Rhydderch ap Iestyn (died 1033) was king of 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 ...

in south

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 later took over the kingdom 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 ...

and controlled

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 ...

. Comparatively little has been recorded about Rhydderch ab Iestyn in the annals. He appears to have originally been ruler of Gwent and Morgannwg, where his son later continued to have his power base. When

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 Blegy ...

, king of Gwynedd and Deheubarth died unexpectedly in 1023, Rhydderch was able to seize Deheubarth, apparently by force of arms. In 1033 Rhydderch is recorded by

Brut y Tywysogion ''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''. ''Brut ...

as having been slain by the Irish, but with no explanation of the circumstances. The kingdom of Deheubarth returned to the original dynasty in the form of Hywel ab Edwin and his brother Maredudd. A battle between Hywel and his brother and the sons of Rhydderch is recorded the following year. In 1045 Rhydderch's son,

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 ...

was able to seize Deheubarth from

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 ...

and held it for ten years until Gruffydd regained it. Rhydderch had at least three sons, they were as follows: *

(died 1055), King of Morgannwg and Deheubarth, killed in battle against

. *Caradog ap Rhydderch (died 1035), killed by the "Saxons". * Rhys ap Rhydderch (died 5 January 1053), put to death by order of King Edward the Confessor.

Sources

* John Edward Lloyd ''A history of Wales from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest'' (Longmans, Green & Co.) * Thomas Jones, ed. ''Brut y Tywysogion: Peniarth MS. 20 version'' (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1952) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhydderch Ap Iestyn 1033 deaths Monarchs of Deheubarth Monarchs of Gwent Monarchs of Morgannwg 11th-century Welsh monarchs Year of birth unknown Monarchs of Glywysing