Nest ferch Rhys

Nest ferch Rhys
Bornc. 1085
Diedc. 1136
SpouseGerald de Windsor
Stephen, Constable of Cardigan
IssueHenry FitzRoy
William FitzGerald
Maurice FitzGerald
David FitzGerald
Angharad
Gwladys
Robert FitzStephen
HouseDinefwr
FatherRhys ap Tewdwr
MotherGwladys ferch Rhiwallon

Nest's ancestor Hywel Dda, King of Wales, grandson of Rhodri Mawr

Nest ferch Rhys (c. 1085 – c. 1136) was the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, last King of Deheubarth in Wales, by his wife, Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn of Powys.[1] Her family is of the House of Dinefwr. Nest was the wife of Gerald de Windsor (c. 1075 – 1135), Constable of Pembroke Castle and son of the Constable of Windsor Castle in Berkshire, by whom she was the ancestress of the FitzGerald dynasty.

Nest had two younger brothers, Gruffydd ap Rhys and Hywel, and, possibly, an older sister named Marared, as well as several older illegitimate half-brothers and half-sisters. After their father's death in battle in 1093, "the Kingdom of the Britons fell" and was overrun by Normans. Nest's younger brother Gruffydd was spirited into Ireland for safety; their brother Hywel may have been captured by Arnulf de Montgomery, along with their mother, unless, as appears likelier, their mother was captured with Nest; their fate is unknown. Two older brothers, illegitimate sons of Rhys, one of them named Goronwy, were captured and executed.

  1. ^ Williams, John, ed. Brut y tywysogion: or, The chronicle of the princes [AD 681-1282]. No. 17. Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, 1860, p.83