MAREDUDD AP ROBERT, LORD OF CEDEWAIN
By Darrell Wolcott
Cedewain is a commote
in mid-Powys lying between Caerenion and Ceri and east of Arwystli. In the early 11th century, it appears to have formed
a portion of the kingdom of Arwystli ruled by Gwyn ap Collwyn who descended from Tegonwy ap Teon and thence from Cassanuth
Wledig of the 5th century. As we suggested in another paper[1], Gwyn must have married into the Powys royal family
which provided the required bloodlines for his grandson's appointment as its interim king. When the sons
of that man, Trahaearn ap Caradog ap Gwyn, attained adulthood, Owain ap Trahaearn became Lord of the cantref of Arwystli and
Llywarch ap Trahaearn became Lord of the commote of Cedewain.
This Llywarch had several
sons, but the eldest suffered a mental breakdown[2] and three others were slain soon after his death[3]. The Lordship
of Cedewain was eventually confirmed to a surviving son, Robert. Gwladys, a sister of Robert, married Owain Gwynedd[4].
Among the sons of Robert were Maredudd and Robert. The elder of these,
Maredudd, followed his father as Lord of Cedewain around 1180. In 1197,
Gwenwynwyn of Cyfeiliog added Arwystli (including Cedewain) to his south Powys kingdom by conquest. One can only guess
whether or not Maredudd ap Robert survived this invasion[5], but in 1208 Llewelyn ap Iorwerth seized the lands of Gwenwynwyn
when the latter was jailed by King John. Llewelyn's father Iorwerth was a first-cousin of Maredudd and Robert ap Robert,
both now dead, so he bestowed the Lordship on Maredudd ap Robert ap Robert on the alleged grounds that the sons of Maredudd
ap Robert ap Trahaearn were not conceived in wedlock[6]. A chart will show the relationships:
1035 Trahaearn
l
1070 Llywarch
_____________l______
l
l
1110
Robert 1113 Gwladys===Owain
G
___________l______
l 1100
l
l
l
1145 Robert 1143
Maredudd* Iorwerth
1128
l
l
1175 Maredudd** (ob 1244)
Llewelyn the Great 1169
*
First-cousin once-removed of Llewelyn the Great, whose father was Maredudd's first cousin
** Nephew of the c. 1143 Maredudd
to whom the Lordship of Cedewain was said to be given because the earlier Maredudd's sons were, according to Dwnn, not by
his lawful wife. His Lordship of Cedewain was confirmed by Henry III in 1241
Many
medieval and modern pedigrees confuse the two men in this family named Maredudd ap Robert. It is not known who, if anyone,
the Maredudd of c. 1143 married; his known children were apparently illegitimate. These included a son Owain, who had
an only daughter Sioned[7]; sons Gruffudd and Hywel[8]; a daughter Alison[9] born c. 1185 who married Einion ap Cynfelyn of
c. 1170; and daughter Dyddgu[10] born c. 1185 who married Trahaearn ap Iorwerth, Lord of Garthmyl, born c. 1170.
Robert ap Robert had married
a cousin, Sioned ferch Samuel ap Cadafael ap Llywarch[11]; his son Maredudd ap Robert of c. 1175 married Efa ferch Maredudd
Fychan ap Maredudd Hen ap Hywel ap Maredudd ap Bleddyn ap Cynfyn[12], a lady born c. 1190. It is this Maredudd ap Robert,
Lord of Cedewain, whose obit is recorded in 1244[13] and who was mentioned in the Brut in 1211, 1212 and 1215 as an ally of
Llewelyn ap Iorwerth in his battles against King John and the Norman settlers
in Wales.
Maredudd ap Robert ap Robert
left a daughter Alison[14], born c. 1220, who married Llewelyn ap Meilyr Gryg (the second of that name) [15], and a son Owain
born c. 1210 who married Marged ferch Maelgwn Fychan ap Maelgwn ap Lord Rhys[16]. This Owain ap Maredudd was confirmed
as Lord of Cedewain in 1248[17], but he died leaving an only daughter, Angharad[18].
