Owen Tudor - Ancestry

Ancestry

Owen was a descendant of Rhys ap Gruffydd (1132–1197) via the lineages that follow:

Rhys had a daughter, Gwenllian ferch (daughter of) Rhys, who was married to Ednyfed Fychan, Seneschal of the Kingdom of Gwynedd (d. 1246).

Ednyfed Fychan and Gwenllian ferch Rhys were the parents of Goronwy, Lord of Tref-gastell (d. 1268). Goronwy was married to Morfydd ferch Meurig, daughter of Meurig of Gwent. (Meurig was the son of Ithel, grandson of Rhydd and great-grandson of Iestyn ap Gwrgant. Iestyn had been the last King of Gwent (reigned 1081–1091) before its conquest by the Normans.)

Goronwy and Morfydd were parents of Tudur Hen, Lord of Penmynydd (d. 1311). Tudur Hen later married Angharad ferch Ithel Fychan, daughter of Ithel Fychan ap Ithel Gan, Lord of Englefield. They were the parents of Goronwy ap Tudur, Lord of Penmynydd (d. 1331).

Goronwy ap Tudur was married to Gwerfyl ferch Madog, daughter of Madog ap Dafydd, Baron of Hendwr. They were the parents of Tudur Fychan, Lord of Penmynydd (d. 1367).

Tudur Fychan married Margaret ferch Thomas of Is Coeod,of the native and Ancient Royal Houses of Wales, Margaret and her sister Ellen and Eleanor were descended from Angharad ferch Llywelyn, daughter of Llewellyn the Great. (Margaret was the daughter of Thomas ap Llewelyn, Lord of Is Coed, South Wales, and his wife Eleanor ferch Philip. Margaret was descended independently from King John and his legitimised daughter Princess Joan, King John and his son Henry III and grandson Edward I. Margaret's sister Ellen ferch Thomas was the mother of Owain Glendoŵr (the last native "Prince of Wales"). Her sister Eleanor ferch Thomas was the ancestor of the Newport family and the Earl of Bradford and the Lingen family and Baron Lingen of Lingen. Margaret's paternal grandfather was Llewelyn ab Owain, Lord of Gwynnionydd. Her maternal grandfather was Philip ab Ifor, Lord of Is Coed.)(ref Visitation of Shropshire 1623,R Tresswell. Somerset Herald)

Tudur and Margaret were parents to

Maredudd ap Tudur (died 1406); Maredudd married Margaret ferch Dafydd. (Margaret was the daughter of Dafydd Fychan, Lord of Anglesey, and his wife, Nest ferch Ieuan.)

Maredudd ap Tudur and Margaret ferch Dafydd were the parents of Owen Tudor.

There is little doubt that Owen was of gentle birth. Queen Catherine, upon being denied permission by her son's regents to wed John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, allegedly said upon leaving court, "I shall marry a man so basely, yet gently born, that my lord regents may not object." (The objection to Somerset was that he was a second cousin of Henry V through the legitimised Beaufort line sired by John of Gaunt).