Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rhys ap Gruffydd
RHYS ap GRUFFYDD (1132?–1197), prince of South Wales, called ‘Rhys Mwynfawr’ and ‘yr Arglwydd Rhys,’ was son of Gruffydd ap Rhys (d. 1137) [q. v.] and Gwenllian, daughter of Gruffydd ap Cynan (Jesus Coll. MS. 20 in Cymrodor, viii. 88). Born about 1132, he in 1146 aided his elder brother Cadell in the capture of the castles of Dinweileir, Carmarthen, and Llanstephan; he was with Cadell, too, in his attack upon Wiston Castle in 1147. In 1150 he joined in the invasion of South Cardiganshire, which expelled Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd from the district; he and his brothers in 1151 carried the war into the tract between the Aeron and the Dovey, and almost wholly won it. Later in this year Maredudd and he burnt Loughor Castle, ravaged Gower, and repaired their castle of Dinweileir. In 1153 they completed the conquest of North Cardiganshire, took Tenby by a night surprise, and captured also the castles of Aberafan and Ystrad Cyngen. Rhys closed the year with a foray into Cyfeiliog, the region east of Machynlleth. By the departure of Cadell this year on a pilgrimage, power fell into the hands of the two youths Maredudd and Rhys, and the death of the former in 1155 left Rhys sole ruler of what was held by the Welsh in Dyfed, Ceredigion, and Ystrad Tywi. In 1156 he strengthened his northern frontier by building a castle at the mouth of the Dovey.
With the substitution of the strong hand of Henry II for the anarchy of the previous reign, Rhys's position became difficult. He made preparations for a conflict in the early part of 1158, removing all his valuables to the wilds of Ystrad Tywi. Henry, however, persuaded him to submit, and in an interview promised him Cantref Mawr and another whole ‘cantrev.’ According to the Welsh authorities this promise was not kept, and the forays of Walter Clifford, to whom Cantref Bychan was given, coupled with the establishment of Roger de Clare in Ceredigion, drove Rhys once more into rebellion [see Clare, Roger de]. He captured Clifford's castle of Llandovery, and burnt those of Roger in Ceredigion; in 1159 he destroyed the castles of Dyfed, and attacked Carmarthen, which was, however, relieved by Reginald, earl of Cornwall [q. v.] Rhys was now beset in Dinweileir by the combined forces of the English and the North Welsh, but he successfully stood the siege. He was apparently not again disturbed until the spring of 1163, when Henry, who had now returned from the continent, marched into South Wales to reduce him to obedience. The expedition reached Pencader, where Rhys was overcome. He returned with Henry to England, and on 1 July 1163 did him homage at the council of Woodstock (R. Diceto, Rolls edit. i. 311). But in 1164 he was again in revolt, destroying castles in Ceredigion, and when, in the autumn of 1165, Henry led an army against the princes of North Wales, Rhys was one of the confederate chiefs who met to oppose him at Corwen. The king's failure encouraged him to attack Cardigan Castle, which he took at the beginning of November, with the aid of a clerk, one Rhygyfarch; Cilgerran also fell into his hands, as well as Robert FitzStephen, his cousin. Rhys was now master again of Ceredigion; in 1167 he joined the princes of Gwynedd in an attack on Powys, which gave him the district of Cyfeiliog, and afterwards in a long but successful siege of the royal castle of Rhuddlan. Next year he built a castle at Aber Einion, and twice invaded Brecknock, the first time unsuccessfully, the second with such a show of power as to win for him favourable terms of peace from the justiciar, Richard de Lucy [q. v.]
Rhys's position was now well assured; in 1171 he rebuilt Cardigan Castle, and reduced Owain Cyfeiliog of Powys to submission. In the autumn of the same year he took advantage of Henry's passage through South Wales on his way to Ireland to come to an understanding with him; in return for a substantial tribute, the king recognised his possession of Ceredigion, Ystrad Tywi, and two commotes of Dyfed. The arrangement was confirmed on Henry's return at an interview between him and Rhys, which took place at Laugharne in Easter week, and, according to the ‘Chronicle of the Princes,’ Rhys was soon after made ‘justice of all Deheubarth.’ In the rebellion of 1173– 1174 he sided with Henry, and in the latter year besieged Tutbury, which was held for Earl Ferrers, with a force of Welshmen (R. Diceto, Rolls edit. i. 384). On 29 June 1175 he was present at the council of Gloucester, having with him six minor princes of South Wales, most of whom were connected with him by marriage. In May 1177 he did homage to Henry at Oxford with the other princes of Wales, and received Meirionydd, a district held by Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd until his death in 1174; in the same year he strengthened his hold on the upper valley of the Wye by building a castle at Rhayader. A struggle with the sons of Cynan began in 1178, which ended in their winning back Meirionydd for the north.
Rhys's sons were now old enough to be a source of trouble to him. Their ravages induced Henry in 1184 to plan an expedition into South Wales, but Rhys met the king in July at Worcester, and there promised obedience on their behalf. He found, however, that they would not accept his terms, and had accordingly to wait upon Henry at Gloucester shortly afterwards and inform him that peace could not be made. The conflict was nevertheless postponed, and in 1186 matters were settled by Ranulf de Glanville [q. v.] Rhys afforded archbishop Baldwin [q. v.] every facility for his tour through Wales in 1188; he received him at Radnor, escorted him through a considerable portion of his dominions, and entertained him at Cardigan. But for the entreaties of his wife he would himself have taken the cross. The death of Henry II, however, once again kindled in him the spirit of strife; he took by surprise the castles of Llanstephan and Laugharne, ravaged Penfro, Rhos, and Gower, and was only checked by the resistance of Carmarthen. An army was despatched under Prince John to quell the southern prince, but Rhys, finding himself isolated, decided to yield, and in October 1189 came to Oxford to render the customary homage to Richard I. The king, however, was not there to receive him; accordingly he returned in great wrath, and appears not to have tendered homage again. In 1190 he built a castle at Kidwelly; in the following year, on 15 Aug., he deprived his son-in-law, William FitzMartin, lord of Cemais, of his castle of Nevern, and gave it, against his oath, to his son Gruffydd. Further successes followed in Dyfed; in 1192 Lawhaden, and in 1193 Wiston, fell into the hands of the Welsh. But Rhys's age now exposed him to the violence of his ambitious sons; in 1194 he was imprisoned by them in Nevern Castle, an incident which Giraldus Cambrensis regarded as a signal instance of divine retribution. Released by his son, Hywel Sais, he had to face in 1195 a plot of the men of Ystrad Tywi to depose him in favour of his sons Maredudd and Rhys, whom he forthwith imprisoned in Ystrad Meurig Castle. His last campaign was fought in 1196, when he destroyed Carmarthen, captured and burnt the castle of Colwyn, burnt the town of Radnor, defeated Roger Mortimer in a pitched battle, and took Pain's Castle in Elfael. He died on 28 April 1197, and was buried in St. David's Cathedral, where his tomb (of the end of the fourteenth century) is shown in the presbytery. According to the ‘Annals of Winchester,’ Rhys was at the time of his death under excommunication in consequence of an insult inflicted by his sons upon Peter de Leia; on the submission of his son Gruffydd, his body was scourged and absolution pronounced over it.
Rhys married Gwenllian, daughter of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys, and left a numerous progeny by her and others. His sons were Rhys Gryg (d. 1234), Gruffydd (d. 1201), Maredudd (d. 1201), Cynwrig (d. 1237), Hywel Sais (d. 1199), Maelgwn (d. 1231), Cadwaladr (d. 1185), Maredudd, archdeacon of Cardigan (d. 1227), Maredudd Ddall (d. 1239), and Morgan (d. 1251). Of his daughters, Gwenllian (d. 1236) married Ednyfed Fychan and Angharad William FitzMartin; Einion Clud of Elfael and Einion ap Rhys of Gwerthrynion were also sons-in-law of Rhys.
Rhys is generally reckoned the founder of the monastery of Strata Florida, now Mynachlogfur, Cardiganshire. He certainly endowed it on a liberal scale (Dugdale, v. 632–3), though Giraldus Cambrensis says it owed its foundation (in 1165) to Robert FitzStephen (Speculum Ecclesiæ, Rolls edit. of Gir. Cambrr. iv. 152). He was a donor also to Whitland and Talley Abbeys. The ‘Myvyrian Archaiology’ contains three poems in his honour by Cynddelw (2nd edit. pp. 164–167, 171–4), one by Gwynfardd Brycheiniog (p. 193), and one by Seisyll Bryffwrch (pp. 236–7). The ‘Chronicle of the Princes’ describes a contest for two chairs between poets and musicians, held under the patronage of Rhys at Cardigan in 1176, which is the earliest instance of an ‘eisteddfod.’
[Annales Cambriæ; Bruts in Myvyrian Archaiology; Giraldus Cambrensis, Rolls edit. of works, vi. 14, 15, 80, 85, 110–12, 122, 145; Benedictus Abbas, Rolls edit. i. 92, 162, 314, 317, 355, ii. 87, 97; Robert of Torigny, Rolls edit. p. 251; Annales Monastici, Rolls edit. i. 48, 55, ii. 66, iii. 18.]