Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon

CYNWRIG ap RHIWALLON
By Darrell Wolcott

There is a single mention in the Brut y Tywysogyon, in its entry for 1075, of a man named Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon, while Peter Bartrum's indexes for his classic work "Welsh Genealogies - AD300-1400" lists 4 men of that name, none of which can be credibly identified as the man mentioned in the Brut entry. [1]

Bartrum lists two men named Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon ap Dyngad and descended from Tudor Trefer, one born c. 1000 and the other c. 1100. His other two Cynwrigs were not in families who descend from Tudor Trefor, were born c. 1130 and c. 1230, respectively, and are not material to our present discussion. [2]

While we agree two men named Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon ap Dyngad DID descend from Tudor Trefor, our chart of the family includes another four men named Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon in that extended family, all of whom are incorrectly cited as "ap Dyngad ap Tudor Trefor", but each of whose grandfather was an earlier Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon.

Within the families descended from Tudor Trefor, Bartrum lists Dafydd as the only son of a c. 1000 Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon, while he presents the following children for a c. 1100 Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon: sons Iorwerth, Hoedliw, Bledrus, Bleddyn, Hwfa, Ednyfed, Nynnio, Llewelyn, Philip, Ieuaf, Rhiwallon, Einion and Gruffudd plus daughters Arddun and Jane.

We pause for a moment to note that the sons called Bledrus and Bleddyn are a single man; that Einion and Gruffudd are nowhere cited with a wife or any children, and cannot be dated; and that Jane is not a descendant of Tudor Trefor, but a daughter of Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon ap Gwyn. [3] Of the remaining named children, not more than 4 of them belong to any single Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon. Our chart of this extended family shows:

CHART DISCUSSION:

(a) Dwnn ii, 307 cites her marriage to Endyfed (995) ap Llywarch Gam (965) ap Llydocca (935), but incorrectly calls her father "Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn". That Rhiwallon had no sons and was born c. 1024

(b) Burke's "Landed Gentry" entry for Lloyd-Davis of Whittington cites her marriage to Rhys Sais (1025) ap Ednyfed (995) ap Llywarch Gam (965) [4]

CYNWRIG #1 - Montgomeryshire Collections, Vol 2, p.268 cites his marriage to Anne (1005) ferch Idnerth Benfras (960) whom we chart as a base son Gwrydr Hir of Rhos. This is the Cynwrig whom Bartrum charts as born c. 1000.

CYNWRIG #2 - Powys Fadog, vol 2, p. 117 cites his marriage to Dyddgu (1080) ferch Ifor Hen (1050) whom we chart as a son of Llywarch Hwlbwrch of Rhos. This is the Cynwrig whom Bartrum charts as born c. 1100.

CYNWRIG #3 - Pen 287, 1 cites the marriage of his son, Rhiwallon, to Letis (1140) ferch Cadwaladr (1105) ap Peredur (1070) ap Mael (1035). Pen 128, 151b cites the marriage of his son, Hwfa, to Gwenllian (1135) ferch Owain Gwynedd (1100). Bartrum conflates this Cynwrig with Cynwrig #2

CYNWRIG #4 - His only son was Nynnio, and the subsequent family is conflated by all sources with the same-named men who descended from the c. 1095 Nynnio ap Cynwrig. See Appendix below. [5] Bartrum conflates this Cynwrig with Cynwrig #2

CYNWRIG #5 - Pen 128,151b cites the marriage of his descendant Ieuaf Ddu (1280) ap Ieuaf (1250) ap Madog (1220) ap Bledrus (rect Bleddyn) (1190) ap Cynwrig (1160) ap Rhiwallon (1125) to Efa (1285) ferch Ieuaf (1240) ap Adda (1205) ap Awr (1170) . Pen 131, 143 cites the marriage of his descendant Dyddgu (1315) ferch Iorwerth Sais (1285) ap Madog (1255) ap Einion (1225) ap Philip (1195) ap Cynwrig (1160) to Morgan (1300) ap Iorwerth Foel (1270) ap Iorwerth Fychan (1240) ap Iorwerth Hen (1210) ap Owain (1180) ap Bleddyn (1150) ap Tudor (1120) ap Bleddyn (1085) ap Tudor (1055) ap Rhys Sais I (1025), Bartrum conflates this Cynwrig with Cynwrig #2

CYNWRIG #6 - Pen 287, 3 cites the marriage of his grand-daughter Arddun (1280) ferch Ieuaf (1250) ap Cynwrig (1220) ap Rhiwallon (1190) to Ednyfed (1270) ap Dafydd (1235) ap Rhys Mechyll (1200) ap Rhys Gryg (1165) ap Lord Rhys (1123). His son Llewelyn (1250) heads a family found in Dwnn i, 324. Bartrum conflates this Cynwrig with Cynwrig #2

NOTES:

[1] This man should be identified as Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon ap Gwyn. the first cousin of Trahaearn ap Caradog ap Gwyn, and older brother of Meilyr ap Rhiwallon who was killed with Trahaearn in 1081. Cynwrig and Trahaearn were maternally descended from king Cadell ap Brochwel II of Powys and served as interim kings of Powys and Gwynedd following the death of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn in 1075. Bartrum failed to include this Cynwrig in his published charts.

[2] These were Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon ap Gwrydr, cited in HLG 8b in a family descended from Cilmin Droed Ddu, and Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon ap Dolffyn, cited in Pen. 176, 143 in a branch of the same family which includes Cadwgan of Nannau and Einion ap Cynfelyn of Arwystli.

[3] Montgomeryshire Collections, Vol 7, p. 38

[4] Dwnn ii, 307 claims Rhys Sais ap Ednyfed married Efa ferch Gruffudd Hir ap Gruffudd ap Lord Rhys. Such an Efa would be born c. 1215 and even Bartrum rejected this identification. However, this Rhys Sais had a great-grandson, also called Rhys Sais, who was born c. 1124. We suggest he was married to Efa (1130) ferch Gruffudd (1085) ap Rhys (1051) ap Tewdwr and Dwnn merely botched her ancestry.
[5] See our first mention of this conflated line at the link below:

www.ancientwalesstudies.org

APPENDIX - Ieuaf ap Adda ap Awr:

One could show many examples of the conflated families headed by a Nynnio ap Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon Our chart in the main text above only depicts a small part of those two cousin lines. In fact, the earliest Ieuaf ap Nynnio ap Cynwrig had 4 sons other than the Awr we charted: Llywarch, Griffri, Hywel and Iorwerth. The later Ieuaf ap Nynnio had 5 sons in addition to the charted Awr: Llywarch, Griffri, Hywel, Iorwerth and Einion. The following is but one group of cited marriages which exposes this conflation:

1065 Cynwrig #2

___________________l___________________

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1105 Hoedliw 1095 Nynnio 1095 Rhiwallon

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1140 Cynwrig 1130 Ieuaf 1125 Cynwrig #4

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1175 Cynwrig Fychan Awr 1170 1160 Nynnio Ednyfed Fychan 1165

l l l l

1210 Madog 1205 Adda 1195 Ieuaf Gronwy 1200

l l l l 1245 Myfanwy========Ieuaf 1240 1235 Awr Gronwy Fychan 1235

l l

cited in Pen 128, 178b 1265 Adda Madog 1265

l l

1295 Ieuaf=====Generys 1300

cited in Pen 128, 603b