Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd

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Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd (1135?-1195), was prince of part of Gwynedd, one of the kingdoms of medieval Wales. He ruled from 1175 to 1195.

On the death of Owain Gwynedd in 1170, fighting broke out among his nineteen sons over the division of his kingdom. Rhodri and his brother Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, Owain's legitimate sons by his wife Cristina, defeated and killed their half brother Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd at Pentraeth that year. The other sons were largely killed or exiled between 1170 and 1174. Rhodri acquired part of Gwynedd, but soon afterwards came under pressure from his brother Dafydd who captured and imprisoned him.

In 1175 Rhodri escaped from captivity and was able to gain enough support to drive Dafydd out of the part of Gwynedd situated west of the River Conwy. Dafydd and Rhodri then agreed to the partition of Gwynedd between them, with Dafydd retaining only Gwynedd east of the Conwy.

By 1188 the young nephew of Rhodri and Dafydd, Llywelyn the Great had begun to put pressure on his uncles. Rhodri also came under pressure from his nephews Gruffydd and Maredydd ap Cynan, who drove him from Anglesey in 1190. Rhodri made an alliance with Ragnald, King of the Isle of Man, marrying Ragnald's daughter. In 1193, with the help of a Manx contingent, he briefly regained Anglesey, but was ejected again the same year by Gruffydd and Maredudd. Rhodri had three known sons;