WAS
IESTYN AP GWRGAN THE FOUNDER OF ONE OF THE 5 ROYAL TRIBES
By Darrell Wolcott
In 1799, Philip Yorke of Erthig
published his book "The Royal Tribes of Wales" in which he named 5 Welsh princes who, he said, represented the kingly family
for each of the major Welsh kingdoms. [1] His list of names (the spelling is his) included:
1. Gruffudd ap Cynan of Gwynedd
2. Rhys ap Tewdwr of South Wales
(Deheubarth)
3. Bleddyn ap Cynfyn of Powys
4. Jestyn ap Gwrgant of Glamorgan
5. Aethelstan Glodrydd, between
the Wye and Severn
The earliest source we have seen for
these names is a c. 1600 manuscript [2] written by Thomas Chaloner, in which this author claimed "Gutun Owain wrote with
his own hand the book of pedigrees from which this book was copied word for word". [3] Chaloner's copy contains the
following list as "pump brehenllwydd Kymrau" or "five kingly tribes of Wales":
1. Gruffudd ap Conan yng
wyned (in Gwynedd)
2. Bleddyn ap Kynfrig
(no kingdom named)
3. Rys ap Tewdwr Mawr
yn neheubarth (in Deheubarth)
4. Jestan ap Gwrgon (no
kingdom named)
5. Elistan Glodrudd (no
kingdom named)
In 1487, Gutyn Owen wrote the
manuscript which Chaloner says he copied. [4] Gutyn's manuscript has since suffered the loss of several folios, but
in 1500 a copy was hand made [5] which is still complete. This copy, made 100 years earlier than Chaloner's copy, lists
"pump brenhinllwth Kymry"[6] as:
1. Gruffudd ap Kynan yn
Gwynedd
2. Rys ap Tewdwr Mawr
yn Neheubarth
3. Bleddyn ap Kynvyn y
Mhowys
4. Elystan Glodrydd rwng
Gwy a Hafren
5. Caradoc ap Iestyn y
Morgannwc
NOTE: In two of these lists, Rhys is incorrectly called
"ap Tewdwr Mawr". He was actually "ap Tewdwr ap Tewdwr Mawr". See our paper on this man at the link below:
While Yorke listed the same 5 men
which appear in Chaloner's manuscript, he revised the spelling of some names and changed the sequence of two names just
below the top of the list. No one need quarrel with the manner in which the names are spelled, nor in which sequence
they should appear, but we SHOULD consider it important that the earlier copy of Gutyn's manuscript doesn't cite the same
5 men. Both of the later writers replaced "Caradog ap Iestyn" with his better-known father, Iestyn ap Gwrgan.
When we seek other Morgannwg
sources we find several manuscripts, written between the dates of Gutyn Owen's work and that of Chaloner's copy, which mention
a "brenhinllwyth Morganwc". [7] All of these begin their pedigree "Caradog ap Iestyn ap Gwrgan". While they continue
with the supposed ancestry of the first Iestyn (born c. 1045), [8] the son of that Iestyn is not known to head ANY ruling
family. We believe the Caradog ap Iestyn cited as one of the 5 "Founders" was the one who was Lord of Afan and
fathered a son called Morgan Arglwydd, said Morgan known to have been living in 1175. [9]
That Caradog ap Iestyn married Gwladys
ferch Gruffudd ap Rhys, [10] a sister of Lord Rhys born c. 1120. Thus, Caradog was likely born near 1105. His
son, Morgan, married Gwenllian ferch Ifor Bach. [11] This lady was born c. 1145 and a birthdate near 1135 would fit
their (Caradog and Gwladys) son, Morgan. Accordingly, the Iestyn ap Gwrgan who fathered Caradog, Lord of Afan,
was born c. 1075 and could not be the first man of that name in this family. [12] In fact, one wife cited for an Iestyn
ap Gwrgan was Dyddgu ferch Iorwerth ap Cadwgan ap Elystan Glodrydd, a lady born about 1085. [13] Therefore, we believe
the "kingly family" of Morgannwg looks like this:
Elystan Glodrydd 990
l
Cadwgan 1020 Tewdwr 1023
l
l
1042 Gwrgan Iorwerth 1055
Rhys 1051
l l
l
1075 Iestyn=====Dyddgu 1085 Gruffudd 1085
l
l
1105 Caradog===============Gwladys 1120
The citations for Iestyn's marriage
to Dyddgu only cite his ancestry back to Gwrgan ap Ithel, but this is far enough to be certain this was NOT the same Gwrgan
ap Ithel who married a sister of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn. [14] A family chart, showing how these same-named men were related
to each other, can be found in the appendix to our paper "The Conquest of Glamorgan - Further Notes", which can be seen at
the link below:
