Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Map
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Introduction: The problem of medieval Powys: historiography and sources
- Part I Powysian Polities in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries: A Political Narrative
- 1 The re-emergence of Powys
- 2 The age of eminence: Madog ap Maredudd
- 3 Crisis and renewal: 1160 and its aftermath
- 4 The ascendancy and fall of Gwenwynwyn
- 5 Eclipse: the supremacy of Gwynedd
- 6 Survival: the case of Gruffudd, lord of Bromfield
- 7 Survival: the case of Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn
- 8 The persistence of Powysian lordship: Owain ap Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn and the descendants of Madog ap Maredudd
- Part II Characteristics of the Powysian Polities: Structures, Fault-Lines and Political Culture
- Appendices
- Select bibliography
- Index
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
7 - Survival: the case of Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn
from Part I - Powysian Polities in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries: A Political Narrative
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 April 2017
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Map
- Miscellaneous Frontmatter
- Introduction: The problem of medieval Powys: historiography and sources
- Part I Powysian Polities in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries: A Political Narrative
- 1 The re-emergence of Powys
- 2 The age of eminence: Madog ap Maredudd
- 3 Crisis and renewal: 1160 and its aftermath
- 4 The ascendancy and fall of Gwenwynwyn
- 5 Eclipse: the supremacy of Gwynedd
- 6 Survival: the case of Gruffudd, lord of Bromfield
- 7 Survival: the case of Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn
- 8 The persistence of Powysian lordship: Owain ap Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn and the descendants of Madog ap Maredudd
- Part II Characteristics of the Powysian Polities: Structures, Fault-Lines and Political Culture
- Appendices
- Select bibliography
- Index
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
Summary
It has been seen that Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn was raised for most of his childhood and adolescence in exile, living for much of the time, it seems, in the manor of Ashford in Derbyshire that had been granted to his father and that was held after Gwenwynwyn's death by Gruffudd's mother Margaret Corbet. After he came of age, and even after he regained his patrimonial lordship of southern Powys, he continued to reside in, and later to visit, Ashford. It is significant that none of the charters known to have been issued by Gruffudd in Derbyshire within the period 1232x63 includes any Welshmen in its witness-list. This suggests that Gruffudd's environment in Ashford was entirely English, and that he may have been brought up in a markedly English environment, speaking only, or at least primarily, French and English. It is possible that he did not live for long periods in southern Powys until the construction of Powis castle, which was possibly being built in the 1240s but for which there is no direct evidence before 1257.
It is however probable that from an early age Gruffudd was aware of his Powysian heritage and his lost lordship, and he was evidently anxious to re-establish his lineage in Wales. He may have been amongst the English forces in their unsuccessful Ceri campaign of 1228, and it is clear that he was active, with royal support, in the Shropshire marchland in 1233 in the Fitz Alan strongholds of Clun and Oswestry, and the royal castle of Montgomery. It seems possible that he had Welsh adherents who may have established themselves on the fringes of southern Powys in the 1230s, but it also appears that Gruffudd was not consistently resident in the region: he continued to live for much of the time at Ashford. It may be that he had taken advantage of the stroke that Llywelyn ab Iorwerth suffered in 1237 to improve his position on the periphery of Powys. He was amongst the Welsh lords who were warned by Henry III not to perform homage to Dafydd ap Llywelyn in 1238, and this may indicate that he held Welsh territory or had at least received overtures from Dafydd or his father.
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- Information
- Medieval PowysKingdom, Principality and Lordships, 1132-1293, pp. 133 - 158Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2016