Trahaearn ap Caradog
Encyclopedia
Accession
On the death of Bleddyn ap CynfynBleddyn ap Cynfyn
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn was a Prince of the Welsh Kingdoms of Gwynedd and of Powys.- Lineage :Bleddyn was the son of Princess Angharad ferch Maredudd with her second husband Cynfyn ap Gwerstan, a Powys Lord, about whom little is now known...
in 1075, it appears that none of his sons were old enough to claim the throne, and Bleddyn's cousin Trahaearn ap Caradog, seized power. The family is thought to have originated in Arwystli
Arwystli
Arwystli was a cantref in medieval Wales, located in the headland of the River Severn in what is now the county of Powys. It was chiefly associated with the Kingdom of Powys, but was heavily disputed between Powys, Gwynedd, and the Norman Marcher Lords for hundreds of years, and was the scene of...
, on the border between Gwynedd and Powys.
Conflict with Gruffydd ap Cynan
The same year Gruffydd ap CynanGruffydd ap Cynan
Gruffydd ap Cynan was a King of Gwynedd. In the course of a long and eventful life, he became a key figure in Welsh resistance to Norman rule, and was remembered as King of all Wales...
landed on Anglesey
Anglesey
Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
with an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
force, and with the assistance of the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
Robert of Rhuddlan
Robert of Rhuddlan
Robert of Rhuddlan was a Norman adventurer who became lord of much of north-east Wales and for a period lord of all North Wales....
defeated Trahaearn and gained control of Gwynedd.
However tension between Gruffydd ap Cynan
Gruffydd ap Cynan
Gruffydd ap Cynan was a King of Gwynedd. In the course of a long and eventful life, he became a key figure in Welsh resistance to Norman rule, and was remembered as King of all Wales...
's Irish bodyguard and the local Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
led to a rebellion in Llyn
Llyn
Llyn is the Welsh word for "lake" or, occasionally, "pond" or "pool". The word and its cognates in other Celtic languages , as well their derivatives—including lyn, lynn and lin—appear in many placenames throughout the current and former Celtic world, as, for example, in Dublin and King's...
and Trahaearn took the opportunity to counter attack, defeating Gruffydd at the Battle of Bron yr Erw, also in 1075, and forcing him to flee back to Ireland.
In 1078 Trahaearn was campaigning in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
, defeating Rhys ab Owain
Rhys ab Owain
Rhys ab Owain was a king of Deheubarth in southern Wales.Rhys was the son of Owain ab Edwin of the line of Hywel Dda, and member of the Dinefwr dynasty. He followed his brother Maredudd as king of Deheubarth in 1072...
of Deheubarth, who had been responsible for the killing of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn was a Prince of the Welsh Kingdoms of Gwynedd and of Powys.- Lineage :Bleddyn was the son of Princess Angharad ferch Maredudd with her second husband Cynfyn ap Gwerstan, a Powys Lord, about whom little is now known...
, in the Battle of Gwdig or Battle of Goodwick. Rhys was forced to flee, and later the same year was killed by Caradog ap Gruffydd
Caradog ap Gruffydd
Caradog ap Gruffydd was a Prince of Gwent in south-east Wales who made repeated attempts to gain power over all of southern Wales by seizing the Kingdom of Deheubarth.- Lineage :...
of Gwent. This was hailed in the annals Brut y Tywysogion
Brut y Tywysogion
Brut y Tywysogion 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 y Tywysogion has survived as several Welsh translations of an original Latin version, which has...
as "vengeance for the blood of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn".
Trahaearn ruled Gwynedd until 1081, when Gruffydd ap Cynan
Gruffydd ap Cynan
Gruffydd ap Cynan was a King of Gwynedd. In the course of a long and eventful life, he became a key figure in Welsh resistance to Norman rule, and was remembered as King of all Wales...
returned from Ireland with an army of Danes and Irish and made an alliance with Rhys ap Tewdwr
Rhys ap Tewdwr
Rhys ap Tewdwr was a Prince of Deheubarth in south-west Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great...
who had recently been ousted as prince of Deheubarth by Caradog ap Gruffydd
Caradog ap Gruffydd
Caradog ap Gruffydd was a Prince of Gwent in south-east Wales who made repeated attempts to gain power over all of southern Wales by seizing the Kingdom of Deheubarth.- Lineage :...
of Morgannwg.
Downfall and death
Trahaearn countered by making an alliance with Caradog ap Gruffydd. He is also said to have had Norman arbalistersArbalest
The arbalest was a late variation of the medieval European crossbow. A large weapon, the arbalest had a steel prod . Since an arbalest was much larger than earlier crossbows, and because of the greater compressive strength of steel, it had a greater force...
in his army, but at the Battle of Mynydd Carn
Battle of Mynydd Carn
The Battle of Mynydd Carn took place in 1081, as part of a dynastic struggle for control of the Welsh kingdoms of Gwynedd and Deheubarth. The result of the battle had a radical effect on the history of Wales....
, north of St David's
St David's
St Davids , is a city and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Lying on the River Alun on St David's Peninsula, it is Britain's smallest city in terms of both size and population, the final resting place of Saint David, the country's patron saint, and the de facto ecclesiastical capital of...
, that year both Trahaearn and Caradog were killed, and Gruffydd ap Cynan took over the rule of Gwynedd while Rhys ap Tewdwr was restored as prince of Deheubarth. Trahaearn is recorded as having been killed by one of Gruffydd ap Cynan's men, an Irishman named Gucharki.