GRUFFYDD ap RHYS (died 1201), prince of Deheubarth

eldest son of Rhys ap Gruffydd and Gwenllian, daughter of Madog ap Maredudd. Founder of the senior line of the 'lord' Rhys's descendants, he was the destined heir to the principal lands of his father in Ystrad Tywi, and was so recognized by the English authorities. The leading events of his short career as lord of Dinefwr were in the main determined by the combined ambitions of his opponents - Maelgwn, his brother, and Gwenwynwyn of Powys, so that to the end his hold on his inheritance was uncertain. His career is in a sense the prelude to those mutually destructive family feuds which brought about the final collapse of the house of Dinefwr. In 1189 he married Matilda, daughter of William de Braose, who, with two young sons, Rhys Ieuanc and Owen, survived his death on 25 July 1201. Both he and Matilda were buried at Strata Florida.

Author

• Professor Thomas Jones Pierce, (1905 - 1964)

Sources

• J. E. Lloyd, A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest (London 1911), Vol. I
• J. E. Lloyd, A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest (London 1911), Vol. II

Further Reading

• Wikipedia Article: Gruffydd ap Rhys II

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q2253212

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/