Nest
ferch Cadell
Born about in Kingdom of Powys
Ancestors 
Daughter of Cadell (ap Brochwel) ap Brochfael
[uncertain]
and [mother unknown]
Sister of
Cyngen ap Cadell
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died about
at about age 46
[location unknown]
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| Created 19 Apr 2015
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Research suggests that this person may never have existed. See the text for details.
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Contents |
Biography
Stewart Baldwin asserts that Nest most likely never existed. [1]
Cawley notes the possibility that neither Ethyll nor Nest were historical figures but were invented to legitimise claims to Gwynedd and Powys, respectively, in the eyes of successor generations of kings and their supporters. [2]
Research Notes
Name and Parents
Nest was believed to be the daughter of Cadell ap Elise (Elisedd), a late 8th century King of Powys.
Cawley reports that while Cyngen is often shown to have a sister named Nest, the marriage of Nest of Powys is recorded in manuscripts dated no earlier than the later 14th century, although possibly copied from earlier texts. [2]
785 Birth Year Estimation
A birth year for Nest is not known. Her father being born in 730, her birth would need to be after 750. Her mother being born in 770, her birth would need to be about 785-790. Her brother was born in 790.
Marriage
Nest was shown in some pedigrees as (1) the wife of Merfyn Frych, King of Gwynedd, and (2) mother to Rhodri the Great, King of both Powys and Gwynedd.
"According to the pedigree in Oxford, Jesus College MS 30 (JC 20) Rhodri's mother was Nest, the daughter of Cyngen, king of Powys. However the medigrees in National LIbrary of Wales Mosgtyn MS 117 and in the Achau Brenlinoedd y Thywysogion Cymru (ABT) give his mother as Essylt ferfch Cynan. There are no very good grounds for accepting either as reliable. [3]
Merfyn ap Gwriad was previously connected to Nest ferch Cadell as his wife, but given the uncertainties involved, the connection has been ended.
Cawley reports that Nest married Merfyn ap Gwriad "Frych/the Freckled" King of Gwynedd, son of Gwriad King of Gwynedd & his wife [Ethyll heiress of Gwynedd] [2] This is problematic because Gwriad was newver King of Gwynedd ands there is no record of women conveying property in medieval Wales.
The Gwentian Chronicle records Cadell's daughter's marriage, naming Cadell but not the daughter: The Gwentian Chronicle names him "Cadell of Derrnllwg, son of Brochwel Ysgithrog" when recording Cadell's daughter's marriage. [2]
The view that "Ethyllt was Merfyn's mother and Nest his wife" is held by Davies[4] and many others, including David E. Thornton[5] and Lloyd,[6] who notes the consistency of the genealogies in Jesus College MS 20 and Harleian MS 3859 against the contrary account that Nest was the mother and Ethyllt the wife. Thornton gives Nest as Cadell's sister. [5]
Death of Cyngen
Wikipedia reprots that on the death of her brother Cyngen ap Cadell in 855, authority over the Kingdom of Powys passed to [Nest's] son Rhodri the Great who had previously inherited the Kingdom of Gwynedd on the death of his father in 844, thereby uniting the Kingdoms of Powys and Gwynedd. [7]
It is unclear why the inheritance of Powys passed through Nest to her son, and not to one of the sons of Cyngen: Elisedd ap Cyngen, Ieuaf ap Cyngen, Aeddan ap Cyngen, and Gruffudd ap Cyngen. The texts of Welsh laws which survive to us were written down no earlier than the 12th century, but they provide no evidence that women were capable of transmitting legal title of kingship or lordship. Equally, although the pedigree in a manuscript in Jesus College Oxford states Nest as the mother of Rhodri the Great, another pedigree in a fourteenth-century manuscript[8] in the National Library of Wales records his mother as Essyllt ferch Cynan. There are no strong grounds to accept either manuscript as reliable, but it is reasonable to believe that the royal house of Gwynedd promoted the view that the Kingdom of Powys had passed to Rhodri the Great through his mother in order to legitimise their control over it.[9] Either way, this possible genealogical manipulation became part of the accepted story of the unification of the two kingdoms. [10]
Issue
The legendary material appears to support Nest both as the mother and also the grandmother of Rhodri ap Merfyn. Cawley quotes the Gwentian Chronicle recording that the mother of "Mervyn the Freckled" was "Nest daughter of Cadell of Derrnllwg, son of Brochwel Ysgithrog", after recording that "[the] daughter [of Cynan Tindaethwy king of all Wales] who was his heir married a chieftain of the name of Mervyn the Freckled".
Second Marriage to Gwerystan ap Gwaithfoed
According to J. Morris, she had a second marriage to Gwerystan ap Gwaithfoed after the death of Mervyn Frych. [11]
Stewart Baldwin notes that "late sources" make Nest, daughter of Cadell ap Brochwell, king of Powys, the wife of Gwerystan, but that this is chronologically impossible. [12] Nest lived in the 8th century (700's), while Gwerystan lived in the 10th century (born about 970).
Sources
- ↑ Baldwin. Discussion under Gwriad, #4096.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A Prosopography of Medieval European Noble and Royal Families, Online at Foundation for Medieval Genealogy Website. [Wales: Kings of Powys Accessed 6/24/2019 Day-1904
- ↑ Maund, 49.
- ↑ Davies, John (1990), A History of Wales (First ed.), London: Penguin Group (published 1993), ISBN 0-7139-9098-8
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Thornton, David E. (2004), "Merfyn Frych (d. 844)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ↑ Lloyd, John Edward (1911), A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest I (2nd ed.), London: Longmans, Green, and Co (published 1912)
- ↑ Wikipedia:Nest_ferch_Cadell.
- ↑ National Library of Wales, Mostyn Manuscript 117: Bonedd y Arwyr genealogies.
- ↑ Kari Maund (2000). The Welsh Kings: The Medieval Rulers of Wales. Tempus.
- ↑ Ariciu, Janet. "Gaines family" RootsWeb.
- ↑ J. Morris - Shropshire Genealogies volume 1 page 86.
- ↑ Stewart Baldwin. Ancestry of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth. [http://sites.rootsweb.com/~medieval/llywelyn.htm Gwerystan is in Generation 7, #96. Accessed 1/16/2019 jhd
Bibliography of Frequently Cited Works
- Baldwin, Stewart. Llywelyn ap Iorwerth ancestor table. Material originally appeared on GEN-MEDIEVAL/soc.genealogy.medieval. Accessed 5 August 2022 jhd
- Boyer, Carl, 3rd. Medieval Welsh Ancestors of Certain Americans. Generally Follows Bartrum. By the author: Santa Clarita, California, 2004. Merfyn Ferch is #1 on page 281.
- Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A Prosopography of Medieval European Noble and Royal Families, Online at Foundation for Medieval Genealogy Website. [Wales: Kings of Powys Accessed 6/24/2019 Day-1904
- Maund, Kari. The Welsh KIngs: Warriors, Warlords and Princes. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2000.
- Wolcott, Darrell, Ancient Wales Studies Sorting Out the Gwaithfoeds
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DNA
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Unmerged matches › Essyllt ferch Cynan (abt.0770-abt.0816)
Rejected matches › Essyllt ferch Cynan (abt.0770-abt.0816)
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F > ferch Cadell > Nest ferch Cadell
Categories: Wales Project Pre 1500 Managed Profiles | Uncertain Existence
8/10. I have disconnected Nest as the daughter of Essylt ferch Cynan. There is no evidence that Essylt, supposed wife of either Gwriad or Merfyn, also had a relationship with Cadell, and both Nest and Essylt are likely fictional.
edited by Jack Day
Also, her birth date must be incorrect. Her father would have only been 12 when he had her, she is 20 years older than her husband Merfyn, and would have given birth to Rhodri at age 78.