csawlogo.jpg

Home
Guest-written Papers
Reference Abbreviations
Guidance Articles for Researchers
Single Family Analysis
Families of Mixed Origin
Family Pedigrees
Mis-identified Same-Named People in Wales
Battles and Historical Events
Ancient Welsh Territories
Welshmen in Llydaw, Brittany
The Men of the North
Legendary History Prior to 1st Century BC
Beli Mawr and Llyr Llediath in Welsh Pedigrees
Papers Related to Maxen Wledig
Bartrum's "Pedigrees of the Welsh Tribal Patriarchs"
Britain's Royal Roman Family
The Royal Family of Powys
2nd Powys Royal Dynasty
The Royal Family of Gwynedd
Men Descended from Tudwal Gloff
Royal Family of Gwent/ Glamorgan
Royal Family of Brycheiniog
15 Noble Tribes of Gwynedd
The 5 Plebian Tribes of Wales
Glast and the Glastening
Papers about Rhiryd Flaidd and Penllyn
The Men of Collwyn ap Tangno of Lleyn
Edwin of Tegeingl and his Family
Ednowain Bendew in Welsh pedigrees
Ithel of Bryn in Powys
Idnerth Benfras of Maesbrook
Tudor Trefor and his Family
Trahaearn ap Caradog of Arwystli
The Family of Trahaearn ap Caradog
Cadafael Ynfyd of Cydewain
Maredudd ap Owain, King of Deheubarth
Sandde Hardd of Mortyn
The Floruit of Einion ap Seisyllt
The 5 Dafydd Llwyds of Llanwrin Parish
Cowryd ap Cadfan of Dyffryn Clwyd
Osbwrn Wyddel of Cors Gedol
Bradwen of Llys Bradwen in Meirionydd
Who Was Sir Robert Pounderling?
Sir Aaron ap Rhys
Eidio Wyllt - What Was His Birthname?
Ifor Bach, Lord of Senghenydd
Ancestors and Children of the Lord Rhys
                                 MAREDUDD AP EDNOWAIN BENDEW
                                              By Darrell Wolcott
             
        In his "Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1400", Peter Bartrum cites 4 sources [1] for a Maredudd ap Ecnowain Bendew, with 3 of those sources citing Iorwerth as a son of Maredudd.  The 4th source [2] apparently cites a Gruffudd as a son of Maredudd.  Bartrum marked that source as "corrupt" and does not include a Gruffudd ap Maredudd ap Ednowain Bendew anywhere in his indexes.  He dates this Maredudd to his "Generation 4" or circa 1130 plus or minus about 17 years.  With that estimated birth date, he could not be a son of the c. 1020 Ednowain Bendew ap Neiniad of Tegeingl, so Bartrum attached him to his "Ednowain Bendew II", who had dated to c. 1100. [3]
 
        Our earlier work [4] identified this "Ednowain Bendew II" as a man born c. 1050 and probably the same man as Owain ap Edwin of Tegeingl whose father-in-law WAS Ednowain Bendew ap Neiniad.  Our own estimate of the birth date of the Maredudd ap Ednowain found in the sources mentioned above is c. 1115, and is almost consistent with Bartrum's dating of him.  It is, however, wholly inconsistent with him being a son of either the c. 1020 Ednowain Bendew ap Neiniad or the c. 1050 Owain ap Edwin a.k.a Ednowain Bendew II.
 
        In attempting to reconcile these dates, our first step will delete the nickname "Bendew" from the Ednowain who appears in the cited source material.  In the same manner in which virtually any Brochwel, who descended from Brochwel Ysgithrog, is often given the original Brochwel's nickname, so is it likely that an Ednowain who descended from Ednowain Bendew might be wrongly cited as "Bendew".  This is particularly true if the later Endowain had a son with the same name as a son of the original Ednowain.  The likely ancestry of our c. 1115 Maredudd should be one of the following:
 
1020  Ednowain Bendew ap Neiniad     1050  Ednowain Bendew II
                       l                                                   l
      1055  Maredudd                              1085  Ednowain (not Bendew)
                       l                                                   l
      1085  Ednowain (not Bendew)           1115  Maredudd
                       l
       1115  Maredudd
 
        In both cases, the authors of our citations simply stopped adding ancestors when they came to a Maredudd ap Ednowain and appended "Bendew" to that Ednowain.   In our opinion, the first construction shows the pedigree most likely to be correct.  There are two reasons for our choice.  First, we think it was the extended family of a single man (Madog ap Owain ap Edwin) who opted to call the father of this Madog "Ednowain Bendew". [5]  The families of all the brothers of that Madog did not join that deception, so "Ednowain Bendew II" would have a single son, Madog.  Secondly,  the only residence locations cited for men descended from Maredudd ap Ednowain [6] places them in Whitfield Parish, Coleshill commote, in Tegeingl.  This is the same commote where Ednowain Bendew ap Neiniad had resided, and he likely had been its Lord. [7]

         There are only 3 cited marriages [8] in the subsequent family of Maredudd ap Ednowain.  One of those contains more generational links than the others and should yield an apparent earlier date for Maredudd.  We present it first:
 
  1020  Llywarch Hwlbwrch
                        l
   1055  Llywarch Goch                         Ednowain  1085
                        l                                        l
          1090  Cynan                             Maredudd  1115
                        l                                        l
         1120  Iorwerth                       Gruffudd Ddwn (a)  1145
                        l                                        l
  1150   Llywarch Goch                              Rs  (b)  1175
                       l                                         l
 1180  Llywarch Fychan                      Gronwy Sais  1210
                       l                                         l
       1210  Cadwgan                          Dafydd Llwyd  1240
                       l                                         l
     1240  Ithel Llwyd                             Ednyfed  1270
                       l                                         l
        1275  Bleddyn                               Bleddyn  1300
                       l                                         l
        1310  Cynwrig                              Gruffudd  1335 
                       l                                         l
         1345  Bleddyn                                Iolyn  1365
                       l                                         l
           1380  Rhys=============Tangwystl  1395 
 
   (a)  some citations include the nickname, some do not
    (b)  most citations use "Rs" to mean "Rhys" but others use it to mean "Rhissert" the Welsh spelling for Richard.  There are competing citations in which the grandfather of Dafydd Llwyd ap Gronwy Sais is sometimes called Rhys and sometimes called Richard
 
        The family in the right-hand column combines segments found in Cardiff Ms 3.8, 35; and Pen. 134, 120.  It extends back to the c. 1115 Maredudd and is the one which includes a "Gruffudd Ddwn ap Maredudd".
,
          The next cited marriages occur in the family which includes a "Gruffudd Ddwn ap Iorwerth" and also includes another "Gronwy Sais ap Rs" as father to sons Gwyn and Gruffudd.  Again, the citations clash, with some identifying "Rs" as Rhys and some calling him Richard.
 

mareduddednowaincartbold2.jpg

        In considering the actual pedigree prior to the c. 1115 Maredudd, we think there are sufficient early sources who believed that Ednowain Bendew ap Neiniad did have a son named Maredudd, even though none of them managed to extend the pedigree back far enough to actually include him.  Our construction as "Maredudd (1115) ap Ednowain (1085) ap Maredudd (1055) ap Ednowain Bendew (1020) ap Neiniad (985) ap Gwaithfoed of Tegeingl (955) does present the oddity, in one family line, of three consecutive doublets of "Maredudd ap Ednowain" before other male names were introduced.

NOTES:
[1]  Pen 131, 56; Pen 177, 246; Pen 134, 120 and Pen 139(1), 102
[2]  In his Index volumes, Bartrum lists an Iorwerth ap Maredudd ap Ednowain Bendew which gives the same 4 sources listed in Note 1 above.  However, he marked Pen 134, 120 as "corrupt" because it names someone else as Maredudd's son. We think it says "Gruffudd Ddwn ap Maredudd ap Ednowain Bendew", but no such man is included in the Bartrum indexes.   Yet in the next generation, he lists 2 sources for a "Richard ap Gruffudd Ddwn ap Maredudd" and one source for a "Richard ap Gruffudd Ddwn ap Iorwerth".  We suggest this confirms there was both a "Gruffudd Ddwn ap Maredudd" and a "Gruffudd Ddwn ap Iorwerth ap Maredudd" 
[3] P.C. Bartrum, "Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1400", chart "Ednowain Bendew 8"
[4]  See our paper "The Ednowain Bendew II of Medieval Pedigrees" at the link below:
[5]  See our discussion of the traitor charges levied against Owain ap Edwin, at the link below:
[6]  Harl 1969, 316 names the manors of the 3 sons of Gruffudd Ddwn ap Iorwerth ap Maredudd, and their location in Whitford parish
[7] Ednowain Bendew ap Neiniad was one of the 15 Founders of Noble Tribes of North Wales. See Philip Yorke, "Royal Tribes of Wales", 1887 edition, page 204 
[8] Cardiff Ms 3.8, 85 cites the ancestry of Tangwystl ferch Iolyn ap Gruffudd, and her marriage to Rhys ap Bleddyn ap Cynwrig, descended from Llywarch Hwlbwrch.  Pen 287, 278 cites the marriage of Gronwy ap Gwyn ap Gronwy Sais to Jenkin ap Dafydd ap Iorwerth descended from Madog ap "Ednowain Bendew II".  Pen 131, 56 cites the ancestry of Gruffudd ap Gronwy Sais and his marriage to Alis ferch Ieuan ap Ithel Fychan descended from Uchdryd ap Edwin of Tegeingl.  These are the only marriages presented on Bartrum's chart "Ednowain Bendew 8"