Caradog ap Gruffydd ^{1 2 3}

   Cause of his death was killed in battle.¹

  General Notes:

CARADOG (-killed in battle 1081). [The Gwentian Chronicle records that "Caradoc son of Rhydderch [error for son of Grufudd son of Rhydderch?] son of Iestin hired Harallt to come with an army to S. Wales" and together they defeated Prince Gruffydd in 1060.] The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales records that "Maredudd son of Owain was killed by Caradog son of Gruffudd son of Rhydderch and the French on the banks of the river Rymney" in 1070. [The Gwentian Chronicle records that "Caradog and [error for son of] Grufudd, son of Rhydderch, son of Iestin" defeated and killed "Meredydd son of Owain son of Edwin king of South Wales" in 1069.]

m GWENLLIAN, daughter of BLEDDYN & his [first wife ---]. Her parentage and marriage are confirmed by the Chronicle of the Princes of Wales which names "Owain son of Caradog by Gwenllian daughter of…Bleddyn".

Caradog & his wife had one child: Owain.

[FMG/Medieval Lands]

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CARADOG ap GRUFFYDD ap RHYDDERCH (died 1081).

Name: Caradog Ap Gruffydd Ap Rhydderch
Date of death: 1081
Child: Owain ap Caradog
Parent: Gruffydd ap Rhydderch ap Iestyn
Gender: Male
Area of activity: Royalty and Society; Politics, Government and Political Movements; Military
Author: John Edward Lloyd

The grandson of Rhydderch ap Iestyn, powerful in South Wales until his death in 1033, and the son of Gruffydd ap Rhydderch, the rival of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, by whom he was slain in 1055.

The home of the family would seem to have been Gwynllwg and Upper Gwent. It is in this quarter of Wales that Caradog makes his first appearance in 1065, when he swooped upon earl Harold's new hunting lodge at Portskewet, destroyed it and ravaged the neighbourhood, without apparently suffering any reprisals. He was of a bold and adventurous temper and, remembering the exploits of his grandfather and father, set himself to conquer the realm of Deheubarth. In 1072 he defeated and slew the reigning prince, Maredudd ab Owain ab Edwin, in a battle on the Rhymney, and in 1078 slew his successor, Rhys ab Owain. But a third and more formidable opponent appeared in Rhys ap Tewdwr in 1081. Thus the stage was set for the famous battle of Mynydd Carn fought somewhere in northern Dyfed, where Rhys, fortified by the approval of bishop Sulien of S. Davids and with the help of Gruffudd ap Cynan, inflicted a crushing defeat upon Caradog and his northern allies.

Caradog is no more heard of; he left a son, Owain, on whom see the article Morgan ap Hywel, who in course of time established himself in Gwynllwg and became the ancestor of the later Welsh lords of Caerleon.

Author
Sir John Edward Lloyd, (1861 - 1947)

Sources
J. E. Lloyd, A History of Wales: from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest (London 1912), 372-3, 377, 384-5, 393.

[Dictionary of Welsh Biography] ^{1 4}

Caradog married Gwenllian verch Bleddyn, daughter of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn King of Gwynedd and Powys and verch Brockwell.^{1 2}