Editing Rhys ap Gruffydd (section)

==First battles (1146–1155)==
[[File:Llansteffan.jpg|thumb|Rhys gained his first recorded military experience at the age of fourteen when he participated in the storming of [[Llansteffan Castle]] in 1146.]]

Anarawd's brother, [[Cadell ap Gruffydd]], took over as head of the family. [[Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke|Gilbert de Clare]], Earl of Pembroke, rebuilt Carmarthen Castle in 1145, then began a campaign to reclaim Ceredigion. He built a castle in the [[commote]] of Mabudryd, but Cadell, aided by [[Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd]] who held Ceredigion for Gwynedd, destroyed it in 1146. Rhys appears in the annals for the first time in 1146, fighting alongside his brothers Cadell and Maredudd in the capture by assault of [[Llansteffan Castle]].<ref>''Brut y Tywysogion'' p. 92.</ref> This was followed by the capture of Wiston in 1147, [[Carmarthen]] in 1150 and [[Loughor]] in 1151. In 1151 Cadell was attacked while out hunting by a group of Norman and Flemish knights from [[Tenby]], and left for dead. He survived, but suffered injuries which left him unable to play an active role, and in 1153 he left on a pilgrimage to [[Rome]].{{sfn|Lloyd|1911|pp=502–503}}

Maredudd became ruler of Deheubarth and continued a campaign, begun in 1150, aimed at recovering [[Ceredigion]], which had been held by Gwynedd since 1136. Maredudd and Rhys drove [[Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd]] from Ceredigion by 1153. The same year Rhys is recorded as an independent commander for the first time, leading an army to capture the Norman castle of [[St Clears]].<ref>Turvey p. 36.</ref> Maredudd and Rhys also destroyed the castles at [[Tenby Castle|Tenby]] and [[Aberavon|Aberafan]] that year. Maredudd died in 1155 at the age of twenty-five and left Rhys as ruler of Deheubarth. Around this time he married Gwenllian ferch Madog, daughter of [[Madog ap Maredudd]], prince of [[Kingdom of Powys|Powys]].<ref>Turvey pp. 80–81.</ref>