CHRISTINA.

Name: Christina
Spouse: Owain ap Gruffydd ap Cynan
Child: Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd
Child: Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd
Parent: Gronw ab Owain ab Edwin
Gender: Female
Area of activity: Royalty and Society; Politics, Government and Political Movements
Author: John Edward Lloyd

Second wife of Owain Gwynedd, was the daughter of Gronw (died 1124), son of Owain ab Edwin and, accordingly, her husband's first cousin. The marriage was not recognized by the Church, and Becket and Alexander III, not long before Owain's death, urged a separation. But the prince, whose affection for Christina is manifest, was obdurate and, in consequence, died under excommunication. As a widow, she actively supported her sons Dafydd and Rhodri, in their attack upon their half-brother Hywel in 1170; an unknown poet, playing upon her name, speaks bitterly of her unchristian behaviour. The Welsh form of her name is Cristin; the ' Crisiant ' of the Gwentian Brut (The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, ii, 572) is a fancy of Iolo Morganwg.

Author

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-RUU/1.0/

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