Cantref Bychan

Who he is

Name

Maredudd ap Rhys

Title

Lord of Llandovery and Cantref Bychan

Since

Not pinned (after 1197)

Born

Not pinned (a young son of the Lord Rhys; the chronicle calls him a youth of great promise)

Family

Son of the Lord Rhys; with Rhys Gryg he conspired against their father in 1195 and was imprisoned at Ystrad Meurig.

Confidence

medium

Brut (death in 1201 and Gruffydd's taking of his castle of Llandovery and Cantref Bychan); Wikipedia (Rhys Gryg).

Overlord

None in practice; close to Gruffydd

What it holds

• Llandovery castle
• Cantref Bychan: the commotes of Hirfryn, Perfedd and Is Cennen (with the rock of Carreg Cennen)

How it was acquired

Share of his father's inheritance (date not pinned).

Allies and rivals

Brother and ally of Gruffydd; the Braose of Brecon and the Londres of Kidwelly are his English neighbours.

How things stand that morning

Holds Llandovery and Cantref Bychan.

Wealth

Upland cattle, the Tywi crossings.

Military

Llandovery castle (once Richard FitzPons's, Welsh since 1158).

Threats

• The Londres of Kidwelly in Carnwyllion
• Braose from Brecon

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. July 1201Killed in Carnwyllion; Gruffydd takes Llandovery and all Cantref Bychan.Depends on: A raid into Carnwyllion Stopped by: Maredudd staying at home

Places of note

• Llandovery castle: His castle

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: His holding is known from the chronicle's notice of his death.

On the map: Cantref outline approximate.

Primary sources for Deheubarth

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Wales, Anonymous (St Davids and other Welsh houses) (10th to 13th centuries; the B and C texts continue to 1286 and 1288). Short Latin annals whose later versions are kept at St Davids and Cistercian houses. Read online
• Chronicle of the Princes, Anonymous (Welsh translation of a lost Latin chronicle kept at Strata Florida) (Latin original to about 1282, compiled from contemporary annals; Welsh versions about 1300 and later). The native Welsh record of the year. Read online
• Monastic Annals (Margam, Tewkesbury, Burton, Winchester, Waverley, Dunstable, Bermondsey, Worcester, Osney) (12th to 14th centuries). Nine sets of house annals, each with a short entry for 1200. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• The Journey through Wales; The Description of Wales, Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis) (Itinerarium 1191, revised to about 1214; Descriptio 1194). The standing description of Wales a decade before 1200: the cantrefs and their lords, the castles of the March, the bishoprics, the Welsh way of fighting and living, and Gerald's advice on how the Welsh might be conquered and how they might resist. Read online