GRUFFYDD ap RHYDDERCH ap IESTYN (d. 1055), king.
When Gruffudd ap Llywelyn (q.v.) took possession of Deheubarth in 1044, the South found a new focus of resistance in the leadership of Gruffydd ap Rhydderch. Independence was thus retrieved in 1045, and for ten years, until his fall in 1055, Gruffydd gave to his adopted ‘patria’ a vigorous government in which resistance to the Danes was a prominent feature. The sanction for his intervention in the affairs of Deheubarth came in part from his father's successful usurpation of power there during the years 1023-33. Gruffydd, moreover, was already a ‘king’ in Glamorgan, probably over Gwynllwg, where his descendants enjoyed restricted power down to 1270.
Bibliography:
- Hist. W., 361-4, table 771;
- Trans. Cymm., 1899-1900, 122 et seq.
Author:
Professor Thomas Jones Pierce, M.A., F.S.A., (1905-1964), Aberystwyth
