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Rhys Ap Tewdwr (b. 997, d. 1093)

Rhys Ap Tewdwr (son of Tewdwr Ap Cadell and Gwenlian verch Gwyn Of Anglesea)^{5, 5} was born 997 in Carmarthenshire, Wales⁵, and died 1093 in Brecon, Breconshire, Wales⁵. He married Gwladus Verch Rhiwallon on 1073 in Dynevor Castle, Carmarthenshire, Wales⁵.

Notes for Rhys Ap Tewdwr:
Rhys ap Tewdwr
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Rhys ap Tewdwr (died 1093) was a prince of Deheubarth in southern Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch decended from Rhodri the Great.

He was born in present-day Carmarthenshire and died near Brecon.

Rhys claimed the throne of Deheubarth follwing the death of his second cousin Rhys ab Owain in battle against Caradog ap Gruffydd in 1078. In 1081 Caradog ap Gruffydd invaded Deheubarth and drove Rhys to seek sanctuary in the St David's Cathedral. Rhys however made an alliance with Gruffydd ap Cynan who was seeking to regain the throne of Gwynedd, and at the battle of Mynydd Carn in the same year they defeated and killed Caradog ap Gruffydd and his allies Trahaearn ap Caradog of Gwynedd and Meilyr ap Rhiwallon. The same year William the Conqueror visited Deheubarth, ostensibly on a pilgrimage to St David's, though it seems likely he came to an arrangement with Rhys, whereby Rhys paid him homage and was confirmed in possession of Deheubarth.

In 1088 Cadwgan ap Bleddyn of Powys attacked Deheubarth and forced Rhys to flee to Ireland. However Rhys returned later the same year with a fleet from Ireland and defeated the men of Powys in a battle in which two of Cadwgan's brothers, Madog and Rhiryd, were killed.

In 1091 he faced another challenge in the form of an attempt to put Gruffydd, the son of Maredudd ab Owain on the throne of Deheubarth. Rhys was able to defeat the rebels in a battle at St. Dogmaels, killing Gruffydd.

Rhys was able to withstand increasing Norman pressure until 1093, when he was killed near Brecon by the Norman invaders of that area, either in battle or by treachery. He was married to Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon of the Mathrafal dynasty of Powys, by whom he had two sons, Gruffydd and Hywel, and a daughter Nest. Gruffydd inherited some of Deheubarth, but Rhys' death led to the Normans taking over much of the kingdom, with Gruffydd ruling only a much smaller area.

His daughter, Nest verch Rhys, was of legendary beauty. She was married to Gerald of Pembroke and is sometimes known as the "Helen of Wales", as her abduction from her husband's castle at Cenarth Bychan (probably Cilgerran Castle) by Owain ap Cadwgan of Powys started a civil war.

Dinefwr was a local government district in Dyfed, Wales from 1974 to 1996. It is named after Dinefwr Castle which was the royal capital of the Kingdom of Deheubarth and one of the three principal royal courts of Wales.

It was formed by the merger of the borough of Llandovery, the urban districts of Ammanford, Cwmamman and Llandeilo along with Llandeilo Rural District, which were all in Carmarthenshire. In 1996 the district became part of a new unitary Carmarthenshire.

Princely House of Dinefwr
With the death of Rhodri Mawr, the kingdom of Gwynedd passed to his eldest son Anarawd ap Rhodri. Rhodri's second son Cadell ap Rhodri, however, looked outside Gwynedd's traditional borders and took possession of the Dark Ages kingdom of Dyfed by the late 9th century, establishing his capital at the citadel of Dinefwr. Cadell ap Rhodri's descendants are designated Dinefwr after the citadel from which they would rule Dyfed. The Dinefwr dynasty under king Hywel Dda would unite Dyfed and Seisyllwg into the kingdom of Deheubarth in the early 10th century. The Dinefwr dynasty would rule in Deheubarth until their conquest by the Anglo-Normans in the 13th century. This branch would compete with House Aberffraw for supremacy and influence in Wales through-out the 10th, 11th, and 12th century, with Powys variously ruled between them. Eventually, a cadet branch of Dinefwr would establish itself in Powys by the mid 11th century, designated Mathrafal after the castle there.

Preceded by:
Rhys ab Owain Prince of Deheubarth
1078–1093
Succeeded by:
Gruffydd ap Rhys
Rhys ap Tewdwr
(person) by aneurin (2.3 d) (print) ? 1 C! Sat Jun 08 2002 at 11:58:29

King of Deheubarth (1079-1093)
born c 977 died 1093

The Road to Mynydd Carn

Both the previous kings of Deheubarth, Maredudd ab Owain and Rhys ab Owain had had died at the hands of the brutally ambitious Caradog ap Gruffudd, from south east Wales; as a result of which, as Brut y Tywysogion rather baldly states for 1079,

In this year Rhys ap Tewdwr began to rule.

His claim to rule in Deheubarth was somewhat tangential as there were others with a better claim. However he could claim descent from Hywel Dda 1 and simply took advantage of cirumstances in order to seize power for himself. His grip on Deheubarth was however not secure; Caradog ap Gruffudd still coveted the kingdom and he had a powerful ally in Trahaern ap Caradog of Gwynedd.

Fortunately for Rhys he had a ready ally in one Gruffudd ap Cynan, who himself had designs (and a valid claim on) the throne of Gwynedd. Fortunate indeed, as in 1081 Caradog came west with an army, and togther with Trahaern sought to carve up Deheubarth between them. After the resulting Battle of Mynydd Carn Caradog and Trahaern were dead, Gruffudd was soon in prison which left Rhys ap Tewdwr as the most powerful king in Wales.

The agreement with William I

Later in 1081, after the dust of battle had settled somewhat, William I made a visit to Wales. Ostensibly for the purposes making a pilgrimage to St Davids (which lay within the territory of Deheubarth), but in reality for the combined purposes of military reconnaissance and political diplomacy. The main result of this diplomatic mission was an agreement reached between William and Rhys. Unfortunately we know little of the detail of this agreement. We do know that William acknowledged Rhys as ruler of Deheubarth, in return for which Rhys agreed to pay William the sum of forty pounds as an annual tribute, and from subsequent events it seems likely that they made some sort of deal regarding their respective spheres of influence in the border country between Wales and England.

What William gained from this alliance was stability on his western border; Rhys ap Tewdwr was to act as a counter balance to the power of the border barons of the March 2; what Rhys gained was recognition of his position as leader of the Welsh, a recognition that helped stabilise and strengthen his position.

The wisdom of his course of action is reflected in the fact that the western frontier of England received little mention in the chronicles of the latter years of William's reign. 3
After the death of William

For the policy of maintaining a balance of power to work effectively, one thing was required, a strong king on the English throne able to restrain the marcher lords. Unfortunately William Rufus, William's successor was not quite cut from the same mould as his father, there was opposition to his rule, much of it centered on the March, and in 1088 the Marcher Lords led a revolt against the crown. The exact conduct and outcome of this revolt is unclear; but it seems to have led to a patched up compromise between the two sides, with William Rufus effectively buying off the rebels with a promise of a free hand in Wales.

The pressure on Rhys now began to grow; he was the main obstacle to further expansion in the south by the marcher lords of the borderlands.

It is probable that there was Norman support for the invasion of Deheubarth in 1088 by the sons of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn who ruled in Powys. Rhys was driven out and fled to exile in Ireland; but he soon returned with a fleet and at the Battle of Llech-y-crau defeated the invaders and killed two of the sons of Bleddyn4

In 1091, another attack was launched this time by Gruffudd ap Maredudd, son of Maredudd ab Owain, ruler of Deheubarth between 1063 and 1072, and therefore some would say the rightful ruler of the kingdom. 5Rhys met this Gruffudd in

battle near Llandudoch, where he drove him to flight and pursued him and at last he slew him6
Despite these victories Rhys' position was weakening; on his eastern border he faced a serious threat. The Welsh kingdom of Brycheiniog was under sustained assault by the Norman Bernard of Neufmarche, who was busy building a castle there to confirm his grip on the territory. (An action that was no doubt in clear breach of the agreement of 1081.) Rhys had no choice other than to come to the aid of the beleagured king of Brycheiniog. During Easter of the year 1093 Rhys moved against the Norman forces occupying Brycheiniog; just outside Aberhonddu he was defeated and killed. And so Brut y Tywysogion lamented

In this year Rhys ap Tewdwr, king of the South, was slain by Frenchmen who were inhabiting Brycheiniog - and with him fell the kingdom of the Britons.

After Rhys

Rhys ap Tewdwr was really the last king of Deheubarth. On his death his two sons were under age, with the Normans already in possession of most of the south east, Brycheiniog and the north, there seemed to be nothing or no one to stand in their way and to prevent a complete Norman takeover of Wales.

After the death of Rhys, the Norman onslaught began.

More About Rhys Ap Tewdwr:
Date born 2: 997, Brittany, France.⁵
Died 2: 1093, Brecon, Powys, Wales.⁵

More About Rhys Ap Tewdwr and Gwladus Verch Rhiwallon:
Marriage: 1073, Dynevor Castle, Carmarthenshire, Wales.⁵

Children of Rhys Ap Tewdwr and Gwladus Verch Rhiwallon are:

+Gruffydd Ap Rhys, b. 1081, Dynevor Castle, Carmarthenshire, Wales⁵, d. 1137, Llandilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales⁵.