Dictionary of Welsh Biography

HYWEL ab OWAIN GWYNEDD (d. 1170), soldier and poet The natural son of Owain Gwynedd by Pyfog, an Irishwoman. Hywel played a leading part in the occupation of Ceredigion by the house of Gwynedd. His father assigned southern Ceredigion to him in 1139. There was continual strife between him and his uncle Cadwaladr who held northern Ceredigion and Meirionydd. In 1143 Hywel drove his uncle out of Ceredigion. In 1144 there was a reconciliation and
HYWEL ab EDWIN (d. 1044), king of Deheubarth son of Edwin ab Einion and great-grandson of Hywel Dda. When, in 1033, the usurper, Rhydderch ap Iestyn died, Hywel and his brother Maredudd, as senior heirs of Hywel Dda, became joint kings of Deheubarth. Maredudd's death in 1035 left Hywel sole ruler, and on him fell the brunt of defending the south against the Vikings and the northern usurper, Gruffudd ap Llywelyn. Expelled by Gruffudd in 1042
RHYS PENNARDD (fl. c. 1480), a poet it is said that he lived either at Conway or at Clynnog, Caernarfonshire, and that he was buried at Llandrillo, Meironnydd. A number of his poems remain in manuscript, including cywyddau addressed to Elisau ap Gruffudd ab Einion of Plas yn Iâl, Gruffudd Fychan ap Hywel ap Madog, and Rhys ap Hywel ap Madog of Talhenbont, Hywel Ddu of Anglesey and his wife Mallt, and also to William, constable of
HYWEL SWRDWAL (fl. 1430-1460), poet His French surname suggests that there was foreign blood in his family and perhaps it is right to connect the name Swrdwal with the ' de Surda Valle ' which is found in the name of the Norman ' Robertus de Surda Valle ' who enlisted under the banner of lord Bohemund (1096) for one of the crusades, according to Matthew Paris. It may be, too, that Hywel Swrdwal was one of the descendants of the Sir
HYWEL DDA (d. 950), king and legislator He was generally called ' Hywel the Good, son of Cadell, prince of all Wales,' and in 'Brut y Tywysogion' he is called ' the head and cynosure of all the Britons.' He is the only Welsh prince to have been called 'the Good.' He was born towards the end of the 9th century but the place of his birth is unknown. Cadell was one of the sons of Rhodri the Great, and his inheritance was the southern part
HYWEL ap GRUFFYDD ap IORWERTH (fl. c. 1300-1340) According to a story recorded by Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt about 1650, Hywel ap Gruffydd ap Iorwerth was descended from Hwfa ap Cynddelw, founder of one of the so-called 'Fifteen Tribes.' His mother was said to have nursed Edward II after his birth at Caernarvon in 1284; as a result, Hywel enjoyed the favour of the king and was knighted by him. He was a man of great physical strength, able to
ELLIS family Bron y Foel, Ystumllyn, Ynyscynhaearn Evans family of Tan-y-bwlch, Maentwrog; Ieuan, brother of Sir Hywel y Fwyall, was ancestor of the Madryn family. HYWEL AP MEREDYDD, of Bron y Foel, whose wife was Gwenllian, daughter of Gruffydd ap Ednyfed Fychan, had a son, GRUFFYDD AP HYWEL, who, by his wife Angharad, was the father of EINION AP GRUFFYDD, sheriff of Caernarvonshire 1354-6, and Sir Hywel y Fwyall. Einion ap Gruffydd was succeeded by
IAGO ab IDWAL FOEL (fl. 942-979), king of Gwynedd Driven out of Gwynedd by Hywel Dda when Idwal Foel died in 942, Iago and his brother, Ieuaf were restored when Hywel died in 950. Civil strife followed, ending in Ieuaf's defeat in 969 : in 979, Iago was in turn imprisoned by Ieuaf's son, Hywel ap Ieuaf, who thereupon became king of Gwynedd. Only Iago can be identified with reasonable confidence among the Welsh who, together with other vassal
HYWEL ap RHEINALLT (fl. c. 1471-1494), poet
DAFYDD ap MAREDUDD ap TUDUR (fl. 1460) Tregynon, poets His compositions include eulogies of Hywel Colunwy (not of Hywel ap Siencyn), Dafydd Deuddwr, Watcyn ap Tomas ap Rhoser, Dafydd ap Gruffudd Deuddwr (Peniarth MS 64, f.243), and Dafydd ab Owain, abbot of Strata Marcella, and poems of a religious nature. It appears from the contents of 'Tebic ywr byd kyngyd kaeth' that towards the end of his life he became blind.
PERYF ap CEDIFOR WYDDEL (fl. 1170), poet He was one of eight brothers at least, seven of whom were foster-brothers of Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd. When Hywel was slain at Pentraeth, Anglesey (1170), in battle against his half-brothers, Dafydd and Rhodri, the sons of Christina, the seven stood by him. Some of them were also slain, and three only of them escaped injury. Ithel, the other brother, had already been killed at Rhuddlan, at an
RHYS ab OWAIN ab EDWIN (d. 1078), king of Deheubarth Great-grandson of Einion ab Owain ap Hywel Dda, and the last representative in the senior line of descent from Hywel. Having succeeded his brother, Maredudd, in 1072, he was involved in the death of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn in 1075, and in 1078 he was himself defeated at Goodwick by Trahaearn ap Caradog. Later in the year he met his end at the hands of Caradog ap Gruffydd, and was succeeded by his

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