Nesta Verch Rhys

1073 - Aft 1136  (> 64 years)

• Name	Nesta Verch Rhys
  Birth	1073	Yorkshire, England
  Gender	Female
  Death	Aft 1136	Yorkshire, England
  Person ID	I7309	footsteps
  Last Modified	1 Jul 2025

  
  

  Father	Rhys Ap Tewdwr,   b. Abt 1040   d. Abt 1093 (Age 53 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Gwladus Powys,   b. Abt 1041   d. Abt 1088 (Age 47 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Family ID	F4149	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family
  Children	+ 1. Maurice Fitzgerald, Lord of Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland ,   b. 1100, Yorkshire, England d. 1 Sep 1177, County Kildare, Ireland (Age 77 years)  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F4416	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	1 Jul 2025

  
  

• Notes

  Daughter o f Rhys Ap Tewdwr (King of Dyfed in South Wales) and Gwladys a p C y n f y n. Nesta (Princess of Deheubarth) was known as the most beautif ul w o m a n i n Wales. She had many lovers., She started the FitzHenry line ( t h r o u gh Henry I) and the FitzStephens line (through Owain ap Cadwgan). In 1090 Nesta was sent to the court of Henry I as a hostage for the goo d c o n d u ct of her people. Henry I, attracted by her good looks, she had a m a l e c h i ld Henry filius regis' from him, and thus started the FitzHenry line. After year s o f p e a c e she was returned to Geraldus and her people. Nest returned home to find the kingdom of Dyfed under Norman tutelage . T h e N o r m an's were colonizing the former kingdom of Dyfed and establishin g a c o l o n y of Flemish soldiers intermixed with English settlers in what i s n o w P e m broke. On Christmas 1108 Owain ap Cadwgan of Cardigan a cousin, came to visit G e r a l d a nd Nesta. He so lusted after her that he, that night, attacked t h e c a s t le. According to the Brut y Tywysogion, Owain and his men infilt r a t e d t he couple's home (asssumed by historians to be either Cilge rran C a s t l e o r Little Cenarch) and set fire to the buildings. When Gerald was w o k e n b y t he noise, Nest advised him to escape by climbing out through t h e p r i v y hole. Owain then seized Nest and her children. However, some s o u r c e s suggest that she went with him willingly. After the "abduction", O w a i n a p C adwgan carried her off and she had a male child from him Rober t F i t z S tephen , thus starting the FitzStephens line. This upset Henry I so much that the incident started a war. Gerald's in f l u e n ce was such that Owain and his father soon lost much of their terr i t o r y o f Powys as a result of Owain's actions. Owain himself was oblige d t o g o i n t o exile in Ireland. When he returned, in 1116, Gerald hunted h i m d o w n a nd killed him. The "Annals of Cambria" record 1116 as t he dat e o f O w a i n's death.