Merfyn ap Gwriad (abt. 795 - 844)

Born about 0795 in Kingdom of Gwynedd

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 0844 at about age 49 in Ketell, Kingdom of Gwynedd

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Biography

Maund observes that "at the end of the eighth century a new figure, Merfyn Frych, emerged. He, and the dynasty he founded, would change the political face of Wales forever." ^[1]

Boyer notes that Merfyn Frych is the earliest undisputed ancestor of this line. ^[2]

‘Merfyn the freckled’. A prince of Gwynedd and father of Rhodri Mawr. ^[3]

795 Birth and Parents

Charles Cawley reports that the 13th century History of Gruffydd ap Cynan names "Rodri Mawr son of Mervyn Vrych son of Gwryat…" ^[4]

According to the pedigrees compiled in the mid-tenth century under the patronage of Merfyn's great-great-grandson, Owain ap Hywel Dda, Merfyn's mother was said to be Essyllt, daughter of Cynan ap Rhodri who died in 816, and niece of Hywel ap Rhodri, whose death in 825 left the leadership of Gwynedd open. ^[5]

His father was Gwriad ab Elidir (GaC 2, JC 17, 19, ABT le in EWGT pp.36, 46, 96). ^[3]

Gwriad ab Elidir was the father of Merfyn Frych. ^[3]

Stewart Baldwin asserts that Merfyn's father Gwriad was probably from the Isle of Man, and possibly the person named on an inscription ("CRUX GURIAT") on a cross in the Isle of Man which has been dated to the eighth or ninth century. ^[6]

According to the twelfth-century poem entitled ‘Cyfoesi Myrddin a Gwenddydd ei Chwaer,’ he came ‘from the land of Manaw’ ^[7]

The 13th century History of Gruffydd ap Cynan names "Rodri Mawr son of Mervyn Vrych son of Gwryat…"Cite error 2; Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no content must have a name.

Birth Year Estimation

On the basis of birth years of relatives, a reasonable birth year for Merfyn would be 795.

However, other sources suggest that Merfyn ap Gwriad (Merfyn, son of Gwriad) was born about 764 in the Kingdom of Gwynedd. ^[7] He was also known as Merfyn Frych (Merfyn the Freckled) and Merfyn Camwri (Merfyn the Oppressor). The Old Welsh form of his name was Mermin. ^[8]

Marriage

There is no consensus on Merfyn's wife. The earliest sources name Merfyn's mother as Essyllt and his wife as Nest. Later sources consistently reverse them.

His genealogy first appears in the ‘Harleian’ genealogies where he is said to be the son of Esyllt ferch Cynan [Dindaethwy] ap Rhodri (HG §1 in EWGT p.9), similarly in Jesus College MS.20 (JC §22 in EWGT p.47). The latter also implies that his wife was Nest ferch Cadell ap Brochwel of Powys (JC §18 in EWGT p.46). Although these manuscripts have considerable authority they are contradicted by all later authorities which make Esyllt his wife (GaC 1, 2, MG 1, ByA 27c, ABT la in EWGT pp.36, 38, 91, 95) and Nest his mother (ABT 86k in EWGT p.100). ^[3]

J-E.Lloyd preferred the earlier version which makes Esyllt the mother of Merfyn. As Esyllt was apparently heiress to the line of Gwynedd, this would have given Merfyn a hereditary claim to the crown if he was her son, but the claim (if it existed), “would probably have been of little account had it not been backed by personal force and distinction” (HW 323). ^[3]

There is no consensus on the name of Merfyn's wife.

He was previously connected to Nest ferch Cadell, but that relationship has been disconnected.

Charles Cawley says that Merfyn married EITHER Ethyll of Gwynedd, daughter and heiress of Cynan, King of Gwynedd, OR Nest of Powys, daughter of Cadell ap Brochwell King of Powys & his wife ---. ^[4]

The Dictionary of National Biography states that Gwriad was probably a Manx chieftain, and was probably married to Ethyllt (or Esylt, John Davies History of Wales, 81), a princess of Gwynedd, her uncle, Hywel ap Rhodri, King of Gwynedd, died about 825. ^[2]

Leadup to Reign

The times leading up to Merfyn's reign were unsettled for both Gwynedd and neighboring Powys. Both kingdoms were beset by internal dynastic strife, external pressure from Mercia, and bad luck with nature. In 810, there was a bovine plague that killed many cattle (the primary form of wealth at the time) throughout Wales. The next year, the ancient wooden llys at Deganwy was struck by lightning. A destructive war for control of Gwynedd raged between 812 and 816, while in Powys a son of the king was killed by his brother "through treachery". In 818, there was a notable battle at Llanfaes on Anglesey. Although our sources do not identify the combatants, the site had been the llys of King Cynan. ^[9]

817 Coenwulf of Mercia

Coenwulf of Mercia took advantage of the situation in 817, occupying Rhufoniog and laying waste to the mountains of Snowdonia. Coastal Wales along the Dee Estuary must have remained under Mercia’s control through 821, as Coenwulf is recorded dying peacefully at Basingwerk in that year. In 823, Mercia laid waste to Powys and returned to Gwynedd to burn Deganwy to the ground. Gwynedd and Powys then gained a respite when Mercia's attention turned elsewhere and its fortunes waned. King Beornwulf was killed fighting the East Anglians in 826, his successor Ludeca suffered the same fate the following year, and Mercia was conquered and occupied by Ecgberht of Wessex in 829. Though Mercia managed to throw off Ecgberht's rule in 830, it was thereafter beset by dynastic strife and never regained its former dominance, either in Wales or eastern England. ^[10]

825 Reign in Gwynedd

Merfyn was King of Gwynedd from around 825 to 844, the first of its kings known not to have descended from the male line of Cunedda. ^[8]

Merfyn came to the throne in the aftermath of a bloody dynastic struggle between two rivals named Cynan and Hywel – generally identified with the sons of Rhodri Molwynog, ^[11] despite that putting both men well into their 70s or 80s at the time ^[12] at a time when the kingdom had been under pressure from Mercia. In 823 Mercia devastated Powys and burned Deganwy. ^[11]

Merfyn was a Welsh prince who succeeded to the lordship of Anglesey (with, possibly, other adjacent districts), on the failure of the male line of Maelgwn Gwynedd with the death of Hywel, in 825. ^[7]

According to the Dictionary of Welsh Biography, on the death of his mother's uncle, Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog, Merfyn Frych became King of Anglesey, and then acquired the kingship of the neighboring mainland cantrefs on the death of Hywel ap Caradog, the last direct descendant in Gwynedd of Cunedda Wledig. ^[2]

The inheritance of the throne of Gwynedd through Esyllt is referrred to in a triad ‘The three times that the Lordship of Gwynedd came by the distaff: ‘The third was Esyllt ferch Cynan Dindaethwy, wife of Merfyn Frych, mother of Rhodri Mawr’ (ByA §27 in EWGT p.91, compare TYP pp.256-7). ^[3]

Merfyn Frych may “be supposed to have come on the scene to put an end to the confusion which ensued on the death of Hywel” [in 825] (HW 324). See Hywel Farf-fehinog. ^[3]

It is said that Merfyn inherited Powys by right of his grandmother Nest, the sister and heiress of Concenn ap Cadell, Prince of Powys, who died in Rome in 854. However, the chronology is not clear. ^[13]

Nennius

In the Historia Brittonum (§16) mention is made of ‘the fourth year of king Merminus’. This occurs in all the best texts. If Merfyn's reign is assumed to begin in 825 then his fourth year would be 828-9. This suggests the probable date of compilation of the basic text. See s.n. Nennius. ^[3]

Court

The Historia Brittonum (§25) says that Cair Segeint [Caer Saint = Caernarfon] was also called Minmanton (Harleian text). But the name appears as Mirmantun, Mirmanton in two Cambridge texts (Mommsen's D, L). A.W.Wade-Evans took this to stand for ‘Merfyn's Town’ (Nennius, pp.14-15, 49 n.3). ^[3]

There is evidence that the court of Merfyn Frych and his son Rhodri Mawr was the centre of a heightened intellectual activity, fostered partly perhaps by the fact that it was a stopping place for Irish scholars travelling to and from the continent. It was at this time and in this region that bishop Elfodd flourished, that Nennius and perhaps Marcus edited editions of the Historia Brittonum. See Nora K.Chadwick in Studies in the Early British Church, 1958, 79f, 94-96, 118-120, Celtic Britain, 1963, p.73. ^[3]

Cilmin Droed-ddu, son of Cadrod a brother of Merfyn Frych, is said to have come to Gwynedd with his uncle Merfyn. See Cilmin Droed-ddu. ^[3]

830 Defeat by Wessex

Precious little is known of Merfyn's reign. Thornton suggests that Merfyn was probably among the Welsh kings who were defeated by Ecgberht, king of Wessex, in the year 830, but it is unknown how this affected Merfyn's rule. ^[14]

844 Death

Merfyn Frych died in 844. ^[3]

Merfyn died in the Battle of Cyfeiliog, abt 843/44, Cyfeiliog, Ketell, Wales.

He died in 844. ^[7]

He is said to have been slain in battle with Berthred, King of Mercia, about 838-844. ^[2]

The Annales Cambriæ record the death in 844 of "Mermin". The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales records the death in 844 of "Mervyn the Freckled". ^[4]

The Annales Cambriae say Merfyn died around 844, the same year in which a battle occurred at Cetyll, (Old Welsh: Ketill) "Mermin moritur. Gueith cetill." ^[15] but it is unclear whether those were two unrelated events or he fell in battle. Lloyd notes that some later copyists had invented a definite connection of the battle with Mercia and Merfyn, where no such connection was stated in the original source. ^[9]

Merfyn ap Gwriad "Frych/the Freckled" died in 844 ^[4]

Issue

Merfyn & his wife had [two] children: ^[4]

1. Rhodri Mawr ap Merfyn^[4] or Rhodri the Great ^[8] RHODRI ap Merfyn "Mawr/the Great" (-killed Anglesey 878). [The Gwentian Chronicle records that "Rhodri the Great, son of Mervyn the Freckled began to reign over the Welsh" in 843[69].] King of Gwynedd. He succeeded his maternal uncle Cyngen ap Cadell as King of Powys in 855. ^[4]
2. Gwriad ap Merfyn ^[8] A supportive entry in the Annales Cambriae, states that Gwriad, the brother of Rhodri the Great, was slain on Anglesey by the Saxons. That is to say, Merfyn named one of his sons after his father Gwriad. ^[16] GWRIAD (-killed Anglesey 878). The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales records that "Rhodri and his brother Gwriad were killed by the Saxons" in 878[70]. [The Gwentian Chronicle records "the action…in Mona in which Rhodri and his brother Gwriad, and Gweirydd son of Owain of Glamorgan were killed by the Saxons" in 873[71].] The Annales Cambriæ record that "Rotri et filius eius Guriat…jugulatur" in 877 by the Saxons[72]. With these contradictory sources, it is uncertain whether Gwriad was the brother or son of Rhodri, although the later passage quoted below which names Gwriad´s son suggests that he was Rhodri´s son.] ^[4]
3. Merfyn Frych, son of Merfyn Frych and Esyllht, died in battle with the English in 844. ^[17] Merfyn Frych, also known as Mermin, was Prince of North Wales, and died in 844. ^[18]

Research Notes

Did Merfyn Descend from Llywarch Hen?

While Merfyn claimed descent from Llywarch hen through his father Gwriad, very little is known of him. The royal pedigree in Jesus College MS. 20 says that Gwriad was the son of Elidyr, who bears the same name as his ancestor, the father of Llywarch Hen, Elidyr lydanwyn. ^[19] Phillimore notes that the genealogical line for Merfyn's son Rhodri the Great traces all the way back to Coel Hen through Llywarch Hen: "Rodri mar. M. Meruyn vrych. M. Grhyat. M. Elidyr. M. sandef. M. Alcun. M. tegyth. M. Ceit. M. douc. M. Llewarch hen. M. Elidyr lydanwyn. M. Meircha6n. M. G6rgust. M. Keneu. M. Coil hen. mal y mae vchot." A subsequent pedigree traces Rhodri's ancestry back to Maxen wledig through Gwriad's paternal grandmother. ^[20]

On the other hand, Bridgeman said he was the son of Gwyriad, or Uriet, the son of Elidur, descended from Belinus, the brother of Brennus, King of the Britons, and cited Powel's History of Wales ^[21]

Baldwin adds that the genealogy which purports to make Gwriad a direct male-line descendant of Llywarch Hen is almost certainly a late fabrication. It is more likely that his paternal ancestors were among those who are named in HG.4, but the exact line of descent (if any) is uncertain, and Gwriad's parentage must be regarded as unknown. ^[6]

Were Merfyn's Ancestors from Manaw Goddidin?

The poem Cyfoesi Myrddin a Gwenddydd i chwaer in the Red Book of Hergest speaks of Meruin vrych o dir Manaw, ‘Merfyn Frych from the land of Manaw’ (RBP col.5 _.78). This has been taken to mean that he came from Manaw Gododdin, but there is plenty of evidence in favour of the tradition that he came from Ynys Manaw, the Isle of Man. This tradition appears in David Powel's Historie of Cambria, 1584, 1811 reprint p.20: “This Merfyn [Frych] was king of Man.” Similarly in Wrexham MS.1 (1590-1) p.179: “Essillt .... nupsit Merwino Regi Eubonie.” It has been confirmed by the discovery of an inscription apparently to Merfyn's father Gwriad in the Isle of Man (HW 324 n.14). See s.n. Gwriad ab Elidir. ^[3]

The discovery of a cross inscribed Crux Guriat (English: Cross of Gwriad) on the Isle of Man and dated to the 8th or 9th century raised the question of whether Gwriad's possible connection to "Manaw" was to Manaw Gododdin, once active in North Britain, or to the Isle of Man (Welsh: Ynys Manaw). ^[14] John Rhys suggested that Gwriad might well have taken refuge on the Isle of Man during the bloody dynastic struggle between Cynan and Hywel prior to Merfyn's accession to the throne, and that the cross perhaps does refer to the refugee Gwriad, father of Merfyn. He goes on to note that the Welsh Triads mention a 'Gwryat son of Gwryan in the North'.Other locations for "Manaw" have been suggested, including Ireland, Galloway and Powys. ^[14]

Should Merfyn's Mother and Wife Be Reversed?

"The pedigrees in London, British Library MS Harleian 3859 (HG), compiled in the mid-tenth century under the partonage of Merfyn's great-great-grandson, Owain ap Hywel Dda, claim that Merfyn was related to the old royal line of Maelgwn through his mother...said to have been Essyllt, daughter of that King 'Cynan ap Rhodri who died i 816, and niece of Hywel ap Rhodrfi (died 825). However, several of the other genealogical manuscripts state that Essyllt was Merfyn's wife, not his mother." ^[22]

By the later twenfth century when the History of Gruffudd ap Cynan was composed, Essylt was viewed as Merfyn's wife. ^[23]

A parallel problem developed with Merfyn's son Rhodri, who became known as Rhodri the Great (Rhodri Mawr). "According to the pedigree in Oxford, Jesus College MS 30 (JC 20) Rhodri's mother was Nest, the daughter of Cyngen, king of Powys. Howeverf, the pedigrees in Nationbal 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. ^[24]

Merfyn was previously connected to Nest ferch Cadell as his wife, but given the uncertainties involved, the connection has been ended.

Later pedigrees show Essyllt as Merfyn's wife, and the consensus of scholars is that Essyllt, about whom nothing else is known, was invented to tie the two dynasties together and give Merfyn's rule some legitimacy. ^[5]

Although both versions are chronologically possible the latter version which makes Esyllt the wife of Merfyn is preferable as according to Annales Cambriae. Cynan Dindaethwy died in 816 while Merfyn died in 844, so that Cynan is more likely to have been the father-in-law of Merfyn rather than grandfather. ^[3]

Merfyn married [either: ETHYLL of Gwynedd, daughter and heiress of CYNAN [King of Gwynedd] & his wife ---, or: NEST of Powys, daughter of CADELL ap Brochwell King of Powys & his wife ---. [The Gwentian Chronicle records 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"[67].]

The alternative marriage to Nest of Powys is now recorded in manuscripts dated no earlier than the later 14th century, although possibly copied from earlier texts[68]. It is impossible to judge which version is preferable. Indeed, it is possible that both Ethyll and Nest were not historical figures at all but were invented to legitimise claims to Gwynedd and Powys, respectively, in the eyes of successor generations of kings and their supporters.]

On the other hand, Cawley notes that the Gwentian Chronicle records that "Nest daughter of Cadell of Derrnllwg, son of Brochwel Ysgithrog" was the MOTHER of "Mervyn the Freckled" , 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". The alternative marriage to Nest of Powys is now recorded in manuscripts dated no earlier than the later 14th century, although possibly copied from earlier texts. It is impossible to judge which version is preferable. Indeed, it is possible that both Ethyll and Nest were not historical figures at all but were invented to legitimise claims to Gwynedd and Powys, respectively, in the eyes of successor generations of kings and their supporters. ^[4]

Esyllt

The view that Ethyllt was Merfyn's mother and Nest his wife is held by Davies^[25] and many others, including David E. Thornton^[26] and Lloyd,^[27] 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.

To Move

MOVE TO CADWALLON

Hughes shows her connected to Cadwallon, who married a sister (some sources list as half-sister) of Penda, a child of Pybba of Mercia,^[28] son of Crioda, son of Cynewald, son of Cnebba, son of Icel, son of Eamer, son of Angengeot, son of Offa, King of Angel, son of Wermund, ca 350, son of Withlaeg, King of Angel, ca 320. Hughes states that Merfyn's claim was apparently based on the fact that his mother, Esyllt, was the daughter of Cynan Dindaethwy ap Rhodri and the niece of Hywel ap Rhodri.

MOVE TO GWRIAD SON OF RHODRI

b) [GWRIAD (-killed Anglesey 878). The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales records that "Rhodri and his brother Gwriad were killed by the Saxons" in 878[70]. [The Gwentian Chronicle records "the action…in Mona in which Rhodri and his brother Gwriad, and Gweirydd son of Owain of Glamorgan were killed by the Saxons" in 873[71].] The Annales Cambriæ record that "Rotri et filius eius Guriat…jugulatur" in 877 by the Saxons[72]. With these contradictory sources, it is uncertain whether Gwriad was the brother or son of Rhodri, although the later passage quoted below which names Gwriad´s son suggests that he was Rhodri´s son.] ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Maund, 44.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Boyer, 281
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13} Bartrum, Welsh Classical Dictionary, 539
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9} Charles Cawley. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Medieval Lands Database. Kings of Gwynedd, descendants of GWRIAD Accessed June 22, 2018 jhd
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Kari Maund. The Welsh Kings: Warriors, Warlods and Princes." Stroud: Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2006. P. 47-8
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Stewart Baldwin Llywelyn ap Iorwerth ancestor table Gwriad is #4096. Accessed 5 August 2022 jhd
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3} Myvyrian Archaeology, 2nd edit. p. 110 which Skene conjectures to be Manaw Gododin, on the banks of the Forth. Four Ancient Books of Wales, i. 94). Cited at Dictionary of National Biography Lloyd
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} 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) Volume I, pages 232, 324. Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
10. ↑ Kirby, D. P. (1991), "The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the first three-quarters of the ninth century", The Earliest English Kings (Revised ed.), New York: Routlege (published 2000), pp. 153–157, ISBN 0-415-24211-8. Pages 153-7. Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Parry, Henry (translator), ed. (1829), "Brut y Saeson", Archaeologia Cambrensis, Third, IX (XXXIII), London: J. Russell Smith (published 1863), p. 63. Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
12. ↑ Wolcott, Darrell. Ancient Welsh Studies. "Governance of Gwynedd, 754–825". Accessed 5 Feb 2013. Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
13. ↑ Bridgeman's History of the Princes of South Wales, 1-2, cited by Boyer, 281
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2} Thornton, David E. (2004), "Merfyn Frych (d. 844)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
15. ↑ Phillimore, Egerton (1888), "The Annales Cambriae and Old Welsh Genealogies, from Harleian MS. 3859", in Phillimore, Egerton (ed.), Y Cymmrodor, IX, Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, pp. 141–183. See p. 165. Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
16. ↑ Phillimore 1888:166, cites the Annales Cambriae — year 877, "Rotri et filius eius guriat a saxonibus iugulatur." Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
17. ↑ Yale, page 21
18. ↑ Yale, page 25. The Yale Pedigree
19. ↑ Ford, P.K. (1970) Llywarch, Ancestor of Welsh Princes, Speculum, Vol. 45, No. 3, p. 450 Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
20. ↑ Phillimore 1887:87, Pedigrees from Jesus College MS. 20 — Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
21. ↑ 1884, 19; Boyer, 281
22. ↑ Maund, 47
23. ↑ Maund, 48
24. ↑ Maund, 49.
25. ↑ Davies, John (1990), A History of Wales (First ed.), London: Penguin Group (published 1993), ISBN 0-7139-9098-8. Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
26. ↑ Thornton, David E. (2004), "Merfyn Frych] (d. 844)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
27. ↑ 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) Cited by Wikipedia: Merfyn_Frych Accessed 6/25/2019 jhd
28. ↑ David Hughes, The British Chronicles, p. 255, Volume 1, added 2014-07-30, amb

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. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Medieval Lands Database. Kings of Gwynedd, descendants of GWRIAD Accessed June 22, 2018 jhd
• 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

See also:

To view Merfyn's legendary pedigrees, refer to Legendary Ancestors of Rhodri Mawr and Angharad.

Yale Genealogy and History (The massive table shows correctly Merfyn Frych as the father of Rhodri, but the discussion on page 21 makes it sound incorrectly as if there were two, father and son.

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Freych-1 created through the import of davidson ftm file 2011-07-26.ged on Jul 26, 2011 by Jeffrey Davidson.