Family of Rhodri + ap IDWAL

Partner: Rhodri + ap IDWAL

Child 1: Cynan + AP RHODRI

Note on Husband: Rhodri + ap IDWAL

Rhodri Molwynog ap Idwal (English: Rhodri the Bald and Grey, son of Idwal) was King of Gwynedd (reigned ? – 754). This era in the history of Gwynedd was not notable, and given the lack of reliable information available, serious histories of Wales, such that as by Davies, do not mention Rhodri,[1] while that of Lloyd mentions his name in passing only to quote the year of his death given in the Annales Cambriae.[2]

A general map of Gwynedd showing the cantrefi.The only mention of him in the historical record is the note of his death, as King of the Britons, in the Annales Cambriae,[3] and the appearance of his name in genealogies such as those in Jesus College MS. 20 (as the son of "Idwal Iwrch son of Cadwaladr Fendigiad")[4] and the Harleian genealogies (as the son of "Tutgual son of Cadwaladr").[5] The Annales do not mention the death of an earlier king within a reasonable time frame, so the date that he became king is not known, nor is the name of his predecessor.

In 722 the Annales Cambriae mention a war in Cornwall without giving the names of the individuals involved.[6] The Brut y Saeson says that in 721 this was "an extensive war between Rhodri Molwynawg and the Saxons in Cornwall".[7] This change to the historical record is traced to Brut Aberpergwm, a purported medieval Welsh text which was accepted as such by the editors of the Myvyrian Archaiology but which is now known to be the work of Iolo Morganwg. Thomas Stephens was the first to doubt the text's authenticity[8] and it is now known to be one of Iolo's many antiquarian forgeries.

Rotri has sometimes been misidentified as a ruler of Alt Clut (modern Dumbarton Rock), the Brythonic kingdom later known as Strathclyde.[9]