Notes |
- GWAETHVOED VAWR, the great Prince of Cardigan, who m. the lady Morvydd, d. and h. [daughter and heir] of Ynyr, King of Gwent. He ob. in the reign of St. Edward the Confessor, circ. 1057"
GWAETHFOED is mentioned variously, depending upon what source one happens to be using. In one, he is given as "Gwaethfoed, one of two or three of the name. He m. Morvydd, d. and h. of Ynir, Lord of Gwent." Ynir is given thus, in the same source, "YNIR, King of Gwent, ap Meyrick ap Ynir, &c., from Cadwallader. 'Per pale azure and sable, 3 fleurs-de-lys or.' He m. Nest, d. of Jestyn ap Gwrgan, King of Glamorgan. 'Gues, 3 chevrons or.'" The Arms of Gwaethfoed are given as:
"Arms of Gwaethvoed--Or, a lion rampant regardant, sable, crowned, armed, and langued gules.
Crest--A blackcock proper.
Motto--Si Deus nobis quis contra nos."
The fact that Gwaethfoed has been confused with others of the name is borne out by the following statements:
"LEWIS of VAN. The ancestors in the direct line of this family were for many centureis great Lords in East Glamorgan, and the chief of those who claimed descent from Gwaethvoed, whom their pedigrees designate as Prince of Cardigan. There was, no doubt, a Gwaethvoed who held that title, but there seems also to have been another, or even others, of the same name, one of whom was settled in Glamorgan or Gwent, and it is this, or one of these persons, probably, who was the ancestor of the present family.
"It would be contrary to the custom of the Principality to introduce the founder of a great family without a corresponding flourish of trumpets concerning their ancestry, and this the more readily that the imagination is largely called in to complete and connect the historic fragments. If in Wales "ante agamemnona" there was no "vates sacer," there were those subsequent to him who were very willing to supply the deficiency.
"Gwaethfoed, the Lewis ancestor, according to the Welsh genealogists, was the representative of Teon, of the lineage of the Princes of Britain, and who towards the close of his life, in the fifth century, retired to the School of Llantwit, or St. Iltryd in Glamorgan, and became the first Bishop of Caerloew or Gloucester, and afterwards of Lalndain, whence he was driven by the pagan Saxons. He is reputed to have given name to the Carneddau Teon, or Stiperstane Hills. Later heralds have invested him with three Eastern Crowns for an armorial bearing.
"Tenth of eleventh in descent from Teon, was Golyddien Agrlwydd Caerdigion, ab Llowyddarc, ab Tregonen, ab Gonog, ab Farffsych, ab Ceido, ab Corf, ab Cynog mawr, ab Tregony, ap Teon. Golyddien acquired the lordship of Cardigan with his wife Morfydd, daughter of Owain ab Teithwall, whose emblem was a silver Lion rampant upon a sable ground. They were the parents of Gwaethfoed, who then first emerges out of cloudland."
"I. Gwaethfoed Fawr, Lord of Ystrad Towy, and Gwynvae, co. Caermarthen, son of Clodien, Prince of Powis, by Morvydd, d & h. of Owain, Lord of Cardigan, which lordship he inherited..... Gwaethfoed married another Morvydd, d. of Ynir, Lord of Gwent..... Their children are differently recorded in different pedigrees, but are often given as follows: 1. Cadivor, m Joan, dd. of Elystan Glodrydd, whence the Lords of Castle Odwn, Jones of Tregaron, and many Cardigan families. 2. Cydrich. 3. Gweristan, whence Williams of Whitchurch, alias Cromwell. 4. Aydan, whence Mathew of Llandaff. 5. Gwyb, whence the Lords of Castell Gwyn. 6. Myddhan, whence the Lords of Gwent. 7. Gwrgeni, whence a branch. 8. Bach, whence the Lords of Scenfrith. 9. Cynon, Lord of Tegenel. 10. Endowain, Bishop of Llannbadarn-Vawr. 11. Thydderch. 12. Thys. II. CYDRYCH ab Gwaethfoed, Lord of Ystrad Towy, and Gwynvae, m. Nest, d. of Tangno ab Cadvan. They had: 1. Griffith, Lord of Gwynvae. 2. Cadivor. 3. Clydwen."
The foregoing casts doubt upon the descent from Tacitus to Gwaethfoed and it must be listed merely as interesting information until such time as it can be proven. Further, it makes the two extra generations between Gwaethfoed and Sir Mathew ap Ievan suspect. Again, some authenticating needs to be done.
The chief difference between the accounts of the direct male ancestors of Sir Mathew ap Ievan is that the Genealogy of the Earls of Landaff adds two generations between Gwaethfoed and Gwillim, that are not in the other accounts. The addition of these two additional generations enable the time elapsed between Gwaethfoed's death and the era of Sir Mathew ap Ievan to be more convincing.
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