General Notes

ruled Gwynedd 844-78, Powys 855-78, & Seisyllwg 871-78

Prince of Wales

Upon the death of his father in 844 he became King of Gwynedd. When his
uncle, Cyngen, died in 855 he became King of Powys. When his wife
ANGHARAD's brother, Gwgon, died in 871 he also became ruler of
Seisyllwg. By the time of his death in 877 he ruled over all of Wales
with the exception of the southeastern and southwestern extremities.
Rhodri was a pivotal person in Welsh history. In future centuries, one of
the main requirements for kingship in the Welsh kingdoms was being of
the descent of Rhodri Mawr.
Rhodri's fame sprang from his success as a warrior. It was his victory
over the Viking, Horn, leader of the Danes, in 856 which brought him
international acclaim. The Irish and the Franks had been unsuccessfully
trying to repel the Northmen and they were impessed by Rhodri's
success. The English kingdom of Wessex had for many years been striving
with partial success to subjugate Powys. It was in battle against the
English that Rhodri, along with his son, Gwriad, was killed in 877.
It appears that the Welsh court experienced a cultural revival during
the reign of Rhodri.
Note:
Stewart Baldwin posted to
soc.genealogy.medieval on 29 Jun 1997 (in part):
Subject: Re: Rhoderic Mawr, King of Wales
"Rhodri Mawr, king of Gwynedd, died in 878. ["Rhoderic" is an
Anglicization of the Welsh name "Rhodri".] Although he was an important
Welsh king, it is not really appropriate to call him the
"first King of Wales", for there were large parts of Wales over which
he did not rule. Most sources give the name of Rhodri's wife as
ANGHARAD, heiress of Ceredigion, and give his mother as NEST, heiress
of Powys, but Patrick Sims-Williams [in the article "Historical Need
and Literary Narrative: a Caveat from Ninth-Century Wales", Welsh
History Review, vol. 17 (1994), pp. 1-40] has recently argued
(conclusively, in my opinion) that neither NEST nor ANGHARAD ever
existed, and that they were inventions of later genealogists who
wanted to give Rhodri's family a line of descent from the earlier
kings of Powys and Ceredigion. Rhodri's ancestry, as taken from the best
records (The Harleian genealogies and the Welsh and Irish
annals), is given in this genealogy. Names are given here in their Old
Welsh forms, with Modern Welsh ["MW"] forms given in brackets.