Deen, Fordice, Hallett, Hodges and Van Horn Families - Person Sheet
Deen, Fordice, Hallett, Hodges and Van Horn Families - Person Sheet
NameNest verch Cadell
Birthabt 742, Powys, Gwlad, Wales
Spouses
Birthabt 790, Powys, Gwlad, Wales
Death844, Cyfeil, Ketell, Wales
OccupationKing of Gwynedd
FatherGwriad ap Elidir of Man (~738-<825)
MotherEsyllt verch Cynan (~770-)
ChildrenRhodri "Mawr" The Great (>805-878)
Notes for Nest verch Cadell
39

Princess

Sister of Cynen ap Cadell, last King of Powys

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nest_ferch_Cadell

Nest ferch Cadell was the daughter of Cadell ap Elisedd a late 8th century King of Powys, wife of Merfyn Frych King of Gwynedd and mother to Rhodri the Great, King of both Powys and Gwynedd.
On the death of her brother Cyngen ap Cadell in 855 authority over the Kingdom of Powys passed to her son Rhodri the Great who had previously inherited the Kingdom of Gwynedd on the death of his father in 844, thereby uniting the Kingdoms of Powys and Gwynedd.
It is unclear why the inheritance of Powys passed through Nest to her son, and not to one of the sons of Cyngen: Elisedd ap Cyngen, Ieuaf ap Cyngen, Aeddan ap Cyngen, and Gruffudd ap Cyngen. The texts of Welsh laws which survive to us were written down no earlier than the 12th century, but they provide no evidence that women were capable of transmitting legal title of kingship or lordship. Equally, although the pedigree in a manuscript in Jesus College Oxford[1] states Nest as the mother of Rhodri the Great, another pedigree in a fourteenth century manuscript[2] in the National Library of Wales records his mother as Essyllt ferch Cynan. There are no strong grounds to accept either manuscript as reliable, but it is reasonable to believe that the royal house of Gwynedd promoted the view that the Kingdom of Powys had passed to Rhodri the Great through his mother in order to legitimise their control over it.[3] Either way, this possible genealogical manipulation became part of the accepted story of the unification of the two kingdoms
Last Modified 3 Jan 2009Created 28 Sep 2020 Anthony Deen