| Notes |
- LifeSketch
In the reign of Richard III his father's loyalty was questioned to the house of York as support grew for Henry of Richmond (later Henry VII of England). Around the time of Richard's usurpation and Buckingham's rebellion in 1483, as a way of keeping Rhys ap Thomas's loyalty, Richard demanded an oath of allegiance from Gruffydd's father as well as demanding that his young son Gruffydd be in his own custody. Rhys assured Richard of his loyalty but refused to hand over young Gruffydd, who was only four or five at the time.
When Gruffydd was older he became a member of Prince Arthur's household. Henry VII of England aimed to have his son friends with influential young men with powerful fathers in Henry's kingdom, and Gruffydd's father was one of the most powerful men in Wales after the death of Jasper Tudor in 1495, and he was chosen to serve the young Prince. Gruffydd and Prince Arthur seem to have been quite close; in 1501 Gruffydd was made a Knight of the Garter, and was with Arthur when he returned to Ludlow with his new young bride Catherine of Aragon in December 1501; and was there for Arthur's death in April 1502.
On the death of Prince Arthur in 1502, Gruffydd ap Rhys was a prominent mourner. He accompanied the Prince's body from Ludlow to its final resting place in Worcester. The following contemporary record gives an account of Gruffydd as he travelled with the "rich chariot" which carried Prince Arthur's body: "in mourning habit, rode next before the leading horse on a courser trapped with black, bearing the Prince's banner." During the funeral service for the Prince in Worcester Cathedral, he once again carried Arthur's "rich embroidered banner."
Sir Gruffydd ap Rhys's tomb.
Gruffydd was present with Arthur's younger brother Henry VIII of England when Henry travelled to France for the famous Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. He married Catherine St John, daughter of John St John who was related to Margaret Beaufort around 1507 and had one son: Rhys ap Griffith (1508–1531), who was later executed by Henry VIII for treason.
Gruffydd ap Rhys himself died prematurely in 1521. He died prior to the divorce of Catherine of Aragon, and unlike other members of Arthur's household never had to make statements about the consummation of his marriage with Catherine. His son and heir Rhys ap Gruffydd was less lucky. He was considered a threat to Henry's power and was executed for treason on charges widely believed to be false in 1531.
Gruffydd's tomb is also in Worcester Cathedral.
Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The coat of arms of Rhys's family
Sir Gruffydd ap Rhys (c. 1478–1521) (also known as Griffith Ryce in some antiquarian English sources) was a Welsh nobleman. He was the son of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, the de facto ruler of most of south-west Wales who aided Henry Tudor in his victory on Bosworth Field in 1485 and Efa ap Henry.
In the reign of Richard III his father's loyalty was questioned to the house of York as support grew for Henry of Richmond (later Henry VII of England). Around the time of Richard's usurpation and Buckingham's rebellion in 1483, as a way of keeping Rhys ap Thomas's loyalty, Richard demanded an oath of allegiance from Gruffydd's father as well as demanding that his young son Gruffydd be in his own custody. Rhys assured Richard of his loyalty but refused to hand over young Gruffydd, who was only four or five at the time.
When Gruffydd was older he became a member of Prince Arthur's household. Henry VII of England aimed to have his son friends with influential young men with powerful fathers in Henry's kingdom, and Gruffydd's father was one of the most powerful men in Wales after the death of Jasper Tudor in 1495, and he was chosen to serve the young Prince. Gruffydd and Prince Arthur seem to have been quite close; in 1501 Gruffydd was made a Knight of the Garter, and was with Arthur when he returned to Ludlow with his new young bride Catherine of Aragon in December 1501; and was there for Arthur's death in April 1502.
Death of the Prince
On the death of Prince Arthur in 1502, Gruffydd ap Rhys was a prominent mourner. He accompanied the Prince's body from Ludlow to its final resting place in Worcester. The following contemporary record gives an account of Gruffydd as he travelled with the "rich chariot" which carried Prince Arthur's body: "in mourning habit, rode next before the leading horse on a courser trapped with black, bearing the Prince's banner." During the funeral service for the Prince in Worcester Cathedral, he once again carried Arthur's "rich embroidered banner."
Later life
Sir Gruffydd ap Rhys's tomb.
Gruffydd was present with Arthur's younger brother Henry VIII of England when Henry travelled to France for the famous Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. He married Catherine St John, daughter of John St John who was related to Margaret Beaufort around 1507 and had one son: Rhys ap Griffith (1508–1531), who was later executed by Henry VIII for treason.
Gruffydd ap Rhys himself died prematurely in 1521. He died prior to the divorce of Catherine of Aragon, and unlike other members of Arthur's household never had to make statements about the consummation of his marriage with Catherine. His son and heir Rhys ap Gruffydd was less lucky. He was considered a threat to Henry's power and was executed for treason on charges widely believed to be false in 1531.
Gruffydd's tomb is also in Worcester Cathedral.
References
Ralph A. Griffiths, Sir Rhys ap Thomas and his family (University of Wales Press, 1993), p. 39 et. seq..
Chrimes, S B Henry VII, pg. 43
"The Shuttle - Royal link with lonely tomb". Retrieved 2007-01-27.
Steven Gunn and Linda Monckton, ed, Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, Boydell 2009 ISBN 978-1-84383-480-9
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gruffydd_ap_Rhys_ap_Thomas&oldid=752343953"
Categories: 1521 deathsHistory of WalesWelsh knights16th-century Welsh peoplePeople of the Tudor period
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From The Thomas Book:
GRIFFITH AP RHYS, the only son of Sir Rhys ap Thomas by his first wife Eva, of Court Henry, b. 1478, was once nominated as a candidate for the Garter, but failed to secure an election. When Henry VII. revived the Order of the Bath, November 17, 1501, on the marriage of his son, Prince Arthur, to Katherine of Aragon, Griffith ap Rhys was created a knight of that ancient order. He was a favourite companion of the Prince, and as such gave some curious testimony at the proceedings in reference to the divorce of Queen Katherine. In April, 1502, at the funeral of Prince Arthur, a contemporary account (printed in Grose's Antiquarian Repertory, ii., 327—330) says " Sir Griffith Vap Sr. Ris rode before the corpse in mornyng Abitt on a courser trapped with black, bearing banner of Prince's arms." And at the interment in Worcester Cathedral, April 27th, " Sir Griffith Vap Rise Thomas offered at the Gospel the rich embroidered banner of my Lord's Armes." The standard of Sir Griffith ap Rhys, K.B., was: per fess murrey and blue; device repeated twice, a trefoil slipped and barbed ar. charged with a raven ppr. Motto, Psalm cxlvii. 9, "Puluis (sic.) corvorum invocantibus cum."
At his father's tournament at Carevv, 1507, he was one of the principal challengers. He was Mayor of Caermarthen, 1504-5-11-13. The Rutland list of those at the Field of the Cloth of Gold notes Sir Griffith Rice, with two other knights, as in command of a body of one hundred light horsemen "for scurrers." Lady Rice was also in attendance on the Queen. He m. about 1504, Katherine, dau. of Sir John St. John, and aunt of the first Lord St. John of Bletshoe, from whom descended Pope's friend, Lord Boling . . . broke. After Sir Griffith's death she in. Sir Piers Edgecombe, ancestor of the present Earl of Mount Edgecombe. She made her will at Cothele, in Cornwall, December 4, 1553, d. that month and is buried with her first husband in Worcester Cathedral.1 Sir Griffith ap Rhys d. September 29, 15 21. Issue:
i. RICE, his heir (of whom presently).
ii AGNES, m. 1st, WILLIAM, 6th LORD STOURTON, and 2d, SIR EDWARD BAYNTON, KNT., of Rowden, in Hertfordshire. She ii. August 19, 1574, and is bit. with her 2d husband in Bromham
Church, Wilts.8 Their quaint epitaph runs thus:
1 Notices of Sir Griffith ap Rhys wilt be found in Calendar of State Papers, reign of Henry VIII., vol. ii., //. 69, 193, 215, 1489, etc. A view of the tomb of Sir Griffith ap Rhys may be seen in Thomas's Worcester, opposite /. 71, which quotes the inscription; and also in Wild's Worcester, plate viii., and Dingley, ii., plate cclxxxv. * Dinglcy's History from Marble, part i., plate xxxiii., gives drawings and epitaph from the tomb.
Here lieth Syr Edwarde Baynton Knyght within this marble clad.
By Agnes Ryce his firste trew wyfe Yt thyrtyne chyldrene had
Whearof she left alyve withe him at hir departure thre
Henecy, Anne and Elyzabeth whose pictures here you see.
The XIX daye of Auguste she decesed of Christe the yere
These little figures standing bie present ye number here. 1574.
iii. MARY, m. SIR JOHN LUTTERELL, KNT., before 1553, when she is mentioned as his wife in her mother's will.
iv. ELIZABETH, the only sister of RICE AP GRIFFITH named in his grandfather's will.
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1478 - 1521 (43 years)
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