Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Maredudd ap Bleddyn (1047 – 9 February 1132) was a prince and later King of Powys in eastern Wales.

Maredudd was the son of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn who was King of both Powys and Gwynedd. When Bleddyn was killed in 1075, Powys was divided between three of his sons, Iorwerth, Cadwgan and Maredudd.

Marriages and children
Maredudd married first Hunydd ferch Einudd, who bore him two sons, Madog ap Maredudd and Gruffydd ap Maredudd. He later had a relationship with Cristin ferch Bledrus, who gave him two illegitimate sons, Hywel ap Maredudd and Iorwerth Goch ap Maredudd.

Life
Maredudd initially appears to have been the least powerful and the least mentioned in the chronicles. The three brothers held their lands as vassals of Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury. In 1102 the Earl was summoned to answer charges at the court of King Henry I of England and responded by rising in rebellion against the king. All three brothers initially supported Robert and took up arms on his behalf, pillaging Staffordshire. The king deputed William Pantulf, Lord of Wem, to detach Iorwerth, who was considered to be the most powerful of the three brothers, from his alliance with Robert and his own brothers by the promise of large gifts of land. William succeeded in this, and Iorwerth, after leading a large Welsh force to help the king defeat and banish Earl Robert, then captured his brother Maredudd and handed him over to the king.

Maredudd escaped from captivity in 1107 but did not gain any real power. In 1113 he was apparently acting as penteulu or captain of the guard to his nephew, Owain ap Cadwgan who had taken over as prince of Powys. In this capacity in 1113 Maredudd was able to capture Madog ap Rhiryd, who had killed two of his brothers, Iorwerth and Cadwgan in 1111. Maredudd sent him to Owain, who took vengeance for the killing of his father by blinding Madog.

In 1114 when King Henry I of England invaded Wales, Maredudd quickly made his peace with him, while Owain allied himself with Gruffudd ap Cynan of Gwynedd to oppose the invasion. It was not until Owain was killed in 1116 that Maredudd began to strengthen his position and became ruler of Powys. In 1116 he is recorded as sending 400 men to help Hywel ab Ithel, who ruled Rhos and Rhufoniog under the protection of Powys, against his neighbours, the sons of Owain ab Edwin of Dyffryn Clwyd. Hywel won a victory at the Battle of Maes Maen Cymro in 1118, near Ruthin, but received wounds of which he died six weeks later. This enabled the sons of Gruffudd ap Cynan to annex these lands for Gwynedd, with Maredudd unable to prevent them.

In 1121 Maredudd carried out raids on Cheshire which provoked King Henry into invading Powys. Maredudd retreated into Snowdonia and asked Gruffudd ap Cynan for assistance. However Gruffudd was in no mood to defy the king on Maredudd's behalf, and Maredudd had to purchase peace at a cost of a fine of 10,000 head of cattle. Gwynedd continued to put pressure on Powys, with the sons of Gruffudd ap Cynan, Cadwallon and Owain Gwynedd annexing more territory in 1124. Cadwallon was killed in a battle with the men of Powys near Llangollen in 1132 which put a halt to further encroachment for the time being. Maredudd did not take part in this battle and died the same year, remembered by the annalist of Brut y Tywysogion as the beauty and safety of all Powys and her defender. He was succeeded by his son, Madog ap Maredudd.

Family/Spouse: verch Einudd, Hunydd. Hunydd was born in 1063 in Denbighshire, Wales; died in 1132 in Kingdom of Powys, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Madog ap Maredudd
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Madog ap Maredudd (Middle Welsh: Madawg mab Maredud, Madawc mab Maredut; died 1160) was the last Prince of the entire Kingdom of Powys, Wales and for a time held the Fitzalan Lordship of Oswestry. Madog was the son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn and grandson of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn. He followed his father on the throne of Powys in 1132. He is recorded as taking part in the Battle of Lincoln in 1141 in support of the Earl of Chester, along with Owain Gwynedd's brother Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd and a large army of Welshmen. In 1149 he is recorded giving the commote of Cyfeiliog to his nephews Owain Cyfeiliog and Meurig. The same year Madog was able to rebuild Oswestry Castle, a fortress of William Fitzalan. It would seem likely that he had gained both the fortresses of Oswestry and Whittington in 1146.

Defeat by Gwynedd
At this time the King of Gwynedd, between 1149 and 1150, Owain Gwynedd was exerting pressure on the borders of Powys, despite the fact that Madog was married to Susanna, Owain's sister. Madog made an alliance with Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, but Owain defeated them at the Battle of Ewloe (Coleshill) in 1150 and took possession of Madog's lands in Iâl (English: Yale). In 1157 when King Henry II of England invaded Gwynedd he was supported by Madog, who was able to regain many of his Welsh lands. Even so, he retained the lordships of Oswestry and Whittington. In 1159 Madog would seem to have been the Welsh prince who accompanied King Henry II in his campaign to Toulouse which ended in failure. Returning home to Wales Madog died about 9 February 1160 in Whittington Castle. He was buried soon afterwards in the church of St Tysilio at Meifod, the mother church of Powys.

Succession Shared
Madog's eldest son, Llywelyn, was killed soon after his father's death in 1160, Powys was then shared between Madog's sons Gruffydd Maelor, Owain Fychan and Owain Brogyntyn, his nephew Owain Cyfeiliog and halfbrother Iorwerth Goch.[1] Powys was never subsequently reunited, being separated into two parts; Powys Fadog (Lower Powys) and Powys Wenwynwyn (Upper Powys). Madog's death enabled Owain Gwynedd to force the homage of Owain Brogyntyn, Madog's youngest son, and effectively annex part of northern Powys.

The poet Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr in his elegy on Madog said:
While Madog lived there was no man
Dared ravage his fair borders
Yet nought of all he held
Esteemed he his save by God's might ...
If my noble lord were alive
Gwynedd would not now be encamped in the heart of Edeyrnion

Edeyrnion (or Edeirnion) was a commote inherited by Owain Brogyntyn and had been the home of his mother (who was not married to his father). Owain may also have been raised there. It was annexed to Gwynedd during Owain's time.

The Mabinogion
The Mabinogion tale The Dream of Rhonabwy is set during Madog's reign. The central character, Rhonabwy, is one of Madog's retainers sent to bring in Madog's rebellious brother Iowerth Goch ap Maredudd. His titular dream contrasts his own time with the grandeur of King Arthur's period.[2]

Children
Llywelyn ap Madog, died 1160
Gruffydd Maelor ap Madog, died 1191
Owain Fychan ap Madog, c. 1125-1187
Owain Brogyntyn ap Madog (illegitimate)
Gwenllian ferch Madog, married Rhys ap Gruffydd, prince of Deheubarth
Marared ferch Madog, married Iorwerth ab Owain Gwynedd and was the mother of Llywelyn the Great
Efa ferch Madog, married Cadwallon ap Madog ap Idnerth, prince of Maelienydd

Fiction
Madog's intervention in the Battle of Lincoln in 1141 forms an important plot element in the detective novel
Dead Man's Ransom, part of the Brother Cadfael chronicles by Edith Pargeter (writing as Ellis Peters).
Notes
1. Ashley, Mike (2012). The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queen.s Hachette.
2. Gantz, Jeffrey (translator) (1987). The Mabinogion, pp. 177–191. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044322-3.
References
John Edward Lloyd (1911). A history of Wales: from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest.
Longmans, Green & Co.
Remfry, P.M., Whittington Castle and the families of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, Peverel, Maminot, Powys and
Fitz Warin (ISBN 1-899376-80-1)
Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis
Weis, Line 176B-26
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Maredudd ap Bleddyn
Prince of Powys
1132–1160
Succeeded by
Gruffydd Maelor
Owain Fychan
Owain Brogyntyn
Owain Cyfeiliog
Iorwerth Goch

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Categories: 1160 deaths Monarchs of Powys House of Mathrafal 12th-century Welsh monarchs
Welsh princes People of The Anarchy
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Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LRNR-HMY
• Death: Between 8 Jan 1198 and 7 Jan 1199, Caernarfon, Caernarvonshire, Wales

Notes:

Also known as:
Margaret ap Madog
Marewrrw ap Maredudd

Family/Spouse: ap Owain Gwynedd, Iorwerth. Iorwerth (son of ap Gruffydd, Owain) was born in 1164 in Aberffraw Castle, Aberffraw, Anglesey, Wales; died on 18 Apr 1240 in Aberconwy Abbey, Conwy, Caernarvonshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]