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Rhodri Mawr ap Merfyn Of Wales

Male - 878


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  • Name Rhodri Mawr ap Merfyn Of Wales 
    Nickname the Great 
    Gender Male 
    Died 878 
    Person ID I6110  MyTree
    Last Modified 15 Aug 2009 

    Father Merfyn Frych Of Gwynedd (Wales),   d. 844 
    Mother Nesta ferch Of Powys (Wales),   b. Abt 780,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F3485  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Angharad ap South Meurig Of Wales,   b. Abt 820, Wales Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Married Wales Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Anarawd ap Rhodri Mawr Of North Wales
    +2. Cadell ap Rhodri Of Seisyllwg (Wales),   d. 910
    Last Modified 17 Jul 2017 
    Family ID F3488  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Rhodri the Great AKA Roderick the Great (in Welsh, "Rhodri Mawr") was
      the first ruler of Wales to be called "Great", and the first to rule
      most of present-day Wales. The son of Merfyn Frych, he inherited the
      principality of Gwynedd on his father's death in 844, and Powys from
      his uncle. He proceeded to marry Angharad, daughter of the ruler of
      Seisyllwg, which he duly inherited on the accidental death of his
      brother-in-law in 871. Rhodri succeeded in holding off both Viking and
      Saxon invaders, offering security to his subjects at a time of great
      danger and unrest throughout the British Isles. It was, however, the
      Vikings who drove Rhodri away from his home territory in 877, and he
      fled to Ireland. Returning the following year in an attempt to regain
      his kingdom, he was killed in battle against the Mercians.

      According to legend, the first Dinefwr Castle was built by Rhodri Mawr
      - King of Wales in the 9th century. It is unavoidable that attention
      should focus on those Welsh rulers who extended their power over much
      of Wales in the centuries prior to the Norman conquest. They
      foreshadowed the attempts by the princes of Gwynedd in the 13th
      century to create a unified Welsh state, and they matched contemporary
      developments in England, and similar, but later, developments in
      Scotland. So, Rhodri Mawr (844-78) is presented as one who set a
      pattern for the future. He either ruled or, by his personal qualities,
      dominated much of Wales.

      Chroniclers of his generation hailed Rhodri ap Merfyn as Rhodri Mawr
      (Rhodri the Great), a distinction bestowed upon two other rulers in
      the same century - Charles the Great (Charlemagne, died 814) and
      Alfred the Great (died 899). The three tributes are of a similar
      nature - recognition of the achievements of men who contributed
      significantly to the growth of statehood among the nations of the
      Welsh, the Franks and the English. Unfortunately, the entire evidence
      relating to the life of Rhodri consists of a few sentences; yet he
      must have made a deep impression upon the Welsh, for in later
      centuries being of the line of Rhodri was a primary qualification for
      their rulers. Until his death, Rhodri was acknowledged as ruler of
      more than half of Wales, and that as much by diplomacy as by conquest.


      Rhodri's fame sprang from his success as a warrior. That success was
      noted by The Ulster Chronicle and by Sedulius Scottus, an Irish
      scholar at the court of the Emperor Charles the Bald at Liege. It was
      his victory over the Vikings in 856 which brought him international
      acclaim. Wales was less richly provided with fertile land and with the
      navigable rivers that attracted the Vikings, and the Welsh kings had
      considerable success in resisting them. Anglesey bore the brunt of the
      attacks, and it was there in 856 that Rhodri won his great victory
      over Horn, the leader of the Danes, much to the delight of the Irish
      and the Franks.

      It was not only from the west that the kingdom of Rhodri was
      threatened. By becoming the ruler of Powys, his mother's land, he
      inherited the old struggle with the kingdom of Mercia. Although Offa's
      Dyke had been constructed in order to define the territories of the
      Welsh and the English, this did not prevent the successors of Offa
      from attacking Wales. The pressure on Powys continued; after 855,
      Rhodri was its defender, and he and his son, Gwriad, were killed in
      battle against the English in 878. (Source:
      http://www.castlewales.com/rhodri.html)