Rhys ap Grufydd was the second son of Gwenllian
ferch Gruffudd, daughter of Gruffudd ap Cynan, king of Gwynedd.
He ruled the kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales from 1155 to
1197.
Shortly after becoming ruler of Deheubarth –
Rhys heard rumours that Owain Gwynedd was planning to invade
Ceredigion in order to reclaim it for Gwynedd. Rhys responded by
building a castle at Aberdyfi in 1156. The threatened invasion
did not take place, it is thought that Owain's intention may
have been to test the resolve of the new ruler.
King Stephen, of England, had died in October
1154, bringing to an end the long dispute with the Empress
Matilda. With disunity within the English realm no longer a
problem, the new king of England, Henry II, soon turned his
attention to Wales. He began with an invasion of Gwynedd in
1157. This invasion was not entirely successful as Owain Gwynedd
routed the English army at Ewloe but was later induced to seek
terms and to give up some territory in the north-east of Wales.
The following year, Henry prepared an invasion
of Deheubarth. Rhys made plans to resist, but was persuaded by
his council to meet the king to discuss peace terms. The terms
were much harsher than those offered to Owain: Rhys was stripped
of all his possessions apart from Cantref Mawr, though he was
promised one other cantref. The other territories were returned
to their Norman lords.
Among the Normans who returned to their holdings
was Walter de Clifford, who reclaimed Cantref Bychan, then
invaded Rhys's lands in Cantref Mawr. An appeal to the king
produced no response, and Rhys resorted to arms, first capturing
Clifford's castle at Llandovery then seizing Ceredigion. King
Henry responded by preparing another invasion, and Rhys
submitted without resistance. He was obliged to give hostages,
probably including his son Hywel.
The king was absent in France in 1159, and Rhys
took the opportunity to attack Dyfed and then to lay siege to
Carmarthen, which was saved by a relief force led by Earl
Reginald of Cornwall. Rhys retreated to Cantref Mawr, where an
army led by five earls, the Earls of Cornwall, Gloucester,
Hertford, Pembroke and Salisbury, marched against him. The earls
were assisted by Cadwaladr, brother of Owain Gwynedd. However
they were forced to withdraw and a truce was arranged. In 1162,
Rhys again attempted to recover some of his lost lands, and
captured Llandovery castle. The following year Henry II returned
to England after an absence of four years and prepared for
another invasion of Deheubarth. Rhys met the king to discuss
terms and was obliged to give more hostages, including another
son, Maredudd. He was then seized and taken to England as a
prisoner. Henry appears to have been uncertain what to do with
Rhys, but after a few weeks decided to free him and allow him to
rule Cantref Mawr. Rhys was summoned to appear before Henry at
Woodstock to do homage together with Owain Gwynedd and Malcolm
IV of Scotland
In 1164 all the Welsh princes united in an
uprising. Warren suggests that when Rhys and Owain were obliged
to do homage to Henry in 1163 they were forced to accept a
status of dependent vassalage instead of their previous client
status, and that this led to the revolt. Rhys had other reasons
for rebellion, for he had returned to Deheubarth from England to
find that the neighbouring Norman lords were threatening Cantref
Mawr
The Welsh revolt led to another invasion of
Wales by King Henry in 1165. Henry attacked Gwynedd first, but
instead of following the usual invasion route along the north
coast he attacked from the south, following a route over the
Berwyn hills. He was met by the united forces of the Welsh
princes, led by Owain Gwynedd and including Rhys. According to
Brut y Tywysogion: ... King Henry gathered an innumerable
host of the selected warriors of England and Normandy and
Flanders and Gascony and Anjou ... and against him came Owain
and Cadwaladr the sons of Gruffudd with all the host of Gwynedd,
and Rhys ap Gruffudd with all the host of Deheubarth and
Iorwerth the Red son of Maredudd and the sons of Madog ap
Maredudd with all the host of Powys.
Torrential rain forced Henry's army to retreat
in disorder without fighting a major battle, and Henry vented
his spleen on the hostages, having Rhys's son Maredudd blinded.
Rhys's other son, Hywel, was not among the victims. Rhys
returned to Deheubarth where he captured and burned Cardigan
Castle. He allowed the garrison to depart, but held the
castellan, Robert Fitz-Stephen, as a prisoner. Shortly
afterwards Rhys captured Cilgerran castle.
In 1167 he joined Owain Gwynedd in an attack on
Owain Cyfeiliog of southern Powys, and spent three weeks helping
Owain besiege the Norman castle of Rhuddlan. In 1168 he attacked
the Normans at Builth, destroying its castle. Rhys benefited
from the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169 and 1170, which was
largely led by the Cambro-Norman lords of south Wales. In 1167
the King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, who had been driven
out of his kingdom, had asked Rhys to release Robert
Fitz-Stephen from captivity to take part in an expedition to
Ireland. Rhys did not oblige at the time, but released him the
following year and in 1169 Fitz-Stephen led the vanguard of a
Norman army which landed in Wexford. The leader of the Norman
forces, Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, known as "Strongbow",
followed in 1170. According to Warren:
They were prompted to go by a growing suspicion
that King Henry did not intend to renew his offensive against
the Welsh, but was instead seeking an accommodation with the
Welsh leaders.
The departure of the Norman lords enabled Rhys
to strengthen his position, and the death of Owain Gwynedd in
late 1170 left him as the acknowledged leader of the Welsh
princes.
Rhys built a number of stone castles, starting
with Cardigan castle, which was the earliest recorded
native-built stone castle in Wales. He also built Carreg Cennen
castle near Llandeilo, a castle set in a spectacular position on
a mountain top. He held a festival of poetry and song at his
court at Cardigan over Christmas 1176. This is generally
regarded as the first recorded Eisteddfod. The festival was
announced a year in advance throughout Wales and in England,
Scotland, Ireland and possibly France. Two chairs were awarded
as prizes, one for the best poem and the other for the best
musical performance.
Rhys founded two religious houses during this
period. Talley Abbey was the first Premonstratensian abbey in
Wales, while Llanllyr was a Cistercian nunnery, only the second
nunnery to be founded in Wales and the first to prosper. He
became the patron of the abbeys of Whitland and Strata Florida
and made large grants to both houses.
In April 1197 Rhys died unexpectedly and was
buried in St David's Cathedral. The chronicler of Brut y
Tywysogion records for 1197:
... there
was a great pestilence throughout the island of Britain ... and
that tempest killed innumerable people and many of the nobility
and many princes, and spared none. That year, four days before
May Day, died Rhys ap Gruffudd, Prince of Deheubarth and
unconquered head of all Wales.
Today, he is commonly known as
The Lord Rhys, in Welsh yr Arglwydd Rhys, although
this title may not have been used in his lifetime. He usually
used the title "Proprietary Prince of Deheubarth" or "Prince of
South Wales", but two documents have been discovered in which he
uses the title "Prince of Wales" or "Prince of the Welsh". Rhys
was one of the most successful and powerful Welsh princes, and,
after the death of Owain Gwynedd in 1170, the
dominant power in Wales.
Source: Wikipedia
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