CHRISTINA ,
second wife of Owain Gwynedd (q.v.), was the daughter of Gronw (d. 1124), son of Owain ab Edwin (q.v.) and, accordingly, her husband's first cousin. The marriage was not recognized by the Church, and Becket and Alexander III, not long before Owain's death, urged a separation. But the prince, whose affection for Christina is manifest, was obdurate and, in consequence, died under excommunication. As a widow, she actively supported her sons Dafydd (q.v.) and Rhodri, in their attack upon their half-brother Hywel in 1170; an unknown poet, playing upon her name, speaks bitterly of her unchristian behaviour. The Welsh form of her name is Cristin; the ‘Crisiant’ of the Gwentian Brut (Myv. Arch., ii, 572) is a fancy of Iolo Morganwg.
Author:
Sir John Edward Lloyd, D.Litt., F.B.A., F.S.A. (1861-1947), Bangor
