Gwerful Fychan (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1420–1490) was a poet during the period of the Welsh ''Beirdd yr Uchelwyr'' during the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

. She came from a noble family, her full name in genealogies being given as Gwerful ferch Ieuan Fychan ap Ieuan ap Hywel y Gadair ap Gruffudd ap Madog ap

Rhirid Flaidd Rhirid Flaidd (sometimes called Rhirid ap Gwrgenau) (fl. 1160), according to Welsh tradition, was the son of Gwrgenau, who is supported by an obscure pedigree going back to Cunedda Wledig, the progenitor of the House of Cunedda which had provided ...

. She was the heiress of the mansion of Caer-Gai, near

Llanuwchllyn Llanuwchllyn () is a village and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, Wales, near the southern end of Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid). It is one of the most sparsely populated communities in Wales. The electoral ward includes the small settlement ...

Merioneth Merionethshire, or Merioneth ( or '), was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was located in the north-west of Wales. Name 'Merioneth' is an anglicisation of the Welsh placename ''Mei ...

. The name Fychan was later anglicised as ''

Vaughan Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

''. Gwerful was married to

Tudur Penllyn Tudur Penllyn (fl. c. 1420 – 1490) was a Welsh language poet during the time of the ''Beirdd yr Uchelwyr'', the professional poets of the late Middle Ages. Tudur's place of birth is uncertain, but he was probably brought up in the Hundred of ...

, a drover and wool-trader but also a notable poet, and their son

Ieuan Ieuan is a masculine Welsh given name – one of several Welsh names derived from Latin Johannes or Ioannes and, therefore, analogous to the English language name John. Other Welsh names derived from Ioannes/Johannes or John include Ioan, Iwan, ...

also wrote poetry which survives in a number of sources. They may also have had a daughter, Gwenllian, though her poetic abilities have been harder to prove.Bowen, E. G. ''et al'' (eds.) ''History of Merioneth; II: The Middle Ages'', UWP, 2001, p. 584 No work definitely ascribed to Gwerful Fychan is known to survive, but the ''

cywydd The cywydd (; plural ) is one of the most important metrical forms in traditional Welsh poetry ( cerdd dafod). There are a variety of forms of the cywydd, but the word on its own is generally used to refer to the ("long-lined couplet") as it is ...

'' titled ''Cywydd y March Glas'' (the Grey Horse), sometimes ascribed either to

Gwerful Mechain Gwerful Mechain (fl. 1460–1502), is the only female medieval Welsh poet from whom a substantial body of work is known to have survived. She is known for her erotic poetry, in which she praised the vulva among other things. Life Gwerful Mech ...

Tudur Aled Tudur Aled (c. 1465 – 1525) was a late medieval Welsh poet, born in Llansannan, Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych). He is regarded as a master of cynghanedd. Beginnings Tudur Aled was born c. 1465 in Llansannan, in what is now Denbighshire. It is l ...

, has been suggested as her work.Roberts and Clarke, ''Women and gender in early modern Wales'', UWP, 2000, p. 152 Some early antiquaries confuse her with Gwerful Mechain, who was a contemporary. Her memory persisted in the area of Llanuwchllyn as late as the 20th century and a variety of traditional verses were claimed as by her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwerful Fychan 15th-century Welsh poets 15th-century Welsh women writers 15th-century landowners 15th-century women landowners People from Llanuwchllyn Welsh women poets Welsh-language poets Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown Medieval women poets