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     Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (c. 1007 – August 5, 1063) was the ruler of all Wales from 1055 until his death, the only Welsh monarch able to make this boast. Called King of the Britons in the Annals of Ulster and Brut y Tywysogion, he was great-great-grandson to Hywel Dda and King Anarawd ap Rhodri of Gwynedd.

Gruffydd was the elder of two sons of Llywelyn ap Seisyll, who had been able to rule both Gwynedd and Powys. On Llywelyn's death in 1023, a member of the Aberffraw dynasty, Iago ab Idwal ap Meurig, became ruler of Gwynedd. According to an early story Gruffydd had been a lazy youth, but one New Year's Eve, he was driven out of the house by his exasperated sister. Leaning against the wall of another house, he heard a cook who was boiling pieces of beef in a cauldron complain that there was one piece of meat which kept coming to the top of the cauldron, however often it was thrust down. Gruffydd took the comment to apply to himself, and began his rise to power in Powys.

In 1039 Iago ab Idwal was killed by his own men (his son Cynan ap Iago, who may have been as young as four, was taken into exile in Dublin) and Gruffydd, already the usurper-king of Powys, was able to become king of Gwynedd. Soon after gaining power he surprised a Mercian army at Rhyd y Groes near Welshpool and totally defeated it, killing its leader, Edwin, the brother of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. He then attacked the neighbouring principality of Deheubarth which was now ruled by Hywel ab Edwin. Gruffydd defeated Hywel in a battle at Pencader in 1041 and carried off Hywel's wife. Gruffydd seems to have been able to drive Hywel out of Deheubarth in about 1043, for in 1044 Hywel is recorded as returning with a Danish fleet to the mouth of the River Tywi to try to reclaim his kingdom. Gruffydd however defeated and killed him in a close fought fight.

Gruffydd ap Rhydderch of Gwent was able to expel Gruffydd ap Llywelyn from Deheubarth in 1047 and became king of Deheubarth himself after the nobles of Ystrad Tywi had attacked and killed 140 of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn's household guard. He was able to resist several attacks by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in the following years. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was active on the Welsh border in 1052, when he attacked Herefordshire and defeated a mixed force of Normans and English near Leominster.

In 1055 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn killed his rival Gruffydd ap Rhydderch in battle and recaptured Deheubarth. Gruffydd now allied himself with Ælfgar, son of Earl Leofric of Mercia, who had been deprived of his earldom of East Anglia by Harold Godwinson and his brothers. They marched on Hereford and were opposed by a force led by the Earl of Hereford, Ralph the Timid. This force was mounted and armed in the Norman fashion, but on October 24 Gruffydd defeated it. He then sacked the city and destroyed its Norman castle. Earl Harold was given the task of counter attacking, and seems to have built a fortification at Longtown in Herefordshire before refortifying Hereford. Shortly afterwards Ælfgar was restored to his earldom and a peace treaty concluded.

Around this time Gruffydd was also able to seize Morgannwg and Gwent, along with extensive territories along the border with England. In 1056, he won another victory over an English army near Glasbury. Now a true King of Wales, he claimed sovereignty over the whole of Wales - a claim which was recognised by the English[citation needed]. Historian John Davies states that Gruffydd was "the only Welsh king ever to rule over the entire territory of Wales... Thus, from about 1057 until his death in 1063, the whole of Wales recognised the kingship of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn. For about seven brief years, Wales was one, under one ruler, a feat with neither precedent nor successor."[1]¹

     Walter de Gloucester (also Walter FitzRoger or Walter de Pitres) (1065 - 1129) was an early Norman official of the King of England during the early years of the Norman conquest of the South Welsh Marches.

He was the only son of Roger de Pitres and his wife, Eunice de Balun.

Walter de Gloucester was High Sheriff of Gloucestershire and lived in Gloucester Castle of which he was constable, making improvements to this early fortification.

He was married to Bertha, a relative of Hamelin de Balun. They were the parents of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford and a daughter, Maud, who married a Roger Fitz Pons.¹

     Robert II de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby, a younger but eldest surviving son of Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, and his wife Hawise, succeeded his father as Earl of Derby in 1139. (William the older brother had been murdered in London some time before) He was head of a family which controlled a large part of Derbyshire including an area later known as Duffield Frith.

Little is known of Robert's life, other than his generosity to the church. In 1148, he established Merevale Abbey in Warwickshire, England, where he requested to be buried in an ox hide. The stone effigies of Robert and his wife, Margaret Peverel, lie in the gatehouse chapel of Merevale Abbey, near the village of Atherstone.[1]

He continued his father's attempts to play a role in the civil war commonly called The Anarchy that arose because of the contesting claims of Empress Matilda and Stephen of England. The family's support for Stephen led to him being awarded the revenues of the Borough of Derby in 1139, though in 1149 Stephen then granted the Borough to the Earl of Chester[2]

He finally threw in his lot with the future Henry II after Tutbury Castle was besieged in 1153.[3] However when Henry came to the throne in 1154, he withdrew de Ferrers' right to use the title of Earl or to receive the "third penny" on the profits of the county.

He died in 1162 and was succeeded by his son William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby.¹

     Margaret Peverel (born c.1114) was a 12th century Countess of Derby , who lived at Tutbury Castle in the English county of Staffordshire.

Margaret was the daughter of William Peverel the Younger of Peveril Castle in Derbyshire and his wife, Avicia de Lancaster. Her grandfather was William Peverel. She married Robert Ferrers and thus became Countess of Derby. She was the mother of William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby, Walkelin de Derby and a daughter, Petronella.¹

     Walkelin de Derby (also known as Walkelin de Ferrieres, anglicized as Walkelin de Ferrers) (c. 1135 - 1190) was a Norman lord of Egginton in the English county of Derbyshire. He was the last moneyer of the Derby Mint[citation needed] and the principal founder of Derby School.

Walkelin is believed to have been born in about 1135, the son of Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby and his wife, Margaret Peverel. In 1162, he married Goda de Toeni (born about 1141), the daughter and heiress of Robert de Toeni of Eggington in Derbyshire, and settled in the county. They had at least two children, Margery (born about 1165) and Isabel (born about 1172). According to some reports, Walkelin died in 1190 at the Siege of Acre, Jerusalem. Others place his death at Oakham Castle in Rutland, although this probably refers to his second cousin, Walkelin de Ferrers, the lord of Oakham.

The ancient Derby School may have been first established by William de Barbâ Aprilis and Walter Durdant, Bishop of Lichfield, in the reign of Henry II. It was re-founded in the second half of the 12th century by Walkelin and his wife, Goda, who gave their own house to be used for the school[1]. However, there is no firm information on where the house was.[2]

Magna Britannia[3] says of Derby School -

Whilst Richard Peche, who succeeded Walter Durdant in 1162, was Bishop of Lichfield, Walkelin de Derby and Goda his wife gave the mansion in which they dwelt, and which Walkelin had purchased of William Alsin, to the canons of Derley, on condition that the hall should be for ever used as a school-room, and the chambers for the dwelling of the master and clerks.[4].¹

     William de Braose, First Lord of Bramber born 1049 in Briouze, Normandy (today part of the Argentan Arrondissement in the region of Basse-Normandie). (d. 1093/1096) was a Norman nobleman who participated in the victory at the Battle of Hastings over King Harold Godwinson in support of William the Conqueror as he and his followers invaded and controlled Saxon England. His name at this early stage would have been Guillaume de Briouze.

De Braose was given lands in Sussex, England at Bramber in 1073, where he was lord of the Rape of Bramber[1] and where he built Bramber Castle. De Braose was also awarded lands in the Welsh Marches, and became one of the most powerful of the new Lords of the early Norman era.

He continued to bear arms alongside King William in campaigns in England, Normandy and Maine in France.

He was a pious man and made considerable grants to the Abbey of St, Florent, Samur and to endow the formation of a Priory at Sele, West Sussex near Bramber and a Priory at Briouze.

He was soon installed in a new Norman castle at Bramber, to guard the strategically important harbour at Steyning and so began a vigorous boundary dispute and power tussle with the monks from Fécamp, in Normandy to whom King William I had granted Steyning, brought to a head by the Domesday Book, completed in 1086.

It found that de Braose had built a bridge at Bramber and demanded tolls from ships travelling further along the river to the busy port at Steyning. The monks also challenged Bramber's right to bury people in the churchyard of William de Braose's new church of Saint Nicholas, and demanded the burial fees for themselves, despite it being built to serve the castle not the town. The monks then produced forged documents to defend their position and were unhappy with the failure of their claim on Hastings, which were very similar. The monks claimed the same freedoms and land tenure in Hastings as King Edward had given them at Steyning. Though on a technicality William was bound to uphold all aspects of the status quo before Edward's death, the monks had already been expelled 10 years before that death. King William wanted to hold Hastings for himself for strategic reasons and ignored the problem until 1085, when he confirmed their Steyning claims but swapped the Hastings claim for land in the manor of Bury (near Pulborough in Sussex). In 1086 the King William called his sons, Barons and Bishops to court (the last time an English king presided personally, with his full court, to decide a matter of law) to settle this. It took a full day, and the Abbey won over the baron, forcing William de Braose to curtail his bridge tolls, give up various encroachments onto the Abbey's lands, including a farmed rabbit warren, a park, eighteen burgage plots, a causeway, and a channel to fill his moat, and organise a mass exhumation and transfer of all Bramber's dead to the churchyard of Saint Cuthman's Church in Steyning.

William de Braose was succeeded as Lord of Bramber by his son, Philip. William de Braose was present for the consecration of a church in his hometown of Briouze, near Falaise in Normandy, France, whence the name de Braose originates, in 1093, so we know he was still alive in that year. However, his son Philip was issuing charters as Lord of Bramber in 1096, indicating that William de Braose died sometime between those dates probably at Bramber.¹

     Rhys ap Gruffydd (1132 – 28 April 1197) was the ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales. He is commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh Yr Arglwydd Rhys, but this title may not have been used in his lifetime.[1] He usually used the title "Proprietary Prince of Deheubarth" or "Prince of South Wales", but two documents have been preserved in which he uses the title "Prince of Wales" or "Prince of the Welsh".[2] Rhys was one of the most successful and powerful Welsh princes, and after the death of Owain Gwynedd of Gwynedd in 1170 was the dominant power in Wales.

Rhys's grandfather, Rhys ap Tewdwr, was king of Deheubarth, and was killed at Brecon in 1093 by Bernard de Neufmarche. Following his death, most of Deheubarth was taken over by the Normans. Rhys's father, Gruffydd ap Rhys, was eventually able to become ruler of a small portion, and more territory was won back by Rhys's older brothers after Gruffydd's death. Rhys became ruler of Deheubarth in 1155. He was forced to submit to King Henry II of England in 1158. Henry invaded Deheubarth in 1163, stripped Rhys of all his lands and took him prisoner. A few weeks later he was released and given back a small part of his holdings. Rhys made an alliance with Owain Gwynedd and after the failure of another invasion of Wales by Henry in 1165 was able to win back most of his lands.

In 1171 Rhys made peace with King Henry and was confirmed in possession of his recent conquests as well as being named Justiciar of South Wales. He maintained good relations with King Henry until the latter's death in 1189. Following Henry's death Rhys revolted against Richard I and attacked the Norman lordships surrounding his territory, capturing a number of castles. In his later years Rhys had trouble keeping control of his sons, particularly Maelgwn and Gruffydd, who maintained a feud with each other. Rhys launched his last campaign against the Normans in 1196 and captured a number of castles. The following year he died unexpectedly and was buried in St David's Cathedral.

Rhys was the second son of Gruffydd ap Rhys, ruler of part of Deheubarth, and Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, daughter of Gruffydd ap Cynan, king of Gwynedd. His elder brother was Maredudd ap Gruffydd, and there were two younger brothers, Morgan and Maelgwn.[3] He also had two older half-brothers, Anarawd and Cadell, and at least two sisters, Gwladus and Nest.

Deheubarth was one of the traditional kingdoms of Wales, shown here as they were in 1093 when Rhys ap Tewdwr died.His grandfather, Rhys ap Tewdwr, had been king of all Deheubarth until his death in 1093. Rhys ap Tewdwr was killed in Brycheiniog, and most of his kingdom was taken over by Norman lords. Gruffydd ap Rhys was forced to flee to Ireland.[4] He later returned to Deheubarth and ruled a portion of the kingdom, but was forced to flee to Ireland again in 1127. When Rhys was born in 1132, his father held only the commote of Caeo in Cantref Mawr.[5]

The death of King Henry I of England and the ensuing rivalry between Stephen and Matilda gave the Welsh the opportunity to rise against the Normans. A revolt spread through south Wales in 1136, and Gruffydd ap Rhys, aided by his two eldest sons, Anarawd and Cadell, defeated the Normans in a battle near Loughor, killing over five hundred. After driving Walter de Clifford out of Cantref Bychan, Gruffydd set off to Gwynedd to enlist the help of his father-in-law, Gruffydd ap Cynan.[6] In the absence of her husband, Gwenllian led an army against the Norman lordship of Cydweli (Kidwelly), taking along her two youngest sons, Morgan and Maelgwn. She was defeated and killed by an army commanded by Maurice de Londres of Oystermouth Castle. Morgan was also killed and Maelgwn captured.[7]

Gruffydd formed an alliance with Gwynedd, and later in 1136 the sons of Gruffydd ap Cynan, Owain Gwynedd and Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, led an army to Ceredigion. Their combined forces won a decisive victory over the Normans at the Battle of Crug Mawr. Ceredigion was reclaimed from the Normans, but was annexed by Gwynedd as the senior partner in the alliance. Gruffydd ap Rhys continued his campaign against the Normans in 1137, but died later that year. The leadership of the family now passed to Rhys's half-brother Anarawd ap Gruffydd. In 1143, when Rhys was eleven, Anarawd was murdered by the bodyguard of Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, brother of Owain Gwynedd, king of Gwynedd. Owain punished Cadwaladr by depriving him of his lands in Ceredigion.[8]

Rhys had at least nine sons and eight daughters.[60] Confusingly, three of the sons were named Maredudd and two of the daughters were named Gwenllian. Gruffydd ap Rhys (died 1201) was the eldest legitimate son and was nominated by Rhys as his successor. He married Matilda de Braose.[61] Maelgwn ap Rhys (died 1231), who was the eldest son but illegitimate, refused to accept Gruffydd as his father's successor. A bitter feud developed between the two, with several of Rhys's other sons becoming involved. Rhys Gryg (died 1233) married Joan de Clare[62] and eventually became the main power in Deheubarth, but never ruled more than a portion of his father's realm and was a client prince of Llywelyn the Great of Gwynedd.

Hywel ap Rhys (died 1231) spent many years as a hostage at the court of Henry II and on his return became known as Hywel Sais (Hywel the Saxon, i.e. Englishman). Maredudd ap Rhys (died 1239) was also given as a hostage, but was less fortunate than Hywel. He was blinded by King Henry after the failure of the invasion of Wales in 1165, and became known as Maredudd Ddall (Maredudd the Blind). He ended his days as a monk at Whitland Abbey. Another Maredudd (died 1227) became Archdeacon of Cardigan.[61]

His daughter Gwenllian ferch Rhys married Rhodri ab Owain, prince of the western part of Gwynedd. Another Gwenllian (died 1236) married Ednyfed Fychan, seneschal of Gwynedd under Llywelyn the Great, and through her Rhys became an ancestor of the Tudor dynasty. When Henry Tudor landed in Pembrokeshire in 1485 to make a bid for the throne, his descent from Rhys was one of the factors which enabled him to attract Welsh support.[63] Angharad ferch Rhys married William FitzMartin, lord of Cemais. Other daughters married the Welsh rulers of Gwrtheyrnion and Elfael.[64]¹