House of Mathrafal

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House of Mathrafal

Arms of the Mathrafal House of Powys
Parent houseHouse of Dinefwr
CountryWales
Founded1063; 961 years ago (1063)
FounderBleddyn ap Cynfyn, King of Gwynedd and Powys
Titles
Connected families
Estate(s)
Cadet branches
Arms of the Hughes of Gwerclas, co-heirs of Mathrafal, depicting many coats of arms of the dynasty
William the Conqueror invades England, 1066, King Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, founder of Mathrafal, led a resistance with the Anglo-Saxons
Harlech Castle, residence of Owain Glyndwr, Prince of Wales, was initially built by Plantagenet King Edward Longshanks
Painting of Castell Dinas Bran, ancestral seat of the Princes of Powys Fadog, in Llangollen, Denbighshire

The Royal House of Mathrafal began as a cadet branch of the Welsh Royal House of Dinefwr, taking their name from Mathrafal Castle.[1] They effectively replaced the House of Gwertherion, who had been ruling the Kingdom of Powys since late Roman Britain, through the politically advantageous marriage of an ancestor, Merfyn the Oppressor.[2] King Bleddyn ap Cynfyn would join the resistance of the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, against the invasion of William the Conqueror, following the Norman conquest of England. Thereafter, they would struggle with the Plantagenets and the remaining Welsh Royal houses for the control of Wales. Although their fortunes rose and fell over the generations, they are primarily remembered as Kings of Powys and last native Prince of Wales.[3][4]

History[edit]

Dudley Castle, inherited by Isabella de Cherleton of Powys, wife of Sir John de Sutton II
Painting of Shakespeare's play Henry IV: featuring Owen Glendower with members of his family ; Hotspur and Mortimer

The House of Mathrafal was effectively established in the wake of the Anglo-Saxon King, Harold Godwinson, and his brother, Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria, and their disastrous raids of 1062–1063 against the King of Wales, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.[5] They installed Bleddyn ap Cynfyn as King over Powys and Gwynedd and kept him and his base in Mathrafal close to the Saxon border.[6] Mathrafal Castle became their seat and effective capital in Powys, replacing the Roman city of Viroconium.[7]

From this point forward, his family jockeyed with the Royal House of Dinefwr and the Royal House of Aberffraw for the control of Wales. (The unrelated dynasty in the Kingdom of Gwent and the Kingdom of Morgannwg was swiftly overrun by the Marcher Lords after the Norman Conquest).

The House of Mathrafal's influence was greatest between 1063 and 1081, until they lost control of Gwynedd to a resurgent Aberffraw family following the Battle of Mynydd Carn. By 1191, the Kingdom of Powys was divided between the Principality of Powys Fadog in the north and the Principality of Powys Wenwynwyn (roughly modern Montgomeryshire) in the south.[8] The first became a more-or-less loyal vassal of Gwynedd; the latter, one of its main competitors.

Historian John Davies points out that, following the division of Powys, the dynasty should not be considered as "equal" to that of the Royal House of Aberffraw or the Royal House of Dinefwr.[9] Mathrafal Castle was utterly destroyed by Gwynedd in 1212 and thenceforth it was entirely dependent on English support for its survival. However, the Mathrafal dynasty continued to exert some influence, undermining and eventually betraying the Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, on behalf of the Plantagenet King, Edward Longshanks, during his Conquest of Wales in 1282–83.[10]

Thereafter, they avoided his campaign of extermination against the Welsh Royal Houses and even exchanged their claims to royalty for an English Lordship at the Parliament of Shrewsbury in 1283.[11] They were displaced by the Lords of Mortimers in the early 14th century, until a momentary reascension of the House during the 15th century, following the Welsh Revolt led by the Prince of Wales, Owain Glyndŵr, against Prince Henry and King Henry IV of England, of the Royal House of Lancaster. Glyndwr combined the claims of the Houses of Mathrafal and Dinefwr, with links to the House of Aberffraw.[12]

Welsh Revolt[edit]

The rebellions were supported by the French Royal House of Valois, and were an attempt not only at gaining the independence of Wales, but also the redivision of England to their relatives, the House of Percy and the Mortimers.[13][14] Despite being crowned as Owain IV of Wales in 1404, and having taking control of all Wales, and having created the first Welsh parliament at Harlech Castle, they eventually lost the war to the English forces of Henry IV and Henry V.[15]

Nonetheless, their efforts didn't go in vain, as their rebellion gave rise to the first Welsh Kings of England, the Royal House of Tudor.[16] The Tudors were their cousins on their mother's side, through the Tudors of Penmynydd, who fought with them during the rebellions, such a Sir Owen Tudor, the second husband of Queen Catherine of France.[17] Glyndŵr was also the wealthiest Welshman in Wales before his downfall in 1415, and captured number of Longshanks’s main castles such as Conwy, Harlech and Beaumaris, and besieged Caernarfon.[18][19]

This historic period would later be immortalized by William Shakespeare in his play Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, featuring "Owen Glendower" as a character.[20] The plays depict the wars between his family and Prince Hal, future Henry V, and other historical events. Other characters featured include his daughter, Lady Mortimer, his son-in-law, Sir Edmund Mortimer, and in-laws Henry Hotspur Percy and Lady Percy. The plays were succeeded by "Henry V'" and are part of Shakespeare's Henriad.

Succession[edit]

Vaughans of Corsygedol[edit]

See also: Family tree of Welsh monarchs

The House was succeeded by the descendants of prince Owain Glyndŵr and his brother, lord Tudur ap Gruffudd, through the Vaughans of Corsygedol in Snowdonia, North Wales.[21][22] The Vaughans would become strong supporters of the Lancasters during the Wars of the Roses, holding Harlech Castle for the Tudors as well as supporting the future Henry VII and his uncle Jasper Tudor, hiding them at Corsygedol during their exile to France.[23][24] After the Tudor victory, they were given positions of power such as Esquire of the Body to Henry Tudor, governor of Cilgerran Castle in Wales, and became one of the official representatives of the Tudor State within the locality under Queen Elizabeth I.[25][24][26][27]

They are today represented by its derivative branches; the House of Yale (Yale family) and the Hughes of Gwerclas, who act as co-representatives of the dynasty.[28][29][30][31][32] They are also the co-representatives of the Sovereign dynasties of North Wales (Gwynedd) and South Wales (Dinefwr), having their genealogies traced back to the Romano-British ruler Cunedda.[33][34][35][36][37] The Vaughans, Yales, and Hughes of Gwerclas, are also cadet branches of the FitzGerald Dynasty through Osborne Fitzgerald, and direct descendants of the Plantagenets.[38][39][40][41] Their ancestor, lord Gerald de Windsor, was an Anglo-Norman, son of the 1st governor of Windsor Castle for William the Conqueror, and ancestor of the current Duke of Leinster in Ireland.[42][43] Notably, he married a Welsh princess named Nesta, daughter of king Rhys ap Tudor, of the House of Dinefwr.

The Wynn baronets, who are today represented by the Williams-Wynns, are related to Mathrafal through the princes of Aberffraw and the Wynne family of Peniarth, and the Jones of Faerdref Uchaf through the Hughes of Gwerclas.[44][45] A descendant, Mary Wynn, daughter of the 4th Baronet, married Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster of Grimsthorpe Castle, and passed the Wynnstay Estate to her cousin, Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet.[46]

Ancestry[edit]

Along with the Royal Houses of Aberffraw, Dinefwr, and Seisyll, the House of Mathrafal traced their descent from King Merfyn the Oppressor who, along with his son, King Rhodri the Great, established control over northern and western Wales.[47][48] Rhodri replaced King Cyngen ap Cadell as ruler of the Kingdom of Powys after the latter died while on a pilgrimage to Rome.[49] His father, Merfyn, had previously allied his family with the last rulers of Powys by marrying Princess Nest, the daughter or sister of King Cyngen.[50][note 1]

In Welsh tradition, her family was of the Royal House of Gwertherion, and had been ruling Powys since the 5th century, through the marriage of an ancestor, Vortigern, the High king, to Sevira, the daughter of the Roman Emperor, Magnus Maximus.[53][54][55] Maximus, a relative of the Imperial Theodosian dynasty, is featured on the Pillar of Eliseg, erected in the lordship of Yale by king Cyngen of Powys (b. 790). Its sub-Roman capital was at Viroconium, a Roman city that been founded by Caesar's Legio XIV Gemina, and abandoned later by Legio XX Valeria, for the fortress at Deva Victrix (Chester) during Roman Britain.[56][57][58]

As a consequence of Merfyn's alliance, King Cyngen's legitimate heirs were either exiled or reduced to the level of minor land owners (e.g., the family of Sir Gruffudd Vychan).[59] Yet, one of the last Kings of Powys, Cadell ap Brochfael, maternal great-grandfather of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, the first King of the House of Mathrafal, claimed descent from Cyngen's son Aeddan, who seems to have ruled straight after.

Other noble families claimed descent from another of Cyngen's sons, Elisedd, who is mentioned as killing his older brother Gruffydd in the Annales Cambriae. It is therefore likely that Gwynedd's hegemony over Powys was merely propaganda, intended to glorify Gwynedd at the expense of Powys before the time of Prince Owain Gwynedd. Therefore, there was a lot of political instability as the House had to rule two Kingdoms, Powys and Gwynedd.

In the traditional accounts, Rhodri the Great divided his Kingdom among his sons and gave Powys to his youngest, Prince Merfyn. King Cadell in Ceredigion then dispossessed his brother and added Powys to his inheritance.[60] It is possible, however, that Powys remained independent until its 916 annexation by Cadell's son Hywel Dda, who also conquered Dyfed and Gwynedd and established what has become known as the realm of Deheubarth. On the death of Hywel's grandson in 999, Maredudd ab Owain, the realm splintered: Irishmen usurped Gwynedd and falsely passed themselves off as Maredudd's heir in Dyfed. These were removed by King Llywelyn ap Seisyll, from a cadet branch of the Aberffraw line in the commote of Rhuddlan.

In Welsh folklore, Mathrafal, as representative of the House of Gwynedd, claimed descent through the Harleian genealogies from Beli Mawr, an ancestral figure in Welsh royal genealogies, related to Cassivellaunus, a historical Celtic king who led the defence against Julius Caesar during his second invasion of Britain in 54 BC.[61][62][63] In Welsh mythology, starting from Beli Mawr, their genealogies claimed descent in the Welsh Triads and Historia Brittonum, written about 828 by Celtic monk Nennius, from Brutus of Troy, the legendary founder of Britain, descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, founder of Rome in Greco-Roman mythology.[64][65]

Members[edit]

Powis Castle, ancient seat of the Princes of Powys Wenwynwyn, now in the Herbert family, their kinsmen
The Welsh Revolt of Owain Glyndŵr and Tudur ap Gruffudd which lasted from 1400 to 1415
Main article: list of kings of Powys

Members of the Mathrafal Dynasty include:[66]

Last Prince of Powys[edit]

Ruins of Valle Crucis Abbey, ancient religious center of Yale
Conwy Castle, was captured by Rhys ap Tudur and Gwilym ap Tudur, of the Tudors of Penmynydd, their cousins

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The view that Ethyllt was Merfyn's mother and Nest his wife is held by Davies[51] and many others, including David E. Thornton[50] and Lloyd,[52] who notes the consistency of the genealogies in Jesus College MS 20 from Oxford university and Harleian MS 3859 against the contrary account that Nest was the mother and Ethyllt the wife. Thornton gives Nest as Cadell's sister.[50]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ulwencreutz, Lars (2013). The Royal Families in Europe V : A Brief History of the Ruling Houses During The Last 2000 years, From the House of La Tour d'Auvergne to the House of Zähringen, p. 50
  2. ^ Lloyd, John Edward (1911), A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest, vol. I (2nd ed.), London: Longmans, Green, and Co (published 1912), p. 323-325
  3. ^ "RCAHMW: In the steps of Owain Glyndwr". rcahmw.gov.uk. Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of wales. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  4. ^ Shakespeare’s Princes of Wales, England’s Hope? Shadowed Heirs in Shakespeare’s Histories, Oxford Academic, Marisa R. Cull, 2014, p.52–82
  5. ^ Chapter Twenty-One, Wales and West Britain, John Reuben Davis, page 346
  6. ^ A Companion to Britain in the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland c. 500–1100, edited by Pauline Stafford (Oxford: Blackwell, 2009), pp. 341–357
  7. ^ Davies, John (1990). History of Wales. Penguin.
  8. ^ Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families in Europe V, page 50-51
  9. ^ Davies, John (2007). History of Wales. Penguin Books.
  10. ^ Chapter Twenty-One, Wales and West Britain, John Reuben Davis
  11. ^ Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families in Europe V, page 51
  12. ^ Davies 1990, p. 194.
  13. ^ Owen Glendower (Owen Glyn Dŵr). By J. E. Lloyd. 9 × 6. Pp. xiv + 161. Oxford: at the Clarendon Press, 1931. 10s. 6d.
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  • Lewys Dwnn Heraldic Visitations of Wales and Part of the Marches between the years 1586 and 1613

Sources[edit]

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