Patronage and Power in the Medieval Welsh March

One Family's Story

David Stephenson

• Publisher: University of Wales Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781786838186
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781786838209
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

This is the first full-length study of a Welsh family of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries who were not drawn from the princely class. Though they were of obscure and modest origins, the patronage of great lords of the March – such as the Mortimers of Wigmore or the de Bohun earls of Hereford – helped them to become prominent in Wales and the March, and increasingly in England. They helped to bring down anyone opposed by their patrons – like Llywelyn, prince of Wales in the thirteenth century, or Edward II in the 1320s. In the process, they sometimes faced great danger but they contrived to prosper, and unusually for Welshmen one branch became Marcher lords themselves. Another was prominent in Welsh and English government, becoming diplomats and courtiers of English kings, and over some five generations many achieved knighthood. Their fascinating careers perhaps hint at a more open society than is sometimes envisaged.

1

Hywel ap Meurig: Questions of Ancestry

Hywel ap Meurig’s very name was of significance. In the first place, the patronymic ‘ap’ (‘son of’), reveals quite clearly that he was Welsh. This was no English official of an English Marcher lord. Indeed, the Marcher lord in question, Roger Mortimer, was himself half-Welsh, for his mother was Gwladus Ddu (the dark-haired, dark-eyed), one of the daughters of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd’s grandfather, Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great).¹ So Roger Mortimer and Prince Llywelyn were cousins. Roger’s Welsh ancestry may make it more intelligible that he had employed a Welshman in a particularly powerful and sensitive post, as castellan of the most significant Mortimer castle in Wales yet built. For the castle of Cefnllys was a stone castle, built relatively recently, by Roger Mortimer’s father, Ralph, in 1242.² By the middle decades of the thirteenth century it is possible to discern within the Marcher lordships a rising class of Welsh officials. The Marcher lords were becoming more prepared to entrust important and sensitive posts to Welsh magnates who were happy to act as their leading officials, and to increase their own status and influence in the process.³

It is clear that Hywel ap Meurig was an early member of this class. Hywel ap Meurig’s name also reveals him as a man already known in a rather different context. As early as 1259, even before we have clear evidence that he was a leading official of a lord such as Roger Mortimer, he appears as a royal appointee engaged with others of Henry III’s officers in negotiations with none other than Llywelyn ap Gruffudd.⁴ Ironically, by the summer of 1262 Hywel was one of the officials charged with extending a truce with the prince and dealing with Llywelyn’s claim that the previous truce had been broken by, amongst others, Roger Mortimer.⁵ It is probably the result of his record as a royal officer, and the fact that he was high in the service of Roger Mortimer, that explains why Hywel and his family were not killed in the seizure of Cefnllys. They were worth money in the form of ransom payments if they were kept alive. It therefore comes as no surprise that we find Hywel ap Meurig released and at liberty within months of his capture.⁶ He and his family had presumably been bought out of captivity.

All of this raises the question: who exactly was this Hywel ap Meurig? How had he come to be so prominent, both in royal service and in that of one of the greatest of the Marcher lords? At some point, far in the future, a member of Hywel’s family would have a genealogy drawn up which revealed his ancestry and of course that of his descendants. The genealogy is a revelation. It shows that Hywel was the son of Meurig, who in turn was the son of Rhys, whose father was Philip, son of Rhys Mechyll.⁷ This is the point at which the lineage becomes really interesting, for Rhys Mechyll was a Welsh ruler, a son of Rhys Gryg, lord of the great castle of Dinefwr and ruler of a realm which covered the Tywi Valley.⁸ Rhys Gryg was perhaps the most illustrious son of the Lord Rhys, the prince of South Wales and one of the most powerful Welsh rulers of the twelfth century. The genealogy thus shows clearly the background to the prominence of Hywel ap Meurig: his pedigree as a descendant of Welsh rulers appears impeccable. There is only one problem: the pedigree was demonstrably fictitious.

The problem can be set out very briefly. Rhys Mechyll died in 1244.⁹ Hywel ap Meurig died in 1281, only thirty-seven years, little more than a generation, after the death of the man recorded in his genealogy as his great-great-grandfather.¹⁰ This is in itself highly unlikely, the more so as Hywel ap Meurig was clearly no mere youth when he acted as a negotiator for Henry III and a castellan for Roger Mortimer in the period 1259–62. We may therefore assume his birth took place several years before the death of his alleged great-great-grandfather, who had in turn died relatively young, a mere ten years after his father. The genealogy creates a clearly absurd situation. The pedigree-maker responsible for constructing the genealogy of Hywel al Meurig was quite probably commissioned by the family to provide them with a particularly distinguished ancestry consonant with what we shall see were their significant worldly achievements. But we do not have to be reliant on his work, for there is an alternative, much more credible, and significantly different account of Hywel’s forebears and descendants.

This exists in an official government record of the fourteenth century, an inquisition, or formal enquiry, ordered by the royal government. The record of the enquiry tells us in detail about one branch of Hywel’s descendants, and about some of his ancestors. The enquiry took place before two royal appointees, Adam Lucas and John de Mershton, in the presence of Ieuan ap Rhys, acting as deputy for the keeper of the manor of Radnor, Hugh Tyrel, whose absence may have been the result of embarrassment, as the record suggests. It was taken at Weobley, in Herefordshire, in June 1339:

Philip de Clanvowe and his ancestors have been reeves in fee of the land of Glaudestre [Gladestry], an appurtenance of the manor of Radnor, receiving yearly from that manor seven ells of cloth worth five marks a cloth, which the said Philip had from Margaret Mortimer in her time. Philip ap Hywel, his uncle, whose heir he is, had the same from Edmund Mortimer in his time, and from Maud his mother in her time. Hywel ap Meurig, father of the said Philip ap Hywel and grandfather of the said Philip de Clanvowe, whose heir he is, had the same from the said Maud in her time. Meurig ap Philip, father of the said Hywel, had the same from William de Braose in his time. And so the said Philip de Clanvowe and his ancestors had the same from time beyond memory until the manor came to the king’s hand by the death of Margaret Mortimer by reason of the minority of Roger, son and heir of Edmund Mortimer. The cloth is in arrears for the whole time of Hugh Tyrel as keeper of the manor.¹¹

So here we have a line of Hywel’s immediate forebears running Hywel ap Meurig ap Philip … Luckily the existence of Meurig ap Philip, Hywel’s father as alleged in the 1339 Inquisition, can be confirmed from a number of sources. In 1241 the head of the Mortimer family, Ralph, was engaged in a sharp struggle, effectively a regional war, to re-establish the Mortimer possessions in central Wales after they had been driven out by Llywelyn the Great and the local Welsh dynasty descended from Cadwallon ap Madog, in the years after 1214. Several charters in which Welsh lords of the commote of Gwerthrynion formally relinquished their lordship in that territory to Ralph Mortimer after the conflict of 1241 contain the name of Meurig ap Philip among the witnesses.¹² It therefore appears that Meurig was amongst the Welsh magnates of the Middle March who accepted Mortimer lordship and who formed part of the entourage of a Mortimer lord, particularly after control of Radnor lordship passed from the de Braose family to the Mortimers in 1230. When the name of Meurig ap Philip occurs in the witness lists to these charters, it comes towards the tail-end of the lists, suggesting that though worthy of inclusion among the named witnesses, Meurig was not an official, or indeed a tenant, of the first rank.¹³ That supposition conforms well to the evidence that Meurig had acted as the reeve of Gladestry in the period of de Braose lordship, for the reeve was effectively a manorial official and not normally a magnate.¹⁴

But a rather different impression is gained from an earlier record. This relates to events in 1216, when King John was struggling to shore up his regime against both baronial opposition and an invasion of England mounted by the French king’s son Louis. By late July he was moving through the Welsh March in the hope of raising support there. In the Middle March he could hope for some help from the loyal Hugh Mortimer, but the Mortimers’ position in the region had recently suffered a heavy blow when they were pushed out of Maelienydd. The Braose family, once so dominant in the region, had been alienated by John’s breaking of William de Braose after 1208 and the death in a royal prison of his wife Matilda and their son William in 1210.¹⁵ With the power of the lords of the Middle March in abeyance, John evidently decided to appeal to the Welsh notables of the region. This is the background to a letter which he dispatched from Hay on 28 July, calling to his aid a number of Welsh leaders, who were assured that a meeting with the king was going to be to their benefit and that they would have safe conduct coming to, staying with, and going from the king. Those summoned included Hywel ap Philip and his brother Meurig.¹⁶ That this Meurig ap Philip is to be identified as the father of Hywel ap Meurig is strongly suggested by the name of Meurig’s brother, Hywel. It seems likely that Meurig named his son after his brother. In John’s letter Hywel and Meurig, sons of Philip are named second and third respectively in the list of those called to meet with the king. This seems to suggest a significantly higher status than that suggested by the Gwerthrynion charters. It is possible to reconcile these apparently varying estimations of Meurig ap Philip’s status by suggesting that in 1241 it was his standing in the mixed English and Welsh Mortimer entourage which is reflected in his place in the witness lists, whereas in 1216 it was his place in the predominantly Welsh community to which John was appealing, that explains his prominence.

The background to Hywel ap Meurig’s career thus appears to be that of a family well known in the Middle March and considered to be prominent in the Welsh community of the region without ever becoming important members of the courts and entourages of the leading Marcher lords, whose interests they apparently served. Hywel was thus above the level of most Welshmen of the March, who had little access to the English lords of the region, but his family background hardly marked him out for a career which would bring him great renown.

2

Diligence, Danger and Distinction: The Career of Hywel ap Meurig

i. The entry into royal service

Hywel ap Meurig’s father was clearly associated with the Mortimer family, the Marcher lords whose main residence was at Wigmore. In the charters by which Ralph Mortimer secured control of Maelienydd and Gwerthrynion after 1241 the name of Meurig ap Philip occurs towards the end of the witness lists. In the same lists there occur several more Mortimer associates. These include, significantly higher in the lists than Meurig, the names of John de Lingayne and Philip le Bret, always in that order. John de Lingayne’s name marks him out as a member of the de Lingen family, Mortimer tenants, whose manor and castle lie just a few miles to the west of Wigmore. In a charter which was issued at some point in or after 1246, the abbot of Cwmhir granted to Roger, the successor of Ralph Mortimer, the right to make enclosures for hunting in the abbey woods. In this document the name of John de Lingayne appears in the witness list, following the names of regional magnates like Thomas Corbet (of Caus Castle on the Long Mountain), and Brian de Brompton, whose extensive lands in several counties were held of the Mortimers;¹ this time, however, the name of Meurig ap Philip is missing, and instead the charter is witnessed by his son, Hywel ap Meurig.² This appears to be the first record of Hywel’s involvement in the Mortimer lordships, and shows that already he was mixing with men of regional prominence.

By the early 1260s Hywel was clearly a trusted administrator and military leader in the service of Roger Mortimer. We have already seen that in 1262 he held the important and – as events were to prove – dangerous post of castellan of Roger Mortimer’s castle of Cefnllys. But another dimension of Hywel’s career had become visible by the later 1250s, and this was his involvement in the diplomatic negotiations of Henry III with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, increasingly the dominant force in Welsh politics. From 1259 onwards, Hywel was a frequent member of the teams of dictatores or arbiters who were deputed by Henry III to meet with the representatives of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and prolong truces or settle problems regarding the implementation and maintenance of truces.³

What is particularly interesting about the lists of dictatores is that they generally contain, as well as Hywel’s name, the names of John de Lingayne and Philip le Bret. The early lists contain what seems to be an erroneous name for Hywel: Ewen, or Owen ap Meurig.⁴ There can be little doubt from the context – the association with John de Lingayne and Philip le Bret – that it is Hywel ap Meurig who is meant. But the error suggests that at this stage Hywel was new in royal service, and that his name was not known to the chancery clerks who were drawing up the copies of the letters which named the arbitrators. But his inclusion with John and Philip suggests that like them he was a Mortimer associate who had been seconded to royal service, possibly because of local knowledge and contacts which would be useful in determining issues arising in the March. There is plenty of evidence which suggests that at times the distinction between service to a Marcher lord and service to the king was not at all clear. The link with Roger Mortimer is made evident by a reference in 1260 to the fact that some of the letters empowering the arbitrators to act had been sent to the sheriffs of Shropshire and Staffordshire, those in favour of John de Lingayne, Hywel ap Meurig and Philip le Bret (in that order) had been passed to Roger Mortimer.⁵

It is also notable that the placing of Hywel’s name, while low in the list of arbitrators, shows that he was keeping some exalted company. As well as John de Lingayne and Philip le Bret, who tend to head the lists, there was Hywel ap Madog, son of Madog ap Gruffudd (d. 1236) the lord of northern Powys, and Tudur ab Ednyfed, son of the celebrated Ednyfed Fychan, distain or steward (chief minister) of Llywelyn the Great who was effectively prince of most of Wales until his death in 1240.⁶ Tudur spent time in England as a diplomatic hostage, and evidently became sufficiently anglicised to be employed as a royal negotiator with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd.⁷ When he appears as an arbitrator, his brother Goronwy had succeeded to the office of distain and was in turn to be succeeded by Tudur himself in 1268.⁸ The eminence of his fellow arbitrators is a clear indication that by the early 1260s Hywel ap Meurig was on the verge of becoming an influential figure.

Hywel may well have counted himself lucky that he and his family had survived the capture of Cefnllys in 1262. His prominence in royal service may have helped to protect him. But he was probably unaware that the spectacular phases of his career were yet to come.

ii. The lost year...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Genealogical Chart
• Map
• Prologue: Crisis at Cefnllys
• Chapter 1: Hywel ap Meurig: Questions of Ancestry
• Chapter 2: Diligence, Danger and Distinction: The Career of Hywel ap Meurig
• Chapter 3: Philip ap Hywel: Administrative Eminence and Political Peril
• Chapter 4: The Empire Builders: Master Rees ap Hywel and His Sons
• Chapter 5: Continuity and New Directions: The Career of Sir Philip Clanvowe
• Chapter 6: The Last of the Line: The Later Clanvowes
• Chapter 7: Some Reflections
• Appendix: Meurig and William, Sons of Rees ap Meurig
• Notes
• Bibliography