Nest ferch Cadell

Last updated

Nest ferch Cadell
Spouse(s) Merfyn Frych
Issue Rhodri the Great
Father Cadell ap Brochfael

Nest ferch Cadell was the daughter of Cadell ap Brochfael, an 8th-century King of Powys, the wife of Merfyn Frych, King of Gwynedd.

On the death of her brother Cyngen ap Cadell in 855, authority over the Kingdom of Powys was claimed by Rhodri the Great, who had previously inherited the Kingdom of Gwynedd on the death of his father in 844. Rhodri thus united the Kingdoms of Powys and Gwynedd. Traditionally, Nest was claimed to be Rhodri's mother, hence his claim to Powys would have been matrilineal.

However, it is unclear why the inheritance of Powys would have passed through Nest to her son and not to one of the sons of Cyngen: Elisedd ap Cyngen, Ieuaf ap Cyngen, Aeddan ap Cyngen and Gruffudd ap Cyngen. The texts of Welsh laws which survive until today were written down starting with the 12th century, but they provide no evidence that women were capable of transmitting legal title of kingship or lordship.

Equally, although Rhodri's pedigree in a manuscript in Jesus College Oxford [1] states Nest as his mother, another pedigree in a fourteenth-century manuscript [2] in the National Library of Wales records his mother as Essyllt ferch Cynan. There are no strong grounds to accept either manuscript as reliable, but it is reasonable to believe that the royal house of Gwynedd promoted the view that the Kingdom of Powys had passed to Rhodri the Great through his mother in order to legitimise their control over it. [3] Either way, this possible genealogical manipulation became part of the accepted story of the unification of the two kingdoms.

Most now take Nest ferch Cadell to be the Nest who was married to Gwerstan, son of Gwaithfoed, whose Grandson Bleddyn founded Powys's ruling House of Mathrafal. Rhodri's mother is instead taken to be Essylt daughter of Cynan Dindaethwy, last King of the House of Cunedda; it follows that Essylt was not Merfyn's mother, but his wife. Consequently, those taking this view conclude that Nest's alleged marriage to Merfyn (or Rhodri) was merely a rumour spread and recorded by supporters of Gwynedd to demean the Kings of Powys and to claim lordship over them. The House of Gwynedd's Kingship is recorded being passed jure uxoris through Essylt to her husband Merfyn and thence distaff (i.e. by the female line) to their son Rhodri on Merfyn's death, the same going for Rhodri's wife Angharad, the daughter of Meurig King of Seisyllwg when her brother Gwgon drowned without an heir, allowing Rhodri to rule Seisyllwg jure uxoris and his son Cadell to inherit it matrilineally.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owain Gwynedd</span> King of Gwynedd

Owain ap Gruffudd was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. He was called Owain the Great and the first to be styled "Prince of Wales". He is considered to be the most successful of all the North Welsh princes prior to his grandson, Llywelyn the Great. He became known as Owain Gwynedd to distinguish him from the contemporary king of Powys Wenwynwyn, Owain ap Gruffydd ap Maredudd, who became known as Owain Cyfeiliog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhodri the Great</span> King of Gwynedd who unified the whole of Wales (c. 820–878)

Rhodri ap Merfyn, popularly known as Rhodri the Great, succeeded his father, Merfyn Frych, as King of Gwynedd in 844. Rhodri annexed Powys c. 856 and Seisyllwg c. 871. He is called "King of the Britons" by the Annals of Ulster. In some later histories, he is referred to as "King of Wales", although the title is anachronistic and his realm did not include southern Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deheubarth</span> Term for the medieval realms of southern Wales

Deheubarth was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd. It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under the House of Dinefwr, but that Deheubarth itself was not considered a proper kingdom on the model of Gwynedd, Powys, or Dyfed is shown by its rendering in Latin as dextralis pars or as Britonnes dexterales and not as a named land. In the oldest British writers, Deheubarth was used for all of modern Wales to distinguish it from Hen Ogledd, the northern lands whence Cunedda and the Cymry originated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Gwynedd</span> Kingdom in northwest Wales, 401–1216

The Kingdom of Gwynedd was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Powys</span> 400s–1160 kingdom in east-central Wales

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 here, and this region is referred to in later Welsh literature as "the Paradise of Powys".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhys ap Tewdwr</span> King of Deheubarth

Rhys ap Tewdwr was a king of Deheubarth in Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great. He was born in the area which is now Carmarthenshire and died at the battle of Brecon in April 1093.

Merfyn Frych, also known as Merfyn ap Gwriad and Merfyn Camwri, was King of Gwynedd from around 825 to 844, the first of its kings known not to have descended from the male line of King Cunedda.

Cyngen ap Cadell or also (Concenn), was King of Powys from 808 until his death in 854 during a pilgrimage to Rome.

Llywarch ap Hyfaidd was a king of Dyfed from c. 893 until its conquest around 904 by King Cadell of Ceredigion / Seisyllwg and his son Hywel.

Elisedd ap Cyngen ap Cadell

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Dinefwr</span> Royal house of Wales

The Royal House of Dinefwr was a cadet branch of the Royal House of Gwynedd, founded by King Cadell ap Rhodri, son of Rhodri the Great. Their ancestor, Cunedda Wledig, born in late Roman Britain, was a Sub-Roman warlord ​who founded the Kingdom of Gwynedd during the 5th century, following the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. As Celtic Britons, the House of Dinefwr was ruling before the Norman conquest, having to fight with their neighbors such as the Celtics, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, before struggling with the Normans afterwards. Many members of this family were influential in Welsh history, such a Hywel Dda, who codified Welsh law under his rule, and achieved the important title of King of the Britons, or Lord Rhys, Prince of Wales, who rebelled against Richard the Lionheart, and became one of the most powerful leaders of the Middle ages.

This article is about the particular significance of the century 901–1000 to Wales and its people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Aberffraw</span> Welsh royal lineage

The Royal House of Aberffraw was a cadet branch of the Kingdom of Gwynedd originating from the sons of Rhodri the Great in the 9th century. Establishing the Royal court of the Aberffraw Commote would begin a new location from which to rule Wales. The cadet branch achieved the recognised titles of Prince of Wales, King of Wales and were sometimes named King of Aberffraw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Mathrafal</span>

The Royal House of Mathrafal began as a cadet branch of the Welsh Royal House of Dinefwr, taking their name from Mathrafal Castle, their principal seat and effective capital. 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. His son, 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.

Angharad ferch Meurig was a 9th-century Welsh noblewoman. She was the wife of Rhodri the Great of Gwynedd, and mother of Anarawd, Cadell ap Rhodri, and Merfyn.

Gwriad ap Elidyr or Gwriad Manaw was a late-8th century figure in Wales. Very little is known of him, and he chiefly appears in the historical record in connection to his son Merfyn Frych, King of Gwynedd from around 825 to 844 and founder of the Merfynion dynasty.

This article is about the particular significance of the century 801–900 to Wales and its people.

References

  1. Jesus College Oxford, Manuscript 20
  2. National Library of Wales, Mostyn Manuscript 117: Bonedd y Arwyr genealogies.
  3. Kari Maund (2000). The Welsh Kings: The Medieval Rulers of Wales. Tempus.