Rhys ap Rhydderch was the brother of

Gruffydd ap Rhydderch Gruffudd ap Rhydderch (d. AD 1055) was a king of Gwent and part of the kingdom of Morgannwg in south Wales, and later king of Deheubarth. Gruffudd was the son of Rhydderch ab Iestyn, who had been able to take over the kingdom of Deheubarth fr ...

,Maund ''Welsh Kings'' pp. 88–90 king of

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; , thus 'the South') was a regional name for the Welsh kingdoms, realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under ...

from 1044 to 1052.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 52 Both were the sons of Rhydderch ab Iestyn, who had been able to take over the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth from 1023 to 1033. By 1045, he and his brother had secured control of Morgannwg, and the native chronicles mention that in 1045 the two brothers performed some treacherous action against

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ( – 5 August 1063) was the first and only Welsh king to unite all of Wales under his rule from 1055 to 1063. He had also previously been King of Gwynedd and Powys from 1039 to 1055. Gruffudd was the son of Llywelyn ap ...

, the king of

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

and

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 ...

. The exact nature of this treachery is not specified, however. Although both Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and the brothers were rivals to rule Deheubarth, in the end, the two brothers became the rulers of the disputed territory. In 1049, Gruffydd ap Rhydderch joined with an Irish and Viking raiding party that raided England. Probably, Rhys was with his brother on this raid into England. The raid was opposed by Ealdred, the

Bishop of Worcester The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary (officer), head of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the ...

, but the English forces were betrayed by Welsh soldiers serving with the English army, and the Welsh and Viking raiders defeated Ealdred's defenders. King

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...

of England ordered the killing of Rhys in reprisal for his raiding of England, the decision being made at the royal court held at Christmas, 1052. Rhys was killed, according to the D version of the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'', because he "did harmful things". The chronicle of

Florence of Worcester __NOTOC__ Florence of Worcester (; died 1118) was a monk of Worcester, who played some part in the production of the '' Chronicon ex chronicis'', a Latin world chronicle which begins with the creation and ends in 1140.Keynes, "Florence". The natu ...

recorded a bit more information, stating that Rhys was killed at "Bulendun", which may be Bullen's Bank near Clyro in Radnorshire.Breeze "''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' for 1053" ''Radnorshire Society Transactions'' pp. 168–169 After his death, Rhys' head was brought to King Edward on 5 January 1053.Barlow ''Edward the Confessor'' p. 126 This left his brother as the only ruler in Deheubarth, but this did not last long, as around 1055, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn attacked the south and killed Gruffydd ap Rhydderch. This left Gruffydd ap Llywelyn as the sole ruler of Wales, the first Welshman to be so.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhys Ap Rhydderch Welsh royalty 1053 deaths 11th-century Welsh people Year of birth unknown