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Birth:          ABT  820 of Caer Seiont, Carnarvonshire, Wales
Death:           878 Anglesey, Wales

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodri_the_Great
Rhodri ap Merfyn (c. 820–878), later known as Rhodri the Great (Welsh: Rhodri Mawr), 
succeeded his father, Merfyn Frych, as King of Gwynedd in 844. Rhodri annexed 
Powys c. 856 and Seisyllwg c. 871. He is called "King of the Britons" by the Annals of 
Ulster. In some later histories, he is referred to as "King of Wales", although the title 
is anachronistic and his realm did not include southern Wales.
Lineage and inheritance[edit]

 Rhodri was the son of Merfyn Frych, who had claimed Gwynedd upon the extinction 
of Cunedda's male line. Rhodri then inherited the realm after his father's death around 
844. Merfyn hailed from "Manaw" which may either refer to the Isle of Man or Manau, 
the ancestral homeland of all Gwynedd's kings since Cunedda.

According to later genealogies, his mother or grandmother was Nest ferch Cadell of 
the ruling dynasty in Powys. Although surviving texts of Welsh law expressly forbid 
inheritance along the maternal line, Nest and Rhodri's supposed inheritance was later 
used to justify Gwynedd's annexation of Powys after the c. 855 death of Cyngen ap 
Cadell in preference to Cyngen's other heirs.

Similarly, Rhodri's marriage to Angharad ferch Meurig was used to explain his 
supposed inheritance of her brother Gwgon's kingdom of Ceredigion after that king's 
death in 872[1] via a principle of jure uxoris that does not survive in our sources for 
Welsh law.

Reign[edit]

Now the master of much of modern Wales, Rhodri faced pressure both from the 
English and, increasingly, from Vikings, called the "black gentiles"[2] in the Welsh 
sources. The Danish are recorded ravaging Anglesey in 854. In 856, Rhodri won a 
notable victory and killed their leader Gorm.

The Chronicle of the Princes records two victories by Rhodri in 872: the first at a 
place given variously as Bangolau,[3] Bann Guolou,[4] or Bannoleu,[5] where he 
defeated the Vikings on Anglesey "in a hard battle"[3] and the second at Manegid[3] 
or Enegyd[6] where the Vikings "were destroyed".

The Chronicle of the Princes records his death occurring at the Battle of Sunday on 
Anglesey in 873;[3] the Annals of Wales record the two events in different years[4][5] 
and Phillimore's reconstruction of its dates places Rhodri's death in 877.[4] According 
to the Chronicle, Rhodri and his brother Gwriad were killed during a Saxon invasion 
(which probably would have been under Ceolwulf of Mercia, given that the Wessex 
forces under Alfred the Great were fighting Vikings in East Anglia at the time). The 
Annals record no great details of the death, but where the B text calls Gwriad Rhodri's 
brother,[5] the A text has him as Rhodri's son instead.[4] It is likely he was killed in 
battle given that all the sources call his son Anarawd's victory over the Mercians at 
the Battle of the Conwy a few years later "God's vengeance for Rhodri".

Succession[edit]

Rhodri died leaving at least four sons to share his land among themselves. The 
traditional account is that his eldest, Anarawd, became king of Gwynedd and the head 
of the subsequent House of Aberffraw which produced Gruffudd ap Cynan and 
Llywelyn the Great. Another, Cadell, was given Ceredigion and killed his brother 
Merfyn to claim Powys as well. Cadell's family was later known as the House of 
Dinefwr, after its base of operations was moved by Hywel the Good to Dyfed following 
another (supposed) inheritance via his marriage to Elen ferch Llywarch. Hywel's wide 
domain, later known as Deheubarth, briefly eclipsed Gwynedd under his immediate 
heirs before fracturing.

A fourth son, possibly too young to have been considered for the first division of 
Rhodri's lands, took part in Anarawd's 881 revenge against Mercia and, wounded 
there, became known to history as Tudwal the Lame, a condition disqualifying him 
from rule under Cyfraith Hywel, Welsh customary law.

Parents
AP GWRIAD Merfyn "Frych" (ABT  764 -  843)
VERCH CYNAN Esyllt (ABT  770 - )

Siblings
AP MERFYN Rhodri "Mawr" ("the Great") (ABT  820 -  878)

Marriage To VERCH MEURIG Angharad (ABT  825 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
AP DYFNWALLON Meurig (ABT  780 - )
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Children by VERCH MEURIG Angharad ABT  825 - 
AP RHODRI Anarawd (ABT  857 -  916)
AP RHODRI Merfyn (ABT  859 -  900)
AP RHODRI Cadell (ABT  861 -  909)

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