Gruffudd ap Nicolas or Gruffudd ap Nicholas (fl. ca. 1425–1456) was a powerful nobleman in

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He organised several bardic

eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

s in the county during the 1450s.

Background

Gruffudd is believed to be the son of Nicolas ap Phylip ap Syr Elidir Ddu and his wife, Jennet, daughter of Gruffydd ap Llewelyn Foethus. However, it is not until 1425 that Gruffudd is first recorded, as the king's approver for the lordship and town of Dynevor. By 1436 he was sheriff of Carmarthenshire. By 1439 he was farmer of the lordship of Dynevor, together with his son John. By 1438 Gruffudd was a feared man, according to a petition to the

English parliament The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

by Margaret Malefant. Malefant had been so desperate to escape that, in her haste she had sped across

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

into the arms of a man, so fast that he imagined to "ravysshe ye seide Margaret, and to have hure to hes wyf". A 17th-century history of his family describes Gruffudd's character, saying he was "hott, firie, and chollerick spiritt" though "verie wise he was, and infinitlie subtile and craftie, ambitiouse beyond measure, of a busie stirring braine".

1450s eisteddfods

The next eisteddfod in Wales after Lord Rhys's bardic festival of 1176, of any certainty, took place circa 1451 in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

, presided over by Gruffudd ap Nicolas. The dates and location are not certain. Some reports say it lasted two weeks and took place in Carmarthen but others say the event lasted 3 months and took place at Dynevor. Gruffudd wanted to emulate the Lord Rhys and, probably being a bard himself, wanted to strengthen the bardic tradition. A 'Cadair Arian' (Silver Chair) was awarded as a prize, to a bard from

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

Dafydd ab Edmwnd Dafydd ap Edmwnd (fl. c. 1450–97) was one of the most prominent Welsh language poets of the Later Middle Ages. Life Dafydd was born into a family of Norman ancestry in Hanmer, in Flintshire (now Wrexham County Borough), north-east Wales. As ...

, though poet Ieuan Llawdden accused Gruffudd of being bribed to bestow the award.

Final years

Gruffudd was on good terms with

King Henry VI of England Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne at ...

, a member of the

House of Lancaster The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancasterfrom which the house was namedfor his second son Edmund Crouchback in ...

. After the Lancastrians were defeated by

Richard of York Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (21 September 1411 – 30 December 1460), also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the ruling House of Plantag ...

at the

First Battle of St Albans The First Battle of St Albans, fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, 22 miles (35 km) north of London, traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses in England. Richard, Duke of York, and his allies, the Neville earls of Salisb ...

in 1455, Gruffudd lost some of his lands. By June 1456 he was possibly the ‘Gruffith Suoh’ who was described as at war in Wales. Gruddudd's son's, Thomas and Owen, were granted general pardons in October 1456, but after that point Gruffudd ap Nicolas disappears from the records.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruffudd ap Nicolas 15th-century Welsh people High Sheriffs of Carmarthenshire People from Carmarthenshire Year of birth uncertain