Gruffydd II ap Madog, Lord of Dinas Bran

Gruffydd Maelor II (died 1269) was a Prince of Powys Fadog. He reigned for thirty-three years and married into the House of Stanley. Following the Anglo-Welsh Treaty of Montgomery, he submitted to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales.

Lineage

He was the eldest son of Prince Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor and inherited his father's lands and title in partial succession along with his four brothers Gruffydd Ial, Maredudd, Hywel and Madog Fychan. The Kingdom of Powys Fadog had previously been unified under one leader but now had five and was subjected to outside forces as well.

His father's policy of alliance with the large and powerful Gwynedd changed over his thirty-three year reign (1236-1269); pressure from Gwynedd, and Gruffydd's marriage to the daughter of an English landowner, caused him to seek support from the English king.

However, support from England failed to arrive and in 1258 he was forced to submit to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. Llywelyn was recognised as Prince of Wales under the terms of the 1267 Treaty of Montgomery and Gruffydd was confined to his castle for the rest of his life.

Marriage

He married Emma (1224 - c. 1278), daughter of Lord Henry de Audley and Bertrade Mainwaring, members of the House of Stanley. His brother-in-law, Sir James Audley, was Chief governor of Ireland from Dublin Castle, and a companion of Richard of Cornwall, King of the Romans.^[1]

His sister-in-law, Ela Longespée, was the daughter of crusader William Longespée the Younger.^[1] Longespée's brother, William, also married Maud de Clifford, granddaughter of the prince of North Wales, Llywelyn ab Iorwerth.^[2]

Death & Issue

He died in 1269 (or 1270) leaving issue:

Madog II, succeeded his father and was killed in battle with the English in 1277.
Llywelyn.
Owain, whose daughter, Gweirca ferch Owain, has the oldest dated grave slab in Wales.
Gruffydd Fychan I succeeded his eldest brother in 1277 and died in 1289.
Angharad d. 1308. m (after 1261) William le Boteler of Wem, Shropshire (-1283). One of their children was William Boteler, 1st Baron Boteler (second creation).
Margery ferch Gruffydd b. 1261 She married Sir John de Arderne.

Powys Fadog was divided, in accordance with Welsh custom, between his sons:

Madog received Maelor.
Gruffudd had Iâl (Yale) and Edeirnion, which included Glyndyfrdwy.^[3]
Swydd y Waun (containing the commotes of Cynllaith and Nanheudwy) was divided between Llywelyn and Owain.

References

^ ^a ^b Gee, Loveday Lewes (2002). Women, Art and Patronage from Henry III to Edward III: 1216-1377. Boydell Press, p. 171.
^ Pierce, T. J., (1959). LLYWELYN ap IORWERTH (or 'Llywelyn the Great', often styled 'Llywelyn I', though in strictness the first prince of that name was Llywelyn ap Seisyll; 1173-1240, prince of Gwynedd. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 7 Mar 2024
^ J. E. Lloyd, Owen Glendower: Owen Glyn Dŵr (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1931), 9-10.

[refko1-1] Gee, Loveday Lewes (2002). Women, Art and Patronage from Henry III to Edward III: 1216-1377. Boydell Press, p. 171.

[2] Pierce, T. J., (1959). LLYWELYN ap IORWERTH (or 'Llywelyn the Great', often styled 'Llywelyn I', though in strictness the first prince of that name was Llywelyn ap Seisyll; 1173-1240, prince of Gwynedd. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 7 Mar 2024

[3] J. E. Lloyd, Owen Glendower: Owen Glyn Dŵr (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1931), 9-10.

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