ELSTAN (or ELYSTAN) GLODRYDD, founder of the fifth of the 'royal tribes' of Wales

Although scarcely anything is known about him, his name may serve as the heading of a concise account (compiled entirely from Lloyd, A History of Wales ) of the later lords of 'Rhwng Gŵy a Hafren' (between Wye and Severn) - the cantreds of Maelienydd and Elfael; pedigree in Lloyd, A History of Wales , 770. Elstan (A History of Wales , 406) had a son, Cadwgan, who had three sons. One of these, Idnerth, also had three sons; of these, Madog (died 1140) had five sons. Two of Madog's sons, Hywel and Cadwgan, were killed in 1142, and a third, Maredudd, in 1146; the other two, CADWALLON (died 1179) and EINION CLUD (died 1177), ruled respectively over Maelienydd and Elfael. They were not on good terms, and in 1160 Cadwallon seized Einion and handed him over to Owain Gwynedd, who surrendered him to Henry II; but Einion escaped from custody. In 1163 both brothers rallied to the banner of Owain Gwynedd at Corwen, and later both were homagers of the ' lord ' Rhys ap Gruffydd; both, again, co-operated in the re-establishment of Cwm Hir abbey, 1176. Of Cadwallon's three sons, Maelgwn (who took the cross in 1188) died in 1197; his son Cadwallon died in 1234. Einion Clud had two sons: the elder, EINION (AB EINION CLUD), usually known as ' Einion o'r Porth,' is said to have married a daughter of the ' lord ' Rhys, took the cross in 1188, and died in 1191. In the 13th and 14th cent, the house of Mortimer, which had from an early date encroached upon the lands of the Elstan dynasty, succeeded eventually in acquiring complete possession of them.

Author

• Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, (1881 - 1969)

Sources

• J. E. Lloyd, A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest (London 1911), more especially 406, 477, 516, 545, 563, 567, 585, 770

Further Reading

• Wikipedia Article: Elystan Glodrydd

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q3400896

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/