Rhain ap Cadwgan (; died ) was an 8th-century

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales, covering the modern counties Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. It is mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed w ...

and

Brycheiniog Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans ...

Wales of the Early Middle Ages Wales in the early Middle Ages covers the time between the Roman departure from Wales c. 383 until the middle of the 11th century. In that time there was a gradual consolidation of power into increasingly hierarchical kingdoms. The end of the ea ...

. He succeeded his father Cadwgan, who succeeded his father Caten ap Cloten.

Biography

Rhain's great-grandfather, Cloten, had married the heiress of Brycheiniog, Queen Ceindrych of Brycheiniog briefly uniting the two kingdoms. During Rhain's rule, however,

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Seisyll of

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

invaded Dyfed and annexed its

Cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a Wales in the Early Middle Ages, medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divid ...

Ystrad Tywi Ystrad Tywi (, ''Valley of the river Towy'') is a region of southwest Wales situated on both banks of the River Towy (), it contained places such as Cedweli, Carnwyllion, Loughor, Llandeilo, and Gwyr (although this is disputed). Although ...

(c. 710), cleaving apart Rhain's realm; Ceredigion and

were merged by Seisyll to form

Seisyllwg Seisyllwg () was a petty kingdom of medieval Wales.Davies, p. 85 It is unclear when it emerged as a distinct unit, but according to later sources it consisted of the former Kingdom of Ceredigion plus the region known as Ystrad Tywi. Thus it cove ...

. Sometime after this, the reduced Dyfed-Brycheiniog was briefly called Rhainwg, but the detached parts could not be maintained as a unit, and Rhain's younger brother - Awst () - was appointed as a governor of Brycheiniog. Rhain's son, Tewdws succeeded him in Dyfed. Following Awst's death, Tewdws asserted his right to Brycheiniog, only allowing Awst's son, Elwystl, to rule a sub-division of it. Tewdws later murdered Elwystl, forcibly re-establishing Rhainwg.

John Edward Lloyd Sir John Edward Lloyd (5 May 1861 – 20 June 1947) was a Welsh historian. Early life and eduction John Edward Lloyd was born in Liverpool on 5 May 1861. He was educated in the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (which later become ...

, History of Wales

Three brothers: Tewdos, Gruffudd and Caten

The various manuscripts identifying Rhain's wife and immediate descendants are particularly inconsistent, and muddled. There are a number of possible conclusions: *that Rhain's son Tewdos (also known as Tewdwr) had two sons - Maredudd and Nowy Hen, between whom the land was divided; Maredudd received Dyfedd and Nowy Hen received Brycheiniog. In syzygy with this, **that Tewdos' mother (Rhain's wife) was the daughter of

Elisedd ap Gwylog Elisedd ap Gwylog (died c. 755?), also known as Elise, was king of Kingdom of Powys, Powys in eastern Wales, son of Gwylog ap Beli. Little has been preserved in the historical records about Elisedd, who was a descendant of Brochwel Ysgithrog. ...

(the king of

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

) and Sanan(t) ferch Nowy, Cloten's younger sister; that her grandson - Nowy Hen - was the father of Grufydd. **alternatively, that (as in Jesus College Manuscript 20), Sanan(t) was the daughter of Elisse, the son of Nowy Hen; Sanan(t) and an unnamed king of Powys were the parents of Grufydd *alternatively, that Rhain had three or four sons - Tewdos, Naufedd Hen, Tewdwr, and possibly also Elisse - between whom the land was divided; Dyfed going to Tewdos (whose son Maredudd inherited it from him), Naufedd Hen receiving Cantref Selyf of Brycheiniog, Tewdwr receiving

Cantref Mawr Cantref Mawr was a cantref in southwest Wales. It was of strategic importance in medieval Wales as the location of the main seat of the princes of Deheubarth Deheubarth (; , thus 'the South') was a regional name for the Welsh kingdoms, realms o ...

, and Elisse (or Naufedd Hen, if Elisse didn't exist) receiving the remainder of Brycheiniog. In close-union with this alternative, that Tewdwr's son and heir was also named ''Elisse'', and his daughter Sanan(t) married Nowy, an unidentified king, whose son was Gruffydd; Naufedd Hen, meanwhile, was the great-great-grandfather of a man named ''Elisse ap Gwylog'' (eg. as in Peniarth Manuscript 131).

References

, - 8th-century Welsh monarchs Monarchs of Dyfed Monarchs of Brycheiniog 740 deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain {{Wales-hist-stub