Cynan ap Maredudd

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Cynan ap Maredudd († 1297 ) was a Welsh lord of Deheubarth .

origin

Cynan ap Maredudd came from the Dinefwr dynasty . He was a son of Maredudd ap Owain , whose rule included the middle Ceredigion south of the Ystwyth . After the death of his father in 1265, he and his brothers Owain and Gruffydd divided the rule among themselves, with Trefilan Castle probably remaining the joint administrative seat of the three lords. As "wretched chiefs" they ruled Ceredigion.

Role during Edward I's first campaign in Wales

Like his father, Cynan was a vassal of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd , the Prince of Wales. During the first campaign of the English King Edward I , however, like his brother Gruffydd, he submitted to the English military leader Payn de Chaworth in May 1277 . Chaworth sent him to Worcester , where he, along with Gruffydd and the Welsh Lords Rhys Wyndod and Rhys Fychan , had to pay homage to the king on July 1st . Then he had to take part in the further fighting in West Wales on the side of the English conquerors.

Loss of rule during the conquest of Wales

Like his brother Gruffydd, however, after the Treaty of Aberconwy , Cynan did not accept his new role as vassal of the English king, so that it came into conflict with Robert de Tibetot , the royal justiciar of South Wales. Tibetot tried to centralize the administration and did not accept the old Welsh law. Already on May 18, 1278, Cynan, together with his brother Gruffydd and Rhys Wyndod, visited the defeated Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in his residence, Dolwyddelan Castle . However, Cynan also attempted to acquire the lands of Rhys Fychan in Exact'r Glyn through a lawsuit in front of the court, in which he accused him of illegitimate birth (with the result that he was not entitled to inheritance). In March 1282, Cynan supported the attack by Gruffydd and Rhys Fychan on Aberystwyth Castle . Then he fought against the advancing English armies . In September, an English army, supported by Rhys ap Maredudd of Dryslwyn Castle , finally captured Trefilan Castle. Cynan narrowly escaped and fled to the Gwynedd hill country . There he surrendered to the English troops in January 1283. On behalf of the English, he was supposed to secure Northern Cereigion against the fugitive Dafydd ap Gruffydd , but he now joined Dafydd until he too had to surrender in August 1283. He was not convicted of a traitor, however, but only incarcerated for a time in Bridgnorth Castle in Shropshire .

Next life

After his release, Cynan was able to return to West Wales. Possibly he was one of the leaders of the Welsh uprising in West Wales alongside Maelgwn ap Rhys in 1294 and led raids as far as Pembrokeshire , although this is not certain. After the collapse of the uprising, he fled and was finally recognized and arrested in 1295, despite his disguise as a leper at Brecon . Again he was not condemned as a traitor, but fought like his brother in 1297 as a mercenary during the Franco-English War in the English army in Flanders , where he presumably died.

family

Cynan's daughter Gwenllian married the Welsh nobleman Gruffydd Llwyd .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Edward Lloyd: A history of Wales from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest , Vol. II. Longmans, Green & Co., London, 2nd ed. 1912, p. 750.
  2. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 177
  3. ^ Ralph A. Griffiths: The revolt of Rhys ap Maredudd, 1287-88 . In: The Welsh History Review , ISSN  0043-2431 , Jg. 1966, No. 3, pp. 121-143, here p. 124
  4. ^ John Edward Morris: The Welsh wars of Edward I. A contribution to mediaeval military history . Clarendon, Oxford 1901. p. 154
  5. ^ Ralph A. Griffiths: The revolt of Rhys ap Maredudd, 1287-88 . In: Welsh History Review (3) 1966, p. 126
  6. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 220
  7. ^ Ralph A. Griffiths: Gentlemen and rebels in the later cardiganshire . Ceredigion: Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society, 1965, p. 146
  8. ^ Welsh Biography Online: Gruffydd Llwyd. Retrieved June 19, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Cynan ap Maredudd
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lord of Deheubarth in South Wales
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH 1297