Rhys ap Gruffudd

Sir Rhys ap Gruffudd ( 1283–1356), was the wealthiest nobleman in 14th-century Wales. He was the most prominent of the native supporters of the English kings during this early period of English settlement in Wales.

Rhys was the son of Gruffudd ap Hywel and his wife Nest, daughter of Gwrwared ap Gwilym of Cemais. he was forced to briefly flee to Scotland. he fled again in 1330 after supporting the failed attempt of the Earl of Kent to unseat Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March as guardian of Edward III of England, fighting for Edward in France, culminating in the Battle of Crecy in 1346, the same year he was knighted. his wife Joan de Somerville was coheiress to properties in six English counties. while the eldest surviving son and heir, Sir Rhys ap Gruffyud the younger, or simply Sir Rhys Griffith, born 1325, received the English inheritance of his mother,

Rhys was celebrated by Welsh poet Einion Offeiriad, and memorialized in poems by his cousin Dafydd ap Gwilym, and by Iolo Goch.