Rhys ap Rhydderch was the brother of

Gruffydd ap Rhydderch Gruffydd ap Rhydderch (d. AD 1055) was a king of Gwent and part of the kingdom of Morgannwg in south Wales and later king of Deheubarth. Gruffydd was the son of Rhydderch ab Iestyn who had been able to take over the kingdom of Deheubarth from 1 ...

,Maund ''Welsh Kings'' pp. 88–90 king 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 ...

from 1044 to 1055.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 52 Both were the sons of Rhydderch ab Iestyn, who had been able to take over the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth from 1023 to 1033. By 1045, he and his brother had secured control of

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 ...

, and the native chronicles mention that in 1045 the two brothers performed some treacherous action against

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Gruffydd ap Llywelyn ( 5 August 1063) was King of Wales from 1055 to 1063. He had previously been King of Gwynedd and Powys in 1039. He was the son of King Llywelyn ap Seisyll and Angharad daughter of Maredudd ab Owain, and the great-gre ...

, the king of Gwynedd and

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

. The exact nature of this treachery is not specified, however. Although both Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and the brothers were rivals to rule Deheubarth, in the end, the two brothers became the rulers of the disputed territory. In 1049, Gruffydd ap Rhydderch joined with an Irish and Viking raiding party that raided England. Probably, Rhys was with his brother on this raid into England. The raid was opposed by Ealdred, the Bishop of Worcester, but the English forces were betrayed by Welsh soldiers serving with the English army, and the Welsh and Viking raiders defeated Ealdred's defenders. King Edward the Confessor of England ordered the killing of Rhys in reprisal for his raiding of England, the decision being made at the royal court held at Christmas, 1052. Rhys was killed, according to the D version of the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', because he "did harmful things". The chronicle of

Florence of Worcester Florence of Worcester (died 1118), known in Latin as Florentius, was a monk of Worcester, who played some part in the production of the '' Chronicon ex chronicis'', a Latin world chronicle which begins with the creation and ends in 1140.Keynes, "Fl ...

recorded a bit more information, stating that Rhys was killed at "Bulendun", which may be Bullen's Bank near Clyro in Radnorshire.Breeze "''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' for 1053" ''Radnorshire Society Transactions'' pp. 168–169 After his death, Rhys' head was brought to King Edward on 5 January 1053.Barlow ''Edward the Confessor'' p. 126 This left his brother as the only ruler in Deheubarth, but this did not last long, as around 1055, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn attacked the south and killed Gruffydd ap Rhydderch. This left Gruffydd ap Llywelyn as the sole ruler of Wales, the first Welshman to be so.

Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhys Ap Rhydderch Welsh royalty 1053 deaths 11th-century Welsh people Year of birth unknown