Maredudd ab Owain (died ) was a 10th-century
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
in
Wales of the High Middle Ages
Wales in the High Middle Ages covers the 11th to 13th centuries in Welsh history. Beginning shortly before the Norman invasion of the 1060s and ending with the Conquest of Wales by Edward I between 1278 and 1283, it was a period of significant po ...
. A member of the
House of Dinefwr
The Royal House of Dinefwr was a cadet branch of the Royal House of Gwynedd, founded by King Cadell ap Rhodri (reign 872–909), son of Rhodri the Great. Their ancestor, Cunedda Wledig, born in late Roman Britain, was a Sub-Roman warlord who ...
, his patrimony was the
kingdom of Deheubarth
Deheubarth (; lit. "Right-hand Part", thus "the South") was a regional name for the Welsh kingdoms, realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the vario ...
comprising the southern realms of
Dyfed
Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel.
Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed was also the name of the area's county council and the name remains in use f ...
,
Ceredigion
Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...
, and
Brycheiniog
Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans be ...
. Upon the death of his father King
Owain Owain () is a name of Welsh origin, variously written in Old Welsh as Ougein, Eugein, Euguen, Iguein, Ou(u)ein, Eug(u)ein, Yuein, and in Middle Welsh as Ewein, Owein, and Ywein. Other variants of the name Owain include Ewein, Iguein, Owein, Ouein, Y ...
around AD 968, he also inherited the kingdoms of
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
and
Powys
Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...
, which he had conquered for his father. He was counted among the
Kings of the Britons by the
Chronicle of the Princes
''Brut y Tywysogion'' ( en, Chronicle of the Princes) is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. ''Bru ...
.
Maredudd was the younger son of King
Owain Owain () is a name of Welsh origin, variously written in Old Welsh as Ougein, Eugein, Euguen, Iguein, Ou(u)ein, Eug(u)ein, Yuein, and in Middle Welsh as Ewein, Owein, and Ywein. Other variants of the name Owain include Ewein, Iguein, Owein, Ouein, Y ...
of Deheubarth and the grandson of King
Hywel the Good
Hywel Dda, sometimes anglicised as Howel the Good, or Hywel ap Cadell (died 949/950) was a king of Deheubarth who eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllwg in 920 and shortly thereafter established Deheubarth ...
. Owain had inherited the kingdom through the early death of his brothers and Maredudd, too, came to the throne through the death of his elder brother
Einion around 984. Around 986, Maredudd captured Gwynedd from its king
Cadwallon ab Ieuaf
Cadwallon ap Ieuaf (died 986) was a King of Gwynedd.
Cadwallon was the son of Ieuaf ab Idwal and succeeded to the throne of Gwynedd on the death of his brother Hywel ab Ieuaf in 985. He only reigned for a year, for in 986 Maredudd ab Owain of Deh ...
. He may have controlled all Wales apart from
Gwent and
Morgannwg
Morgannwg was a medieval Welsh kingdom formed via the merger of the kingdoms of the Kingdom of Glywysing and the Kingdom of Gwent.
Formation of Morgannwg
First under King Morgan the Generous (fl. ) until the end of the reign of his descendant I ...
.
Maredudd is recorded as raiding
Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era=Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ye ...
n settlements on the borders of
Radnor and as paying a ransom of a
silver penny
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...
a head to rescue some of his subjects who had been taken captive in
Danish raids. Viking raids were a constant problem during Maredudd's reign. In 987, Godfrey Haroldson raided
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
, supposedly killing one thousand and carrying away another two thousand as captives; Maredudd was said to have then paid a huge ransom for the freedom of the hostages.
Following Maredudd's death around AD 999, the throne of Gwynedd was recovered for the line of
Idwal Foel
Idwal Foel (Idwal the Bald; died c. 942) or Idwal ab Anarawd (Idwal son of Anarawd) was a 10th-century King of Gwynedd in Wales. A member of the House of Aberffraw, he inherited the throne from his father, Anarawd ap Rhodri. William of Malmesbury ...
by
Cynan ap Hywel
Cynan ap Hywel (ruled 999–1005) was a Prince of Gwynedd, one of the kingdoms or principalities of medieval Wales. He was the son of Hywel ap Ieuaf, a previous king from the line of Idwal Foel (his grandfather). On Hywel's death, the realm was ru ...
. The throne of Deheubarth went to a man named
Rhain who was accepted as Maredudd's son by its people but whoafter the kingdom's conquest by
Llywelyn ap Seisyll
Llywelyn ap Seisyll (died 1023) was an 11th-century King of Gwynedd, Powys and Deheubarth.
Llywelyn was the son of Seisyll, a man of whom little is known. Llewelyn first appears on record in 1018, the year he defeated and killed Aeddan ap Blegyw ...
was recorded by most Welsh histories as an Irish pretender and usurper. The kingdom was later restored to Maredudd's family, but through
Hywel Hywel (), sometimes anglicised as Howel or Howell, is a Welsh masculine given name. It may refer to:
* Saint Hywel, a sixth-century disciple of Saint Teilo and the king of Brittany in the Arthurian legend.
*Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog, 9th-century ki ...
, the grandson of his brother Einion.
References
Citations
Sources
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maredudd ab Owain
990s deaths
Year of birth unknown
Year of death uncertain
10th-century Welsh monarchs
House of Dinefwr
Monarchs of Deheubarth
Monarchs of Gwynedd
Monarchs of Powys