House of Gwynedd

The House of Gwynedd was the royal house of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, in medieval Wales. It is divided between the House of Cunedda and the House of Aberffraw, and lasted from c.401 to 1283.

History
The House of Gwynedd, divided between the earlier House of Cunedda, which lasted from c.401 to 825, was eventually replaced by the later House of Aberffraw, beginning in 844. The first is so named after Cunedda (386-460), the founding King of Gwynedd in late Roman Britain; following the departure of Magnus Maximus in the 380s, and the second after Aberffraw, the old capital of the Kingdom of Gwynedd.

This House was the first not being descended from the male line of Cunedda, as king Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog was the last in the direct male line. Through inheritances from the great uncle of Merfyn the Oppressor, the line of Cunedda continued from the maternal side through the House of Aberffraw, and through the House of Dinefwr through Rhodri's son, king Cadell ap Rhodri.

The Senior line of the House of Aberffraw descended from Prince Llywelyn the Great in patrilineal succession and became extinct on the death of Owain Lawgoch in 1378, while the House of Dinefwr was succeeded by its cadet branch, the House of Mathrafal.

Lineage
The House of Gwynedd claimed descent from the mythical king Beli Mawr through the line of Cunedda (b. 386), as appears in the Harleian genealogies and Jesus College MS 20 genealogies.

The House of Aberffraw began with the accession of Rhodri Mawr to the throne of Gwynedd. His father Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad had seized the throne of Gwynedd on the death of the last of the old royal line Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog. He was his maternal grandnephew via the former king's niece Esyllt verch Cynan ap Rhodri Molwynog.