Was Uchdryd ap Edwin as much a traitor as his brother, Owain Fradwr?
Owain ap Edwin has been branded by history as a traitor. Owain supported the Normans in their devasting attack on Anglesey in the summer of 1098, and whatever his reasoning was, he was seen as someone who turned on his own. Uchdryd, his younger brother, comes off as an all-around nice guy respected by Normans and Welsh alike. In my books ‘The Welsh Traitor’s Daughter’ and ‘The Welsh Warrior’s Inheritance’ I paint Uchdryd as a noble warrior, a loveable uncle to Angharad ferch Owain and a strong strategist but am I being fair?
Uchdryd ap Edwin and his older brother Owain were probably born in the early 1050s. They were the sons of Edwin ap Gronw, whose ancestry stretched back to King Hywel Dda. Their mother, Iwerydd, was also a half-sister to the mighty king of Gwynedd and Powys, Bleddyn ap Cynfyn. Welsh nobility coursed through their veins, but interestingly, they also claimed noble Anglo-Saxon heritage through their great-grandmother Ethelfreda, daughter of Eadwine of Mercia. The area of North Wales they were brought up in, the cantref of Tegeingl, had flipped between Anglo-Saxon and Welsh control over the years, so the idea of ‘foreigners’ in Welsh lands was not alien to them.
It is likely that at 14, Uchdryd, like so many other Welsh sons of nobility, would have left home to train probably at the court of Bleddyn ap Cynfryn. It would have been there that Uchdryd developed strong bonds with the sons of Bleddyn, particularly Cadwgan, and it is not surprising that when Cadwgan gained the kingship of Powys, he chose his first cousin Uchdryd as head of his warband. As a man of some importance, Uchdryd married Nest ferch Llewelyn Fychan, whose grandfather and uncle had also held the prestigious position of head of warband to kings.
From 1093, when the Welsh beheaded the Norman Robert of Rhuddlan, Uchdryd led Cadwgan’s warband in battle after battle. The Welsh would not be easily defeated, and Cadwgan started to nurture the prospects of Gruffydd ap Cynan, who was coming of age to be king in Gwynedd. Uchdryd and the warband attacked Pembroke Castle and held it to siege and would have been successful, but the wily Gerald of Windsor convinced them he was well-stocked up with provisions by throwing his last flitches of bacon over the ramparts to the Welsh.
When the Normans, led by Hugh the Fat, ravished Anglesey in 1098, having been guided there by Owain ap Edwin, it is possible that it was Uchdryd ap Edwin who negotiated peace with Earl Hugh and created a safe pathway back to Wales for both Cadwgan ap Bleddyn and Gruffydd ap Cynan. Certainly, Cadwgan was happy with Uchdryd and gave him lands in Meirionydd and Cyfeiliog.
Fast forward to 1109. Cadwgan ap Bleddyn’s son Owain kidnaps Princess Nest. Princess Nest is the wife of Gerald of Windsor and the mistress of King Henry of England. The Normans are in uproar, but who are they calling upon to find Owain and turn him over to them? They describe no other than Uchdryd as ‘ the truest and most faithful companion’. With such an accolade from the Normans and set up to catch a Welsh hero, how can Uchdryd not be considered as much a traitor as his brother?
It is unclear why the Normans would choose the head of Cadwgan’s warband to capture Cadwgan’s son, but Uchdryd was crafty. While the others selected to chase Owain gathered, Uchdryd assisted the residents of Owain’s lands in fleeing to his own property for protection. He also stalled the hunt, so Cadwgan and Owain could escape to Ireland. Both Cadwgan and Owain owed Cadwgan a debt.
In 1116, after the death of Cadwgan and his son Owain, Uchdryd’s home at Cymer in Meirionydd was attacked by Einion ap Cadwgan and his cousin Gruffydd ap Maredudd because they felt that he had not been a good friend to Cadwgan’s other sons. The cause of the grievance is unclear, but Uchdryd’s lands in Meirionydd and Cyfeiliog were seized. Suddenly, Uchdryd is out of favour with the nobles of Powys. It was, however, very convenient because there was a shortage of land to be shared among the Powysian nobles, which provided just that.
From what recorded history tells us, we might reasonably assume that Owain ap Edwin and his brother Uchdryd used their relationships with the Normans to their advantage. At a time when Wales was in political turmoil, keeping yourself and your family safe was difficult, and you had to be a master of diplomacy to manage the political complexities. The lines between betrayal and loyalty are often blurred by the accounts we have, but I would like to think of Uchdryd as he appears in my books. He is a man who navigated political differences with aplomb!
If you would like to immerse yourself in the time of Uchdryd ap Edwin, you might enjoy ‘The Welsh Traitor’s Daughter’ and ‘The Welsh Warrior’s Inheritance’.