Nest ferch Rhys facts for kids

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. 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.

First marriage and issue

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

Nest was brought as a prized hostage to the court of William Rufus, where she came to the attention of his younger brother Henry Beauclerc (the future King Henry I), to whom she may have borne one of his illegitimate children, Henry FitzHenry (c. 1103–1158).

Some time after the rebellions of Robert of Normandy and Robert of Belesme, head of the powerful Montgomery family of Normandy and England, the King married Nest to Gerald FitzWalter of Windsor, Arnulf de Montgomery's former lieutenant and constable for Pembroke Castle. In 1102, for siding with the Montgomerys against the King, Gerald had been removed from control of Pembroke, and one Saher, a knight loyal to Henry, installed in his place. When Saher proved untenable in his new position, the King restored Gerald to Pembroke in 1105, along with Nest as his wife. By Gerald, Nest is the maternal progenitor of the FitzGerald dynasty, a prominent Cambro-Norman noble family.

Nest bore Gerald at least five children, three sons and two daughters.

• William FitzGerald, Lord of Carew and Emlyn (died c. 1173). William's children included Raymond FitzGerald le Gros.
• Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Llanstephan, Naas and Maynooth, (died 1 September 1177). His children included Gerald FitzMaurice, 1st Lord of Offaly.
• David FitzGerald, Archdeacon of Cardigan and Bishop of St David's.
• Angharad, who married William Fitz Odo de Barry, by whom she was the mother of Robert de Barry, Philip de Barry, founder of Ballybeg Abbey at Buttevant in Ireland, and of Gerald de Barry, better known as Gerald of Wales.
• Gwladys, mother of Milo de Cogan

Second marriage and issue

After Gerald's death, Nest's sons married her to Stephen, her husband's constable of Cardigan, by whom she had another son, Robert Fitz-Stephen (d. 1182), one of the Norman conquerors of Ireland.

Ancestry