Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: 1st King of Isle of Man
• Appointments / Titles: Kingdom of Gwynedd, Wales; King
• FSID: L172-TT3
• Appointments / Titles: Between 825 and 844, Kingdom of Gwynedd, Wales; King of Gwynedd

Notes:

Merfyn Frych seized control of Gwynedd in 825 on the death of Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog, though he may have held power in Anglesey since 818. Merfyn was not a member of the traditional dynasty of Gwynedd, the direct male line of Maelgwn Gwynedd, and his succession marked the start of a new dynasty. His claim was apparently based on the fact that his mother, Esyllt, was the daughter of Cynan Dindaethwy ap Rhodri and the niece of Hywel ap Rhodri. According to bardic tradition, Merfyn came "from the land of Manaw", but it is uncertain whether this refers to the Isle of Man ("Ynys Manaw" in Welsh) or to Manaw Gododdin, the area around the Firth of Forth. It would seem likely that it was the latter on account of the probability he would be a blood relative of Cunedda, the founder of the Gwynedd dynasty, who was a prince of Manaw Gododdin. On the other hand there is an inscription "Crux Guriat" on a cross in the Isle of Man. This cross has been dated to the eighth or ninth century and might possibly refer to Merfyn's father.

Merfyn allied himself to the royal house of Powys by marrying Nest, daughter of Cadell ap Brochwel and sister of Cyngen king of Powys. [Actually, according to The History of The Princes, The Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog, Nest verch Cadell is Merfyn's mother, not his wife.] He had a reputation as a patron of scholars; for example the Historia Britonum attributed to Nennius is thought to have been written in Gwynedd during his reign, possibly by request of Merfyn himself. A manuscript found at Bamberg gives a further insight into Merfyn's scholarly interests. Irish visitors to his court were given a cryptogram which could only be solved by transposing the letters from Latin into Greek.

Despite Danish raids, Merfyn was able to maintain his position and on his death in 844 to hand the Kingdom over intact to his son Rhodri the Great. He is said to have died in battle, but the circumstances are not recorded. His descendants came to rule not only Gwynedd but also Powys and Deheubarth and played a major role in Welsh politics until the end of Welsh independence in 1283.

Powys was united with Gwynedd when king Merfyn Frych of Gwynedd married princess Nest, the sister of king Cyngen of Powys, [Actually, according to The History of The Princes, The Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog, Nest verch Cadell is Merfyn's mother, not his wife.] the last representative of the Gwertherion dynasty. With the death of Cyngen in 855 Rhodri became king of Powys, having inherited Gwynedd the year before. This formed the basis of Gwynedd's continued claims of overlordship over Powys for the next 443 years.

Family/Spouse: verch Cadell, Queen Nest. Nest (daughter of ap Brochfael, King Cadell and N.N., N.N.) was born in 770 in Montgomery, Montgomeryshire, Wales; was christened in 770; died in 825 in Anglesey, Wales; was buried in 825 in Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LDQ1-TMR
• Military: 843; The Gwentian Chronicle records that "Rhodri the Great opposed [Berthwrd king of Mercia]…with the assistance of Meuryg son of Hywel king of Glamorgan" in 843, adding that Meuryg was killed in the battle and was succeeded by "Ithel son of Hywel" who was killed by "the men of Brecknockshire" on his way to assist Rhodri.
• Appointments / Titles: Between 844 and 878; King of Gwynedd (succeeded his father, Merfyn Frych)
• Appointments / Titles: 844; Prince of Wales
• Military: 856; Won a notable victory against the Danish and killed their leader Gorm.
• Appointments / Titles: 856; King of Powys (succeeded his maternal uncle Cyngen ap Cadell)
• Appointments / Titles: 871; King of Seisyllwg
• Military: 872; Vvictories by Rhodri: the first at a place given as Bannoleu, where he defeated the Vikings
• Appointments / Titles: 877; King of the Britons

Notes:

877 AD; The Annals of Ulster record that "Rhodri, son of Merfyn, King of the Britons, came in flight from the dark foreigners to Ireland."

According to legend, the first Dinefwr Castle was build by Rhodri Mawr

"Roderick the Great" "Mawr the Great"

Rhodri ap Merfyn (c. 820–878), later known as Rhodri the Great (Welsh: Rhodri Mawr), succeeded his father, Merfyn Frych, as King of Gwynedd in 844. Rhodri annexed Powys c. 856 and Seisyllwg c. 871. He is called "King of the Britons" by the Annals of Ulster. In some later histories, he is referred to as "King of Wales", although the title is anachronistic and his realm did not include southern Wales.

Lineage and inheritance

Rhodri was the son of Merfyn Frych, who had claimed Gwynedd upon the extinction of Cunedda's male line. Rhodri then inherited the realm after his father's death around 844. Merfyn hailed from "Manaw" which may either refer to the Isle of Man or Manau, the ancestral homeland of all Gwynedd's kings since Cunedda.

According to later genealogies, his mother or grandmother was Nest ferch Cadell of the ruling dynasty in Powys. Although surviving texts of Welsh law expressly forbid inheritance along the maternal line, Nest and Rhodri's supposed inheritance was later used to justify Gwynedd's annexation of Powys after the c. 855 death of Cyngen ap Cadell in preference to Cyngen's other heirs.

Similarly, Rhodri's marriage to Angharad ferch Meurig was used to explain his supposed inheritance of her brother Gwgon's kingdom of Ceredigion after that king's death in 872[a] via a principle of jure uxoris that does not survive in our sources for Welsh law.

Reign
Now the master of much of modern Wales, Rhodri faced pressure both from the English and, increasingly, from Vikings, called the "black gentiles"[b] in the Welsh sources. The Danish are recorded ravaging Anglesey in 854. In 856, Rhodri won a notable victory and killed their leader Gorm.

The Chronicle of the Princes records two victories by Rhodri in 872: the first at a place given variously as Bangolau,[1] Bann Guolou,[2] or Bannoleu,[3] where he defeated the Vikings on Anglesey "in a hard battle"[1] and the second at Manegid[1] or Enegyd[4] where the Vikings "were destroyed".

The Chronicle of the Princes records his death occurring at the Battle of Sunday on Anglesey in 873;[1] the Annals of Wales record the two events in different years[2][3] and Phillimore's reconstruction of its dates places Rhodri's death in 877.[2] According to the Chronicle, Rhodri and his brother Gwriad were killed during a Saxon invasion (which probably would have been under Ceolwulf of Mercia, given that the Wessex forces under Alfred the Great were fighting Vikings in East Anglia at the time). The Annals record no great details of the death, but where the B text calls Gwriad Rhodri's brother,[3] the A text has him as Rhodri's son instead.[2] It is likely he was killed in battle given that all the sources call his son Anarawd's victory over the Mercians at the Battle of the Conwy a few years later "God's vengeance for Rhodri".

Succession
Rhodri died leaving at least four sons to share his land among themselves. The traditional account is that his eldest, Anarawd, became king of Gwynedd and the head of the subsequent House of Aberffraw which produced Gruffudd ap Cynan and Llywelyn the Great. Another, Cadell, was given Ceredigion and killed his brother Merfyn to claim Powys as well. Cadell's family was later known as the House of Dinefwr, after its base of operations was moved by Hywel the Good to Dyfed following another (supposed) inheritance via his marriage to Elen ferch Llywarch. Hywel's wide domain, later known as Deheubarth, briefly eclipsed Gwynedd under his immediate heirs before fracturing.

A fourth son, possibly too young to have been considered for the first division of Rhodri's lands, took part in Anarawd's 881 revenge against Mercia and, wounded there, became known to history as Tudwal the Lame, a condition disqualifying him from rule under Cyfraith Hywel, Welsh customary law.

Children
Anarawd ap Rhodri (died 913)[5]

Cadell ap Rhodri (854–907)[5]

Gwriad ap Rhodri: He had a son named Gwgawn who was killed in 955.[5]

Tudwal ap Rhodri (born 860)

Rhodri married verch Meurig, Queen Angharad in 840 in Gwynedd, Wales. Angharad (daughter of ap Dyfnwallon, Lord Meurig and N.N., Lady N.N.) was born in 825 in Wales; died in 900 in Wales; was buried in 900 in Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LDQ1-R1D
• Appointments / Titles: Between 878 and 900, Powys, Wales; King of Powys

Notes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merfyn_ap_Rhodri

Merfyn ap Rhodri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a Welsh name. It means Merfyn son of Rhodri.
Merfyn ap Rhodri (died c. 900) was a late 9th-century Aberffraw prince of Gwynedd. He is sometimes credited with ruling Powys after the death of his father Rhodri the Great in AD 878. In the accounts where he is credited as a king, he is reported to have lost his realm to an invasion by his brother Cadell, King of Ceredigion. Merfyn's death may be connected to the incursion into Anglesey by the Viking Ingimundr in the first decade of the 10th century.

The drowning of his son Haearnddur, or "Haardur", was reported by both the Chronicle of the Princes[1] and the Annals of Wales.[2] The first places it in the year 953; Phillimore's reconstruction of the latter's dating[3] would place it in 956.

Merfyn married verch Rheiny, Rhain in 878 in Carnarvon, Caernarvonshire, Wales. Rhain was born in 863 in Caernarfon, Caernarvonshire, Wales; died in 920 in Heinsberg, Heinsberg, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: King of Powys
• Appointments / Titles: Prince of Wales
• House: House of Aberffraw
• FSID: LDQ1-RBN

Llywelyn married verch Llywarch, Malit in 916 in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales. Malit (daughter of ap Hyfaidd, Llywarch and Bleddri, Lady Rheingar Fenela) was born in 885 in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales; died in DECEASED in Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Powys, Wales; Queen of Powys
• FSID: L71C-CSZ

Angharad married ap Hywel, King Owain in 932 in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales. Owain (son of ap Cadell, Hywel and verch Llywarch, Princess Elen) was born in 913 in Dynefwr Castle, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales; was christened in 913 in Llandyfeisant Parish (Historic), Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales; died in 987 in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales; was buried in 987 in Dynefwr Castle, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• House: Dinefwr
• FSID: LHW9-VZ4
• Alternate Birth: 951, Dynefwr Castle, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales
• Appointments / Titles: Between 986 and 999, Wales; King of Gwynedd
• Appointments / Titles: Between 988 and 999, Wales; King of Deheubarth

Notes:

Kings of Deheubarth
A Pre-Conquest Listing
www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/kingdoms
Hywel Dda (the Good) 909-950
Rhodri ap Hywel 950-953 (joint)
Edwin ap Hywel 950-954 (joint)
Owain ap Hywel 950-987 (joint)
Maredudd ab Owain 987-999
Cynan ap Hywel 999-1005
Edwin ab Einion 1005-1018
Cadell ab Einion 1005-1018
Llywelyn ap Seisyll 1018-1023

-------------
Maredudd ab Owain ap Hywel Dda (d 999), king of Deheubarth, He succeeded his aged father as sole ruler of Deheubarth in 986, and in the same year repeated the achievement of his grandfather by reuniting Gwynedd and Deheubarth for the period of his reign. In spite of domestice disharmony, he impressed contemporaries by his bold and aggressive leadership against Saxon and Dane. His greatest claim to fame rests, perhaps, on his relationship to Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, whose mother, Angharad, was Maredudd's daughter. [Dictionary of Welsh Biography p615]
__________________________________
Maredudd ab Owain (d 999?) Welsh prince, was the son of Owain ap Hywel Dda. According to the sole authority, the contemporary 'Annales Cambriae,' he lived in the second period of Danish invasion, a time of great disorder in Wales as elsewhere, and first appears as the slayer of Cadwallon ab Idwal, king of Gwynedd, and the conqueror of his realm, which, however, he lost in the ensuing year. In 988, on the death of his father Owain, he succeeded in his dominions, viz. Glower, Kidwelly, Ceredigion, and Dyfed, the latter probably including Ystrad Tywi. His reign, which lasted until 999, was mainly spent in expeditions against his neighbours (Maesyfed was attacked in 991, Morgannwg in 993, Gwynedd in 994) and in repelling the incursions of the Danes. On one occasion he is said to have redeemed his subjects from the Danes at a penny a head.
Maredudd's only son, so far as in known, died before him. But so great was the prestige he acquired in his brief reign that his daughter, Angharad, was regarded, contrary to ordinary Welsh custom, as capable of transmitting some royal right to her descendants. Her first husband, Llywelyn ap Seisyll, ruled Gwynedd from about 1010 to 1023, their son, the well-known Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, from 1039 to 1063. By her second marriage with Cynfyn ap Gwerstan she had two other son, Rhiwallon and Gleddyn, of whom the latter, with no claim on the father's side, ruled Gwynedd and Powys from 1069 to 1075 and founded the mediaeval line of princes of Powys. [Dictionary of National Biography XII:1015]
______________________________
Ruled Deheubarth 986-999. From www.castlewales. com/debarth.html.
Maredudd brought the northern and western kingdoms once more into a transitory unity. But his death opened a period of prolonged turmoil in which internal conflicts were complicated and intensified by Anglo-Saxon and Norse intervention. The established dynasties were challenged by men who asserted themselves within the kingdoms and exercised ephemeral supremacies. Of these the most successful was Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.
After Maredudd's death the combined kingdoms of Gwynedd and Deheubarth were ruled from Gwynedd by Cynan Ap Hywel from 999-1005.
_____________________________
Maredudd became King of Deheubarth in 986 and directly proceeded to conquer Gwynedd. In 990 he raided and plundered Maes Hyfaidd (Radnorshire) which was then in the possession of the Mercians. In the same year the Saxons devastated his territory and in 993 it was wasted by the plague. Both the Danes and the Saxons caused him much trouble during his entire reign. His nephews also tried to regain Gwynedd, but he was successful over all his enemies. It is said that he obtained Powys through his mother which made him King of all Wales. In the Bruts he is acclaimed as the "most famous King of the Britons" (Lloyd). He died in 998 or 999 leaving an only daughter and sole heiress, Angharad. She married Llewelyn ap Sesyll, who assumed the reins of government. They had one son, Gruffydd. LLewelyn died in 1023 and the kingdom was held by others until 1039 when the son, Gruffydd, succeded to the throne. Angharad took unto herself a second husband, Cynfyn. [The Weaver Genealogy]
________________________________
Maredudd was a skilled military leader. He successfully controlled a Viking invasion of Anglesey and allowed some Viking settlement there - enabling him to use Viking forces for a raid on Morgannwg to his southeast in 992. He pushed the Saxons back across the generally recognized border between Welsh and Saxon lands.
He was, however, nagged by the designs of his nephews Tweder, Edwin and Cadell, sons of his brother Owain, who wanted some of the southern territories for themselved. Tewdwr was killed in one of these skirmished in 994.
While Maredudd ruled for thirteen years, after his death the kingdoms more or less fell apart with several competing claimants. Cynan ap Hywel, his 3rd cousin once removed, apparently ruled the combined kingdoms until his own death in 1003. They Llywelyn ap Seisyll took control of Gwynedd, and later, through marriage with Maredudd's daughter Angharad, controlled Deheubarth

Maredudd ab Owain (died c. 999) was a 10th-century king in Wales of the High Middle Ages. A member of the House of Dinefwr, his patrimony was the kingdom of Deheubarth comprising the southern realms of Dyfed, Ceredigion, and Brycheiniog. Upon the death of his father King Owain around AD 988, he also inherited the kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys, which he had conquered for his father. He was counted among the Kings of the Britons by the Chronicle of the Princes.

Maredudd was the younger son of King Owain of Deheubarth and the grandson of King Hywel the Good. Owain had inherited the kingdom through the early death of his brothers and Maredudd, too, came to the throne through the death of his elder brother Einion around 984. Around 986, Maredudd captured Gwynedd from its king Cadwallon ab Ieuaf. He may have controlled all Wales apart from Gwent and Morgannwg.

Maredudd married verch Hywel Dda, Lady Angharad in 958 in Flintshire, Wales. Angharad was born in 943 in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales; died in 1019 in Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Queen of Deheubarth
• Appointments / Titles: Queen of Gwynedd
• Appointments / Titles: Queen of Powys
• FSID: 9HVH-9GD

Notes:

Biography
Angharad verch Maredydd Queen of Powys was born in about 0982

Parents
Angharad's father was Maredydd ap Owain, son of Owain ap Hywel and Angharad verch Llewelyn.

994 First Marriage to Llywelyn ap Seisyll
In 994 Angharad married Llywelyn ap Seisyll.

The marriage of Angharad and Llywelyn is confirmed by the Chronicle of the Princes of Wales which records that "Bleddyn son of Cynvyn and Gruffudd son of Llywelyn were brothers by the same mother Angharad daughter of Meredudd king of the Britons".

Llywelyn was aged 14 at the time (so born in 980). The Gwentian Chronicle records that "Llywelyn son of Seisyllt lord of Maes Essyllt although but a youth not more than fourteen years of age" married "Yngharad, daughter of Meredydd on of Owain" in 994

1023 Anghard's Second Marriage to Cynfyn ap Gwerstan
As the widow of Llywelyn, Angharad married secondly in 1023 Cynfyn ap Gwerstan, King of Powys, son of Gwerstan.

Death
She died in Wales in 1077 (83-91)

Issue
Angharad had children by two marriages. Her second husband Cynfyn likely had children by a previous wife, and these children are sometimes mis-attributed to Angharad.

1.) Gruffydd ap Llewelyn, son of Angharad and her first husband Llewelyn. Gruffydd, king of Gwynedd & Powys was born about 1011 in Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales and died 5 August 1063. He was the child of Llywelyn ap Seisyllt and Angharad verch Maredudd. Gruffydd did not succeed his father, possibly because he was too young to do so when his father died in 1023. Gruffydd went on to become the first King of Wales, however he was killed by his own men in 1063. Gruffydd's own sons Maredudd and Idwal died in 1069, fighting at the Battle of Mechain. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn inflicted a series of defeats on the English, and made alliances with the enemies of King Edward the Confessor. Gruffydd fought a long campaign against rival kings to win overall control of Wales. By 1055, he had become master of Deheubarth and had expanded his rule to the lesser kingdoms of Morgannwg (Glamorgan) and Gwent. In 1063, Earl Harold Godwinsson (later Harold II) and his brother Tostig made a joint attack on Gwynedd. At the same time, Deheubarth rebelled against Gruffydd's rule. Gruffydd fled and was murdered by his own men. Gruffydd married Ealdgyth, a daughter of Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia. Ealdgyth married second in circa 1064 to Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England. Ealdgyth and Gruffydd had a son: Maredudd ap Gruffydd who was excluded from the throne by his uncles Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and Rhywallon ap Cynfyn. Gruffydd ap Llewelyn, king of the Britons

2.) Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn ap Gwerystan, son of Angharad and Cynfyn, born c. 1024, was elevated to king of Powys after the death of Gruffudd ap Llewelyn Rhiwallon was killed in the Battle of Mechain, about 1068. This is the most concrete date associated with Rhiwallon. Warriors were generally young men, though the princes for whom they fought were often older and also expected to fight. Estimate that Rhiwallon was aged 45 at Mechain, and his birth year would be, say, 1025, or if the first born of his mother's second marriage, 1024. Florence of Worcester records that he was appointed King of Powys by King Edward "the Confessor" after the defeat of Gruffydd. The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales records in 1106 that "Bleddyn and Rhiwallon, sons of Cynvyn, were brothers, from Angharad daughter of king Maredudd". Florence of Worcester records that he was appointed King of Powys by King Edward "the Confessor" after the defeat of Gruffydd. The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales records that "the action of Mechain took place between Bleddyn and Rhiwallon, sons of Cynvyn, Maredudd and Ithel, sons of Gruffudd" in 1068, adding that "Ithel was killed in the battle and Maredudd died of cold in his flight, and Rhiwallon son of Cynvyn was slain". The name of Rhiwallon´s wife is not known.

3.) Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, born c. 1025, who was made king of Gwynedd after Gruffudd's death in 1063, and additionally king of Powys when Rhiwallon was killed in 1069 Bleddyn ap Cynfyn of Deheubarth was born in 1025 and died in 1075. Bleddyn ap Cynfyn born about 1025 Montgomeryshire, Bleddyn ap Cynfyn was the son of Princess Angharad ferch Maredudd (of the Dinefwr dynasty of Deheubarth) and her second husband Cynfyn ap Gwerstan, The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales records in 1106 that "Bleddyn and Rhiwallon, sons of Cynvyn, were brothers, from Angharad daughter of king Maredudd". He succeeded his uterine half-brother in 1063 as King of Gwynedd and Powys. He married secondly m. Haer ferch Gillin, and thirdly a daughter of Brochwel

4.) Gwerfyl, born c. 1026, who married Gwrgan ap Ithel Ddu of Glamorgan, and was mother to Iestyn ap Gwrgan. Without naming her, Boyer, following Bartrum, notes a daughter of Cynfyn who married Gwrgan ab Ithel ab Idwallon ap Morgan Mawr (who was King of Morgannwg).

Angharad married ap Seisyll, King Llewelyn in 994. Llewelyn (son of ap Brochwel, Seisyll and verch Eliseg, Trawst) was born in 980 in Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales; died on 23 Oct 1023 in Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: King of Gwynedd, Deheubarth, and Powys
• FSID: M1W5-BFF
• Appointments / Titles: Between 1055 and 1063, Wales; High King of Wales

Notes:

Gruffydd ap Llewellyn, King of the Britons
Birth: circa 1007, Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales
Immediate Family: son of Llewellyn ap Seisyll and Angharad verch Maredudd, husband of Guerta o Deheubarth and Ealdgyth, father of Nest ferch Gruffydd; Idwal ap Gruffydd; Maredudd ap Gruffydd and Owain Gruffudd, brother of Rhiwallon ap Llewelyn, half brother of Gwenwyn verch Cynfyn; Bleddyn Ap Cynfyn, King of Powys; Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn, Prince of Powys; Angharad verch Cynfyn and Llewelyn ap Cynfyn

Update May 18 2018:
1039-Takes Powys and Gwynedd, kills Iago ap Idwal.
1045-Deheubarth is seized from him by Gruffydd ap Rhydderch who reigns over it for the next ten years.
1055-Gruffydd ap Llywelyn kills Gruffydd ap Rhydderch and regains Deheubarth.
1057-He becomes the first and last prince to unite and rule over all of Wales.
5 Aug 1063-Killed by his own men after his defeat in battle to Harold Godwinson
Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruffydd_ap_Llywelyn His head was sent to Harold, the one who had defeated him. Then Harold married Gruffydd's widow, Ealdgyth, but Harold died 3 years later.

While many different leaders in Wales claimed the title of 'King of Wales', the country was only truly united once: under the rule of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn from 1055 to 1063.

His 1st wife's name in not known, his 2nd wife was Ealdgyth, daughter of Earl Ælfgar of Mercia; the 2 women should not be confused OR MERGED!

Gruffydd married of Mercia, Lady Ealdgyth in 1054 in Rhuddlan, Flintshire, Wales. Ealdgyth (daughter of of Mercia, Ælfgar and Mallet, Ælfgifu) was born in 1040 in Kingdom of Mercia, England; died in 1066 in Chester, Cheshire, England; was buried in 1066 in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Princess of Wales
• FSID: G8ZS-9TQ

Family/Spouse: FitzAlan, Fledaldus. Fledaldus (son of Seneschal, Allan and de Lumley, Margaret Filia Rex) was born in 1046 in Dol, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France; died in 1106 in Dol, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military: Mercenary for King Henry I of England
• Appointments / Titles: Lord
• Appointments / Titles: Sir Knight
• Life Event: Oswestry, Shropshire, England; Chevalier (Knight) breton et baron de Oswerty
• Life Event: Shropshire, England; Sheriff of Shropshire
• Life Event: Dol, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France; Steward of Dol
• FSID: K2NQ-X1C
• Religion: Founder of the Sporle Priory
• Life Event: 1086; Witness to Mezuoit Charter in France
• Military: 1097; Took part in the First Crusade

Notes:

After an anonymous work of 1874 drew attention to a strong connection between Alan Fitz Flaad and Brittany, and confirmed Flaad's relationship to Alan the Seneschal, J. Horace Round definitively established and publicized Alan Fitz Flaad's true Breton origins

Alan had two wives, the first one died about 1114 and is not known by name, they had one child together, he then married Avelina before 1126 and had the rest of the children known. Do not merge those wives please. Check sources below.

Alan fitz Flaad was a Breton knight, probably recruited as a mercenary by Henry, son of William the Conqueror, in his conflicts with his brothers. After Henry became King of England, Alan became an assiduous courtier and obtained large estates in Norfolk, Sussex, Shropshire, and elsewhere in the Midlands, including the feudal barony and castle of Oswestry in Shropshire.

Progenitor of Stewart Kings of Scotland and FitzAlan Earls of Arundel

Alan married de Hesdin, Lady Avelina in 1114 in Dol, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France. Avelina (daughter of de Hesdin, Sir Ernulf and Baladon, Lady Emmelina) was born in 1088 in Hesdin-l'Abbé, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France; died in 1126 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England; was buried in 1126 in Paisley Abbey, Renfrewshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Oswestry, Shropshire, England; Lord
• FSID: LCTX-HJN

Notes:

William FitzAlan (1105–1160) was a nobleman of Breton ancestry. He was a major landowner, a Marcher lord with large holdings in Shropshire, where he was the Lord of Oswestry, as well as in Norfolk and Sussex. He took the side of Empress Matilda during the Anarchy and underwent considerable hardship in the Angevin cause before regaining his lands and former status. William's younger brother, Walter fitz Alan (d. 1177), became ancestor of the royal House of Stuart.

Background and early life
William was born around 1105. He was the eldest son and heir of Alan fitz Flaad, a Breton noble whose family were closely associated with the sacred environs of Dol-de-Bretagne, close to the border with Normandy and a short distance south-west of the great abbey of Mont Saint-Michel. Alan was a close ally of Henry I of England (1100-1135), who was determined to insert reliable supporters into strategically key areas after the disloyalty of Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, who had a strong support network in the Marches. Alan received extensive fiefs in Shropshire and Norfolk from around the beginning of Henry's reign and more as he proved his worth. Much of the Shropshire land was taken from the holdings of Rainald de Bailleul, ancestor of the House of Balliol, as was land around Peppering, near Arundel in Sussex.[1]

William's mother was Avelina de Hesdin. Her father was Ernulf de Hesdin (also transcribed as Arnulf), a crusader baron from Hesdin in Artois, which was a fief of the County of Flanders and only loosely attached to France. Ernulf built up large holdings in Staffordshire and Gloucestershire. After his death in the First Crusade, Avelina's brother, also called Ernulf, inherited his lands and titles.

Baron and rebel
William succeeded his father around 1114, probably still aged under 10. He was appointed the High Sheriff of Shropshire by Adeliza of Louvain, the second wife of Henry I.[2] His first notable appearance is as a witness to King Stephen's charter to Shrewsbury Abbey in 1136.

As Sheriff of the county, William was also castellan of Shrewsbury Castle. In 1138, he joined in the revolt against Stephen and garrisoned the castle against the king. After resisting the attacks of the royal army for a month,[2] he fled with his family in August 1138, leaving the castle to be defended by his uncle, Ernulf de Hesdin. When the town fell, Stephen acted in anger, hanging Ernulf and 93 others immediately, frightening the local people and magnates into transferring their allegiance to him.[2]

William was deprived of his lands and titles and spent the next fifteen years in exile, until the accession of Henry II to power in place of Stephen in 1153–4.[2][3] He was a close supporter of the Angevin cause, accompanying the Empress or her son on numerous occasions. He was present with Empress Matilda at Oxford in the summer of 1141,[4] and shortly after at the siege of Winchester Castle. He remained in attendance on her at Devizes, witnessing the charter addressed to himself by which she grants Aston to Shrewsbury Abbey. In June 1153 he was present with Henry FitzEmpress, then Duke of Normandy, at Leicester. It was during this period that his younger brother, Walter, used the family's royal connections to make a new career in Scotland under David I of Scotland, an uncle of the Empress.

William's active support did not end with Henry's accession to the throne. In July 1155, when the king marched against Hugh de Mortimer, a turbulent Marcher lord who had been a key supporter of Stephen, and recaptured the castles at Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth, William FitzAlan was the chief beneficiary. At Bridgnorth 'the king restored his lands' and William there received the feudal homage of his tenants. Thus he regained his paternal fief. He was also restored as High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1155, holding the post until his death in 1160.

Benefactor
It was probably between 1130 and 1138 that FitzAlan made the first recorded grant to Haughmond Abbey: a fishery at Preston Boats on the River Severn, near Shrewsbury.[1] It is possible that there was a hermitage or a small religious community at Haughmond even in his father's time, and a small church from this earlier period has been revealed by excavations on the site, so it is not clear that William was the founder of the abbey. However, it was he who set it on a secure financial basis, with a series of important land grants in Shropshire and Sussex, which were reciprocated by other magnates in the region. Haughmond received lands from the Empress, confirmed by Stephen and Henry II. William continued to make benefactions to it when he returned from exile, including the wealthy portionary church of Wroxeter, declaring his intention to increase the number of priests there too. He also made grants to nearby Lilleshall Abbey, another Augustinian house.[5] Though not the founder of Wombridge Priory, a smaller Augustinian house, he sanctioned its foundation by the Hadley family, his vassals.[6] It was, however, Haughmond that became the FitzAlan shrine, with all heads of the family after William buried there for a century and a half.[1]

Death and burial
William died around Easter 1160. He was buried at Shrewsbury Abbey, according to Eyton, noted in the Haughmond Abbey history ("After William FitzAlan (I), who left his body for burial in Shrewsbury Abbey").[1]

Family and heritage
William's first wife was Christiana. She was the niece of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of Henry I, and thus cousin to William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester, who was a principal supporter of the Empress. She was the mother of his heir and other children.

William's eldest son and heir was also called William FitzAlan.
Christiana, their daughter married Hugh Pantulf, 4th Baron of Wem, a later High Sheriff of Shropshire.
His wife Christiana died before William regained his ancestral estates in 1155. Henry II therefore gave him the hand of Isabel de Say.[7] She was the sole heiress of Helias de Say, who held the lordship of Clun[8] and was an early benefactor of Haughmond Abbey. Clun was to pass to the FitzAlans on the death of Helias, but he outlived William, so it passed to his son, the second William. Isabel brought prestige as well as land.

The FitzAlans remained important Marcher lords and magnates in central England for several centuries. A strategic marriage with their Sussex neighbours, the d'Aubigny family, brought the FitzAlans the rich and important Earldom of Arundel. This they held from 1243 until 1580. It was as earls of Arundel that William FitzAlan's descendants made their most important mark on the history of England.

In literature
The taking of Shrewsbury in 1138 by King Stephen, including the escape of William FitzAlan and the hanging of the supporters who did not escape, was the historical background for the novel One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters.[9] Agents of FitzAlan are characters in a few of the later novels in The Cadfael Chronicles.

Buried:
Abby

William married of England, Christiana in 1140 in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. Christiana was born in 1120 in England; died in 1153 in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LH5H-7RJ

Christiana married Pantulf, Hugh in 1170 in Wem, Shropshire, England. Hugh (son of de Pantulf, Ivo and de Verdun, Alicia) was born in 1145 in Wem, Shropshire, England; died on 28 Dec 1224 in Wem, Shropshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]