{189} This Expedition Into Wales Took Place A.D. 1165, And Has Been
Already Spoken Of.
{190} The princes mentioned by Giraldus as most distinguished in
North and South Wales, and most celebrated in his time, were, 1.
Owen, son of Gruffydd, in North Wales; 2.
Meredyth, son of Gruffydd,
in South Wales; 3. Owen de Cyfeilioc, in Powys; 4. Cadwalader, son
of Gruffydd, in North Wales; 5. Gruffydd of Maelor in Powys; 6.
Rhys, son of Gruffydd, in South Wales; 7. David, son of Owen, in
North Wales; 8. Howel, son of Iorwerth, in South Wales.
1. Owen Gwynedd, son of Gruffydd ap Conan, died in 1169, having
governed his country well and worthily for the space of thirty-two
years. He was fortunate and victorious in all his affairs, and
never took any enterprise in hand but he achieved it. 2. Meredyth
ap Gruffydd ap Rhys, lord of Caerdigan and Stratywy, died in 1153,
at the early age of twenty-five; a worthy knight, fortunate in
battle, just and liberal to all men. 3. Owen Cyfeilioc was the son
of Gruffydd Meredyth ap Meredyth ap Blethyn, who was created lord of
Powys by Henry I., and died about the year 1197, leaving his
principality to his son Gwenwynwyn, from whom that part of Powys was
called Powys Gwenwynwyn, to distinguish it from Powys Vadoc, the
possession of the lords of Bromfield. The poems ascribed to him
possess great spirit, and prove that he was, as Giraldus terms him,
"linguae dicacis," in its best sense. 4. Cadwalader, son of
Gruffydd ap Conan, prince of North Wales, died in 1175. Gruffydd of
Maelor was son of Madoc ap Meredyth ap Blethyn, prince of Powys, who
died at Winchester in 1160. "This man was ever the king of
England's friend, and was one that feared God, and relieved the
poor: his body was conveyed honourably to Powys, and buried at
Myvod." His son Gruffydd succeeded him in the lordship of
Bromfield, and died about the year 1190. 6. Rhys ap Gruffydd, or
the lord Rhys, was son of Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Tewdwr, who died in
1137. The ancient writers have been very profuse in their praises
of this celebrated Prince. 7. David, son of Owen Gwynedd, who, on
the death if his father, forcibly seized the principality of North
Wales, slaying his brother Howel in battle, and setting aside the
claims of the lawful inheritor of the throne, Iorwerth Trwyndwn,
whose son, Llewelyn ap Iorwerth, in 1194, recovered his inheritance.
8. Howel, son of Iorwerth of Caerleon, appears to have been
distinguished chiefly by his ferocity.
{191} Malpas in Cheshire.
{192} It appears that a small college of prebendaries, or secular
canons, resided at Bromfield in the reign of king Henry I.; Osbert,
the prior, being recorded as a witness to a deed made before the
year 1148. In 1155, they became Benedictines, and surrendered
church and lands to the abbey of St. Peter's at Gloucester,
whereupon a prior and monks were placed there, and continued till
the dissolution. An ancient gateway and some remains of the priory
still testify the existence of this religious house, the local
situation of which, near the confluence of the rivers Oney and Teme,
has been accurately described by Leland.
{193} Baldwin was born at Exeter, in Devonshire, of a low family,
but being endowed by nature with good abilities, applied them to an
early cultivation of sacred and profane literature. His good
conduct procured him the friendship of Bartholomew bishop of Exeter,
who promoted him to the archdeaconry of that see; resigning this
preferment, he assumed the cowl, and in a few years became abbot of
the Cistercian monastery at Ford. In the year 1180, he was advanced
to the bishopric of Worcester, and in 1184, translated to the
archiepiscopal see of Canterbury. In the year 1188, he made his
progress through Wales, preaching with fervour the service of the
Cross; to which holy cause he fell a sacrifice in the year 1190,
having religiously, honourably, and charitably ended his days in the
Holy Land.
{194} Giraldus here alludes to the dignity of archdeacon, which
Baldwin had obtained in the church of Exeter.
End of The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales by Giraldus Cambrensis
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