Dictionary of Welsh Biography

GRUFFUDD ap LLYWELYN (d. 1063), king of Gwynedd and Powys, and after 1055 king of all Wales purpose. After Iago ab Idwal had been slain by his own men in 1039 Gruffudd ap Llywelyn became king of Gwynedd and Powys. Immediately afterwards, he struck a blow against the Saxons of Mercia in the battle of Rhyd-y-groes on the Severn and drove them to flight. This victory made him a prominent figure; and thenceforth until his death he continued to be the shield of his country and the terror of its
GRUFFUDD AP LLYWELYN (d. 1064), king of Gwynedd 1039-1064 and overlord of all the Welsh He was the son of Llywelyn ap Seisyll and Angharad merch Maredudd. Gruffudd was one of the most successful British princes of the Middle Ages and the Book of Llandaff claims that he was 'king of all Wales from end to end'. True to the medieval idea of a Wheel of Fate, however, Gruffudd's career ended in exile and violent death. Gruffudd's father Llywelyn came originally from Powys. He fought his
GRUFFUDD BENRHAW, or PENRHAW (fl. 15th century), poet of whom it is known that he was a native of Brecknock and related to the family of Awbrey. A series of englynion, attributed to him, to Owain Dwnn, and to Gruffudd ap Nicolas, is extant [but see the article on Gruffudd ap Nicolas ]. Prose passages accompany these, and the whole relates to various incidents in the life of the poet, obviously an unruly person. It gives an account of his
RHYS AP TEWDWR (d. 1093), king of Deheubarth (1078-1093) He was the son of Tewdwr ap Cadell and thus a descendant of the great tenth-century prince Hywel Dda, but no one from his direct male line had held the kingship since the tenth century. Rhys's rise to power benefitted from the stalled Norman advance into southern Wales after 1075 as well as the efforts of his distant cousin Caradog ap Gruffudd (lord of Gwent Uch Coed and Iscoed) to eliminate
GRUFFUDD ap GWRGENAU, poet Nothing remains of his work except (1) an elegiac awdl to prince Gruffudd ap Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd, who died (A.D. 1200) a monk in Aberconway abbey, and (2) a chain of englynion expressing the poet's grief at the loss of some of his friends. The awdl is quite unique among the elegies upon princes, in that it gives second place to the lineage, the exploits, and generosity of the subject. The
GRUFFUDD ap CYNAN (c. 1055 - 1137), king of Gwynedd same year Gruffudd crossed over from Ireland intent on regaining his patrimony, and landed at Abermenai. With the help of Robert of Rhuddlan he overcame and killed Cynwrig, who held Llyn under Trahaearn. Trahaearn himself was conquered in a battle fought somewhere in Meirionnydd and compelled to retreat to his own lands of Arwystli. As king of Gwynedd Gruffudd's first act was to attack the Norman
GRUFFUDD LEIAF (fl. 15th century), poet A native of Denbighshire, son of Gruffudd Fychan ap Gruffudd ap Dafydd Goch, who traced his descent from Owain Gwynedd. (Peniarth MS 127 (17)). An englyn written by him is found in Cwrtmawr MS 242B (1) and NLW MS 6499B (1). A cywydd to the owl is also attributed to him in some manuscripts, e.g. Cardiff MS. 64 (552), and Esgair MS. 1 (37); but the same poem bears the name of Dafydd ap Gwilym, and
IEUAN ap GRUFFUDD LEIAF (fl. latter half of 15th century), poet A member of a Denbighshire family, son of Gruffudd Leiaf ap Gruffudd Fychan ap Gruffudd ap Dafydd Goch, and a descendant of Owain Gwynedd (Peniarth MS 127 (19)). Some examples of his work remain in manuscript, including cywyddau and awdlau to members of the Penrhyn and Nanconwy families, vaticinatory and religious poems, a poem on Aberconwy, a satire on the Llugwy river for hindering the poet
GRUFFUDD GRYG (fl. second half of the 14th century), bard This is to be gathered from Gruffudd's cywydd to the seven sons of Iorwerth ap Gruffudd of Lliwon, Anglesey, men who flourished (in all probability) c. 1360-70. He says that he is related to them and he addresses them as his kindred; he must, therefore, have been related in some way to the tribe of Hwfa ap Cynddelw (see J. E. Griffith, Pedigrees, 5). He sang also to Einion ap Gruffudd, Chwilog
VAUGHAN, Sir GRUFFUDD (d. 1447), soldier Of Broniarth and Trelydan, parish of Guilsfield, Montgomeryshire; He was the son of Gruffudd ap Ieuan ap Madoc ap Gwenwys by Maud, daughter of Griffri ap Rhys Vongam. The Gwenwys clan traced its ancestry from Brochwel Ysgythrog. Their principal houses lay in the parish of Guilsfield, in the commote of Strata Marcella. The family, including Gruffudd ap Ieuan, took a prominent part on the side of
GRUFFUDD NANNAU (fl. c. 1460), poet A member apparently of the Nannau family. He was contemporary with Dafydd ap Maredudd ap Tudur, fl. 1460. Some examples of his work exist in manuscript, and these include an englyn written to the poet Gruffudd Phylip (NLW MS 643B (39b)), a cywydd to the sons of Ieuan Fychan of Pengwern (died c. 1458) (Cardiff MS. 83 (28b)); NLW MS 3049D (500)), and another to Dafydd Llwyd ap Gruffudd Deuddwr
IAGO ab IDWAL ap MEURIG (d. 1039), king of Gwynedd a great grandson of Idwal Foel. After successive usurpations of legitimate authority in Gwynedd between 986 and 1033 (see Maredudd ap Owain, Llywelyn ap Seisyll, Rhydderch ap Iestyn) the old line was restored in the person of Iago. A brief rule of six years ended in his murder and replacement by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Seisyll. His son, Cynan, was the father of Gruffudd ap Cynan who finally re

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