Maelgwn Fychan

Maelgwn Fychan († 1257 ), also called Maelgwn Ieuanc, actually Maelgwn ap Maelgwn, was a Welsh lord from the Dinefwr dynasty .

He was a son of Maelgwn ap Rhys , whose possessions of Is Aeron , a part of the former principality of Deheubarth in the north of Ceredigion , he inherited after his death in 1230. In 1231 he conquered Cardigan Castle on behalf of Llywelyn from Iorwerth of Gwynedd and with the support of his uncle Rhys Gryg . Around 1233 he completed Trefilan Castle in Ceredigion. At the end of 1233 he took during the rebellion of Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke against the English King Henry III. participated in the siege of Carmarthen Castle , which finally failed in March 1234 with the arrival of a relief army. Maelgwn Fychan remained an ally of the Marshals, he married an illegitimate daughter of Gilbert Marshal and became a vassal of Gilbert. However, under pressure from the king, this alliance broke again, and Maelgwn Fychan was briefly a prisoner marshal who imprisoned him in Cilgerran Castle .

After Llywelyn's death from Iorwerth in 1240, he lost Cardigan to Walter Marshal . Allied with his brothers-in-law, the Welsh Lords of Meirionydd and Cedewain, he finally joined the anti-English coalition under Dafydd ap Llywelyn in 1244 . However, after the death of Dafydd ap Llywelyn, he was defeated in 1246 by Nicholas de Moels , the royal constable of Carmarthen and Cardigan, and driven from his estates. Nicholas de Moels was assisted by Maelgwn's relatives Maredudd ap Owain of southern Ceredigion and Maredudd ap Rhys of Dryslwyn . Maelgwn Fychan fled to the Gwynedd hill country and surrendered to the English in late 1246. With Geneu'r Glyn and Iscoed, he got back only the parts of his lands north of the Ystwyth , while the Commote Perfedd fell to Maredudd ap Owain and Rhys ap Maredudd.

Maelgwn Fychan's first marriage was Angharad, a daughter of Llywelyn from Iorwerth. In his second marriage he married Isabel, a daughter of Gilbert Marshal. He had several children including:

1. Eleanor ∞ Maredudd ap Owain
2. Rhys († 1255)
3. Gwenllian († 1254) ∞ Llywelyn ap Maredudd ap Cynan ap Owain Gwynedd
4. Margaret († 1255) ∞ Owain ap Maredudd

Since his eldest son Rhys had died before him, his grandson Rhys Fychan inherited his possessions.

Web links

• JB Smith: Maelgwn Fychan (d.1257). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 226
2. ^ David A. Carpenter: The struggle for mastery. Britain, 1066-1284. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003. ISBN 978-0-19-522000-1 , p. 325