Ednyfed Fychan
Ednyfed Fychan ap Cynfrig | |
|---|---|
| Distain of Gwynedd | |
| In office c. 1217–1246 | |
| Monarchs | |
| Preceded by | Gwyn ab Ednywain |
| Succeeded by | After the Treaty of Woodstock:
|
| Personal details | |
| Died | 1 October 1246 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | with Tangwystl: Tudur (died c. 1281) and others:
with Gwenllian: and others:
of uncertain mothers:
|
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Ancestor of the Tudors of Penmynydd and thus the House of Tudor |
Ednyfed Fychan ap Cynfrig (Welsh pronunciation: [ɛdˈnəvɛd ˈvəχan ap ˈkənvrig], died 1 October 1246) was a Welsh nobleman who served as distain or seneschal (roughly equivalent to a modern prime minister) of the Kingdom of Gwynedd in North Wales. Ednyfed held this position under the princes of Gwynedd for almost thirty years, and his tenure as distain (plural: disteiniaid) appears to have coincided with the transformation of the office from one of domestic service to that of being the prince of Gwynedd's closest adviser and agent.
From 1217 onwards, Ednyfed is recorded witnessing Llywelyn ab Iorwerth's charters, carrying out diplomatic missions, administering justice, and perhaps even leading military action on the prince's behalf. After Llywelyn's death in 1240, Ednyfed served in the same position under Llywelyn's son and successor Dafydd, and is repeatedly recorded leading diplomatic missions on Dafydd's behalf to his rebellious brother Gruffudd and King Henry III of England. Ednyfed died some eight months after Dafydd, probably on 1 October 1246.
Ednyfed established a ministerial dynasty which served the princes of Gwynedd for over thirty years after his death until the Edwardian conquest. His preeminence allowed him to marry Gwenllian, a daughter of the Lord Rhys, prince of Deheubarth. Ednyfed's sons succeeded him as disteiniaid and his descendants held a monopoly on the position until the final campaign of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in December 1282, the turning point of Edward I's conquest of Wales. Even after the Conquest, Ednyfed's heirs and the heirs of his brothers, known as the Wyrion Eden 'descendants of Ednyfed', enjoyed special privileges in their tenure, first granted by the Llywelyns. They held their lands free from all renders other than military service, which allowed them to become very wealthy and influential. Ednyfed was granted land across Wales and many of his descendants served in the new English administration. Ednyfed's grandson Tudur Hen ap Goronwy established the branch of the family known as the Tudors of Penmynydd in Anglesey, which produced leading ecclesiastical and administrative figures of the fourteenth century in Wales. Owen Tudor, grandfather of Henry VII, was a member of this family, thus making Ednyfed the first distinguished ancestor of the House of Tudor, the house that held the throne of England from 1485 to 1603.