Person Page 276

The pedigrees of Idnerth ap Cadwgan ap Elystan Glodrydd cite his wife alternately as "Gwenllian v Aaron ap Paen Hen ap Io. ap Meirchion"[1] or "Gwerfyl, daughter of Aaron Paen ap y Paen Hen"[2] or "Dyddgu v Aaron Poen ap Payne ap Io ap Meirchion"[3] or "Gwenllian, daughter of Aron Pen of Castle Pen[4]. Certain medieval manuscripts expand her ancestry to "Meirchiawn ap Tanged ap Padriaric"[5]. It should be noted, however, that no "Io ap Meirchion occurs in the ancient annals or chronicles of the 10th or 11th centuries. Furthermore, "paen" is unknown in the Welsh language and our first impression is that "Aaron Paen" was probably not a Welshman. Secondly, we think the cited marriage involved a later man also named Idnerth ap Cadwgan.

Phonetically, "Paen" is the Welsh spelling of "Payne", a name closely associated with the commote of Elfael. We suspect the Aaron of Castle Pen refers to Painscastle in Elfael. If so, the chronology of the pedigree is off by about 4 generations.

Idnerth ap Cadwgan ap Elystan, born c. 1050, had as his share of his father's lands the commotes of Ceri, Maelienydd and Elfael. On his death in the first quarter of the twelfth century, his son Madog (ob 1140) inherited all three of those commotes. However, claims to this territory were being pressed by the Normans. In the 1080's, Cadwgan had lost Hereford to the Normans and now Idnerth's purely Welsh portion (west of Offa's Dyke) of the old kingdom of Fferlys was invaded by Ralph Mortimer. Based at Wigmore in Herefordshire, this Mortimer brought his army into Maelienydd about 1093 and built a castle at Cymaran (Cwm Aeron). But in 1100, Mortimer was banished[6] to France by Henry I and Idnerth was able to reclaim his lost territory and pass it on intact to his son, Madog.

About the year 1130, another Norman intrusion came in Elfael. Henry I had installed Miles of Gloucester as Earl of Hereford, who appointed his retainer, Payne fitz John, as Sheriff for Herefordshire and Shropshire. The latter man invaded Elfael and built a motte and bailey hill-fort forever after known as "Painscastle". (It was not fortified with stone until 100 years later, in 1231 by Henry III). But it is believed that by 1135, Painscastle was under the control of Madog ap Idnerth. There is no record of a battle in Elfael and perhaps Madog and Payne had become "allies of necessity"; when Henry I died that year and Stephen became King of England, Hugh Mortimer (son of Ralph) returned to England and was restored to his castle at Wigmore. The Mortimer family was an old enemy of Madog's family and its expansionist ambitions may have led Payne fitz John to ally with Madog against Mortimer. Payne and Earl Miles had been very early adherents to King Stephen whose legitimacy to the crown was being challenged by Matilda, the daughter of Henry I to whom he had promised his kingdom[7]. The peaceful state of affairs in Elfael was to be altered drastically in the ensuing years: Payne died in 1137, Madog in 1140 and Hugh Mortimer soon after, all men past age 50.

Madog's lorship was divided between his sons, Cadwallon, Einion Clud, Maredudd, Hywel and Cadwgan. Payne fitz John was probably succeeded by a son, Aaron fitz Payne, whom the Welsh simply called "Aaron Paen ap y Paen Hen" or "Aaron Payne, the son of the older Payne". Hugh Mortimer II inherited Wigmore and in 1142, he invaded Maelienydd to regain Cymaran and killed Hywel and Cadwgan ap Madog. He later moved into Elfael to take Painscastle, killing Maredudd ap Madog in 1146. Of Madog's remaining sons, Einion Clud became Lord of Elfael and Cadwallon Lord of Ceri and Maelienydd. For the next 30 years, Mortimer held the major castles in those commotes but the sons of Madog continued to hold the remainder of their lands with the support of King Stephen and his successor, Henry II...likely as a means of checking the Mortimer power within their own kingdom. But when Hugh Mortimer II died in the 1170's, his son Roger renewed the hostilities; his men ambushed and killed Einion Clud in 1177. When this did not result in any reprisals from Henry II, he was emboldened to kill Cadwallon ap Madog in 1179 as the latter was returning from a meeting with King Henry. This treachery was not ignored by the king; he had Mortimer's men arrested and their lands seized. Roger Mortimer himself was thrown into prison. But the Welsh family, the proud descendants of Elystan Glodrydd, was never again to rule their patrimony independently from the Normans. Thereafter, we find the family limited to smaller lordships, principally in Ceri.[8]

History is silent as to the fate of the family descended from Payne fitz John, but we believe it may have become extinct in the male line with Aaron. It was his daughter, whether Gwenllian or Gwerfyl or Dyddgu, who the pedigrees cite as the wife of an Idnerth ap Cadwgan. Since the lady would date from c. 1155, we should look for a man of that era for her husband...not the Idnerth of the mid-eleventh century. Our guess is he was a son of Cadwgan ap Madog ap Idnerth, born about 1140, and they named one of their sons Aaron who settled in Ceri. Another family descended from Idnerth was settled at Cefnllys in Maelienydd and we are told that Arddun ferch Einion of Cefnllys married Aaron ap Gruffudd ap Aaron.[9] And Addu Ddu of the Maesmawr family (just over the border from Ceri in Arwystli) married Efa ferch Meurig ap Aaron Pen called "one of the chief gentlemen in Ceri"[10]. Our compilation of this data is shown by this chart:

1050 Idnerth ap Cadwgan John 1055
_______l_______ l
l l l
1085 Ifor Madog 1080 Payne 1085
l l l
1115 Gronwy Cadwgan Aaron 1120
l l 1110 l 1140
1145 Ieuaf 1140 Idnerth=====Daughter 1155 Cynfelyn
l l l
1175 Meurig Aaron Pen 1175 Einion 1170
l _______l_________ l
l l l l
1205 Einion Gruffudd 1205 Meurig 1210 Gruffudd 1205
l l l l
1245 Arddun======Aaron 1235 Efa========Adda Ddu 1235
1245

(Cefnllys family) (family from Payne fitz John) (Maesmawr family)

NOTE: We have dated the men in this chart by marriages cited to other families rather than rely solely on those within various branches of the clan of Idnerth ap Cadwgan ap Elystan, and by obit notices cited for some of them.

We conclude by acknowledging this identification of "Aaron Paen" means the actual wife taken by Idnerth ap Cadwgan ap Elystan Glodrydd is unknown; there was no Aaron among the ancestors of Payne fitz John. Although the "ap Io" can be read as an abbreviation for "ap John", there was also no Meirchion in his ancestry...John is cited as "fitz Eustace of Conteville" and the latter is probably the Eustace fitz John listed in the Roll of Battle Abbey as a companion of William of Normandy at Hastings.[11] We suspect the mythical Meirchion is simply a name appended to make it appear Idnerth married a Welsh lady. But the Idnerth we identify as the lady's husband would have flourished in the final quarter of the 12th century, and his grandfather had peacefully coexisted with Payne fitz John. A marriage between those two families is not only possible, but even probable. The grandfathers of both the lady and of our putative Idnerth ap Cadwgan ap Madog had been, at worst, political allies who shared a common foe in the Mortimers and a common friend in the king of England. Madog ap Idnerth ap Cadwgan and Payne fitz John might even have become the kind of friends created by the mantra "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". While no wife is cited for Aaron fitz Payne, he may well have married into the same Welsh family.

*.

Parentage not confirmed.

*.

Alexander I (c. 1078 – 23 April 1124), also called Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim (Modern Gaelic: Alasdair mac Mhaol Chaluim) and nicknamed "The Fierce",[1] was King of the Scots from 1107 to his death.

Alexander was the fourth son of Malcolm III by his wife Margaret of Wessex, grandniece of Edward the Confessor. Alexander was named for Pope Alexander II.

He was the younger brother of King Edgar, who was unmarried, and his brother's heir presumptive by 1104 (and perhabs earlier). In that year he was the senior layman present at the examination of the remains of Saint Cuthbert at Durham prior to their reinterrment. He held lands in Scotland north of the Forth and in Lothian.[2]

On the death of Edgar in 1107 he succeeded to the Scottish crown; but, in accordance with Edgar's instructions, their brother David was granted an appanage in southern Scotland. Edgar's will granted David the lands of the former kingdom of Strathclyde or Cumbria, and this was apparently agreed in advance by Edgar, Alexander, David and their brother-in-law Henry I of England. However, in 1113, perhaps at Henry's instigation, and with the support of his Anglo-Norman, David demanded, and received, additional lands in Lothian along the Upper Tweed and Teviot. David did not receive the title of king, but of "prince of the Cumbrians", and his lands remained under Alexander's final authority.[3]

The dispute over Upper Tweeddale and Teviotdale does not appear to have damaged relations between Alexander and David, although it was unpopular in some quarters. A Gaelic poem laments:

It's bad what Malcolm's son has done,
dividing us from Alexander;
he causes, like each king's son before,
the plunder of stable Alba.[4]

The dispute over the eastern marches does not appear to have caused lasting trouble between Alexander and Henry of England. In 1114 he joined Henry on campaign in Wales against Gruffydd ap Cynan of Gwynedd.[5] Alexander's marriage with Henry's illegitimate daughter Sybilla de Normandy may have occurred as early as 1107, or as at late as 1114.[6]

William of Malmesbury's account attacks Sybilla, but the evidence argues that Alexander and Sybilla were a devoted but childless couple and Sybilla was of noteworthy piety.[7] Sybilla died in unrecorded circumstances at Eilean nam Ban (Kenmore on Loch Tay) in July, 1122 and was buried at Dunfermline Abbey. Alexander did not remarry and Walter Bower wrote that he planned an Augustinian Priory at the Eilean nam Ban dedicated to Sybilla's memory, and he may have taken steps to have her venerated.[8]


The reverse of the seal of Alexander I, enhanced as a 19th century steel engraving.Alexander had at least one illegitimate child, Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair, who was later to be involved in a revolt against David I in the 1130s. He was imprisoned at Roxburgh for many years afterwards, perhaps until his death some time after 1157.[9]

Alexander was, like his brothers Edgar and David, a notably pious king. He was responsible for foundations at Scone and Inchcolm. His mother's chaplain and hagiographer Thurgot was named Bishop of Saint Andrews (or Cell Rígmonaid) in 1107, presumably by Alexander's order.[2] The case of Thurgot's would-be successor Eadmer shows that Alexander's wishes were not always accepted by the religious community, perhaps because Eadmer had the backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Ralph d'Escures, rather than Thurstan of York. Alexander also patronised Saint Andrews, granting lands intended for an Augustinian Priory, which may have been the same as that intended to honour his wife.[10]

For all his religiosity, Alexander was not remembered as a man of peace. John of Fordun says of him:

Now the king was a lettered and godly man; very humble and amiable towards the clerics and regulars, but terrible beyond measure to the rest of his subjects; a man of large heart, exerting himself in all things beyond his strength.[11]
He manifested the terrible aspect of his character in his reprisals in the Mormaerdom of Moray. Andrew of Wyntoun's Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland says that Alexander was holding court at Invergowrie when he was attacked by "men of the Isles".[12] Walter Bower says the attackers were from Moray and Mearns. Alexander pursued them north, to "Stockford" in Ross (near Beauly) where he defeated them. This, says Wyntoun, is why he was named the "Fierce". The dating of this is uncertain, as are his enemies' identity. However, in 1116 the Annals of Ulster report: "Ladhmann son of Domnall, grandson of the king of Scotland, was killed by the men of Moray." The king referred to is Alexander's father, Malcolm III, and Domnall was Alexander's half brother. The Mormaerdom or Kingdom of Moray was ruled by the family of Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findláich) and Lulach (Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin); not overmighty subjects, but a family who had ruled Alba within little more than a lifetime. Who the Mormaer or King was at this time is not known, it may have been Óengus of Moray or his father, whose name is not known. As for the Mearns, the only known Mormaer of Mearns, Máel Petair, had murdered Alexander's half-brother Duncan II (Donnchad mac Maíl Coluim) in 1094.[13]

Alexander died in April 1124 at his court at Stirling; his brother David, probably the acknowledged heir since the death of Sybilla, succeeded him.[14].