|
POWYS DYNASTIC FAMILY 945-1385
By Darrell Wolcott
With the death in 1069 of the
sons of Gruffudd ap Llewelyn at the hands of Rhiwallon and Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, the senior line descended from Brochwel Ysgithrog
fell to the youngest son of Brochwel ap Aeddan, Selyf.[1] There is no evidence in the chronicles that this family ever
again seriously contested the descendants of Bleddyn for rule in Powys. In our discussion of its loss of sovereignty[2],
we indicated that Selyf ap Brochwel had sons named Aeddan and Beli, the former being the eldest. It was this Beli who headed
the "Gwyn ap Gruffudd ap Beli" sequence noted in our Note 2 discussion as leading down to Tangwre ap Gwyn; while it is not
our present intent to follow that line of the family, we will note that in addition to the daughter named Tangwre, Gwyn had
a son named Pasgen.
Aeddan ap Selyf's eldest
son was named Brochwel, making him the third of this line to bear the name Brochwel ap Aeddan and the second whose grandfather
was named Selyf. This man whom we will call Brochwel ap Aeddon III, had a daughter named Sian who married Cadwgan ap
Elystan Glodrydd.[3] He had at least two sons, the youngest being Matthew Hen[4] (ancester of Lodwick Lewis of Arwystl)
and the eldest named Selyf. This Selyf bore at least two sons: Aeddan and Beli. The younger Beli named a son Gruffudd
who named a son Gwyn who named a son Pasgen, thus repeating a 7-name string noted 100 years earlier in this family. We
shall pause at this point to depict two branches of this family who elected to preserve their heritage by making their sons
the namesake of earlier ancestors:
750 Cyngen
l
785 Aeddan
l
820 Brochwel I
l
850 Selyf
l
880 Aeddan
l
910 Brochwel II
l
945 Selyf
_____l___________________
l
l
975 Aeddan
980 Beli
l
l
1005 Brochwel III
1015 Gruffudd
l
l
1045
Selyf
1050 Gwyn
_______l_______ _______l_______
l
l l
l
1075 Aeddan 1080 Beli 1080 Pasgen
1080 Tangwre
l
l
1110 Brochwel IV 1115
Gruffudd
l
l
1145
Selyf 1150 Gwyn
l
l
1180
Beli 1180 Pasgen
+
+
to Sir Gruffudd Fychan See Appendix
A
It was the Pasgen ap Gwyn ap Gruffudd of c. 1080 who married Nest ferch Llewelyn ap Meilyr Gryg[5]. Other authorities
assume this was the Meilyr Gryg who occurs c. 1180/1190 and attempt to link his granddaughter to the Pasgen ap Gwyn ap
Gruffudd whose uncle was Gwynwys ap Gruffudd of the 13th century. But such a Nest would occur about 1250,
a whole generation prior to the later Pasgen. It was failed matches like this which led Bartrum to conclude that all
the pedigrees of this family "are deficient in one way or another".[6]
The Selyf c. 1145 appears to have
broken with tradition by not naming a son Aeddan, but he did father a Beli. It is this family branch which
appears in the pedigree of Sir Gruffudd Fychan. But Beli did continue the other scheme by naming a son Gruffudd, who
in addition to Gwynwys, named a son Gwyn who completed the familiar series by naming a son Pasgen. A continuation of
our first chart, starting with Aeddan of c. 1075, brings us to our conclusion of the senior branch of the family of Brochwel
Ysgithrog:
1075 Aeddan
1110 Brochwel IV
1145 Selyf
1180 Beli
1215 Gruffudd
1250 Gwynwys 1250 Gwyn
1285 Madog 1280
Pasgen
1320 Ieuan
1350 Gruffudd
1385 Sir Gruffudd Fychan[7]
We are told that
Sir Gruffudd was slain in 1447 by Henry Grey, Lord of Powys and a descendant of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, for rashly suggesting
that his descent from Brochwel ap Aeddan (thus from Brochwel Ysgithrog) should entitle him to be Lord of Powys.[8] But
the official story was given that he was "holding correspondence with some adherents of the House of York" and a Queen's
warrant was sent to Lord Grey for the arrest of Sir Gruffudd. Given a "safe conduct", he went to Powys Castle to defend
the charges and was summarily beheaded when he arrived there.[9] The exact motive of Lord Grey is anyone's guess, but
Sir Gruffudd did seem to be the representative of the senior line descended from the old Powys dynasty.
NOTES:
[1] The eldest son of that Brochwel ap Aeddan was Cadell, the king of Powys who
had no sons but whose daughter, Nest, was mother to Cynfyn ap Gwerystan.
[2] See the paper "The End of the Powys Dynasty" at the link below:
[3] Dwnn i, 313 This Sian occurred c. 1035; Cadwgan ap Elystan was
born near 1020.
[4] Dwnn i, 303; Montgomeryshire Collections, vol x, pp 30. Medieval genealogists
confused his father with Brochwel Ysgithrog, but the ensuing families in his pedigree point to a birthdate near 1040. See
Appendix B
[5] Montgomeryshire Collections, vol viii, pp 406, 411; vol x, pp 42. The Meilyr
Gryg cited is the one who occurs c. 1025 six generations following the first Brochwel ap Aeddan of c. 820; see Dwnn i, 299
and Dwnn ii, 23
[6] P.C. Bartrum "Pedigrees of the Welsh Tribal Patriarchs" in the National Library
of Wales Journal, vol xiii, part 2, pp 131. Bartrum may have thought there was but a single man named Brochwel ap Aeddan;
accordingly he could not bring the pedigrees which contain that name into chronological alignment.
[7] His pedigree as shown in this chart appears in many sources, including the
Cedwyn Ms; most sources, however, leap directly from Brochwel IV of 1110 to Brochwel I of 820 with no apology for the huge
time gap.
[8] Wm V. Lloyd "The Sheriffs of Montgomeryshire" in Montgomeryshire Collections,
vol vi, pp 80.
[9] M.C. Jones "Feudal Barons of Powys" in Montgomeryshire Collections, vol i,
pp 335/336
APPENDIX A:
Following are four interconnected families
cited in the Cedwyn Ms which depict the first and second instances where the 7-name sequence Pasgen to Aeddan occur:
880
Aeddan
910
Brochwel II
945
Selyf
975
Aeddan
980 Beli
1005
Brochwel III 1015
Gruffudd
1045
Selyf
1050 Gwyn
1080
Beli
1080 Pasgen
1115
Gruffudd 1115 Mael
1110 Meurig
1150
Gwyn 1145 Iorwerth
1145 Hoedliw
1180 Einion 1180 Pasgen
1180 Cadwgan 1175 Gwyn
1210 Adda 1210
Meurig 1210 Rhiryd 1205 Ieuan
1240 Iefa
1240 Owain 1245 Madog 1235 Iorwerth
1270 Iorwerth 1270 Madog
1275 Dafydd 1270 Gronwy
1300 Ior.Fychan 1300 Ieuan
1310 Llewelyn 1300 Jenkin
1330 Deio 1335
Gruffudd=======Efa 1345 1330 Gittyn
1360 Gittyn Deuddwr
1365 Cadwaladr
1390 Morys===================================Elen 1400
These families are cited in Montgomeryshire Collections, vol 8,
pp 406, 416 & 419
APPENDIX B:
Again from the Cedwyn Ms, these connecting families
depict (a) the correct chronological placement of Matthew Hen; and (b) the third occurance of the 7-name string Pasgen to
Aeddan.
975 Aeddan
1005 Brochwel
1040 Selyf 1040
Matthew Hen
1075 Aeddan 1070 Cadfael
1110 Brochwel 1100 Cadian
1145 Selyf 1135
Cuan
1180 Beli
1165 Gwyn
1215 Gruffudd 1195 Gronwy
1250
Gwyn 1230 Gruffudd
1280 Pasgen 1260 Maredudd Benwyn
1310 Meurig 1290 Iorwerth
1325 Hywel
1340
Owain==============Gwen 1355
This family is cited in Montgomeryshire Collections, vol 8, pp 406; note
that one more generation occurs in the family on the right, but Gwen is assumed to have been one-half generation after
Owain. But even a difference of 2 years in the average generational gap over a 300 year span can yield the effect
shown.
The family on the left, down through Gruffudd of 1215, is the same one shown
in the pedigree of Sir Gruffudd Fychan; the latter descended from another son of this Gruffudd.
|
