Bradwen ap Idnerth ap Dafydd Ysgyd Aur

• Preferred Name: Bradwen ap Idnerth ap Dafydd Ysgyd Aur
  
• Gender: M
  
• FSID: GDN2-1R7
  
• Death: in Wales at LATI: N2.3302 LONG: E3.7664
  
• Birth: 1125 in Wales at LATI: N2.3302 LONG: E3.7664
  
• Notes:

  === Note ===
  In an earlier paper[1], we presented the pedigree of the Meirionydd family found in the commote of Tal-y-bont in the 11th century. We ended that analysis with a Bradwen ap Mael born c. 1065, and the observation that he could not be the same Bradwen who fathered either Ednowain or Gwyn ap Bradwen...both men of the late 12th century.
  
  Before attempting to fill in the missing generations which separate the two men named Bradwen, we should first show our dating for the clan of Ednowain. We had already mentioned, in the earlier paper, one marriage which dated his brother, Gwyn ap Bradwen, to c. 1160. Two other marriages in that family appear to confirm this dating of Gwyn.[2]
  
  Two marriages are cited for Ednowain. The first matches him with Marged ferch Cynan ap Owain Gwynedd[3], while his second wife was Sian ferch Philip ap Uchdryd Cyfeiliog ap Uchdryd ap Edwin[4]. Marged was born c. 1165, while Sian can be dated to c. 1155:
  
  1035 Cynan ap Iago Edwin of Tegeingl 1020
  l l
  1070 Gruffudd Uchdryd 1055
  l l
  1100 Owain Gwynedd Uchdryd Cyfeiliog 1085
  l l
  1130 Cynan Philip 1120
  l l
  1165 Marged===Ednowain=====Sian 1155
  1155
  
  The only child of Ednowain for which a spouse is cited was his daughter, Annes, who married Madog (c. 1170) ap Maelog Crwm (c. 1140).[5] We date the birth of Annes to c. 1185, a third confirmation of our c. 1155 estimate for Ednowain. One marriage mentioned in our earlier paper also confirms that date: that of Gwenllian (c. 1240) ferch Iorwerth (c. 1215) ap Peredur (c. 1185) ap Ednowain (c. 1155) to Meurig (c. 1230) ap Madog (c. 1200) ap Cadwgan of the Nannau family (c. 1170).[6]
  
  Two ladies are thought to have been sisters of Ednowain ap Bradwen: Isabel and Arddun ferch Bradwen. Isabel married Seisyllt of Meirionydd[7] while Arddun married a Madog descended from Ednowain Bendew II [8].
  
  1050 Ednowain ap Eunydd Bach 1050 Ednowain Bendew II
  l l
  1080 Seisyllt 1080 Madog
  l l
  1110 Einion 1110 Iorwerth
  l l
  1145 Seisyllt===Isabel 1160 1145 Madog
  =
  Arddun 1155
  
  These ladies provide yet another confirmation that their brother, Ednowain ap Bradwen, was born c. 1155.
  .
  In Appendices to this paper, we shall mention some of the problems encountered in the pedigrees of this family which have resulted in the flawed constructions presented by other researchers[9]. But our primary objective here is to identify the ancestry of the c. 1125 Bradwen, father of Ednowain, and his connection to the earlier Bradwen ap Mael.
  
  One group of pedigrees derives Ednowain ap Bradwen from Llewelyn Aurdorchog, Lord of Ial and Ystrad Alun, a notion scoffed at by Peter Bartrum as "quite impossible chronologically".[10] Of 6 such pedigrees he cites, there are three too many generations separating Ednowain from Llewelyn Aurdorchog, but these extra names are "Unwch Unarchen ap Mael ap Eliw".[11] Those names invoke memories of the "Maeldaf ap Unwch Unarchen" found in the c. 1300 pedigree of Bradwen ap Mael, and probably should be rejected. But there are 2 pedigrees which cite credible constructions, one mentioned by Bartrum[12] and another not.[13]
  
  Those two pedigrees yield a chronologically stable timeline when charted:
  
  1005 Llewelyn Aurdorchog[14]
  l
  1035 Ednowain Aurdorchog[15]
  l
  1065 Dafydd Ysgid Aur
  l
  1095 Idnerth[16]
  l
  1125 Bradwen
  l
  1155 Ednowain
  
  Since the 12th century men in this chart were clearly leading men of Meirionydd, and those at the top were men of Ial in Powys, how can this be explained? Additionally, the Meirionydd men appear to have held the same lands once owned by Bradwen ap Mael, a man paternally descended from Meirion ap Cunedda whose ancestors had held those lands for some 600 years. We think a marriage between the two families occurred about 1125 as:
  
  1065 Dafydd Ysgid Aur 1065 Bradwen ap Mael
  l l
  1095 Idnerth==================daughter 1105
  l
  1125 Bradwen
  l
  1155 Ednowain
  
  With such a marriage, the only daughter of Bradwen ap Mael could have brought his lands to her son whom she named after her father. This son then named one of his sons after his paternal ancestor, Ednowain ap Llewelyn Aurdorchog. But what were the circumstances which might have led to such a marriage?
  
  Although there is little in the written record to guide us, we do know that Llewelyn Aurdorchog had been his king's penteulu; he was the leader of the warband of Gruffudd ap Llewelyn during most of that man's kingship (1039-1063). From his name as it appears in various pedigree citations, his son Ednowain also served as penteulu for a king, donning the gold torc which symbolized the ancient Celt battle leaders. And Ednowain's son, Dafydd "with the gold boots" also wore the garb of a battle leader....circlets of gold around his lower legs. We would posit, therefore, that this family had a long tradition serving as professional soldiers who, in modern terms, would be called field generals. The tradition may go back as far as the early 900's to Cynddelw Gam ap Elgudy who led an army in the battles which expelled the Danes from northeast Wales.[17]
  
  It is entirely possible that Coel ap Gweirydd, father of Llewelyn Aurdorchog, had been penteulu for King Llewelyn ap Seisyll; we have previously suggested that Coel married a sister of that king.[18] After the death of Gruffudd ap Llewelyn in 1063, the sons of Cynfyn[19] were confirmed as new kings: Rhiwallon in Powys and Bleddyn in Gwynedd. We suspect Bleddyn asked his nephew[20] Ednowain ap Llewelyn Aurdorchog, to join him in Gwynedd to train and lead his warband. In 1069, it may have been Ednowain who led Bleddyn's men to avenge the slaying of Rhiwallon at Mechain. That the men defeated, Ithel and Maredudd sons of Gruffudd ap Llewelyn, were his second-cousins[21] would have little meaning to Ednowain; he was merely a professional soldier serving his king. Generals do not chose the enemy, his superiors holding political power do that.
  
  See http://www.ancientwalesstudies.org/id196.html