The Royal House of Mathrafal began as a cadet branch of the Welsh Royal House of Dinefwr, taking their name from Mathrafal Castle. [1] [2] They effectively replaced the House of Gwertherion, who had been ruling the Kingdom of Powys since late Roman Britain, through the politically advantageous marriage of an ancestor, Merfyn the Oppressor. [3] King Bleddyn ap Cynfyn would join the resistance of the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, against the invasion of William the Conqueror, following the Norman Conquest of England. Thereafter, they would struggle with the Plantagenets and the remaining Welsh Royal houses for the control of Wales. Although their fortunes rose and fell over the generations, they are primarily remembered as Kings of Powys and last native Prince of Wales. [4] [5]
The House of Mathrafal was effectively established in the wake of the Anglo-Saxon King, Harold Godwinson, and his brother, Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria, and their disastrous raids of 1062–1063 against the King of Wales, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. [6] They installed Bleddyn ap Cynfyn as King over Powys and Gwynedd and kept him and his base in Mathrafal close to the Saxon border. [7] Mathrafal Castle became their seat and effective capital in Powys, replacing the Roman city of Viroconium. [8]
From this point forward, his family jockeyed with the Royal House of Dinefwr and the Royal House of Aberffraw for the control of Wales. (The unrelated dynasty in the Kingdom of Gwent and the Kingdom of Morgannwg was swiftly overrun by the Marcher Lords after the Norman Conquest).
The House of Mathrafal's influence was greatest between 1063 and 1081, until they lost control of Gwynedd to a resurgent Aberffraw family following the Battle of Mynydd Carn. By 1191, the Kingdom of Powys was divided between the Principality of Powys Fadog in the north and the Principality of Powys Wenwynwyn (roughly modern Montgomeryshire) in the south. [9] The first became a more-or-less loyal vassal of Gwynedd; the latter, one of its main competitors.
Historian John Davies points out that, following the division of Powys, the dynasty should not be considered as "equal" to that of the Royal House of Aberffraw or the Royal House of Dinefwr. [10] Mathrafal Castle was utterly destroyed by Gwynedd in 1212 and thenceforth it was entirely dependent on English support for its survival. However, the Mathrafal dynasty continued to exert some influence, undermining and eventually betraying the Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, on behalf of the Plantagenet King, Edward Longshanks, during his Conquest of Wales in 1282–83. [6]
Thereafter, they avoided his campaign of extermination against the Welsh Royal Houses and even exchanged their claims to royalty for an English Lordship at the Parliament of Shrewsbury in 1283. [9] They were displaced by the Lords of Mortimers in the early 14th century, until a momentary reascension of the House during the 15th century, following the Welsh Revolt led by the Prince of Wales, Owain Glyndŵr, against Prince Henry and King Henry IV of England, of the Royal House of Lancaster. Glyndwr combined the claims of the Houses of Mathrafal and Dinefwr, with links to the House of Aberffraw. [11]
The rebellions were supported by the French Royal House of Valois, and were an attempt not only at gaining the independence of Wales, but also the redivision of England to their relatives, the House of Percy and the Mortimers. [12] [13] Despite being crowned as Owain IV of Wales in 1404, and having taking control of all Wales, and having created the first Welsh parliament at Harlech Castle, they eventually lost the war to the English forces of Henry IV and Henry V. [13]
Nonetheless, their efforts didn't go in vain, as their rebellion gave rise to the first Welsh Kings of England, the Royal House of Tudor. [14] The Tudors were their cousins on their mother's side, through the Tudors of Penmynydd, who fought with them during the rebellions, such a Sir Owen Tudor, the second husband of Queen Catherine of France. [14] Glyndŵr was also the wealthiest Welshman in Wales before his downfall in 1415, and captured number of Longshanks's main castles such as Conwy, Harlech and Beaumaris, and besieged Caernarfon. [15] [16]
This historic period would later be immortalized by William Shakespeare in his play Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, featuring "Owen Glendower" as a character. [17] The plays depict the wars between his family and Prince Hal, future Henry V, and other historical events. Other characters featured include his daughter, Lady Mortimer, his son-in-law, Sir Edmund Mortimer, and in-laws Henry Hotspur Percy and Lady Percy. The plays were succeeded by "Henry V'" and are part of Shakespeare's Henriad.
The House was succeeded by the descendants of prince Owain Glyndŵr and his brother, lord Tudur ap Gruffudd, through the Vaughans of Corsygedol in Snowdonia, North Wales. [18] [19] The Vaughans would become strong supporters of the Lancasters during the Wars of the Roses, holding Harlech Castle for the Tudors as well as supporting the future Henry VII and his uncle Jasper Tudor, hiding them at Corsygedol during their exile to France. [20] [21] After the Tudor victory, they were given positions of power such as Esquire of the Body to Henry Tudor, governor of Cilgerran Castle in Wales, and became one of the official representatives of the Tudor State within the locality under Queen Elizabeth I. [22] [21] [20] [23]
They are today represented by its derivative branches; the House of Yale (Yale family) and the Hughes of Gwerclas, who act as co-representatives of the dynasty. [24] [18] [25] [26] [27] They are also the co-representatives of the Sovereign dynasties of North Wales (Gwynedd) and South Wales (Dinefwr), having their genealogies traced back to the Romano-British ruler Cunedda. [27] [28] [29] [30] [24] The Vaughans, Yales, and Hughes of Gwerclas, are also cadet branches of the FitzGerald Dynasty through Osborne Fitzgerald, and direct descendants of the Plantagenets. [18] [26] [24] [31] Their ancestor, lord Gerald de Windsor, was an Anglo-Norman, son of the 1st governor of Windsor Castle for William the Conqueror, and ancestor of the current Duke of Leinster in Ireland. [18] [32] Notably, he married a Welsh princess named Nesta, daughter of king Rhys ap Tudor, of the House of Dinefwr.
The Wynn baronets, who are today represented by the Williams-Wynns, are related to Mathrafal through the princes of Aberffraw and the Wynne family of Peniarth, and the Jones of Faerdref Uchaf through the Hughes of Gwerclas. [33] [34] A descendant, Mary Wynn, daughter of the 4th Baronet, married Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster of Grimsthorpe Castle, and passed the Wynnstay Estate to her cousin, Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet. [35]
Along with the Royal Houses of Aberffraw, Dinefwr, and Seisyll, the House of Mathrafal traced their descent from King Merfyn the Oppressor who, along with his son, King Rhodri the Great, established control over northern and western Wales. [3] [6] Rhodri replaced King Cyngen ap Cadell as ruler of the Kingdom of Powys after the latter died while on a pilgrimage to Rome. [9] His father, Merfyn, had previously allied his family with the last rulers of Powys by marrying Princess Nest, the daughter or sister of King Cyngen. [36] [note 1]
In Welsh tradition, her family was of the Royal House of Gwertherion, and had been ruling Powys since the 5th century, through the marriage of an ancestor, Vortigern, the High king, to Sevira, the daughter of the Roman Emperor, Magnus Maximus. [39] [40] [41] Maximus, a relative of the Imperial Theodosian dynasty, is featured on the Pillar of Eliseg, erected in the lordship of Yale by king Cyngen of Powys (b. 790). Its sub-Roman capital was at Viroconium, a Roman city that been founded by Caesar's Legio XIV Gemina, and abandoned later by Legio XX Valeria, for the fortress at Deva Victrix (Chester) during Roman Britain. [42] [43] [44]
As a consequence of Merfyn's alliance, King Cyngen's legitimate heirs were either exiled or reduced to the level of minor land owners (e.g., the family of Sir Gruffudd Vychan). [9] Yet, one of the last Kings of Powys, Cadell ap Brochfael, maternal great-grandfather of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, the first King of the House of Mathrafal, claimed descent from Cyngen's son Aeddan, who seems to have ruled straight after.
Other noble families claimed descent from another of Cyngen's sons, Elisedd, who is mentioned as killing his older brother Gruffydd in the Annales Cambriae. It is therefore likely that Gwynedd's hegemony over Powys was merely propaganda, intended to glorify Gwynedd at the expense of Powys before the time of Prince Owain Gwynedd. Therefore, there was a lot of political instability as the House had to rule two Kingdoms, Powys and Gwynedd.
In the traditional accounts, Rhodri the Great divided his Kingdom among his sons and gave Powys to his youngest, Prince Merfyn. King Cadell in Ceredigion then dispossessed his brother and added Powys to his inheritance. [6] It is possible, however, that Powys remained independent until its 916 annexation by Cadell's son Hywel Dda, who also conquered Dyfed and Gwynedd and established what has become known as the realm of Deheubarth. On the death of Hywel's grandson in 999, Maredudd ab Owain, the realm splintered: Irishmen usurped Gwynedd and falsely passed themselves off as Maredudd's heir in Dyfed. These were removed by King Llywelyn ap Seisyll, from a cadet branch of the Aberffraw line in the commote of Rhuddlan.
In Welsh folklore, Mathrafal, as representative of the House of Gwynedd, claimed descent through the Harleian genealogies from Beli Mawr, an ancestral figure in Welsh royal genealogies, related to Cassivellaunus, a historical Celtic king who led the defence against Julius Caesar during his second invasion of Britain in 54 BC. [45] [46] [47] In Welsh mythology, starting from Beli Mawr, their genealogies claimed descent in the Welsh Triads and Historia Brittonum, written about 828 by Celtic monk Nennius, from Brutus of Troy, the legendary founder of Britain, descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, founder of Rome in Greco-Roman mythology. [48] [49]
Members of the Mathrafal Dynasty include: [50]
The Kingdom of Powys was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. It very roughly covered the northern two-thirds of the modern county of Powys and part of today's English West Midlands. More precisely, and based on the Romano-British tribal lands of the Ordovices in the west and the Cornovii in the east, its boundaries originally extended from the Cambrian Mountains in the west to include the modern West Midlands region of England in the east. The fertile river valleys of the Severn and Tern are found there, and this region is referred to in later Welsh literature as "the Paradise of Powys".
Rhys ap Tewdwr was a king of Deheubarth in Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great. Following the Norman Conquest, he had to pay William the Conqueror to keep his kingdom, which lasted until the end of William's reign.
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, sometimes spelled Blethyn, was an 11th-century Welsh king. King Harold Godwinson and Tostig Godwinson installed Bleddyn and his brother, Rhiwallon, as the co-rulers of kingdom of Gwynedd on his father's death in 1063, during their destruction of the kingdom of their half-brother, king Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. Bleddyn became king of Powys and co-ruler of the Kingdom of Gwynedd with his brother Rhiwallon from 1063 to 1075. His descendants continued to rule Powys as the House of Mathrafal.
Madog ap Maredudd was the last prince of the entire Kingdom of Powys, Wales. He held for a time, the FitzAlan Lordship of Oswestry, family of the Earls of Arundel, of Arundel Castle. His daughter married Lord Rhys, prince of Wales.
Powys Fadog was the northern portion of the former princely realm of Powys. The princes of Powys Fadog would build their royal seat at Castell Dinas Brân, and their religious center at Valle Crucis Abbey. Some of its lordships included those of Maelor, Mochnant, Glyndyfrdwy, Yale, and Bromfield and Yale. Following the division of Powys, their cousin branch, the princes of Powys Wenwynwyn, would build Powis Castle.
Cadwgan ap Bleddyn (1051–1111) was a prince of the Kingdom of Powys in north eastern Wales. He was the second son of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn who was king of both Kingdom of Powys and Gwynedd.
Gruffydd Maelor was a Prince of Powys Fadog in Wales. He married a daughter of King Owain Gwynedd, first Prince of Wales, and was a brother of Prince Owain Brogyntyn, ancestor of the Barons of Cymmer-yn-Edeirnion.
Madog ap Gruffudd, or Madog ap Gruffudd Maelor, was a Prince of Powys Fadog from 1191 to 1236 in north-east Wales, and Lord of Powys. He was the founder of Valle Crucis Abbey in the Lordship of Yale.
Gruffudd Fychan II was Lord of Glyndyfrdwy and Lord of Cynllaith Owain c.1330–1369. As such, he had a claim to be hereditary Prince of Powys Fadog, and was a member of the Royal House of Mathrafal. His son, Owain Glyndwr, started the Welsh Revolt and became Prince of Wales.
Ial or Yale was a commote of medieval Wales within the cantref of Maelor in the Kingdom of Powys. When the Kingdom was divided in 1160, Maelor became part of the Princely realm of Powys Fadog, and belonged to the Royal House of Mathrafal. Yale eventually merged with another commote and became the Lordship of Bromfield and Yale, later a royal lordship under the Tudors and Stuarts.
The history of Gwynedd in the High Middle Ages is a period in the history of Wales spanning the 11th to the 13th centuries. Gwynedd, located in the north of Wales, eventually became the most dominant of Welsh polities during this period. Contact with continental courts allowed for Gwynedd to transition from a petty kingdom into an increasingly sophisticated principality of seasoned courtiers capable of high-level diplomacy and representation, not only with the Angevin kings of England, but with the king of France and the Papacy. Distinctive achievements in Gwynedd include the further development of medieval Welsh literature, particularly the work of the princely court poets known as Beirdd y Tywysogion and the reformation of bardic schools; and the continued development of Cyfraith Hywel. All three of these further contributed to the development of a Welsh national identity in the face of Anglo-Norman encroachment on Wales.
Owain Brogyntyn ap Madog was prince of Powys and the third and illegitimate son of king Madog ap Maredudd, the last king of a united Kingdom of Powys. He was the son of Madog by the daughter of the Maer du or "black mayor" of Rûg in Edeyrnion however some sources cite his mother as Susanna making him legitimate instead. He was the brother of prince Gruffydd Maelor, ancestor of prince Owain Glyndŵr.
The House of Aberffraw was a medieval royal court based in the village it was named after, Aberffraw, Anglesey within the borders of the then Kingdom of Gwynedd. The dynasty was founded in the 9th century by a King in Wales whose descendants founded the Welsh Royal Houses. The other medieval Welsh dynasties were the Royal Houses of Dinefwr, Mathrafal.
Tudur ap Gruffudd (1365–1405), also known as Tudor de Glendore or Tudor Glendower, was the Lord of Gwyddelwern, a junior title of the princely house of Powys Fadog, and was the younger brother of Owain Glyndŵr. His father was Gruffydd Fychan II, the hereditary Prince of Powys Fadog and previous Lord of Gwyddelwern. Along with his brother, Owain Glyndŵr, Tudur was a member of the royal House of Mathrafal.
Fychan is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Sir Gruffydd Fychan ap Iorwerth Goch was a medieval Welsh Knight and Marcher Lord.
Ellis ap Griffith or Elissau ap Gruffudd, was the Baron of Gwyddelwern in Denbighshire, Wales, and the grandnephew of Owen Glendower, Prince of Wales. Following his family defeat during the Glyndwr Rising, his branch inherited the co-representation of the Royal House of Mathrafal, and were immortalized by William Shakespeare in the history play Henry IV. Through his mother Lowrie, he inherited the lordship of his grandfather, Tudor Glendower, and by marriage, the estate of Plas-yn-Yale. By this union, he became the founder of the House of Yale, represented by the Yale family, later known in America as the benefactors of Yale University.