Of land and lordship

The Dragon of Chirk (3) The war of 1277 ended with mixed fortunes for the sons of Gruffudd ap Madog. They all survived it, though not for very long in the case of Madog, the eldest. He died a month after the Treaty of Aberconwy in November, leaving two young sons and a widow.

Of the others, Gruffydd Fychan was the only one to stand by Prince Llywelyn during the war. He was pardoned by the king and permitted to hold part of Edeirnion and Ial as a tenant-in-chief. Llywelyn Fychan and Owain retained their lands.

A fresh disaster then swept over Powys Fadog. The territory had been subdivided twice in six years, first by Prince Llywelyn and then by King Edward, exposing the weakness of Gruffudd’s dynasty. Suddenly a glut of long-lost heirs popped out of the woodwork, all claiming to be descendants of ancient Powysian princes. These men had long since been deprived of land and lordship, but now they smelled blood.

The claimants included the four sons of Einion ap Gruffudd of Bromfield, who demanded part of Cynllaith; Gruffudd ap Gruffudd of Kinnerton, his three brothers and a certain Iorwerth Fychan, all descendants of Iorwerth Goch ap Maredudd (died 1171), who demanded the lands of Nanheudwy, Mochnant Is Rhaeadr and Cynllaith; and a certain Roger ap Gruffudd of Bromfield, who demanded one-fifth part of Bromfield, Nanheudwy, Ial and Mochnant Is Rhaeadr.

Roger claimed to be another son of Gruffudd ap Madog. If true, this is very odd: he was the only one to have an English name and doesn’t appear on any previous documents or charters. Possibly he was a bastard, fathered by Gruffudd on an unknown Englishwoman. Llywelyn Fychan and his brother Owain denied Roger’s right in court at Montgomery, held at Michaelmas in 1281.

A Welsh judge or ynaid

Llywelyn and his brothers refused to surrender an inch of ground to these upstarts. The sons of Einion ap Gruffudd won their case in respect of the vill of Nancennin, and the king’s bailiff of Dinas Bran was ordered to put them in possession. He reported he could not so because of the power of Llywelyn Fychan, who refused a direct order from royal justices to give up the vill.