Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd

This article is about the twelfth-century noblewoman. For the daughter of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, see Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn.

This Welsh name means Gwenllian, daughter of Gruffudd.

Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd
Imaginary portrait of Gwenllian by Hugh Williams, 1909
Died	1136 (1137) Maes Gwenllian, Eginog, Wales 51.7545967°N 4.283018°W / 51.7545967; -4.283018
Spouse	Gruffudd ap Rhys
Issue	Gwladus ferch Gruffudd Maredudd ap Gruffudd Rhys ap Gruffudd
Dynasty	Second Dynasty of Gwynedd
Father	Gruffudd ap Cynan
Mother	Angharad ferch Owain

Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd (died 1136) was a 12th-century Welsh noblewoman. The daughter of Gruffudd ap Cynan, who reestablished the rule of Second Dynasty of Gwynedd over the Kingdom of Gwynedd, she would eventually be married to Gruffudd ap Rhys of the Dynasty of Deheubarth, the ruler of what remained of that southern kingdom. Gwenllian was the mother of all the children of Gruffudd ap Rhys, including Rhys ap Gruffudd. She is remembered for leading a battle against the Normans near Kidwelly in 1136.

Gwenllian is remembered for her actions in 1136. Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the Normans engaged in campaigns in Wales, and for decades the native Welsh princes and the Normans were engaged in sporadic warfare over land in the country. Gwenllian's own father had been gaoled by Hugh d'Avranches in Chester for over a decade, while the family of her in-laws recovered lands in Deheubarth from the Normans only two decades prior. At the beginning of the twelfth century, Norman power was at a height not seen in Wales until the terms of the treaty ending the war of Edward I in Wales of 1277. In 1135, Henry I of England died, beginning the period known as the Anarchy, when partisans of Henry's successor Stephen of Blois battled those of the Empress Matilda, who drew her support from many Norman lords of Wales. Many spontaneous outbursts of Welsh resistance to Norman rule arose in this vacuum, with Gwenllian's actions among them.

The sole record of Gwenllian's actions is found in the Itinerarium Cambriae of her cousin Gerald of Wales, who recounts that when Gwenllian's husband rode north to seek aid from her father to attack Norman strongholds in south-west Wales, Gwenllian and two of her sons raised an army and attacked Kidwelly Castle. She was defeated by the castle's Norman defenders, and was beheaded. The place of this battle is remembered today as Maes Gwenllian, 'Gwenllian's Field'.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd

16. Idwal ap Meurig 8. Iago ab Idwal 4. Cynan ab Iago 18. Gwair ap Pill 9. Afandreg ferch Gwair 2. Gruffudd ap Cynan 20. Sigtrygg Silkbeard 10. Olaf Sigtryggson 21. Sláine ingen Briain 5. Ragnhildr Óláfsdottir 1. Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd 24. Goronwy ab Einion 12. Edwin of Tegeingl 6. Owain ab Edwin 26. Cynfyn ap Gwerystan 13. Iwerydd ferch Cynfyn 27. Angharad ferch Maredudd 3. Angharad ferch Owain 28. Neiniad ap Gwaithfoed 14. Ednywain Bendew 7. Morwyl ferch Ednywain Bendew

Sources

Primary sources

• Bartrum, P. C., ed. (1976). Welsh Genealogies: AD 300-1400. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. doi:10.20391/40837b6f-1887-4afd-9c6e-9b7e3a122693. ISBN 070830561X. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023.

Secondary sources

• Lloyd, J. E. (1912). A History of Wales: from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest. Vol. 2. London: Longmans, Green & Co. IA historyofwalesfr02lloyuoft.
• Pierce, T. Jones (1959). "GWENLLIAN (died 1136)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Aberystwyth: National Library of Wales.
• RCAHMW (2005). "Maes Gwenllian, site of Battle, Mynyddygarreg". Coflein. Aberystwyth: RCAHMW. Retrieved 7 September 2025.