CYNAN ap HYWEL
(d.
1242?
),
prince
,
was the son of
Hywel Sais
(d.
1204
), who was established by his father, the
Lord Rhys
(
1132
-
1197
) (q.v.)
, at
S. Clears
, and who usually acted with
Maelgwn ap Rhys
in the family quarrels.
Cynan
is first heard of in
Maelgwn
's train, when, in
1210
, his cousins,
Rhys
and
Owain
, captured him in their attack upon their uncle's camp at
Cilcennin
. His next appearance is in
1223
, when,
still in opposition to
Llywelyn
of
North Wales
, he is the ally of
William
Marshall
in the earl's great invasion of the South, and in that capacity harries
Is Aeron
, which is placed in his keeping. His permanent reward was the bestowal upon him of
Emlyn
and
Ystlwyf
(between the
Cynin
and the
Cowin
) in return for his support. On
18 Nov.
it was announced by the king that
Cynan
had done homage for his rightful patrimony and was not to be molested. He was holding lands in
South Wales
in
June 1225
, when
Llywelyn
and the
earl Marshall
were commissioned to make a fair division between
Maelgwn
,
Owain
, and
Cynan
, and in
March, 1238
, when he was named as one of the vassals of English magnates who were forbidden to do homage to
David
as
Llywelyn
's heir. According to inquests of
1288
and
1299
,
Walter
Marshall
found him, on
Llywelyn
's death in
1240
, hostile to the
Crown
, and accordingly deprived him of
Emlyn
and
Ystlwyf
. His later history is unknown, but it is clear from the elegy of
Dafydd Benfras
(q.v.)
upon
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn
that in
1244
he was dead.
Prydydd Bychan
(q.v.)
has an elegy upon him couched in the traditional vein; he is ‘
England
's foe,’ has made
England
bend, and on a hundred nights has made war upon
Rhos
.
Bibliography:
-
A History of Wales
, 633-4, 662, 666, 710.
Author:
Sir John Edward Lloyd, D.Litt., F.B.A., F.S.A. (1861-1947), Bangor
