If you look at a copy of the Authorised Bible, you will find that it is
dedicated to 'James King of Great Britain FRANCE, and Ireland' It does not
take a lot of research to find that James (VII & II) was not king of France
at the time, he just thought that he should be by virtue of hs inheritance of
the throne of William the conqueror.
You have a similar situation with Bleddyn. His mother Angharad was the widow
of Llywelyn ap Seisyllt, King of both Deheubarth and Gwynedd. Seisyllt was a
grandson of Hywel Dda twice over so he had big rights to the Crown of
Deheubarth. Bleddyn claimed his kingship both through his own rights and
through his widowed mother's rights. He never actually had Deheubarth any
more than James had France, but he, like James, thought "I b-- well should
have it"
The rights of Bleddyn were particularly supported by the monks of Llanbadarn
Fawr, and as they lived in Deheubarth they tended to emphasise his right to
that crown rather than the actuality of his power base in Gwynedd, this is
the main reason why he is "reported" more often in the genealogies as Prince
of Deheubarth rather than King of Gwynedd (as a side note, in the Welsh of
the time there is no degree of superiority between the terms Prince and King
- that distinction belongs to later times)
As you say this period is "confusing even to those who have studied it for
years" - so I hope I haven't confused you more with this answer :-)
Regards
Alwyn
In a message dated 29/08/2002 17:29:11 GMT Daylight Time,
deitzj(a)optonline.net writes:
I am admittedly a novice to the early Welsh ruling families -- which
seems
to be understandably confusing even to those who have studied it for years,
but ...
Why is Bleddyn ap Cynfyn sometimes called the Prince of Deheubath?
Some genelogical sources indicate that Bleddyn ap Cynfyn ap Gwerstan was
known as "Prince of Deheubath". Seemingly reliable historians suggest that
on the death of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn (d. 5 Aug 1063), Deheubarth passed
into
the hands of Hywel, Maredudd and Rhys, sons of Owain ap Edwin, not Bleddyn
ap Cynfyn. Powys and Gwynedd passed to the brothers Bleddyn and Rhiwallon,
and eventually solely to Bleddyn. Bleddyn appears to have been a
relatively
strong king of these northern kingdoms (ruled 1063-1075). While Bleddyn
attempted to gain control over Deheubath, and may have had some influence
over Ceredigion, I have not found evidence that he ever fully controlled,
ruled, or had a "special" hereditary claim to Deheubath; in fact, he was
killed on an invasion attempt.
If this be so, why would Bleddyn be given the title "Prince of Deheubath"
rather than "King of Gwynedd"? Given the early Welsh naming conventions,
is
there perhaps some confusion between this Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and another
prince of the same name?