Gwladus (ferch Llywelyn) de Mortimer
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Gwladus (ferch Llywelyn) de Mortimer (abt. 1205 - abt. 1251)

Gwladus "Ddu, Princess of North Wales" de Mortimer formerly ferch Llywelyn aka of Gwynedd, de Braose
Born about in Caernarvonshire, Walesmap
Ancestors ancestors
Wife of — married 1221 (to 1227) in , , , Walesmap
Wife of — married 1228 [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died about at about age 46 in Windsor, Berkshire, Englandmap
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Profile last modified | Created 16 Feb 2016
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Contents

Mother Controversy

There is an ongoing debate about the mother of Gwladus. Unknown is likely the simple answer. Her father had many mistresses and three wives.[1]

Tangwystl has been given in Welsh genealogies.[2] This can be supported as Tangwystl was a well-known mistress of Llywelyn and the mother of Gruffydd. This assumption also works well with Gwladus' age at first marriage but any of the mistresses preceding Joan satisfy this criteria.

Joan FitzJohn has also been suggested as the mother.[3] This can be supported by Llywelyn including in Gwladus' maritagium certain lands that were part of Joan's maritagium. It is argued that this would be a rather large gesture for a step-child. A primary problem with Joan as the mother is that Gwladus would have been very young at her first marriage.

Biography

Gwladus "Ddu" (the dark) is the daughter of Llywelyn "Fawr" ap Iorwerth. It is said she was called "the dark" due to her dark coloring or dark eyes.

Gwladus married Reynold de Braose, 9th Baron Abergavenny, in 1215/6. This was the second marriage for Reynold and while they were married for 12 or 13 years, the relationship produced no children.[1]

Reynold de Braose died June 9, 1228, in Brecon, Wales.[1]

On September 5, 1229, Henry III King of England granted safe passage for Dafydd ap Llywelyn and his sister to England. Gwladus is believed to be the sister who accompanied Dafydd on this trip.[1]

Gwladus married Ralph de Mortimer, Baron of Wigmore, in 1230. With Ralph she had 5 children.[1]

Ralph de Mortimer died August 6, 1246, at Wigmore, Herefordshire, England.

Gwladus Ddu died in 1251 and was buried at Windsor, Berkshire, England.[1]

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Gwladus ferch Llywelyn, Cawley, The Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
  2. Huws, Bleddyn, Williams, Gruffydd Aled, Sims-Williams, Patrick, Gruffudd, Gwen Angharad, Price, Iwan Tudor, Q, Claire Elizabeth (editors). Bartrum Genealogical Project. (Aberystwyth: Prifysgol Aberystwyth / Aberystwyth University, 2020.) Copy on geni.com. Pedigree Gruffudd ap Cynan 4. Accessed 5 September 2023.
  3. Richardson, Douglas. "Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families", Genealogical Publishing Company, 2004.
  • "Royal Ancestry" Douglas Richardson 2013 Vol. IV. p. 164

GWLADUS DDU OF WALES, [Footnote 10*] married (1st) in 1215 (as his 2nd wife) REYNOLD DE BREWES (or BREUSE, BRAUSE, BRASE), Knt. They had no issue. She married (2nd) RALPH DE MORTIMER, younger son of Roger de Mortimer, by Isabel, daughter of Walkelin de Ferrers. They had four sons, Roger, Knt., Peter, John, clerk, and Hugh, and one daughter, Joan (wife of Peter Corbet, 1st Lord Corbet). Ralph de Mortimer died testate 6 August 1246. Gwladus died at Windsor, Berkshire in 1251. She was buried at Wigmore Abbey, Herfordshire.

Footnote 10.* Gwladus Ddu identity as the legitimate daughter of Prince Llywelyn by his lawful wife, Joan of England, is proven by the passage of Knighton and Norton castles in Shropshire from Llywelyn to Gwladus' husband, Ralph de Mortimer, which gift appears to have been part of Gwladus' maritagium. Research indicates these properties earlier formed part of Llywelyn's wife Joan's maritagium they being the gift of Joan's father, King John [see Edwards Cal. Ancient Corr. Concerning Wales (1935): 23]. Lord Coke commenting on Littleton, f.21b states, "That if the King give Land to a man with a woman of his kindred in frank-marriage, and the woman dyeth without issue, the Man in the Kings case shall not hold it for his life, because the woman was the cause of the gift, but otherwayes it is the case of a common person." Llywelyn's transfer of lands held in marriage with his wife Joan to Gwaldus' husband is strong evidence that Gwladus was the child of Llywelyn's wife, Joan. Moreover in 1237, Ralph and Gwladus were involved in a lawsuit regarding lands in Knighton and Norton, Shropshire, which suit establishes that Gwladus had a personal interest in these lands [see C.C.R. 1234-1237 (1908): 539-540]. Such an interest would be created if the manors of Knighton and Norton were part of her maritagium. The manors of Knighton and Norton thereafter remained in the hands of the Mortimer family. For further evidence of Gwladus' identity, it is recorded that Gwladus accompanied her legitimate brother, David, on a state visit to their uncle, King Henry III of England, in late 1229, they arriving at court on or about 3 Oct. 1229 [see C.P.R. 1225-1232 (1903): 247-248, 263, 269]. Gwladus is evidently the unnamed daughter of Llwelyn styled "king's kinswoman" [cognate regis] who was shortly afterwards hosted with her household ["familia"] by Stephen de Segrave at Northampton Castle 8 Nov. 1229 by orders of the king [see C.C.R. 1227-1231 (1902): 259; Lloyd Hist. of Wales: From the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest" (2004): 371. Gwladus presumably stopped at Northampton on her return home to Shropshire or Wales.
  • "Royal Ancestry" Douglas Richardson 2013 Vol. V. p. 301

Children of Joan of England, by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth:

GWLADUS DDU OF WALES, married (1st) REYNOLD DE BREWES, Knt. of Kington, Herefordshire, Bramer, Sussex, etc.; (2nd) RALPH DE MORTIMER, of Wigmore, Herefordshire.
DAFYDD AP LLYWELYN, Knt., Prince of [North Wales], son and heir, born about 1208. He married shortly before 10 August 1230 ISABEL DE BREWES ) (or BREUSE). DAFYDD AP LLYWELYN, Knt., Prince of [North] Wales died at Aber 25 Feb. 1246. His widow, Isabel, died before Feb. 1248.
ELLEN OF WALES [next]
SUSANNA OF WALES.
Possible child of Joan of England, by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth:
_______ OF WALES, married before 6 July 1237 (as his 1st wife) MALCOLM of Fife, 7th Earl of Fife, Knt. They had two sons, Colban [8th Earl of Fife] and Macduff. He married (2nd) ELLEN _____, clearly a much younger 2nd wife. MALCOLM, 7th Earl of Fife, died in 1266. His widow, Ellen, married (2nd) DONALD, Earl of Mar (died shortly after 25 July 1297), by whom she had five children. She was living in Feb. 1294/5.
Alleged child of Joan of England, by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth:

ANGHARAD OF WALES, considered by Bridgeman an Burke to be a legitimate daughter, but contemporary evidence is lacking. She married MAELGWN AP MAELGWN (otherwise MAELGWN FYCHAN), lord of Cardigan Is Aeron, son of Maelgwn Hen (or Fawr), lord of Cardigan Is Aeron (illegitimate son of Lord Res ap Griffith). They had two sons, Rhys and Llywelyn, and four daughters, Gwenllian (wife of Maredudd ap Llywelyn, Margaret (wife of Owain ap Maredudd), Ellen (wife of Mardudd ab Owain), and Ellen (again) (wife of Owain ap Madog ap Maredudd).


See also:

Notes Yet to Be Assimilated

1st husband Reginald De Braose (Breos) 2nd husband Ralph (Roger) De Mortimer

Burke's Guide to the Royal family states the 2nd husband was Roger De Mortimer, yet the IGI states that it was Ralph, as does Sanders. The death date of Ralph matches the death date that Burke's Guide gives for Roger, so Ralph will be the accepted husband. The IGI and Cokayne also state that Ralph married Gwladus Ddu Llewelyn.

Foster, Cokayne and Sanders has her mother as Princess Joan, daughter of King John, the other wife of Llewelyn.

Some Corrections and Additions to the Complete Peerage, www.uk-genealogy.org.uk/cp/index.shtml, Page: I:22: Not a daughter of Joan, but of Llewellyn's mistress Tangwystl.


From Ancestry.com:

He [William de Briouze] m. 2ndly,1215, Gwladus Du, daughter of Llewelyn ap Iorwerth, Prince of North Wales, by his 2nd wife Joan, illegitimate daughter of King John. [William] d. between 5 May 1227and 9 June 1228. His widow m. 2ndly, Ralph de Mortimer, of Wigmore, who d. 6 Aug 1246, and was buried at Wigmore Abbey. She d. at Windsor in 1251. [Complete PeerageI:22]

The identity of Gwladus's mother is still a matter of debate. There is no clear contemporary evidence that her mother was Joan, and a daughter of Llewelyn and Joan could not have been aged more than about 9 in 1215. The only direct statements appear to come some centuries later. One strand of the later tradition does identify Gwladus'smother as Joan, but another says she was Llewelyn's mistress Tangwystl.
[This question has been discussed by -among many others - Stewart Baldwin, Rosie Bevan, Ken Finton, Todd Farmerie, John P. Ravilious, Paul Reed, Douglas Richardson, Henry Sutliff, Nat Taylor and Brad Verity.][Some Corrections and Additions to CP]
Let me make one final general observation. There was a definite and timely reason that Reginald de Broase married Gwladys Ddu in 1215. His brother Giles, Bishop of Hereford, rebelled as soon as he received a royal grant of 'his' patrimony and joined Llywelyn (as leader of the Welshforces) in general rebellion against John (remember that this was also about the time the North of England, etc., rebelled against John). Reginald immediately joined his brother in marching on their patrimony in the Marches to secure it by force. To cement their alliance (Giles being a bishop and all), Reginald was married to a daughter of Prince Llywelyn. Her name happened to be Gwladys, the dark eyed.
I would be utterly amazed if we found that Gwladys was aged twelve in 1215. The cause of their marriage was not (as far as we know) a pre-arranged marriage contract that happened to coincide with political expediency--the marriage was a RESULT of the political events that occurred in 1215.
After Reginald de Braose betrayed Llywelyn and became King John's man in 1217 [to give homage, one had to be in the actual presence of the King], and his nephew John de Braose was released in 1218, Llywelyn found a ready ally in the younger John, who was attempting to get his rightful inheritance from Reginald (who was in possession of most of it), in 1218, Llywelyn, out of political expediency, married his daughter Margared to this John.
Thus, if the marriage between Gwladys and Reginald was the result of political events, and they had not been heatedly awaiting her birthday so that they could be wed in a full and legal manner that would be permanent--rather than something that could be easily broken (or at least broken with some effort and complicity)- It is most likely that Gwladys was actually older than twelve years old in 1215. Does that seem reasonable?

[Paul C Reed, 30 Nov 2001,soc.genealogy.medieval]


[children?] Died about 1253 [uncertain] [place of death?] Ferch_Llywelyn-6





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Comments: 8

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Unless the scholarship has found something different, it might be better to indicate that her mother has not been conclusively identified-that she was the daughter of Joan of Wales is far from a sure thing (unless, of course, something new has come out recently).
posted by K. Stromsted
Hi! I forgot to note who all were profile managers of Llywelyn-43 before the merge. Because ferch Llywelyn-6 was protected, all PMs of Llywelyn-43 became trusted list only. I went through the trusted list and added as managers those of you who I recognized as actively working with this period/person. However, WikiTree guidelines say "No profile should have more than a half-dozen managers...." (see this page). We're good for now with 6, but if I added anyone as a manager who doesn't want to be, let me know & I'll drop you back to trusted list (or you can do that).

Cheers, Liz

posted by Liz (Noland) Shifflett
I have not evaluated the claim made in Llewelyn-43 down in the footnotes section. The suggestion there is that the marriage was not pre-arranged.
posted by Erin Cole
marriage date with Braose could have been a contract date when she was any age. See also "Minimum Age for Welsh Kingship in the Eleventh Century"
posted by Liz (Noland) Shifflett
I don't see a Maud, daughter of Roger & Gwladus, listed in MedLands.
posted by Liz (Noland) Shifflett
In searching other sources for the children of Roger De Mortimer and Gwladys Ddu, Maud Mortimer was not listed (such as wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_de_Mortimer). What source/sources have Maud as their daughter?
posted by Scott Radimer

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