#14 - MAM TUDOR TREFOR
Under this heading, Bartrum presents
two pedigrees:
(1) "Mam Tudyr Trevor oedd Rieingar
verch Lluddicka ap Kariadoc vreichfras iarll Henffordd ap y Keiloc myngrudd or gogledd ap Eidol darianlas ap Kenau ap Koel
godeboc. Tri o meibon oedd i Dudyr Trevor, nid amgen, Grono, Lluddicka, Dingad. I Rono y bu verch yr hon a elwid
Gwen ferch ac etifedd i Rono. Mam oedd hono i Elystan glodrydd, ac oddiwth i vam i kavas Elystan iarllaeth Henffordd,
ac oddiwrth i vam i kowsse Dudyr Trevor yr un iarllaeth achos i vam oedd verch ac etifedd Lluddicka ap Kariadoc vreichvras
iarll Henffordd."
(2) [a] "Mam Tudur Trevor oedd Rieingar
verch Lluddyka ap Kriadoc vreichvras"
[b] "Mam Lluddyka
ap Tudur Trevor oedd Angharad verch Howel ddaf ap Kadell"
[c] "Mam Llowarch
gam ap Lluddyka ap Tudur Trevor oedd verch Iago ap Idwal ap Meuric"
[d] "Mam
Ednyfed ap Llowarch gam oedd Nest verch Gwrystan ap Gwaithfoed"
In his notes to these pedigree, Bartrum
says:
"Little confidence can be placed in
these relationships although, surprisingly, they are all chronologically possible except for 'Mam Tudur Trefor' and "Mam Llywarch
Gam'. To the best of my knowledge [the second pedigree] does not appear again until Lewys Dwnn who gives an expanded
version (ii.307)."
PEDIGREE 1:
For those whose Welsh isn't
fluent, we shall attempt to render the pedigree in English:
"The mother of Tudor Trevor[1]
was Reingar ferch Lluddocca ap Caradog Freich Fras, earl of Hereford, ap y Ceiliog Myngrudd of the North ap Eidol Darian Las
ap Ceneu ap Coel Godebog. Tudor Trevor had three sons, namely, Gronwy, Lluddocca and Dyngad. Gronwy had a daughter
and heiress named Gwen, who was the mother of Elystan Glodrydd. This Elystan Glodrydd became earl of Hereford by right
of his mother since Tudor Trevor had inherited it from his mother, the daughter of Lluddocca ap Caradog Freich Fras, earl
of Hereford."
While Reingar was the granddaughter
of Caradog Freich Fras, he was not the man of that name who lived in the 6th century near Hereford whose flawed pedigree follows
that name. She was a lady of north Wales whose grandfather was the Caradog Freich Fras of c. 815 found in the pedigree
of Heilig ap Glannog. This misidentification led early historians to believe Tudor Trevor held lands in Hereford, whereas
his lands were all north of the Severn in Cheshire and Shropshire.
Gronwy ap Tudor Trevor died
before his father; his only daughter, Gwen, married a man of southeast Wales named Cuhelyn ap Ifor and she was the mother
of Elystan Glodrydd who became King of Fferlys. That kingdom lay between the Wye and Severn, south of Powys and north
of Gwent. It did, prior to the Norman incursions, extend east into Herefordshire.
PEDIGREE 2:
The first item is a repeat from
the first pedigree, but deletes all the wording which misidentified the Caradog Freich Fras in the ancestry of Tudor Trevor's
mother. Reingar was born c. 885.
The second item identifies the
wife of Tudor Trevor by calling her the mother of his son, Lluddocca. Angharad ferch Hywel Dda was born c. 915.
The third item identifies
the wife of Lluddocca ap Tudor Trevor, but incorrectly extends her ancestry beyond Idwal. Born c. 950, this unnamed
lady[2] was a daughter of Iago ap Idwal Foel ap Anarawd ap Rhodri Mawr, not the later Iago ap Idwal ap Elisedd ap Meurig ap
Idwal Foel.
The fourth item identifies the
wife of Llowarch Gam ap Lluddocca. Nest[3] was born c. 980 and was a sister of Cynfyn ap Gwerystan and aunt of Bleddyn
ap Cynfyn.
Had Bartrum correctly identified
the Caradog Freich Fras and the Iago ap Idwal mentioned in the pedigrees, he could not have concluded that ANY of the relationships
cited were chronologically impossible; while slightly corrupt as cited, the marriages were not only possible but highly probable.
Tudor Trevor was descended from a junior branch of the First Powys Dynasty, held a vast lordship in the lands bordering Wales
and Mercia, and his family should be expected to have married neighboring nobility.
The following charts shows the timeline
of the family:
805 Gwrgeneu[4] 815 Caradog Freich Fras
l
l
835 Cadfarch 850
Llyddoca[5] Cadell 851
l
l
l
880
870 Ynyr========Reingar 885 Hywel
Dda 879 Idwal Foel
l
l
l
900 Tudor Trevor==========Angharad
915 Iago 915
_____________l_____________ l
l l
l
l 950
932 Gronwy 930 Dyngad[6] 935 Lluddocca====dau
l
l
l
l
l Ifor[7]
930 __________l
l l
l
[8]
970 Gwenl=======Cuhelyn
960 l Gwaithfoed 915
l
l l
990 Elystan Glodrydd l
Gwerystan 955
l l
965 Llowarch Gam===Nest 980
