Nest verch Rhys ap Tewdwr

Princess of Wales

• Born: c. 1080
• Birthplace: Probably Deheubarth, Wales
• Died: c. 1136
• Place of death: Unknown

Nest was the mother of many influential individuals, through her marriages and through her numerous liaisons, and was the subject of an infamous abduction that triggered political power struggles and won her notoriety as the “Helen of Wales.”

Early Life

Although little is known of her early life, Nest verch Rhys ap Tewdwr (nehst vhurk ris ahp TEH-ew-dur) was born into a position of privilege, as the eldest of the three children of the most powerful figure in southern Wales. Nest was the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, who in 1075 claimed the kingdom of Deheubarth, which then comprised much of southern Wales. In 1081, Rhys ap Tewdwr secured his position as sole ruler of Deheubarth by winning the Battle of Mynydd Carn and then making an alliance with William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087) of England. Nest’s mother, Gwladus, was herself from a powerful family, being the daughter of Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn, who ruled the realm of Powys, in north Wales. No medieval sources offer details about the date or location of Nest’s birth.

Throughout the period of her youth, Nest would surely have been brought up in a culturally Welsh royal household, for Rhys ap Tewdwr managed to hold off the advance of Anglo-Norman colonization that had been ravaging the more northerly realms of Wales. The new English king, William II (r. 1087-1100), appears to have respected his father’s alliance with the house of Deheubarth, since the English did not attempt large-scale colonization of the realm until after the death of Rhys ap Tewdwr, who was killed in 1093 by Anglo-Norman invaders in southeast Wales, near Aberhonddu (modern Brecon). That Nest’s father was an individual of immense stature is reflected in both Welsh and English chronicle sources, which claim that Rhys ap Tewdwr’s death marked the fall of kingship by the native Welsh, as opposed to the encroaching Normans.

Rhys ap Tewdwr’s death created a power vacuum that both Welsh and English forces struggled to fill. Whereas Nest had spent her youth in a stable realm under firm Welsh control, her much younger brothers were both victimized by the unstable political situation triggered by their father’s death: Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Tewdwr, heir to the throne of Deheubarth, had to flee to Ireland, while Nest’s youngest brother, Hywel, was captured by Arnulf, the earl of Pembroke. Although details about Nest’s activities in the years immediately following the death of Rhys ap Tewdwr are not known, she surely lived in some fear that she might follow her brothers in becoming a victim of the political ambitions of the numerous Normans and Welsh seeking to gain ascendancy in Deheubarth.

Life’s Work

It is clear that Nest’s status as a princess outlived the death of her father, as Gerald of Windsor is said to have married her, around 1095, in order to consolidate his political position in the region. Gerald was an Anglo-Norman settler who became the first constable of the strategic castle at Pembroke in 1097, in southwest Wales, and who also held lands that included nearby Carew. Gerald could thus shelter Nest in the shifting and violent region that Deheubarth had become since the death of her father. Nest’s marriage with Gerald triggered a feud with the ruler of the realm of Powys, Cadwgan ap Bleddyn, who felt threatened by the alliance of an Anglo-Norman landlord with the erstwhile princess. However, Gerald, as an officer of the powerful king of England, Henry I (r. 1100-1135), ensured that he and Nest could enjoy relative domestic security.

Indeed, Nest would go on to have five children by her husband Gerald of Windsor: three sons (David, William, and Maurice) and two daughters (Gwladus and Angharad). Gerald acquired a strong enough power base to conquer, by 1115, the region of Emlyn, in the realm of Dyfed, in west-central Wales. That Gerald and Nest enjoyed a prosperous marriage can be measured by the fact that all their children survived to become individuals of influence: David Fitzgerald would become archdeacon of Ceredigion and, in 1148, bishop of St. David’, while William and Maurice would follow in their father’s footsteps as major landlords and military powers in southern Wales. Nest and Gerald’s daughters would each marry Anglo-Norman settlers who held positions of power in southwest Wales: Gwladus married Tancard, the constable of the castle of Haverford, while Angharad was betrothed to William de Barri, who would follow his father as lord of Manorbier.

Although no physical description of Nest survives, she clearly struck her contemporaries as a woman of great beauty. Nest’s beauty attracted many suitors, and she proved to be far from faithful in her marriage to Gerald. Shortly after her marriage, Nest became the mistress of Henry I and had a son by him, Henry Fitzhenry, sometime before 1109. Henry Fitzhenry would later lose his life as part of Henry II’s (r. 1154-1189) 1157 invasion of Anglesey, in north Wales, while his sons, Meiler and Robert, would be part of the 1170 Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland. Nest was also the mother of William Fitzhai, sometime before 1116, possibly by Hait, who is listed as the sheriff of Pembroke in 1130. William would go on to become the lord of St. Clears, in southwest Wales.

Nest’s most famous suitor, however, was Owain ap Cadwgan, who is said to have been drawn to visit Nest, in 1109, after having heard stories of her remarkable beauty at a Christmas feast in the courts of Ceredigion, in the western part of his father’s realm, Powys. Although Owain was Nest’s second cousin (through his great-grandmother, Angharad, daughter of Maredudd ap Owain, who was Nest’s great-great-aunt), he and his father, Cadwgan ap Bleddyn, had been hostile to the territorially ambitious Gerald of Windsor. However, there was at the time enough peace between the parties to allow Owain to satisfy his desire to see Nest, and so he paid her a visit at Gerald’s castle in Emlyn, called Cenarth Bychan. (Cilgerran is usually proposed as the site of this unidentified castle, although Cardigan has also been suggested.) The praises of Nest’s beauty were for Owain clearly confirmed by this visit, for he soon began planning the abduction that would cement Nest’s fame as the “Helen of Wales.”

Later in 1109, Owain and fifteen companions conducted a surprise attack on Cenarth Bychan, setting fire to the castle’s buildings and terrorizing its residents with battle cries. Gerald, who fled from the raid through a privy, is reported to have done so on the advice of Nest. After destroying the undefended castle, Owain took possession of Nest and her children, as well as an unnamed, illegitimate child of Gerald’, bringing them all back to his land of Ceredigion. Although some scholars have speculated that Nest played a willing role in the events, the earliest surviving version of the anonymous chronicle source, Brut y Tywysogion (wr. c. 681-1282; The Chronicle of the Princes, 1860), makes clear that Nest believed that Owain had come, not for her, but to kill Gerald, and is equally clear in stating that Owain raped Nest, before abducting her to his homeland.

Owain’s abduction of Nest triggered open hostilities not only with Gerald of Windsor, but also with his feudal lord, Henry I, who had fathered a child by Nest. Cadwgan, fearing an invasion, was not able to convince his son to return Nest. Nest, however, convinced Owain whom, the chronicle implies, Nest had by then accepted willingly as her lover to return her children to Gerald. Meanwhile, Henry I began plans for retaliation, using Richard of Beaumais, bishop of London, to convince Ithel and Madog ap Rhiryd, who were related to Owain as members of the ruling house of Powys, to invade Ceredigion and destroy Cadwgan and his now outlawed son. Ithel and Madog ravaged their lands, killing or driving out all those loyal to Cadwgan and Owain, who themselves managed to escape the slaughter (with Owain fleeing to Ireland and Cadwgan hiding in his realm of Powys).

Although the chronicles are silent about Nest’s fate during this tumultuous period, she was presumably returned to her husband later in 1109. The supporters of Owain who fled to Dyfed, in southwestern Wales, faced the vengeance of Gerald of Windsor, who held sway there; however, Walter, the chief justice of Gloucester, is reported to have dissuaded Gerald from executing all of these men. Owain’s abduction of Nest proved disastrous both for his supporters and for his father, who was dispossessed of Ceredigion, which Henry I granted to Ithel and Madog (though Cadwgan was later given back his lands). Gerald continued to exact vengeance on Owain and those loyal to him, despite the fact that Owain had regained royal favor by 1115. Although he and Owain were both fighting against the rebels involved in the Deheubarth rising led by Nest’s brother, Gruffydd ap Rhys, Gerald and a contingent of Fleming mercenaries killed Owain in 1116, at Ystrad Rwnws (near modern Carmarthen).

Although little is known of Nest’s life after 1109, some scholars have speculated that Nest may have outlived her husband and entered into a second, yet unrecorded marriage. As the date of Gerald of Windsor’s death is not known (he is last mentioned in chronicle sources in 1116), Nest’s last known child, Robert Fitzstephen, may indeed have been the product of marriage with Stephen, who is listed as the constable of the castle of Cardigan in 1136. Robert Fitzstephen would go on to succeed his father at Cardigan and acquire new lands in Cemais, in southwest Wales. Although no source names the time and place of Nest’s death, she may well have spent her last years at Cardigan, under Stephen’s protection.

Significance

Nest left a profound mark on the political history of twelfth century Wales. Through her status as the daughter of the powerful Welsh king, Rhys ap Tewdwr, she aided her husband Gerald of Windsor in maintaining his base of power in southwest Wales, allowing him to conquer the region of Emlyn, of which their son, William Fitzgerald, would in turn become lord. Her notorious abduction by Owain ap Cadwgan triggered an invasion of Ceredigion, which brought about sweeping changes in the power structure of the realm of Powys.

Perhaps Nest’s greatest legacy lies in the influence of her numerous children and grandchildren. Not only did her son David become a bishop, but her remaining sons became key players in wars in Wales, while William Fitzgerald, Robert Fitzstephen, and Nest’s grandchildren, by both Angharad and Henry Fitzroy, became key figures in the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland that was launched in 1169. Among Nest’s numerous grandchildren that influenced the history of both Wales and Anglo-Norman England, perhaps the most notable is Angharad’s son, Gerald of Wales (also known as Giraldus Cambrensis), who would become one of the most influential of all British historians.

Bibliography

Davies, John. The Making of Wales. Herndon, Va.: Sutton, 1996. A general survey of the history of Wales, useful for its assessment of the impact of Anglo-Norman settlement in Nest’s Wales. Features numerous maps and photographs.

Davies, R. R. The Age of Conquest: Wales, 1063-1415. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Presents a history of Wales and the influence of the Normans. Illustrations, extensive bibliography, and index.

Davies, R. R. Conquest, Coexistence, and Change: Wales, 1063-1415. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. A general survey of the political and military history of medieval Wales, especially valuable for its discussion of Anglo-Norman colonization as a background for Nest’s era. Features many useful maps and genealogical tables.

Lloyd, J. E. A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest. 2 vols. 1911. Reprint. London: Longmans, 1967. In this influential general survey of medieval Wales, the author brings together much of the chronicle evidence for the details of Nest’s marriage, liaisons, and abduction, and provides genealogical tables for all the ruling houses of Wales.

Turvey, Roger. The Welsh Princes: The Native Rulers of Wales, 1063-1283. London: Longman, 2002. A general study of the Royalty, Rulers, Nobility into which Nest was born, offering insight into the sociocultural background of the Welsh elite, both before and after Anglo-Norman settlement.