Gwladus Ddu
d. 1251
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Family
About
Gwladus Ddu, the dark lady, was a daughter of Llywelyn the Great, and through her the blood of the princes of Gwynedd ran into the house of Mortimer and so through half the later English nobility.
Research notes
✓ GWLADUS DDU (d.1251), daughter of LLYWELYN AB IORWERTH the Great, Prince of Gwynedd; m. 2ndly Ralph de Mortimer; mother of Roger 1st Baron (our line). ⚠ HER MOTHER IS DISPUTED: the chroniclers' tradition makes her a daughter of JOAN, King John's natural daughter and Lady of Wales, but Tangwystl Goch is the rival identification - NEITHER is hardened here; no royal descent is claimed through her mother. Source: the standard Gwynedd royal genealogy (Bartrum/Dictionary of Welsh Biography), web-confirmed 6 Aug 2026; these are the documented medieval Welsh king-lists, generally accepted by historians; contested rungs note-only, not hardened.