Madog ap Maredudd ( wlm, Madawg mab Maredud, ; died 1160) was the last prince of the entire

Kingdom of Powys The Kingdom of Powys ( cy, Teyrnas Powys; la, Regnum Poysiae) was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. It very roughly covered the northern t ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and for a time held the Fitzalan Lordship of

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough ...

. Madog was the son of King Maredudd ap Bleddyn and grandson of King

Bleddyn ap Cynfyn Bleddyn ap Cynfyn ( owl, Bledẏnt uab Kẏn ỽẏn; AD 1075), sometimes spelled Blethyn, was an 11th-century Welsh king. Harold Godwinson and Tostig Godwinson installed him and his brother, Rhiwallon, as the co-rulers of Gwynedd ...

. He followed his father on the throne of Powys in 1132. He is recorded as taking part in the Battle of Lincoln in 1141 in support of the

Earl of Chester The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England, extending principally over the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs apparent to the English throne, and a ...

, along with

Owain Gwynedd Owain ap Gruffudd ( 23 or 28 November 1170) was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. He was called Owain the Great ( cy, Owain Fawr) and the first to be ...

's brother

Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd (c. 1100 – 1172) was the third son of Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd, and brother of Owain Gwynedd. Appearance in history Cadwaladr first appears in the historical record in 1136, when following the killing of the ...

and a large army of Welshmen. In 1149 he is recorded giving the

commote A commote ( Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')''Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wale ...

Cyfeiliog Cyfeiliog was a medieval commote in the cantref of Cynan of the Kingdom of Powys. Cynan also contained the commote of Mawddwy. Other sources refer to Cyfeiliog as a cantref in its own right, possibly as a result of Cynan's being renamed for the la ...

to his nephews Owain Cyfeiliog and Meurig. The same year Madog was able to rebuild Oswestry Castle, a fortress of William Fitzalan. It would seem likely that he had gained both the fortresses of Oswestry and Whittington in 1146.

Defeat by Gwynedd

At this time the King 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, an ...

, between 1149 and 1150,

was exerting pressure on the borders of Powys, despite the fact that Madog was married to Susanna, Owain's sister. Around 1150, Madog made an alliance with Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, but Owain defeated them near Ewloe/Coleshill and took possession of Madog's lands in Iâl ( en, Yale). In 1157 King

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin kin ...

invaded Gwynedd. Though he was defeated at the

Battle of Ewloe The Battle of Ewloe (also known as the Battle of Coleshill) was a battle fought in July 1157 between a large army led by Henry II of England and an army led by the Welsh prince Owain Gwynedd. The location was marked with a plaque to commemora ...

(Coleshill), he was supported by Madog, who was able to regain many of his Welsh lands. Even so, he retained the lordships of

and Whittington. In 1159 Madog would seem to have been the Welsh prince who accompanied King Henry II in his campaign to

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

which ended in failure. Returning home to Wales Madog died about 9 February 1160 in Whittington Castle. He was buried soon afterwards in the church of St Tysilio at

Meifod Meifod, formerly also written Meivod (), is a small village, community and electoral ward 7 miles north-west of Welshpool in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales, on the A495 road and located in the valley of the River Vyrnwy. The River Banwy has a ...

, the mother church of Powys.

Succession Shared

Madog's eldest son, Llywelyn, was killed soon after his father's death in 1160, Powys was then shared between Madog's sons Gruffydd Maelor, Owain Fychan and

Owain Brogyntyn Owain ''Brogyntyn'' ap Madog (fl. 1160–1186) was the third and illegitimate son of king Madog ap Maredudd, the last king of a united Kingdom of Powys. He was the son of Madog by the daughter of the ''Maer du'' or "black mayor" of Rûg in ...

, his nephew Owain Cyfeiliog and half-brother Iorwerth Goch. Powys was never subsequently reunited, being separated into two parts;

Powys Fadog Powys Fadog (English: ''Lower Powys'' or ''Madog's Powys'') was the northern portion of the former princely realm of Powys, which split in two following the death of Madog ap Maredudd in 1160. The realm was divided under Welsh law, with Madog's ...

(Lower Powys) and

Powys Wenwynwyn Powys Wenwynwyn or Powys Cyfeiliog was a Welsh kingdom which existed during the high Middle Ages. The realm was the southern portion of the former princely state of Powys which split following the death of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys in 1160: the ...

(Upper Powys). Madog's death enabled

to force the homage of Owain Brogyntyn, Madog's youngest son, and effectively annex part of northern Powys. The poet Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr in his elegy on Madog said: :''While Madog lived there was no man'' :''Dared ravage his fair borders'' :''Yet nought of all he held'' :''Esteemed he his save by God's might ...'' :''If my noble lord were alive'' :''Gwynedd would not now be encamped in the heart of Edeyrnion'' Edeyrnion (or Edeirnion) was a

inherited by Owain Brogyntyn and had been the home of his mother (who was not married to his father). Owain may also have been raised there. It was annexed to Gwynedd during Owain's time.

The Mabinogion

The ''

Mabinogion The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, creat ...

'' tale ''

The Dream of Rhonabwy ''The Dream of Rhonabwy'' ( cy, Breuddwyd Rhonabwy) is a Middle Welsh prose tale. Set during the reign of Madog ap Maredudd, prince of Powys (died 1160), its composition is typically dated to somewhere between the late 12th through the late 14th ...

'' is set during Madog's reign. The central character, Rhonabwy, is one of Madog's retainers sent to bring in Madog's rebellious brother Iorwerth Goch ap Maredudd. His titular dream contrasts his own time with the grandeur of

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...

's period.Gantz, Jeffrey (translator) (1987). ''The Mabinogion'', pp. 177–191. New York: Penguin. .

Children

* Llywelyn ap Madog, died 1160 * Gruffydd Maelor ap Madog, died 1191 * Owain Fychan ap Madog, c. 1125–1187 * Owain Brogyntyn ap Madog (illegitimate) *

Gwenllian ferch Madog Gwenllian (or Gwenllïan) ( Welsh, a combination of ''gwen'' "fair, blessed, white" and ''llian'' " flaxen") was the name of several ladies who lived in medieval Wales. The two best known have, for different reasons, become symbols of Welsh patriot ...

, married Rhys ap Gruffydd, prince of

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; lit. "Right-hand Part", thus "the South") was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under the House o ...

* Marared ferch Madog, married Iorwerth ab Owain Gwynedd and was the mother of

Llywelyn the Great Llywelyn the Great ( cy, Llywelyn Fawr, ; full name Llywelyn mab Iorwerth; c. 117311 April 1240) was a King of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually " Prince of the Welsh" (in 1228) and "Prince of Wales" (in 1240). By a combination of war and ...

* Efa ferch Madog, married Cadwallon ap Madog ap Idnerth, prince of

Maelienydd Maelienydd, sometimes spelt Maeliennydd, was a cantref and lordship in east central Wales covering the area from the River Teme to Radnor Forest and the area around Llandrindod Wells. The area, which is mainly upland, is now in Powys. During the ...

Fiction

Madog's intervention in the Battle of Lincoln in 1141 forms an important plot element in the detective novel

Dead Man's Ransom ''Dead Man's Ransom'' is a medieval mystery novel by Ellis Peters, first of four novels set in the disruptive year of 1141. It is the ninth in the Cadfael Chronicles, and was first published in 1984. The book was adapted for BBC Radio 4 in 1 ...

, part of the Brother Cadfael chronicles by Edith Pargeter (writing as Ellis Peters).

Notes

References

* * Remfry, P.M., ''Whittington Castle and the families of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, Peverel, Maminot, Powys and Fitz Warin'' () *Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Line 176B-26 {{DEFAULTSORT:Madog ap Maredudd 1160 deaths Monarchs of Powys House of Mathrafal 12th-century Welsh monarchs Year of birth unknown Welsh princes People of The Anarchy