Gwr

dominion of Powys with Trahaiarn ab Caradog. geneu, however, was slain in 1079 by Tudor, Elidur, and Iddon, the sons of Rhys Sais, Lord of Chirk, Nanheudy, Whittington, and Maelor Saesneg, and Trahaiarn ab Caradog appears to have become sole monarch of Gwynedd and Powys. Trahaiarn and his three nephews, the only heirs male of Rhiwallawn ab Cynfyn, Prince of Powys, were slain by Gruffydd ab Cynan and Rhys ab Tudor Mawr at the battle of Mynydd y Garn, in South Wales, in 1080. Llywarch ab Trahaiarn, the eldest son of the unfortunate king, and the rightful heir to the throne of Powys, does not appear to have attempted to regain his rights. His line is now represented by the descendants of Owain ab Maredudd ab Owain, Prince of South Wales, and the descendants of Einion ab Ieuaf ab Goronwy, Lord of Cefn y Llys, of the Royal House of Elystan Glodrhudd, Prince of Fferlis. (See History of the Parish of Llangurig.)

Samwel ab Cadafael, Lord of Cydewen, was the ancestor of the Meyricks of Bod Organ in Môn, and of Ucheldref in Meirionyddshire.

After the defeat and death of Trahaiarn ab Caradawg, CADWGAWN AB BLEDDYN regained his territories of Mei

1 "Life of Gruffydd ab Cynan," Cae Cyriog MS., Harl. MS. 2299. 2 Brut y Tywysogion, Cae Cyriog MS.

rionydd, Penllyn, Mawddwy, Cyfeiliog, Ceredigion, and Ystrad Tywy, and became also Prince of Powys. He bore or, a lion rampant azure, armed and langued gules. He is called by Camden "the illustrious Briton". His chief residence was at Nannau, in the parish of Llanfachraith, in the comot of Tal y Bont, in the cantref of Meirion. The other two comots in Meirion were those of Pennal and Ystum Aner. In 1094, Prince Cadwgan ab Bleddyn and Gruffydd ab Cynan, King of Gwynedd, marched their forces into Dyfed and Ceredigion, and defeated and slew many of the Normans, for the Cymry could no longer bear the injustice, privation of privilege, and arrogance the Normans exercised over them, and thus the country acquired much of its privilege and liberty.

At this time the Normans invaded Gwynedd with a great force, and Prince Cadwgan marched against them, and a battle was fought at Coed Yspys, in which. Cadwgan defeated the Normans, and killed many of them. Then Cadwgan, together with Gruffydd ab Cynan, invaded England, and ravaged Hereford, Shrewsbury, and Worcester and slew an immense number of the English; and, Madog and Rhiric King of England, understood this, Grgant, Prince of (but to little purin 1087. By his fole mountains, and pose, for the Cyn th ab Cadwgan ab led half his men, there, without a r and he was forcedle had two other soloss and shame. th, who was called Lsons of Edwyn ab In 1095, Uchtry Goronwy, Prince och ab Trahaeredigion, and devasby his nephew, Mthe sons of Prince Cadwgan, came into tated the lands and cafyn was she Normans, and slew them unsparingly wherever ney found them, and then returned home with an immense booty; and in this year also, Prince Cadwgan took the Norman Castle of Montgomery by storm, slew the garrison, and razed the walls to the ground.

In 1096, William Rufus, King of England, went to revenge the slaughter of his nation committed by the Cymry; but the Cymry prayed with confidence to God,

bestowed alms, and did justice, and went to meet the great army of the king, and slew them without trepidation, until he was obliged to return empty-handed, and with great shame.

In the same year the nobles of Môn revolted against their lawful prince, Gruffydd ab Cynan, and put themselves under the protection of Hugh Lupus, Earl Palatine of Chester, and Lord of Aber Lleiniog1 (azure, a wolf's head, erased argent), and were joined by the men of the country and many of the army, for treachery subsisted in that country ever since the time of Edwin, King of the Saxons. Then the nobles of the country held their lands under Earl Hugh, and the Princes, Gruffydd ab Cynan and Cadwgan ab Bleddyn, were obliged to flee to Ireland, and leave them to do as they pleased. Then the Normans and English came to the Isle of Môn, and made Owain, son of Edwyn ab Goronwy, Prince of Tegeingl, a fictitious prince there to reconcile the Cymry. Owain bore gules, three men's legs, conjoined at the thighs in triangle argent. Owain, who thus became Prince of Gwynedd, by siding with the

1 Aber Lleiniawg lies in the parish of Penmon in Môn. Here is Castell Aber Lleiniawg, a small square fort, with the remains of a little round tower at each corner. In the middle stood a square tower. A foss surrounds the whole. A hollow way is carried quite to the shore, and at its extremity is a large mound of earth, designed to cover the landing. This castle was founded by Hugh Lupus, Earl Palatine of Chester, and Hugh the Red (de Montgomerie), Earl of Shrewsbury, in 1098, when they made an invasion, and committed more ravages on the poor natives, especially upon one Cynwrig, a priest, than ever stained the annals of any country. Providence sent Magnus, King of Norway, to revenge these cruelties. His coming was, to all appearance, casual. He offered to land, but was opposed by the earls. Magnus stood on the prow of his ship, and calling to him a most expert bowman, they at once directed their arrows at the Earl of Shrewsbury, who stood all armed on the shore. An arrow pierced his brain through one of his eyes, the only defenceless part. The victor, seeing him spring up in the agonies of death, insultingly cried out, Leite loupe, "Let him dance".-Torfæi, Hist. Norveg., iii, 423; Gerald. Cambr., Iter. Camb., 867. Hugh was succeeded in 1098 by Robert de Montgomerie, who was divested of the Earldom of Shrewsbury in 1102.

92

HISTORY OF POWYS FADOG.

enemies of his country, was called Owain Vradur, or the Traitor, in consequence. He was the Prime Minister and father-in-law of Gruffydd ab Cynan, who had married his daughter Angharad. He reigned, however, but a short time, as Gruffydd returned at the end of two years, and recovered possession of his territories. Owain died of consumption in 1103, and was succeeded in his possessions by his son Goronwy.

In 1101, Prince Maredudd, the eldest son of Bleddyn ab Cynfyn, Prince of Powys, was betrayed into the hands of Henry I, surnamed Beauclerk, King of England, by the treachery of his brother Iorwerth Goch. Iorwerth embraced the party of King Henry in opposition to the Frenchmen, destroying their lands, castles, and men, and that by the counsel of King Henry, and by promises of honourable recompenses; but the king deceived him, and after having obtained his assistance against Robert de Montgomerie, Earl of Shrewsbury (who was unfaithful to Henry, and divested in 1102), he advanced a complaint against Iorwerth of intention of treason and deceit against him, and threw Iorwerth into prison unmercifully and unjustly, which was a great loss to the Cymry.

In 1105, Prince Maredudd ab Bleddyn ab Cynfyn. escaped from prison, and in the same year the princes Meurig and Gruffudd, the sons of King Trahaiarn ab Caradawg, were slain by Sir Owain ab Cadwgan ab Bleddyn ab Cynfyn.

In 1107, Prince Cadwgan ab Bleddyn, having secured the possession of Ceredigion, gave a splendid feast at the Castle of Caerdigan at Christmas time, to which he invited the princes and chiefs of all parts of Wales, and the most distinguished bards and minstrels, who contended according to the rules of the Court of King Arthur, and were dismissed with rewards and honours. An event, however, happened at this season which almost ruined the fortunes of Cadwgan. Among the honoured guests was Nêst, daughter of Rhys ab Tewdwr, and wife of Gerald de Windsor, Lieutenant of Pembroke Castle,

whose charms so overcame the unruly Owain, the son of Prince Cadwgan, that he followed her on her return to Pembroke Castle, which he attacked and obtained possession of, Gerald escaping with difficulty, and Nêst, against her will, carried away captive by him to Powys. This atrocity involved the innocent father in trouble, who, with his son, was compelled to flee to Ireland from an invading army raised by his nephews, Ithael and Madog, the sons of Prince Rhirid ab Bleddyn ab Cynfyn, who took possession of his territories at the instigation of Henry I, King of England. Cadwgan, however, returned in the following year, and having proved his innocence, he was permitted by King Henry to recover his principal possessions in Cardiganshire on payment of one hundred pounds, and promising not to permit the return of his son Owain. He maintained his power against all the efforts of his nephews until the year 1109, when he was suddenly attacked by his nephew, Madog ab Rhirid ab Bleddyn, at Welshpool, and slain before he could draw his sword to defend himself.1

Prince Cadwgan ab Bleddyn, according to the Brut y Tywysogion, married five times. By his first consort, the Princess Gwenllian, daughter of Gruffydd ab Cynan, King of Gwynedd, he had four sonsEINIAWN AB CADWGWN, Lord of Meirionydd, of whom presently. 2. MAREDUDD AB CADWGAWN, of whom presently. 3. Madog, Lord of Nannau; and 4, Morgan. Prince Cadwgan married, secondly, Frances, daughter of Pictot, or Pigot, de Saii or Say, a Norman prince, by whom he had two sons, Henri, and Gruffudd who married Angharad, daughter and heiress of David ab Owain, Prince of North Wales, and by her had an only daughter and heiress Angharad, who married Sanddef Hardd, or the Handsome, lord of Morton, or Burton, and Llai. The third wife of Prince Cadwgan was Gwenllian, daughter of Edwyn ab Goronwy, Prince of Tegeingl, by whom he had three sons—

1 Williams's Eminent Welshmen. For a further account of Prince Cadwgan, see Mont. Coll., April 1876, art. "Penllyn".