Griffin Vaughan (abt. 1395 - abt. 1447)

Born about 1395 in Wales

Descendants

Died about 9 Jul 1447 at about age 52 in Powis Castle, Powys, Wales

Biography

Gruffydd Vychan a.k.a. Sir Griffith Vaughan (c. 1395 – 1447; bur. Welshpool church)

Gruffydd was the second son of Gruffudd ab Ieuan ap Madog of Powys and his wife, Mallt (Maud), daughter of Griffri ap Rhys Bongam of Broniarth, Griffith was born about 1390 if the tradition that he served at Agincourt in 1415 is correct. The tradition that he was made a knight banneret at that time is unsubstantiated.

He made his living as a mounted knight and although Crecy and Agincourt had signalled the decline of that mode of warfare it was still the very expensive way of war in the 1440s. Griffith's lance alone cost 2 shillings. ^[1] In 1443 Griffith, then likely in his fifties, was in the retinue of the very young Sir Christopher Talbot, a noted jouster and son of the newly created John Talbot, Earl of Shrewbury. Unhappily Griffith's lance pierced Talbot's heart. The exact circumstances are as yet unknown but Griffith and his son, Rheinallt, were at once outlawed, a price of 500 marks placed on Griffith's head. Griffith was on the run for almost four years before being captured by Henry Grey, Earl of Tancarville, taken to Powys Castle and summarily beheaded on 9 July 1447.^[2]

He was twice married, firstly to Margaret, daughter Gruffudd ap Jenkin of Broniarth and secondly to Margaret, daughter of Madog of Hope (Hob). He had three sons, Dafydd, Cadwalader and Rheinallt, and three daughters.^[3]

Research Notes

His son Reynold saw his father's lands granted to Sir John Sutton, Lord of Duddeley in 1444. ^[4]

Tradition states that he was a knight banneret at the battle of Agincourt (25 OCT 1415) but this is unproven.

Sources

1. ↑ Calendar of the patent rolls preserved in the Public Record Office, prepared ... Page 398
2. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Vaughan, Sir Gruffudd, fychan (d. 1447)
3. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Vaughan, Sir Gruffudd, fychan (d. 1447)
4. ↑ Calendar of the patent rolls preserved in the Public Record Office, prepared ... Page 281

• Wikipedia: Gruffudd Vychan
• MacLeod, F.A. (1906). The history of Chibury. Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History, 6(3), p. 362.