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Birth:          ABT 1160 of Carmarthenshire, Wales
Death:          1234 Dynevor, Llandyfeisant, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Burial:         1234 St. David's, Pebidiog, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhys_Gryg
Rhys Gryg (English "Rhys the Hoarse") (died 1234), real name Rhys ap Rhys, also 
known as Rhys Fychan ("The Younger") was a Welsh prince who ruled part of the 
Kingdom of Deheubarth.
Lineage[edit]

Rhys was the fourth son of Rhys ap Gruffydd (The Lord Rhys) and his wife Gwenllian, 
daughter of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys.[1]

Family feud[edit]

He married Mathilde, the daughter of Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford.

In Rhys ap Gruffydd's old age he had a great deal of trouble keeping control of his 
sons, and a bitter feud broke out between Gruffydd ap Rhys II and Maelgwn ap Rhys. 
Rhys Gryg formed an alliance with Gruffydd against Maelgwn, then in 1195 joined with 
another brother, Maredudd, in a conspiracy against their father and captured Dinefwr 
Castle. Their father however retaliated by capturing both of them and imprisoning them 
in Ystrad Meurig Castle.

Power play[edit]

Rhys Gryg reappears in 1204. Rhys ap Gruffydd had died in 1197 and Rhys Gryg's ally 
Gruffydd in 1201 and Maelgwn had taken possession of most of Deheubarth. In 1204 
Rhys made an alliance with Gruffydd's sons, Rhys and Owain, and drove Maelgwn out 
of Ystrad Tywi which was then shared between them, with Rhys Gryg getting the 
Cantref Mawr. By 1211 Rhys had fallen out with his nephews, who were supporters of 
Llywelyn the Great and intervened on behalf of King John of England, attacking and 
capturing Llandovery from them with the help of English Royal troops. After John has 
forced Llywelyn to give up all his conquests outside the core area of Gwynedd, Rhys 
joined with Maelgwn to eject his nephews from the remainder of their lands. However, 
when King John built a castle at Aberystwyth, Rhys and Maelgwn changed sides, 
attacked the castle and burnt it. In 1212 Rhys attacked and burnt Swansea.

Defeat, flight and capture[edit]

The sons of Gruffydd ap Rhys, Rhys and Owain, had now made their peace with King 
John and gone over to the English Royal side. In 1213 and English army led by Falkes 
of Breauté was sent to strip Rhys Gryg of his lands and give them to his nephews. 
Rhys was defeated in a battle at Llandeilo and was forced to flee to Ceredigion to 
seek the protection of his brother Maelgwn. Later in the year he was captured by the 
English and imprisoned at Carmarthen.

Release and revolt[edit]

In 1215 however, the sons of Gruffydd ap Rhys turned against the King and made an 
alliance with their uncle Maelgwn. The English released Rhys Gryg in the hope that he 
would start a civil war but instead Rhys joined forces with Llywelyn the Great, and he, 
along with Maelgwn and the sons of Gruffydd ap Rhys were with Llywelyn in the 
attack which captured many castles in South Wales in December of that year. At the 
parliament held by Llywelyn at Aberdovey in 1216, Rhys Gryg was allocated Cantref 
Mawr and Cantref Bychan and other lands.

Death[edit]

Rhys supported Llywelyn during the remainder of his career. In the war of 1231 he 
joined with his brother Maelgwn's son, Maelgwn the Younger, to burn Cardigan and 
then capture the castle for Llywelyn. In 1234 he joined with Maelgwn Fychan again to 
attack Carmarthen, but received wounds of which he died at Llandeilo Fawr shortly 
afterwards.

Burial and succession[edit]

He was buried in St. David's Cathedral and was succeeded by his son Maredudd. He 
left another son known as Rhys Mechyll (d.1244), who had a son named Rhys Fychan 
ap Rhys Mechyll and a daughter named Gwenllian Mechyll, who eventually became his 
heiress and married Gilbert Talbot (d.1274), grandfather of Gilbert Talbot, 1st Baron 
Talbot (d.1345/6).[2][3] The ancient arms of the House of Dinefwr Gules, a lion 
rampant or within a bordure or were inherited and assumed in lieu of the Talbot 
paternal arms as "arms of alliance" on marriage to a great princess.[4]

Parents
AP GRUFFYDD Rhys (1132 - AFT 24 Apr 1197)
VERCH MADOG Gwenllian (ABT 1131 - )

Siblings
GRUFFYDD Angharad (Ankarat) (ABT 1160 - BEF Aug 1226)
AP RHYS Rhys "Gryg" (ABT 1160 - 1234)

Marriage To DE CLARE Mathilde (ABT 1175 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
DE CLARE Richard (ABT 1153 - 30 Dec 1218)
FITZ ROBERT Amice (ABT 1155 - 1 Jan 1225)

Children by DE CLARE Mathilde ABT 1175 - 
AP RHYS Rhys "Mechyll" (ABT 1195 - 1244)

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