Bleddyn ap Cynfyn

[3] Cynfyn, likely a supporter of King Llywelyn ap Seisyll, would after the latter's 1023 death marry the widowed queen, Angharad, daughter of King Maredudd ab Owain of Dyfed, member of the House of Dinefwr, whose realm had been lost to the Irish pretender Rhain before its conquest by Llywelyn.

[11][12] In 1067, they joined the Mercian Eadric the Wild in their struggle against William and attacked the Normans at Hereford, ravaging the lands as far as the River Lugg.

In 1073, Robert of Rhuddlan stealthily established his forces on the banks of the River Clwyd and attempted to ambush and capture Bleddyn.

[15] After his death, Gwynedd was seized by Trahaearn and later recovered for the House of Aberffraw by Gruffudd ap Cynan; but in Powys, Bleddyn was the founder of a dynasty which lasted until the end of the 13th century.

[16] Bleddyn's legacy in the Chronicle of the Princes was that of a benevolent ruler: "The most lovable and the most merciful of all kings... he was civil to his relatives, generous to the poor, merciful to pilgrims and orphans and widows and a defender of the weak... the mildest and most clement of kings... [he] did injury to none, save when insulted... openhanded to all, terrible in war, but in peace beloved".Bleddyn was also responsible for a revision of the Welsh law which continued in force in his dynasty's domain of Powys.

Gwynedd's Venedotian Code noted that he changed the legal composition of the homestead (tyddyn) for purposes of inheritance etc., varying its size depending on the social status of the owner.