CADELL ap GRUFFYDD
(d.
1175
),
the son of
Gruffydd ap Rhys
(d.
1137
) (q.v.)
. He is first heard of in
1138
, when, with his brother
Anarawd
and
Owain
and
Cadwaladr
of
Gwynedd
, he brought a
Viking
fleet of fifteen ships, no doubt from
Dublin
, to the mouth of the
Teify
, in a vain endeavour to capture
Cardigan
, the last foothold left to the
Normans
in
Ceredigion
. During the next few years he was overshadowed by his elder brother, but the treacherous murder of
Anarawd
in
1143
by
Cadwaladr
's men gave him a leadership in
Deheubarth
which he exercised with vigour. In
1146
he won the
castle of ‘Dinwileir,’
probably situated in the commote of
Mabudrud
, which
earl Gilbert of Pembroke
(see under
Clare
family
, section B) had fortified in the previous year. A more resounding success in the same year was the capture of
Carmarthen
and
Llanstephan
. The year
1147
saw an unusual combination of forces.
Cadell
and his young brothers joined the
Fitzgeralds
of
Pembroke
in an attack upon
Wiston
, the castle of
Walter
Fitzwiz
, in which success was achieved with the help of
Hywel ab Owain
. Having in
1150
put
Carmarthen
in a state of defence and protected it by a raid upon the region of
Kidwelly
, he was emboldened to attack the northern hold upon
Ceredigion
, and it was not long ere
Cadell
and his brothers had driven
Hywel
beyond the
Ayron
. Further gains were in prospect, when in
1151
the victorious leader's career was cut short; while
hunting
(very probably in the forest of
Coed Rhath
) he was set upon by
knights
and
archers
from
Tenby
and left for dead. He survived for many years, but his days as a
warrior
were ended. In
1153
he went on pilgrimage to
Rome
, leaving his conquests to the care of his brothers; after this, he is not heard of until
1175
, when he is recorded to have entered, after a long illness, the
abbey of Strata Florida
, there to find burial.
Bibliography:
-
A History of Wales
, 475-6, 501-4.
Author:
Sir John Edward Lloyd, D.Litt., F.B.A., F.S.A. (1861-1947), Bangor
