Bleddyn ap Cynfyn

Background

Bleddyn was born to a poorly documented Powys nobleman named Cynfyn ap Gwerystan, known only from the late traditional pedigrees reporting Bleddyn's parentage.

Cynfyn, likely a supporter of King Llywelyn ap Seisyll, would after the latter's 1023 death marry the widowed queen, Angharad, daughter of King Maredudd ab Owain of Dyfed, member of the House of Dinefwr, whose realm had been lost to the Irish pretender Rhain before its conquest by Llywelyn.

Angharad and Cynfyn had at least two sons, Bleddyn and Rhiwallon, probably born in the late 1020s, who were thus maternal half-brothers of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, Angharad's son by her first husband. Gruffydd, aged about ten and passed over for succession at the time of his father's death, slowly rebuilt his father's realm, annexing its successor states.

Cynfyn and Rhiwallon first appear in the documentary record in 1063. Bleddyn may have been residing in Powys, where he married Haer ferch Cillyn, daughter of the Lord of Gest Cillyn y Blaidd Rudd ("Cillyn the Red Wolf").

Reign

Gruffydd's consolidation of power and alliance with earl Ælfgar of Mercia made him a threat to Harold Godwinson, earl of Hereford. Upon Ælfgar's death in 1062, Harold and his brother Tostig quickly invaded; the following year, they invaded again and were left in mastery of Wales after traitors among his men killed Gruffydd during a retreat. The south was restored to the Houses of Dinefwr and Morgan, but Powys and Gwynedd were given to Gruffydd's half-brothers Bleddyn and Rhiwallon. These two submitted to Harold and swore themselves vassals and allies of Edward the Confessor.

At the time of the Norman Conquest, Bleddyn was the most powerful king in Wales. Closely allied with Harold, the brothers joined the Saxon resistance to William the Conqueror following his conquest of England. In 1067, they joined the Mercian Eadric the Wild in their struggle against William and attacked the Normans at Hereford, ravaging the lands as far as the River Lugg. In 1068, they joined earls Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria in their attacks as well. The earls both later submitted to William.

In 1070, King Gruffydd's sons, Idwal ap Gruffydd and Prince Maredudd ap Gruffydd, challenged Bleddyn. Rhiwallon, Idwal and Maredudd all died in the Battle of Mechain. Bleddyn was the king of both Gwynedd and Powys.

In 1073, Robert of Rhuddlan stealthily established his forces on the banks of the River Clwyd and attempted to ambush and capture Bleddyn. He narrowly failed but seized valuable booty in raids further south. Bleddyn was killed in 1075 by King Rhys ab Owain of Deheubarth, having been betrayed by the lords of Ystrad Tywi.

When Rhys was later defeated at the 1078 Battle of Goodwick (or Pwllgwdig) by Bleddyn's successor, Trahaearn ap Caradog, and killed by Caradog ap Gruffydd of Gwent shortly afterwards, this was hailed as vengeance "for the blood of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, his first cousin". After his death, Gwynedd was seized by Trahaearn and later recovered for the House of Aberffraw by Gruffudd ap Cynan; but in Powys, Bleddyn was the founder of a dynasty which lasted until the end of the 13th century.

Legacy

Bleddyn's legacy in the Chronicle of the Princes was that of a benevolent ruler:

Bleddyn was also responsible for a revision of the Welsh law which continued in force in his dynasty's domain of Powys. Gwynedd's Venedotian Code noted that he changed the legal composition of the homestead (tyddyn) for purposes of inheritance etc., varying its size depending on the social status of the owner. The homestead of a nobleman (uchelwr) was 12 Welsh acres, that of a serf (Medieval Welsh eẏllt, Modern Welsh aillt) had 8, and that of a bondsman or slave (Medieval godaẏauc) had 4. (The text, however, notes the uncommonness of this division and says it was generally understood as 4 acres regardless of status.)

Children

Bleddyn had at least five children: They continued to rule the House of Powys.

• Maredudd (d. 1132), king of Powys;
• Cadwgan (d. 1111), prince of Powys;
• Madog;
• Rhirid (1049–1088), king of Powys;
• Iorwerth (d. 1111), prince of Powys.

Family

Bleddyn's sister Iwerydd married prince Edwin of Tegeingl. They became the parents of prince Owain of Tegeingl, who sided with the Normans Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester, and Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, member of William the Conqueror's family.

Bleddyn's grandniece, queen Angharad, married the Welsh king Gruffudd ap Cynan, a great-grandson of the Norse king Sigtrygg Silkbeard, member of the Viking Ivar dynasty. They became the parents of the first prince of Wales, Owain Gwynedd, and of prince Cadwaladr, who married a daughter of the Norman baron Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare, a cousin of William the Conqueror through his great-grandfather, Gilbert, Count of Brionne.

Their daughter, the warrior princess Gwenllian, became the mother of Lord Rhys, prince of Wales, the daughter-in-law of king Rhys ap Tewdwr, who made an alliance with William the Conqueror, and the sister-in-law of princess Nesta. Nesta was Bleddyn's grandniece, and became the founder, with her husband Gerald de Windsor, of the Fitzgerald dynasty of Ireland.

Notes

References

Sources

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References

1. Lloyd, J. E.. (1959). "BLEDDYN ap CYNFYN (died 1075), prince".
2. Cynfyn's claimed father, Gwerstan or Gwerystan, is given contradictory Welsh pedigrees consisting mostly of otherwise unknown names, a possibly spurious derivation since his name perhaps actually represents a rendering of the Anglo-Saxon name Werestan.Davies, Sean; ''The First Prince of Wales?: Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, 1063–1075'', University of Wales Press, 2016, pp. 9–11
3. [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Laws_of_Howel_the_Good/The_Houses_of_Cunedda_and_Rhodri_Mawr The Houses of Cunedda and Rhodri Mawr], Welsh Medieval Law: The Laws of Howell the Good (1909) by Hywel ap Cadell, translated by Arthur Wade Wade-Evans. See: Meredydd (Maredudd) and Owen (King Owain)
4. Lloyd, J. E.; (1959). [https://biography.wales/article/s-BLED-APC-1025 BLEDDYN ap CYNFYN (died 1075)], prince. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 4 March 2024
5. Pierce, T. J.; (1959). [https://biography.wales/article/s-LLYW-APS-1023 LLYWELYN ap SEISYLL (died 1023)], king of Deheubarth and Gwynedd. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 4 March 2024
6. Jones, Owain. (2013). "Historical writing in medieval Wales". Bangor University.
7. Davies, ''The First Prince of Wales?'', pp. 11–12
8. Middleton, John. (2015-06-01). "World Monarchies and Dynasties". Routledge.
9. Davies, R. R.; (1987). Conquest, Coexistence and Change: Wales 1063–1415. History of Wales, Vol. 2. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 28–30
10. [https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofWales/Kings-Princes-of-Wales/ Kings and Princes of Wales, Historic UK, Ben Johnson]
11. The First Prince of Wales?: Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, 1063–1075, Sean Davies, 2016
12. Lloyd, J. E.; (1959). BLEDDYN ap CYNFYN (died 1075), prince. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 16 August 2023, from https://biography.wales/article/s-BLED-APC-1025
13. "Rhys ab Owain (d. 1078), ruler in Wales".
14. (2000). "The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415". Oxford University Press.
15. (June 1967). "Usher, Gwysaney and Owston (Book Review)". Welsh History Review.
16. Annals and antiquities of the counties and county families of Wales, (1872), p. 402
17. Pierce, T. J., (1959). [https://biography.wales/article/s-OWAI-ABE-1105 OWAIN ab EDWIN (died 1105)], a landowner in Tegeingl (modern Flintshire). Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 28 May 2025
18. {{cite DNB. Kingsford. Charles Lethbridge. (1897)
19. Lloyd, John Edward (2004). A History of Wales: From the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest, p. 274
20. White, Graeme J. (2016). "The Legacy of Ranulf de Gernons". In Dalton, Paul; Luscombe, David (eds.). Rulership and Rebellion in the Anglo-Norman World, C.1066–c.1216, p. 121-122
21. Pierce, T. J., (1959). [https://biography.wales/article/s-GWEN-FER-1100 GWENLLIAN (died 1136)]. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 28 May 2025