MAELGWN ap RHYS
(
c.
1170
-
1230
),
lord of Ceredigion
,
son of the
‘lord’ Rhys
by
Gwenllian
, daughter of
Madog ap Maredudd
(q.v.)
. He first appears at the siege of
Tenby
in
1187
, and took the cross when
Gerald
toured
Wales
in
1188
. Of short stature, turbulent and aggressive, his conduct greatly embittered his father's later years. A prisoner from
1189 to 1194
, and living in exile when
Rhys
d. in
1197
, he returned bent on gaining a large share of the ancestral lands, to the embarrassment of his brother
Gruffydd
, his bitterest foe, and after
1201
, when
Gruffydd
d., of his nephews
Rhys
and
Owain
. By allying with
Gwenwynwyn
and
king
John
he secured, in
1199
, the
lordship
of
Ceredigion
, only to be deprived of the northern commotes by
Llywelyn ap Iorwerth
in
1207
. It was his failure to recover this lost territory after helping
John
to win a victory over
Llywelyn
in
1211
which no doubt induced him to pass over to
Llywelyn
's side. The latter's continued distrust, nevertheless, is seen in the partition of the
‘lord’ Rhys
's dominions made under
Llywelyn
's supervision in
1216
, when
Maelgwn
was excluded from all territory lying north of the
Aeron
. He d. at
Llannerch-aeron
late in the year
1230
, and was buried at
Strata Florida
, being succeeded by his son,
Maelgwn Fychan
.
Author:
Professor Thomas Jones Pierce, M.A., F.S.A., (1905-1964),
Aberystwyth
