GRUFFUDD ap NICOLAS
(
fl.
1425-1456
), an
esquire and a leading figure in the local administration of the principality of South Wales in the middle of the 15th cent.
Nothing is known of his early years, but it is said that he was the posthumous son of
Nicolas ap Phylip ap Syr Elidir Ddu
(one of the
knights of the Sepulchre
) by his wife
Jennet
, daughter of
Gruffydd ap Llewelyn Foethus
. The first authentic record of him is as the holder of the office of
king's approver
for the lordship and new town of
Dynevor
in
1425
. He was
sheriff of Carmarthenshire
in
1436
. With
Edmund
Beaufort
, parts of the lands of
Phillip
Clement
were demised to him in
1437
. He was a power to be feared in
West Wales
in
1438
, according to the evidence of
Margaret
Malefant
in a petition to
Parliament
. He was
farmer
of the lordship of
Dynevor
in
1439
, and his son
JOHN
shared the office with him. In that same year we find his son
THOMAS
escheator
for
Cardiganshire
. In
1442-3
, he again came to the notice of the authorities in
London
, when he and the
abbot of Whitland
were summoned to the metropolis and the
Privy Council
ordered the arrest of his son
Owen
.
Humphrey
,
duke of Gloucester
, was his patron, and he received,
24 July 1443
, the custody of the lordship of
Caron
and the commote of
Pennarth
during the minority of
Maud
, heiress of
William
Clement
. He held sessions on behalf of
duke
Humphrey
in the counties of
Carmarthen
and
Cardigan
. When the
English
inhabitants of
North Wales
towns petitioned
Parliament
in
1444
, against the denization of more
Welshmen
, he and
William
Bulkeley
were excepted by name. He was
placed on a commission to enquire into felonies
committed by
David ap Meredith
in
Aberystwyth
2 July 1445
. The fall of his
patron
in
1447
brought him into trouble, and he was imprisoned with other members of
duke
Humphrey
's retinue. He was soon released and managed to retain the confidence of the court, continuing to act for the
Justice of South Wales
and, occasionally, for the
chamberlain
.
John
Delabere
,
bishop of S. Davids
,
1447-
c.
1460
, committed his bishopric to his care, and the
duke of York
obtained licence,
13 May 1449
, to grant him and the
bishop
the castle, manor, and town of
Narberth
. He and his son
Thomas
were placed on a
commission for the defence of the ports of south-west Wales
, to
muster forces
, and
erect beacons
,
7 Oct. 1450
. About this time, when he was at the zenith of his power, the
Carmarthen eisteddfod
was held. The date and details are uncertain — reports
vary between
1451
and
1453
. Some maintain that it lasted three months at his cost at
Dynevor
and others state that it lasted a fortnight and that it was held at
Carmarthen
. It is agreed that
Gruffudd ap Nicolas
was
judge over the poets
, and that the
chair
was awarded to
Dafydd ab Edmwnd
(q.v.)
. It is pretty certain also that the eisteddfod revised the bardic metres and regulated the bardic fraternity. In
1454-5
, the
castle of Carregcennen
was repaired and garrisoned upon his command. On the verge of the
Wars of the Roses
, he was on good terms with the court of
Henry
VI
, and after the
Yorkist
victory at
S. Albans
,
1455
, he lost some of his offices. Yet, he appears to have taken offence at the coming of
Edmund
,
earl of Richmond
(q.v.)
, to
Pembroke
, in
1456
, if he was the ‘Gruffith Suoh’ (
sic.
) who, with the
earl of Richmond
, was reported,
7 June 1456
, by
John
Bocking
, in a letter to
John
Paston
, to be at war greatly in
Wales
. However, he and his sons,
Thomas
and
Owen
, were granted general pardons on
26 Oct. 1456
. His name then disappears from the records. Had he been alive on
1 March 1459
it is difficult to imagine that his name would have been left out of a commission entrusted to his two sons,
Thomas
and
Owen
, with
Jasper
and
Owen
Tudor
(qq.v.). It is, therefore, impossible to accept the reports that he was mortally wounded either at the
battle of Wakefield
,
1460
, or at
Mortimer's Cross
,
1461
. His praises were sung by
Dafydd ab Edmwnd
,
Hywel ap Dafydd ap Ieuan ap Rhys
,
Rhys Llwyd ap Rhys ap Rhicert
,
Gwilym ap Ieuan Hen
, and
Lewis Glyn Cothi
. It is probable that the
englynion
attributed to him and
Owen
Dwnn
(q.v.)
and
Griffith Benrhaw
(q.v.)
had their origin in the humour of bardic festivities. It is said that he was thrice m.: (1) to
Mabel
, daughter of
Meredith ap Henry
Dwnn
, (2) to a daughter of
Sir
Thomas
Perrot
, and (3) to
Jane
, daughter of
Jenkin ap Rhys ap Dafydd
of
Gilfach-wen
. Three of his sons have been named,
John
who disappears early from the records,
Owen
heir of
Bryn y Beirdd
, and
Lewis Glyn Cothi
's companion in hiding, and
Thomas
, who was
slain in a skirmish
at
Pennal
, probably during
lord
Herbert
's expedition into
North Wales
in
1468
. He was the father of
Sir
Rhys ap Thomas
(
1449
-
1525
) (q.v.)
.
Bibliography:
-
Cambrian Register
, three volumes,
1795–1818
, i, 54-64, an unreliable source;
-
A History of Carmarthenshire
, 2 vols.,
1935–9
, i, 258-9;
-
H. T. Evans
,
Wales and the Wars of the Roses
,
1915
, passim;
-
National Library of Wales
Manuscripts
452, 1602;
-
Peniarth Manuscript in the National Library of
Wales
158;
-
‘Public Record Office—Ministers' Accounts.’
1168 et seq.;
-
E. Yardley
,
Menevia Sacra. Arch. Camb.
, Supplement,
1927
;
-
Y Llenor
, v, 94-102.
Author:
Evan David Jones, F.S.A., (1903-87), Aberystwyth
