116Living 1100, of Richard's Castle, co. Hereford 1060.
Notes:
Per Weis' "Ancestral Roots. . ." (177:2) he was sheriff of Hereford.
Child 1: Gruffydd, Nest Ferch
Child 2: ap Gruffydd, Maredudd, King of Powys
Child 3: ap Gruffydd, Ithell
3Trahaearn ap Caradog
Trahaearn ap Caradog (died 1081) was a King of
Gwynedd.
Accession
On the death of
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 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, on the border between Gwynedd and
Powys.
Conflict with Gruffydd ap Cynan
The same year
Gruffydd ap Cynan landed on
Anglesey with an
Irish force, and with the assistance of the
Norman Robert of Rhuddlan defeated Trahaearn and gained control of Gwynedd.
However tension between
Gruffydd ap Cynan's Irish bodyguard and the local
Welsh led to a rebellion in
Llyn 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, defeating
Rhys ab Owain of
Deheubarth, who had been responsible for the killing of
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, 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 of
Gwent. This was hailed in the annals
Brut y Tywysogion as "vengeance for the blood of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn".
Trahaearn ruled Gwynedd until 1081, when
Gruffydd ap Cynan returned from Ireland with an army of
Danes and Irish and made an alliance with
Rhys ap Tewdwr who had recently been ousted as prince of
Deheubarth by
Caradog ap Gruffydd of
Morgannwg.
Downfall and death
Trahaearn countered by making an alliance with Caradog ap Gruffydd. He is also said to have had Norman
arbalisters in his army, but at the
Battle of Mynydd Carn, north of
St David's, 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.