Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: K8BW-NN6
• Name: Jonet verch Gruffydd
• Birth: 1373, Llangathen, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Family/Spouse: ap Philip, Nicholas. Nicholas (son of ap Elidyr Ddu, Philip) was born in 1367 in Carmarthenshire, Wales; died in 1393 in Carmarthenshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Death: Herefordshire, England
• FSID: LDZF-Y3J
• Name: Dafydd Llwyd (David Lloyd) Ap Vychan
• Name: Gruffydd ap Nicolas FitzUrban
• Name: Sir Lord Gruffudd Ap Nicholas Jones
• Birth: Between 9 Jan 1393 and 8 Jan 1394, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
• Birth: Between 9 Jan 1393 and 8 Jan 1394, Manordeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales
• Birth: Between 9 Jan 1393 and 8 Jan 1394, Carmarthenshire, Wales
• Birth: Between 10 Jan 1435 and 9 Jan 1436, Tal-y-llyn, Merionethshire, Wales
• Death: 11 Jan 1461, Mortimer's Cross, Herefordshire, England
• Death: 10 Feb 1461, England
• Death: Between 10 Jan 1478 and 9 Jan 1479, Wales

Notes:

From The Thomas Family
SIR RHYS AP THOMAS, K.G.
Sir Rhys Ap Thomas, K.G., in the reigns of Henry the Seventh and Henry the Eighth of England, according to the Welsh antiquaries and historians, had an extant pedigree going back to Adam; but the historical part probably begins with Urien Rheged, a British prince, living, according to the best authorities, in the sixth century after Christ. Possibly the links that connect him with Sir Rhys may not all be of equal certainty, but that the latter was descended from Urien is the uniform judgment of all writers upon Welsh history and genealogy. Urien is called the son of Cynvarch Oer ap Meirchion Gul, a prince of the North Britons in Cumbria, on the borders of the kingdom of Strath Clyde. Driven out by the invading Saxons in the sixth century of our era, Cynvarch took refuge in Wales and entered the ranks of the clergy, founding the church of Llangynvarch or S. Kinemark's, Maelor in Flintshire. His name is on the pillar of Eliseg near Llangollen. He Nevyn, daughter of Brychan, who likewise entered religion and founded the church of S. Nevyn, Caernarvonshire. By her he had issue :1 Urien; Eurddyl, his twin sister, who m. Elider of the numerous clan; Aron, who was one of Arthur's "knights of counsel, so wise and prudent that no one could at any time defeat him ;" and Llew or Llewellyn, who m., according to the Romances, Anna, sister of King Arthur, and had two sons, Gwalchmai and Medrawd or Mordred, the traitor, one of the three royal knights, "whom neither king nor emperor could vanquish; if they could not succeed by fair means, they would by foul and disgraceful ones." Gwalchmai, Walweyn, or Gawain, the other son, is by some authorities described as the son of Anna and a second husband, Gwyar. He is celebrated as one of the three golden tongued knights, and such was their eloquence "that no one could refuse whatever they asked." Other Triads call him "one of the three most courteous men of Britain," and one of the " three scientific ones of the Isle, to whom there was nothing of which the elements were not known." William of Malmesbury states that in the year 1086 his tomb was discovered on the seashore of Rhos on Pembrokeshire, where there is a district called Walwen's castle.

Urien, the eldest son of Cynvarch, was a great patron of the bards, by whom he is called "brave as a lion and gentle as a maid." The Welsh Triads name him as one of " the three Bulls of Conflict" and "the three pillars of battle." In the Arthurian romances he appears as Sir Urience. All the authorities agree in representing Urien and his sons as strenuously opposing the Saxon advance, and fighting, Taliesin declares, as many as ten battles against Ida and Deoric of Northumbrian His greatest exploit was the expulsion of the Goidels, Gwyddelians, or Irish Scots, from the territory lying between the Tawe and Tavy rivers, and comprising Gowerland, Cydweli, Iscenen, Carnwallon, and Cantrev Bychan, to which was given the name of his father's northern principality, Rheged. About 567 he was treacherously slain by Llovan Llawdivo, while besieging Ida's son Deoric in the island of " Medcant," possibly Lindisfarne. Llywarch Hen, one of the greatest of the bards and the son of his father's younger brother, Elider Lydanwyn, in a long elegy celebrates his prowess and bewails his death.3 The Welsh pedigrees marry

cuted them with the boldness peculiar to his character. He met the Commissioners on their entry into Caermarthenshire, himself meanly dressed, and accompanied only by four or five attendants raggedly attired, and as miserably mounted. Right glad was Lord Whitney to find the truculent Welshman apparently in his power, and he was not a little astonished also to hear him offer his services to guide him to Caermarthen, the place of his destination. Their road followed the windings of the Bran to where that river unites with the Gwydderig in its confluence with the Towey. On the western bank, on a rocky eminence, was Gruffyd's Castle of Abermarlais, hidden from the Commissioners by the thick woods which lined the shores of the river. A graceful curve of the road, however, brought them to the foot of the gentle eminence on which the castle stood, and then Gruffyd, turning to the surprised Commissioners and pointing to the open postern, invited them, with a smile, to enter and refresh themselves. They were received with demonstrations of extreme respect by Gruffyd's son Thomas, at the head of one hundred horsemen handsomely dressed and gallantly mounted, and began to open their eyes to the real power and consequence of their companion. After having well refreshed themselves, the whole party, including Thomas ap Gruffyd and his armed retinue, left the castle. A little farther on their way they came to the ancient fortress of Dinevawr, not far from the town of Llandeilo Fawr, then the stronghold of Owen, Gruffyd's son. He received them at the head of a chosen body of two hundred armed horsemen, and played the part of host with such address that he contrived to draw from his guests the secret of their commission. The whole party then proceeded on their way, leaving the mountains for the plain where the Towey meets the Gwili, at the little village of Abergwili. Here they were met by a splendid body of five hundred " tall men " on foot, well armed and accoutred, and led by Gruffyd's eldest son. Thus magnificently attended the Commissioners entered Caermarthen, then the capital of South Wales. Gruffyd now excused himself from attendance on the Commissioners and committed to his sons the care of entertaining them at the banquet prepared in their honour at the Guild Hall. Lord Whitney privately sent for the Mayor, Stephen Griffith, and the Sheriff, and showing his commission, demanded their assistance to arrest Gruffyd, which it was determined should be done on the following morning.

The banquet was now prepared, and the Commissioners were escorted to it with much pomp by the sons of Gruffyd. The tables had been arranged along the centre of the floor, and according to the architecture of the time a row of pillars separated the upper end of the room, which was slightly elevated, from that part which was assigned to the less distinguished members of the assembly. Lord Whitney was conducted to a seat on the dais, splendidly hung with cloth of gold, and Owen placed himself upon his right hand. On either side of this elevated dais galleries had been raised, in which were placed the bards of that land of minstrelsy. The guests betook themselves with right good-will to the noble cheer provided, and Owen in particular plied them with Ypocras, Garhiofilac, and other delicate and precious drinks, which soon produced the desired effect upon the Commissioners. Lord Whitney after his conference with the authorities, and exhibiting to them his commission, carelessly placed it in his sleeve, which was made very wide after the fashion of the time, and often used for such purposes. During the revel, Owen abstracted it from its hiding-place, while Lord Whitney was in such a state of mental obscuration from the strong potations that had been pressed upon him, that he not only did not notice its loss at the time but retired to bed without doing so. Owen communicated to his father the success of their plans, but Gruff yd abated nothing of his formal courtesy to the Commissioners, and the next morning presented himself before them in the Guild Hall, splendidly dressed and attended by his sons and armed retainers. He was immediately arrested by the officers of the Court, to whom he made no resistance, but with an air of great humility requested that the proceedings against him might be conducted according to law, and asked to see their commission. Lord Whitney readily assented to his request, but upon putting his hand into his sleeve and finding the warrant gone, his consternation may be easily imagined. "Methinks Lord Whitney," said Gruff yd, " if he comes here, as he says, by the King's grace, must have valued his commission too highly to have committed it to the safe-keeping of that ruffle or carelessly to have lost it." Then dropping his assumed deference, clapping his hat upon his head, and turning to his friends and followers, he exclaimed: "What! have we cozeners and cheaters come hither to abuse the King's Majesty's power and to disquiet his true-hearted subjects?" Then looking on the Commissioners with a bitter frown, he said, " By the mass, before the next day come to an end, I will hang up all your bodies for traitors and impostors." The Commissioners were panic-stricken, and entreated for their lives; which Gruffyd at last granted on condition that Lord Whitney should put on his livery coat of blue and wear his cognizance, and be bound by an oath to go to the King so arrayed, acknowledge his own offences, and justify the Welshman's proceedings.
In 1451 a great eistedfodd was held at Caermarthen under the patronage of Gruffyd ap Nicholas, at which the rules of the Welsh metres Dosbarth Caerfyrrdin were determined. Gruffyd continuing his depredations upon the Lords Marchers was at length found guilty of felony on an indictment preferred against him in the Co. of Salop. This decision at once illumined his mind as to the rival claims of the Houses of York and Lancaster. A Lancastrian King had adjudged him a felon, the Uuke of York was therefore of necessity the champion of a good cause and him he would support. He joined Edward of March, the Duke's son, at Gloucester, with eight hundred men well armed and provisioned, and marched with him to Mortimer's Cross, in Herefordshire. Here on February 2, 1461, a battle was fought between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians under Jasper, Earl of Pembroke, in which Gruffyd was mortally wounded, surviving only long enough to know that his friends were victorious.

From The Thomas Family:

GRUFFYD AP NICHOLAS, m. 1st, Mabel, dau. of Meredith ap Henry Donne, of Kidwelly Castle, by whom he had a son and heir, Thomas; he m. 2d, a dau. of Sir John Perrott of Pembroke, by whom he had a dau. Maud, m. Sir John Scudamore, of Kentchurch, q. v., and 3d, Joan, dau. and co-h. of Jenken ap Rees ap David of Gilvach Wen, by whom he had Mabel, ///. Philip Mansel. He also had younger sons Owen, m. Olive, heiress of Henry Maliphant of Upton Castle, Pembroke, whose line ended in heiresses in 1760, and Thomas, junior. He was succeeded by his son Thomas ap Gruffyd.

Gruffydd married ap Donne, Mabel between 10 Jan 1457 and 9 Jan 1458. Mabel (daughter of ap Henry Donne, Meredith) was born in 1429 in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales; died in DECEASED in Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Nickname: FitzUryan
• FSID: LDCW-1ZT

Notes:

From The Thomas Family:

Thomas ap Gruffyd, who is described as a man of a character very different from his turbulent father, and one of the most accomplished gentlemen of the age, with a mildness of disposition and elegance of manners rarely found in those cruel times of civil warfare. To avoid taking part in the contests of the rival houses of York and Lancaster he withdrew to the accomplished Court of Burgundy, then ruled over by Philip the Good, in whose service he enrolled himself. There he became famous for his boldness and skill in the tilt and tourney, and in single combat. After the death of his first wife, Elizabeth Griffith, his gallantry and gracious disposition are said to have won the affections of a near relative of the Duke, and Thomas, having probably offended by his presumption the Duke's heir, the Count of Charolois (afterward so well known as Charles the Bold) was compelled to return to Wales. There he had constant encounters with his neighbours, particularly Henry ap Gwilym of Court Henry in the Vale of Towey, between whose family and his there seems to have existed an ancient feud. His last duel took place some time toward the end of Henry the Sixth's reign, or the beginning of that of Edward the Fourth, when he fought with David Gough somewhere in Merionethshire and killed him. Having laid aside his armour and thrown himself upon the ground to rest after the combat, he was treacherously run through the body and killed by one of Cough's retainers. He was buried in the Abbey of Bardsey, Caernarvonshire.

He was m. to Elizabeth, dau. and heiress of Sir John Griffith of Abermarlais, and possibly1 to another Elizabeth, dau. of James de Burgoigne, natural son of Philip, Duke of Burgundy, or herself a natural dau. of the Duke; from her descended the great clan of Johnes of Abermarlais. Dolau Cothy, Llanbadarnfawr, and Hafod. It has given ten high sheriffs to Cardigan, Caermarthen, and Pembroke; numbered among its members Thomas Johnes, the translator of Froissart, and was represented by John Johnes, Esq., of Dolau Cothy, J. P. and D. L. for Caermarthen in 1872. By his first wife Thomas ap Gruffyd had issue:
L MORGAN, killed in the Civil Wars. .
ii. DAVID, killed in the Civil Wars.
Bi. A dau., m. GRIFFITH AP HOWELL, issue .
JAMES AP GRIFFITH (f. v.).

iv. MARGARET, m. SIR RICHARD HERBERT, of Coldbrook (a. v.).
v. RHYS or REES, his heir, of whom presently.
vi. Another dau., m. JOHN, 4th son of WILLIAM HERBERT, Earl of
Pembroke {a. v.).
rii. DAVID 2d.
viii. JOHN.
bt. Possibly a second MARGARET, m. JOHN HERLE, of Brecknock.
Thomas ap Gruffydd's two elder sons, Morgan and David, became, immediately on their father's decease, warm partizans, on opposite sides, of the houses of York and Lancaster. When Jasper, Earl of Pembroke, after the overthrow of Queen Margaret at Tewkesbury, retired to Pembroke, accompanied by his nephew, Henry, Earl of Richmond, Morgan ap Thomas invested the castle, in order to prevent their escaping out of the country. Upon this David ap Thomas hastily collected together about two thousand men, armed any way,
1 Reusnenes says: '"One such daughter married apud Britones."
fell on the besiegers by surprise, obliged them to retire, and gave the Earl and his young charge an opportunity to escape to Tenby, whence they immediately sailed to Brittany. This is nearly all that is recorded of these two brothers. But both are said to have lost their lives in the Wars of the Roses.

Thomas married Griffith, Mrs Elizabeth in 1445 in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Elizabeth (daughter of Griffith, John Francis and Tyrwhit, Catherine) was born in 1425 in Wichnor, Staffordshire, England; died in 1514 in Newton House, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales; was buried in 1514 in Caernarvonshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Knight of The Garter
• Life Event: Chamberlain of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire
• Life Event: Constable and Lieutenant of Breconshire
• Life Event: Governor of all Wales
• Life Event: Justiciar of South Wales
• Life Event: Seneschall and Chancellor of Haverfordwest, Rouse and Builth
• FSID: L5X3-3PY
• Occupation: Knight
• Occupation: Privy Councillor

Notes:

Rhys ap Thomas
From LifeSketch

Rhys was the youngest legitimate son of Thomas ap Gruffydd ap Nicolas of Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire, and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Gruffydd of Abermarlais, also in Carmarthenshire.

In 1460, after decades of increasing unrest among the nobility and armed clashes, the supporters of Richard, Duke of York challenged the right of King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster to rule England. Most Welsh landholders claimed their titles through grants made by Henry's father and grandfather for loyalty to the English crown during the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr. They therefore generally supported Henry, rather than the rival Yorkist claimants to the throne.

In 1461, when Rhys ap Thomas was twelve or thirteen, a Lancastrian army raised in Wales under Jasper Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke, moved into England but was defeated at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross by Edward, Earl of March (the eldest son of Richard of York who had been killed a few weeks before). Rhys's grandfather Gruffydd ap Nicholas was killed in the battle. Within a few weeks, Edward had been proclaimed King Edward IV, and the main Lancastrian armies were crushed at the Battle of Towton in Yorkshire.

Some Lancastrians, including Rhys's father Thomas, continued to resist in Wales. Thomas and his brother Owain defended Carreg Cennen Castle near Llandeilo. They were forced to surrender in 1462 after a siege. The victorious Yorkists demolished the castle to prevent it being used as a Lancastrian stronghold again. The lands of the defeated Lancastrians were confiscated, and Thomas, with the young Rhys, went into exile at the court of Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgundy.

Thomas and Rhys returned to Wales in 1467, and reacquired at least some of their former lands. This was during a period which included the Readeption of Henry VI, when many former Lancastrians regained their lands, and contrived to keep them even after the subsequent victory of Edward IV in 1471.

Thomas died in 1474. Rhys's two elder brothers had already died, and Rhys inherited his father's estates.

Reign of Richard III
In 1483, Edward IV died. His son, Edward V was still a minor. Edward's surviving brother Richard of Gloucester and the Duke of Buckingham moved to prevent the unpopular relatives of Elizabeth Woodville, Edward's Queen, from sharing in power or even dominating the government during the young King's minority. However, Richard went further, declaring Edward's children illegitimate and seizing the throne himself. The young Edward V and his younger brother (the Princes in the Tower) disappeared and were probably murdered. Buckingham turned against Richard and led a revolt aimed at restoring the House of Lancaster, in the person of the exiled Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, to the throne. The revolt failed. Buckingham himself had raised a force at Brecon in mid-Wales, but storms and floods prevented him crossing the River Severn to join other rebels in England, and his starving soldiers deserted. He was soon betrayed and executed. The same storms prevented Henry from landing in the West Country.

Rhys had declined to support Buckingham's uprising. In the aftermath, when Richard appointed officers to replace those who had joined the revolt, he made Rhys ap Thomas his principal lieutenant in south west Wales and granted him an annuity for life of 40 marks. Rhys was required to send his son Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas to the King's court at Nottingham as a hostage, but he excused himself from this obligation by claiming that nothing could bind him to his duty more strongly than his conscience. He is supposed to have taken an oath that

Whoever ill-affected to the state, shall dare to land in those parts of Wales where I have any employment under your majesty, must resolve with himself to make his entrance and irruption over my belly.

Nevertheless, he is presumed to have carried on some correspondence with Henry Tudor, who was preparing another attempt in France to overthrow Richard.

Bosworth campaign
Main article: Battle of Bosworth
On 1 August 1485, Henry set sail from Harfleur in France. With fair winds, he landed at Mill Bay near Dale on the north side of Milford Haven, close to his birthplace in Pembroke Castle, with a force of English exiles and French mercenaries. At this point, Rhys should have engaged him. However, Rhys instead joined Henry. Folklore has it that the Bishop of St. David's offered to absolve him from his previous oath to Richard. The Bishop also suggested that Rhys fulfil the strict letter of his vow by lying down and letting Henry step over him. This undignified procedure might have weakened Rhys's authority over his men, so instead, Rhys is said to have stood under the Mullock Bridge about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Dale while Henry marched over it.

Henry's and Rhys's forces marched separately through Wales, with Rhys recruiting 500 men as he proceeded. They rejoined at Welshpool before crossing into England. Rhys's Welsh force was described as being large enough to have "annihilated" the rest of Henry's army. On 22 August, they met Richard's army near Market Bosworth. In the resulting Battle of Bosworth, Richard launched an attack led by John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk. According to a contemporary ballad, Rhys's men halted the assault. "Norfolk's line began to break under pressure from Rhys ap Thomas's men" and the Duke was killed by an arrow shot. Hoping to turn the tide and win the battle rapidly by killing his rival, Richard and his companion knights charged directly at Henry. The king was unhorsed and surrounded. The poet Guto'r Glyn implies that Rhys himself was responsible for killing Richard, possibly with a poll axe. Referring to Richard's emblem of a boar, the poet writes that Rhys "killed the boar, shaved his head" ("Lladd y baedd, eilliodd ei ben"). However, this may only mean that one of Rhys's Welsh halberdiers killed the king, since the Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet, says that a Welshman, one of Rhys' men suspected to be Wyllyam Gardynyr, struck the death-blow with a halberd. Guto'r Glyn himself says that Rhys was "like the stars of a shield with the spear in their midst on a great steed" ("A Syr Rys mal sŷr aesaw, Â’r gwayw’n eu mysg ar gnyw mawr"). He was knighted on the field of battle.

Later life
Rhys demonstrated his continuing loyalty to Henry by suppressing a Yorkist rebellion at Brecon in 1486, and taking part in the campaign against the pretender Lambert Simnel in 1487 and the subsequent campaigns against Perkin Warbeck. He played a part in the defeat of the Cornish Rebellion of 1497, capturing the rebel leader Lord Audeley, for which he was awarded the honour of Knight Banneret.

As reward for his loyalty to Henry, he acquired many lands and lucrative offices in South Wales. He was appointed Constable and Lieutenant of Breconshire, Chamberlain of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire, Seneschall and Chancellor of Haverfordwest, Rouse and Builth, Justiciar of South Wales, and Governor of all Wales.

He was also a Privy Councillor and in 1505 he was made a Knight of the Garter, which he celebrated with a great tournament at Carew Castle in 1507. After the death of Henry VII, he remained a supporter of his son, Henry VIII and took part in the Battle of Guinegatte in 1513.

Rhys was married twice: to Eva, daughter of Henri ap Gwilym of Cwrt Henri; and to Janet, daughter of Thomas Mathew of Radyr, who was widow of Thomas Stradling of St Donats. However, although Rhys had numerous mistresses and several illegitimate children, his legitimate son Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas died in 1521. Rhys himself died at Carmarthen Priory in 1525. After Henry VIII suppressed the monasteries, Rhys's tomb was moved to St. Peter's Church, also in Carmarthen.

Rhys's estates and offices were meant to pass to his grandson and heir Rhys ap Gruffydd, however they were taken by the Crown and given to Lord Ferrers for life. Rhys ap Gruffydd was later beheaded by Henry VIII in 1531 for treason after fighting Ferrers and provoking civil unrest amongst the citizens of Carmarthen who were still angry about the disinheritance.

Rhys ap Thomas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rhys ap Thomas (1449–1525), KG, was a Welsh soldier and landholder who rose to prominence during the Wars of the Roses, and was instrumental in the victory of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth. He remained a faithful supporter of Henry and was rewarded with lands and offices in South Wales. Some sources claim that he personally delivered the death blow to King Richard III at Bosworth with his poleaxe.

Early life
Rhys was the youngest legitimate son of Thomas ap Gruffydd ap Nicolas of Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire, and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Gruffydd of Abermarlais, also in Carmarthenshire.

In 1460, after decades of increasing unrest among the nobility and armed clashes, the supporters of Richard, Duke of York challenged the right of King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster to rule England. Most Welsh landholders claimed their titles through grants made by Henry's father and grandfather for loyalty to the English crown during the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr. They therefore generally supported Henry, rather than the rival Yorkist claimants to the throne.

In 1461, when Rhys ap Thomas was twelve or thirteen, a Lancastrian army raised in Wales under Jasper Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke, moved into England but was defeated at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross by Edward, Earl of March (the eldest son of Richard of York who had been killed a few weeks before). Rhys's grandfather Gruffydd ap Nicholas was killed in the battle. Within a few weeks, Edward had been proclaimed King Edward IV, and the main Lancastrian armies were crushed at the Battle of Towton in Yorkshire.

Some Lancastrians, including Rhys's father Thomas, continued to resist in Wales. Thomas and his brother Owain defended Carreg Cennen Castle near Llandeilo. They were forced to surrender in 1462 after a siege. The victorious Yorkists demolished the castle to prevent it being used as a Lancastrian stronghold again. The lands of the defeated Lancastrians were confiscated, and Thomas, with the young Rhys, went into exile at the court of Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgundy.

Thomas and Rhys returned to Wales in 1467, and reacquired at least some of their former lands. This was during a period which included the Readeption of Henry VI, when many former Lancastrians regained their lands, and contrived to keep them even after the subsequent victory of Edward IV in 1471.

Thomas died in 1474. Rhys's two elder brothers had already died, and Rhys inherited his father's estates.

Reign of Richard III
In 1483, Edward IV died. His son, Edward V was still a minor. Edward's surviving brother Richard of Gloucester and the Duke of Buckingham moved to prevent the unpopular relatives of Elizabeth Woodville, Edward's Queen, from sharing in power or even dominating the government during the young King's minority. However, Richard went further, declaring Edward's children illegitimate and seizing the throne himself. The young Edward V and his younger brother (the Princes in the Tower) disappeared and were probably murdered. Buckingham turned against Richard and led a revolt aimed at restoring the House of Lancaster, in the person of the exiled Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, to the throne. The revolt failed. Buckingham himself had raised a force at Brecon in mid-Wales, but storms and floods prevented him crossing the River Severn to join other rebels in England, and his starving soldiers deserted. He was soon betrayed and executed. The same storms prevented Henry from landing in the West Country.

Rhys had declined to support Buckingham's uprising. In the aftermath, when Richard appointed officers to replace those who had joined the revolt, he made Rhys ap Thomas his principal lieutenant in south west Wales and granted him an annuity for life of 40 marks. Rhys was required to send his son Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas to the King's court at Nottingham as a hostage, but he excused himself from this obligation by claiming that nothing could bind him to his duty more strongly than his conscience. He is supposed to have taken an oath that

Whoever ill-affected to the state, shall dare to land in those parts of Wales where I have any employment under your majesty, must resolve with himself to make his entrance and irruption over my belly.

Nevertheless, he is presumed to have carried on some correspondence with Henry Tudor, who was preparing another attempt in France to overthrow Richard.

Bosworth campaign
On 1 August 1485, Henry set sail from Harfleur in France. With fair winds, he landed at Mill Bay near Dale on the north side of Milford Haven, close to his birthplace in Pembroke Castle, with a force of English exiles and French mercenaries. At this point, Rhys should have engaged him. However, Rhys instead joined Henry. Folklore has it that the Bishop of St. David's offered to absolve him from his previous oath to Richard. The Bishop also suggested that Rhys fulfil the strict letter of his vow by lying down and letting Henry step over him. This undignified procedure might have weakened Rhys's authority over his men, so instead, Rhys is said to have stood under the Mullock Bridge about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Dale while Henry marched over it.

Henry's and Rhys's forces marched separately through Wales, with Rhys recruiting 500 men as he proceeded. They rejoined at Welshpool before crossing into England. Rhys's Welsh force was described as being large enough to have "annihilated" the rest of Henry's army. On 22 August, they met Richard's army near Market Bosworth. In the resulting Battle of Bosworth, Richard launched an attack led by John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk. According to a contemporary ballad, Rhys's men halted the assault. "Norfolk's line began to break under pressure from Rhys ap Thomas's men" and the Duke was killed by an arrow shot. Hoping to turn the tide and win the battle rapidly by killing his rival, Richard and his companion knights charged directly at Henry. The king was unhorsed and surrounded. The poet Guto'r Glyn implies that Rhys himself was responsible for killing Richard, possibly with a poll axe. Referring to Richard's emblem of a boar, the poet writes that Rhys "killed the boar, shaved his head" ("Lladd y baedd, eilliodd ei ben"). However, this may only mean that one of Rhys's Welsh halberdiers killed the king, since the Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet, says that a Welshman, one of Rhys' men suspected to be Wyllyam Gardynyr, struck the death-blow with a halberd. Guto'r Glyn himself says that Rhys was "like the stars of a shield with the spear in their midst on a great steed" ("A Syr Rys mal sŷr aesaw, Â’r gwayw’n eu mysg ar gnyw mawr"). He was knighted on the field of battle.

Later life
Rhys demonstrated his continuing loyalty to Henry by suppressing a Yorkist rebellion at Brecon in 1486, and taking part in the campaign against the pretender Lambert Simnel in 1487 and the subsequent campaigns against Perkin Warbeck. He played a part in the defeat of the Cornish Rebellion of 1497, capturing the rebel leader Lord Audeley, for which he was awarded the honour of Knight Banneret.

As reward for his loyalty to Henry, he acquired many lands and lucrative offices in South Wales. He was appointed Constable and Lieutenant of Breconshire, Chamberlain of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire, Seneschall and Chancellor of Haverfordwest, Rouse and Builth, Justiciar of South Wales, and Governor of all Wales.

He was also a Privy Councillor and in 1505 he was made a Knight of the Garter, which he celebrated with a great tournament at Carew Castle in 1507. After the death of Henry VII, he remained a supporter of his son, Henry VIII and took part in the Battle of Guinegatte in 1513.

Rhys was married twice: to Eva, daughter of Henri ap Gwilym of Cwrt Henri; and to Janet, daughter of Thomas Mathew of Radyr, who was widow of Thomas Stradling of St Donats. However, although Rhys had numerous mistresses and several illegitimate children, his legitimate son Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas died in 1521. Rhys himself died at Carmarthen Priory in 1525. After Henry VIII suppressed the monasteries, Rhys's tomb was moved to St. Peter's Church, also in Carmarthen.

Rhys's estates and offices were meant to pass to his grandson and heir Rhys ap Gruffydd, however they were taken by the Crown and given to Lord Ferrers for life. Rhys ap Gruffydd was later beheaded by Henry VIII in 1531 for treason after fighting Ferrers and provoking civil unrest amongst the citizens of Carmarthen who were still angry about the disinheritance.

References

Heritage of Wales News 6 February 2013. Accessed 27 February 2013
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/richard-iiis-killer-really-welshman-7168556
Ross, Charles (1999) [1981]. Richard III. Yale English Monarchs. New Haven, Connecticut; and London: Yale University Press, p.213.
Ralph A. Griffiths and Roger S. Thomas, The Making of the Tudor Dynasty, p.185.
Griffith, Ralph, Sir Rhys ap Thomas and his family: a study in the Wars of the Roses and early Tudor politics, University of Wales Press, 1993, p.43. See also guto'r glyn.net

E. A. Rees, A Life of Guto'r Glyn, Y Lolfa, 2008, p.212.
Richard III wounds match medieval Welsh poem description
External links

National Library of Wales entry
Castles of Wales article
Llandeilo local history site
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rhys_ap_Thomas&oldid=752668912"

Family/Spouse: Gwilym, Lady Eva. Eva (daughter of Gwylliam, Henry) was born in 1453 in Bourgogne, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France; died in DECEASED in Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LZG3-Y5F

Margaret married Hearle, John in 1497 in Breconshire, Wales. John was born in 1466 in Prideaux Place, Padstow, Cornwall, England; was christened in 1466 in Prideaux Place, Padstow, Cornwall, England; died in 1547 in Wales; was buried in 1547 in Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margaret married Herbert, Sir Richard in 1454 in Coldbrook, Monmouthshire, Wales. Richard (son of Herbert, Howel ap Thomas and verch Dafydd Gam, Gwladys) was born in 1423 in Raglan Castle, Raglan, Monmouthshire, Wales; died on 27 Jul 1469 in Edgecote Moor, Banbury, Oxfordshire, England; was buried on 5 Aug 1469 in Tintern Abbey, Tintern, Monmouthshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]