General Notes

    Ruled Gwent 1063-1081

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    Caradog ap Gruffydd ap Rhydderch (d 1081) was the grandson of Rhydderch ap Iestyn, powerful in South Wales until his death in 1033, and the son of Gruffydd ap Rhydderch, the rival of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, by whom he was slain in 1055. The home of the family would seem to have been Gwynllwg and Upper Gwent. It is in this quart of Wales that Caradog makes his first appearance in 1065, when he swooped upon earl Harold's new hunting lodge at Portskewet, destroyed it and ravaged the neighbourhood, without apparently suffering any reprisals. He was of a bold and adventurous temper and, remembering the exploits of his grandfather and father, set himself to conquer the realm of Deheubarth. In 1072 he defeated the slew the reigning prince, Maredudd ab Owain ab Edwin, in a battle on the Rhymney, and in 1078 slew his successor, Rhys ab Owain. But a third and more formidable opponent appeared in Rhys ap Tewdwr in 1081. Thus the stage was set for the famous battle of Mynydd Carn fought somewhere in northern Dyfed, where Rhys, fortified by the approval of bishop Sulien of S Davids and with the help of Gruffudd ap Cynan, inflicted a crushing defeat upon Caradog and his northern allies. Caradog is no more heard of; he left a son Owain, who in course of time established himself in Gwynllwg and became the ancestor of the later Welsh lords of Caerleon. [Dictionary of Welsh Biography p66]