:11-12]

Family/Spouse: Alice. Alice died after 1170. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 28 Apr 1197

Notes:

Also called Ys Arglwydd Rhys, "The Lord Rhys."

Family/Spouse: Gwenllian ferch Madog. Gwenllian (daughter of Madog ap Maredudd, Prince of Powys Fadog and (Unknown wife or mistress of Madog ap Maredudd)) died in 1160. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Walter de Ridelisford. Walter was born in of Carriebenan, Kildare, Ireland; died after 1226. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1150

Notes:

From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:

Fitzgerald, Gerald fitz Maurice (d. 1204), magnate, was a son of Maurice Fitzgerald (d. 1176). He accompanied his father to Ireland and he and his brother Alexander were with him when the Norman garrison in Dublin was besieged in 1171 by Ruaidri " Conchobair, king of Connacht and claimant to the high-kingship. John, son of Henry II, as lord of Ireland confirmed to fitz Maurice c. 1185 - 9 the half cantred of Uí Fáeláin which included Uí Máel Rubae, Rathmore, Maynooth, Laraghbryan, Taghadoe, and Straffan (in Kildare), which had been granted to him by his brother William (d. c. 1199); and also lands in Uí Glaisin in the kingdom of Cork which had devolved to him as heir of his brother Alexander, who had been enfeoffed by Robert fitz Stephen. At some time between 1194 and 1204 Philip of Worcester made to fitz Maurice grants of land in what are now counties Limerick and Tipperary.

Gerald fitz Maurice married Eva (d. c. 1225), daughter and heir of Robert of Bermingham, who had been granted Uí Failge (Offaly) by Richard fitz Gilbert, earl of Pembroke and lord of Striguil (known as Strongbow), and succeeded to the lordship of Offaly in right of his wife. He died before 15 January 1204, when Meiler fitz Henry, justiciar, was ordered to give wardship of his heir, custody of his castles, and lands (including the castles of Lea and Geashill in Uí Failge) to William (I) Marshal as lord of Leinster. He was to be succeeded by his son, Maurice Fitzgerald (d. 1257), who had come of age by 1215. His widow, Eva, married Geoffrey fitz Robert (d. 1211), lord of Kells, and Geoffrey de Marisco, justiciar. Gerald fitz Maurice Fitzgerald was ancestor of the earls of Kildare, later dukes of Leinster.

Family/Spouse: Eve de Bermingham. Eve (daughter of Robert de Bermingham) died about 1225. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Ednyfed Fychan ap Cynwrig ab Iorwerth ap Gwgon. Ednyfed (son of Cynwrig ab Iorwerth ap Gwgon ab Idnerth ab Edryd ab Inethan ab Iasedd ap Carwed ap Marchudd ap Cynan and Angharad ferch Hwfa ap Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon ap Dingad ap Tudur Trefor) died in 1246. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Matilda de Briouze. Matilda (daughter of William de Briouze and Maud de St. Valéry) died on 29 Dec 1210 in Llanbardarn Fawr, Ceredigion, Wales; was buried in Strata Florida Abbey, Ceredigion, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]