Si tljur

King of

lamorgan ano etuent

By
A. T. Blackett
(Englishman)

Alan Wilson
(Welshman)

ARTHUR KING OF GLAMORGAN AND GWENT

Cardiff. Published by M. T. Byrd & Co. Ltd., Publishing Division, 3 Ty-Draw Place, Penylan,

or transmitted in any form or by any means, No part of this book may be reproduced AII rights reserved. and retrieval electronic or mechanical, including photo copying, recording or by any information storage unique, and are the sole property of the The findings, theories, proofs and discoveries are system. Offenders will No imitation or plagarism no matter how subtle or indirect will be tolerated. publisher. have not revealed everything yet. have more than the law courts to think about. The Discoverers Printed in Britain

Copyright March 1980 by M. T. Byrd & Co. Ltd.

First printing 1981

M. T. Byrd & Co. Ltd., Registered Number 1376797

-0-86285-0010

ISBN
-

Hardcover special First Edition copies. copyright conventions.

ISBN 0-86285-0002 Presentation

AII rights reserved under British, Pan American and International

"It was irnpossible but these two did not know it was impossible

so they went away and did itanyway.

Book cover and illustrations A.T.B. 15.8.80

A. T. Blackett

"One, one have I seen

whom

that other our liege Lord, the dread Pendragon, Arthur the King of Kings, of the people talk mysteriously, - He will be there, - then were I stricken blind, that minute, I might say that I had seen!"
-

"Arthur, my Lord, Arthur, the faultiess King, that passionate his own word as if it were his Gods."

perfection.

I before a King who honours

"O there great Lord, doubtless, rapt by all the sweet and sudden passion of youth, towards greatness in its elder, you have fought. O tell us for we live apart of Arthurs glorious wars. Yet in this heathen war, the fire of God fills him; I never saw his like: There lives no greater leader."
-

To whom the novice garrulously again, "Yea, one, a Bard; of whom my father said, for many a noble war-song he had sung, Ev'n in the presence of an enemies fleet, between the steep cliff and the coming when round wave; and many a mystic lay of life and death, he chanted on the smoke mountain-tops, him bent the spirits of the hills with all their dewy hair blown back like flame: So said my father and that night the Bard sang Arthurs glorious wars, and sang the King as well nigh more than man." Albert Lord Tennyson
-

There has never been a King so loved by all his nations.

-

His people adored him for his determination, unwavering courage and genius. For being the only King who retired because of serious injuries, after and yet still returned to rule and lead when lame. over 62 wars undefeated, Arthur's dark gleaming hair, and the flicker in his blue eyes, whose granite mind offered justice, sympathy and self mastery. Like a demon in a man the King had glared down balefully into every nook and cranny of the mountains, watching for the likelihood of invaders from other lands. It was impossible to escape from his malevolent gaze. He could strip the courage from the enemies souls. Valiant chieftains dreaded his name, and shunned his power, as they would have shunned the Devil himself. But Arthur's courage, dignity, humour, eternal glory and victory, earned the respect and affection his people, whose King had brought pride and honour to Britain and the British. King Arthur was, is, and always will be held in a firm place as the most proficient the world has ever seen. But also in a more special sense; in the history of mankind. and admirable from

leader

'A

Alan Wilson

CONTENTS Chapter
ONE

Page No.
The Written Evidence in The Histories Culture Dependent Upon Memory How It All Began The Arthurian Kings Of Wales King Arthur's Line Of Succession King Arthur In The Brut D'Engleterre The Generations Of The Kings The Folk Tale Of Arthur The Vandal Invasion of Britain King Arthur And Sir Lancelot The Knights Of The Round Table The End Of Arthur's Kingdom The Misreading Of TheStory 7 29 44

TWO
THREE FOUR FIVE

89 120
141 173 196 220 230 243

SIX
SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE

THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

The Glastonbury Myths The Third Kingdom Britanny The Evidence In The Holy Places
-

261 275 285 294 301

ILLUSTRATIONS Maps
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. 1 2 3 4 5 Map Of Britain Around 550-600 A.D. The Lands Of The British Celts Roman Britain Britain Around 540 A.D. The Fortress Of Glamorgan Britain By 800 A.D. Map Of Cardiff 1610 A.D. British Territories At The Time Of King Arthur

Page No.
17
51 55 99 159 223

6
7

263 277

Photographs
1 2 The Island, Chapel And Cell Of St. Gildas King Bran's House Site, Church And Mound Madley Church Tintern And The Wye King Theoderic's Church And His Tombstone

Page No.
11 59 101 124 151 163 179 199 213 237 259 267

3
4

5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

St. Illtyd's Dykes, St. Dennis' Well, St. Edeyrn's Church King Arthur's Fortress, Arthur's Hill, The Stone Of The Saxons St. Illtyd's Church And The Buried Palace Of King Owen And The Crooked Glens The Sacred Lake Glamorgan Hills Where Arthur Sat "Life Of St. Cadoc" The Vitalius Stone, And The Maglocunus Stone
-

St. Gildas' Beach And The Caerleon "Round Table" Standing Stone And King lestyn Ap Gwrgan's Castle

The Black Chapel And St. Mary's Church King Mark, And St. Efflam The Castle Of Conomurus The King Arthur Son Of King Maurice Stone
-

281 297 305

Drawings
1

Page No.
Emperor Magnus Maximus Augustus Uther Victor Arthur Conqueror Of Europe King Arthur Of Glamorgan And Gwent King Arthur Son Of Meurig Knight Sixth Century Horse Soldier Sixth Century Foot Soldier Sixth Century War Galley
-

2 3 4 5 6
7 8

67 69
73

110
147

249
253 299

CHAPTER ONE
sweat, toil and tears,' it was an exhausting, nerve wracking and tremendously frustrating task. We were driving along a trail that to everyone else seemed ludicrous and cold. For every correct avenue we steered through, there were a hundred blind ones. Somehow there always seemed to be an obscure detail, a minor find or confirmation always seemed to be there, tantalising us to press ahead when things seemed to be at a dead end. We always felt that the secret of the Great King was there if only we could maintain our stamina, and keep finding time and money. We have to date spent over 58,000 of OUR OWN money, A. T. Blackett sold his house and used up his savings. Alan Wilson used up all his money, sold his car, his insurances and collected articles of value. However that does not include all the time and work, which was done on the lowest possible budget; cheap travel, cheap lodgings, at times sleeping in the old car, in foreign countries. We anticipate our discoveries will attract a large number of tourists. Therefore we wrote to the Welsh Tourist Board describing what we had, and asking for a meeting. By return post we received a sarcastic letter, not the elementary courtesy of arranging a meeting. Not surprising as Lord Parry, head of the Welsh Tourist Board was a school teacher, who three times stood for Parliament and failed, but was rewarded by the Labour Party, by being made a Lord and given his job. and find a publisher, and that they do not support books and projects of this nature." Which is a lie. They again expressed cynical indifference, without meeting us. This is what kind of the Arts Council back with the millions they receive in tax payers money: In 1980 the Arts council sponsored two filthy, disgusting one, namely Roman Britain, which mainly consisted of nude men performing strange acts of torture, and sodomy. The other where a woman conducted long dialogue whilst speaking to a mans penis. In the 1970's they paid two men to walk around streets with a plank of wood on their heads art', incredible. An American laid 140 housebricks, and received 3400 of British taxpayers money, he is apparently a 'Genius'. The Arts Council also gave another American 250,000, making a film about the problems of black youths in London. What about the desperate problems of some British white people today and in the 1930's and before that? Who strove to make Britain comparitively prosperous? Another endeavour by the Arts Council was to invest 7,000 in 1981 for an exhibition which featured a glass case containing paltes of goat, pig, sheep and chicken shit, one of the 'Artists' scattered feathers on garbage to see how they fell at the Serpentine Gallery in London. The Arts Council are not only sick and twisted, but are also a waste of taxpayers money. They said that the discovery of the greatest King who ever lived, is not British culture. That books on British history are not culture? With the Art Council's idea of culture this was not surprising.
'culture' 'plays', 'play' 'moving
-

The discovery of King Arthur involved

'blood,

When we approached the London Arts Council we were told to

"go

A member of the House of Lords estimated that our discoveries could create at least 20,000 jobs. The Government gave an American in Belfast 70 Million to try to create a mere 2,000 jobs, they offered the Datsun company 150 Million in grants to create 20,000 jobs. The height of national degradation that we should seek Japanese to employ British people as if they were unskilled peasants. Odious pictures on T.V. showed Bureaucrats licking the backsides of Japanese, whilst the British Government and Banks deny similar opportunities to British Managers. We could create a whole new set of industries with our discoveries. If things run to form, the fat cats in London would clean up, they would manufacture the goods. They would buy up hotels, Restaurants and Bars for the tourist trade. The employment would go elsewhere and the people of South Wales would not benefit. All the goods would be manufactured abroad, and the jobs would go elsewhere. We have a standard copyright on the major British Kings, including the King Arthur motifs. The Government central and local, refused to recognise the necessity for setting up these industries in advance, to help the unemployed in South Wales. The Government spent a fortune in the late 1960's looking for Arthur in the wrong place. We have spent our own money, taken all the risks and have actually found King Arthur, and no-one listens.

annually from viewers for T.V. licences. We wasted a day travelling to see Hugh Davis of Harlech T.V. for He came out with the ultimate insult when he offered us 200 for the books a 25 minute and T.V. rights of the King Arthur Discovery.
'meeting'.

The BBC charter states that they should inform, educate and entertain. When we presented the historicalarchaelogical find of the century, they appointed producer of archaelogical a programmes to examine the matter. After being given accessto our information, he stated categorically that we are correct. Subsequently we had an obscure reaction and excuses about lack of cash, disregarding the 500 Million they receive

We wrote to some Americans, they said 'Congratulations on your discoveries.' We wrote to the Minister of the Environment, he said 'You can be prosecuted Local MP's proved a complete waste of time.
.....'. ........

More official and Government bodies who we approached to no avail; Bank of Wales, Barclays, Midland Bank, Bank of Ireland, and others. The Welsh office, the National Economic Development Council, Welsh Nationalist Party who acted like a pigmy refusing an Atom Bomb. I.C.F.C., Department of Trade and Industry. Most of these we never actually met or put a proposal to. They either acted out of guesswork, hasty judgement, disbelief, and the main reason, fear to make a decision. They never make

It is far too easy for bureaucrats to say NO to small businesses in Britain. A Bank loaned Butlin todays equivalent of 6 Million for an idea and 5 in his pocket. In 1981 the British Government gave 100 Million to Egypt, 50 Million to rebuild the sewers of Cairo, and hastily refused to back the King Arthur project in Britain, which only required a fraction of the the original British money they waste on other things. They will back foreigners of all colours, but not mistakes because they never do anything. population of 3000 years standing, who have been abused and exploited. They will try to prevaricate, The professors will no doubt knock our facts to avoid looking foolish. becioud the issue, to save their faces. All their teaching on this subject will be proven wrong. Some publishers will start telephoning their contacts in the universities who have written books, or who wish to write books on the Arthurian theme, to make money; prompting them to come out against our facts to protect their investment in the books already in the bookshops. They will telephone their contacts in T.V. networks, to try to set up situations allowing their puppets to attack our facts. Delay is necessary for them to alter their opinions so that the public forget how wrong they were over a long period, and they can withdraw their books from the shelves gradually, substituting them with others, and so saving their faces and investment.

Everyone is familiar with the story of Gallileo who was threatened with terrible tortures and being burned alive simply because he said that the world was round. I. Velikovsky one of the genius thinkers of the twentieth century was subjected to a virulent, well orchestrated, campaign of ridicule and persecution for His many establishment. over thirty years, simply because his theories conflicted with the academic theories included Venus being around 800C, and Jupiter and Saturn being raging gas storms, and the Space presence of various gases and elements on the planets, and work on magnetic fields and so on. work in 1940 has proved him to be invariably correct. Everyone forgets exploration since Velikovsky's for now that his enemies were totally wrong, their books described Venus as solid ice, and the same AII the books of these unscrupulous men have now all been safely withdrawn and Saturn and Jupiter. replaced and they freely use Velikovsky's theories as their own, without ever mentioning the great mans of this, should name. Velikovsky was given no credit for his achievement. Anyone who doubts the truth read "Velikovsky Reconsidered" edited by Pensee. The actions of the academic and scientific establishment would make the Mafia, the KGB, the Gestapo and the Perpetrators of Watergate, appear to be There is no level so low that the Establishment will not stoop to it, if it creatures of moral integrity. fears its status and privileges will be threatened.
It was no surprise to us when we met the wall of cynical indifference, in Government and commercial circles. Those highly paid to make decisions ran for cover when we presented them with a situation which forced them to make a decision. They never make mistakes, because they never do anything. They hide behind a fog of policies and terms of reference which protects them completely as long as they keep saying 'NO' without even meeting us or discussing the project with us, or analysing it in any Everything that the parasitic bureaucrats, who infest Britain, touch turns to ashes. We were way, desperate to create a situation which would provide at least 20,000 jobs in a properly developed tourist industry. This could not be achieved if it were done half-heartedly in the usual stumbling British manner. Fortunately Alan Wilson has an outstanding record of achievement in large scale developments of this size, and Alan Wilson has without exception been correct in the past. Delay is now jeopardising the possibility of thousands of jobs which are badly needed and denying opportunities to people in the area. Alan Wilson has the proven capacity and experience to accomplish this, given proper support. It seems that a prophet is never honoured in his own land. A. T. Blackett went abroad and started his own business from scratch at the age of eighteen. A bold contrast to those who seek safety and security in civil service jobs and banks. They endure timidity instead of confidence and courage from the day they leave school until they finally draw their last pension cheque. When a major tourist industry is created out of this, those who benefit can thank the Iron will and determination of A. T. Blackett who would never except defeat no matter how hard the going was. As only A. T. Blackett and Alan Wilson know the correct story of King Arthur the founder of Britain, they have added a Historical Novel based on the facts to help those who do not enjoy historical invesFor the And his people of the Dark Ages', which is now written. tigations, -'Arthur the War King, first time ever, the true story of Arthur and his people is told. We have decided to reveal as much as which is against we can at the present moment of our discoveries, but we fear desecration and abuse, Details of our struggle will be in a later book. So now on with the story. our principles.
-

THE WRITTEN EVIDENCE IN THE HISTORIES

When we set out on the trail of Arthur, the first point to notice is that there is a surprising quantity of written evidence available on early Britain, if you know where to look. The bulk is contained in the Books IV and V of De Bello Gallico The War in Gaul, by Julius Caesar; the Life of Agricola (Governor of Britain) by Tacitus and other histories by Tacitus; with additional comment in the works of Pling and other Roman authors. Caesar wrote in 55 and 54 B.C., Tacitus around 97 to 98 A.D. Pliny wrote his 'Natural History' with a chapter on Britain, dedicating the work to the Emperor Titus in 77 A.D. Then Diodorus wrote of Britain in 50 B.C. also.
-

In the next three centuries we have to seek odd pieces of information in the works of the Christian writers Origen and Teurtulian around 200 A.D., the Greek historian Zosimus. The works of Xiphilin also deal obliquely with the British, and Strabo described their chieftains.
-

The near neighbours Celtic nations in Gaul were described by Florus Paulus Orosius and again by Posionius apud Athenaeum. Later in A.D. 361 in the reign of Julian, clear word pictures of Gauls were drawn by a shrewd unbiased observer Ammincanus Marcellinus XV 12 1. Florus described Celtic chiefs, Plutarch vividly described their cavalry and so did Polybius I, II.
-

In Britain itself the next full attempt at a description or history of any sort after Tacitus was to be made by the Monk Gildas, who wrote a book entitled 'The Descruction of Britain' De Excidio Britanniae which from its content can be dated to between 533 A.D. and 547 A.D., that is during the reign of King Arthur and before the death of King Maelgwn-Gwynedd. The work of Gildas concerned the history of Britain from the timeof the Romans down to the date of his writing the book. Gildas was a contemporary of the great Arthur, he is mentioned in the MabinagionTales as Gildas son of Caw, present at Arthur's court and camp and he was active in South Wales which was Arthur's home territory. In fact Gildas spent much time at the Llancarfan monastery college (possiblyalso at Llantwit Major Monastery college) and a great deal of time on the island of the Steep Holm in the Bristol Channel off Cardiff. He also had Hueil. a recorded meeting with King Arthur at Llancarfan after Arthur killed Gildas' brother
-

The tragedy of Gildas' account is that it is not a cold impartial reasoned history, it is in fact more of a political document deliberately designed to stir men and to move them away from their current policies and activities into a new way of living and co-operating. In addition he was a man who burned with a fanatical religious zeal, a monk who was ascetic to the point of being masochistic in his way of life. He is therefore a .dangerous source of commentary on the age of Arthur, as much capable of exaggerating, misleading and distorting as he is of guiding and explaining. be generally totally died 570 A.D.

So whilst the bald facts stated by Gildas are of great value, the interpretation
wrong and misguided.

of those facts or events may Gildas is believed to have been born around 516 A.D. and

The next writer to produce a history of the Britons was Nennius, again a monk, who trained under a Bishop named Elbod. This Bishop Elbodogus is twice referred to in the Welsh Annals. First when he is stated tohave reformed the method of calculating the date for Easter in 768 A.D.'Elbodogus Archbishop of the Kingdom of Gwynedd departed to God'. This helps to date Nennius as a student under Elbodogus and there is on one of the manuscript copies of the work of Nennius made in the thirteenth century, a note faithfully copied out which reads:"Therefore this work is written in order to assist rny inferiors and not through envy of rny superiors was written in the year 858 of the incarnation of our Lord." Again, as with Gildas, the scene is in Wales and this time it is an attempt at history drawing on the Bible of the Christians starting with Adam and the Flood and divided into six sections or ages. Much of the early work is therefore fabulous, but with grains of truth, including the British origins in Asia Minor which he confuses hopelessly, the Irish (Scots) origins in Spain and the coming of the Picts to the Orkneys and then into Northern Britain. He also mentions the 'Scythians' who were in Egypt at the time of the Jewish Exodus who refused to go east after the Jews with the Hittite Pharaoh and instead turned west along North Africa to come finally through Spain and then to Britain and Ireland in this he is correct.
-

Later we have more firm ground with accounts of three Roman invasions to establish Roman power and three later expeditions to restore it. He Nennius is clearly drawing on Gildas at this stage, but then comes something very different, with no less than seventeen chapters on King Gourthigirnus Vortigern. The Saxon infiltrations and their struggle with the British are described with the story of Hengist and Horsa. The menace of the Picts and the Scots of Ireland with their savage sneak raids and the threat of Ambrosius from Devon and Cornwall are described. After the downfall of Vortigern there is brief mention of St. Germanus and Patrick and then without warning the history launches into the battles and
-

wars of the victorios Arthur. Nennius clearly drew on Gildas (the Bible as well) and on the Welsh Annals, yet his history reveals that he must have had other sources long since vanished. After Arthur, Nennius turns to Saxon affairs and deals with the ancestral lists of the Kings of the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. This section appears to have northern, therefore Northumbrian, sources and the wars of the Britons and the Angles are described. As the time approaches Nennius's own years, the entries become both more detailed, more frequent and more accurate. So there are in fact seven distinct pieces which go together to make Nennius's work.

brief account of the Roman invasion which is a muddle of folklore and fact. Fourth he includes a typical 'Life' of St. Germanus well in line with many other such lives. Fifth he describes at length the reign of Vortigern from sources which appear to have been well remembered or well recorded. Sixth he describes and lists the battles of King Arthur with again details which indicate a good contemporary source. Seventh there is the account of the later wars in the North of England between the Britons and the Angles.
-

First he uses Gildas andother sources to describe a geography of Britain. Second he draws on folklore and legend to describe the legend of the origin of the Britons, the Picts and the Scots. Third he produces a

hunt' of the Mabinogion story and alsodemonstratethat mapsof the time were drawn with the east coasts of Britain on the top and the south coast on the right hand side. This helps with an understanding of Roman naming of provinces in Britain, Superior upper and Inferior lower and so on.
-

Some of the surviving copiesof manuscript copied from Nennius list the Marvels of Britain De Mirabilibus Britanniae at the end of the "History of the Britons". These link Arthur and the Trwch Trywth
-

'boar

We have therefore two linked sources of the history of Britain up to the beginning of the eighth century. Both mention Arthur and here there is the onset of confusion, with Nennius describing Urien as fighting with Hussa in Northumbria who became King there in 585 and yet also being slain in the time of Theoderic, who is recorded as dying in 579 A.D. Urien-Urbgen is of course the 'Sir Urien' of the Arthurian romance literature and believed to be Arthur's brother-in-law. Nennius goes on to describe the conversion of King Edwin of Northumbria to the orthodox Christian faith in 626 A.D. The swallowing up of British Elemet, a kingdom near Leeds, by Northumbria and then on to the wars of Cadwallon, ending the section with the death of King Penda, son of Pybba of Mercia, some time after his victories culminating in the Battle of Cocboy Winwidfeld in 654 A.D.
-

It is with Nennius and with Gildas that we first learn of the origins of the British, coming from out of the centre of Asia, crossing or rounding the Mediterranean to finally arrive and settle in their great island. Here we learn of their connections with ancient Troy and early Rome. Nennius records their passage through Egypt with the legend of the 'Scythian' noble who refused to pursue Moses when he fled in 1552 B.C. and instead turned west to move along through North Africa and Spain, his descendants finally reaching Ireland 1,002 years later in 500 B.C. All this fits very closely with the record or the Hittites of Asia Minor conquering Egypt in 1687 B.C.

statement

The Peterborough Chronicle is known as Manuscript E of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle. It once belonged to Archbishop Laud and is now kept in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. There is an extraordinary
on the first page of the introduction to the main chronicle:"Britain's island is eight hundred miles long and two hundred broad. And here there are in this island five languages, English and British and Welsh and Pictish and Irish and Book Latin. The first people to dwell in this land were the British who came out of Armenia and they first took the southward part of Britain"

So here we have a bold positive and ancient statement

exactly pinpointing
-

British origins in Armenia.

-

This goes on to describe the arrival of the Picts from the South out of the Strait of Gibralter from Scythia, with longships. So we have a statement of the Picts, who came after the Irish, also coming from the Black Sea areas through the Dardanelles, across the expanse of the Mediterranean up to Northern Ireland and on North to the Orkneys and northern Scotland. In keeping exactly with their ancestors in Russia north of the Black Sea, the Picts also tattooed their bodies and they were also head hunters, employing the same customs and beliefs using skulls for ceremonial drinking vessels and preserving them. Moses, in fact, stopped the Hebrews from tattooing themselves when they left Egypt, but the practise was common in ancient Thrace, ancient Southern Russia and parts of Asia. The Picts kept the custom in Britain but whether other British peoples did so is not known. Certainly Julius Caesar says that they painted themselves. However it is with Gildas and Nennius that the history takes form and shape. It is Nennius who casts Arthur in the role of a mighty hero warrior, naming them. listing his twelve great battles and

10

The flat Holm Island in the centre swhere St GSild henrenht weads
na Around 520-540 A.D. of en

The chapel of St. Gildas at La aRoche-Su avet, inn an his Id r

The interior of St. Gildas' chapel with the Saints' stone bell widely used by the British, on the left.

11

THE WELSH ANNALS-

ANNALS CAMBRIAE

these Annals and it is written on parchment set out in three columns per page, The Welsh Annals begin with the date 444 A.D. and the entries then continue up to 954 A.D. Then follows a twenty seven year gap and an entry ending the Annals in 977. These existing copies were made from earlier versions as the old document faded over the centuries and was made around the end of the twelfth century two hundred years after 977 A.D. Manuscript of copy B is held in the Public Record Office on some extra fly leaves of the Doomsday Book. This document is believed to derive its early entries from Isidore of Sevilles 'Origens' for it begins with the creation of man. It is believed to be unreliable chronologically up to 444 A.D., but from then on it agrees fairly closely with Manuscript A, apart from losing seven years by 954 A.D.

The earliest copy of these ancient Annals is held in Manuscript A of the Harleian collection in the British Museum in London. This is a master copy believed to resemble exactly the original version of

The form of the Welsh Annals closely resembles that of a modern diary, for a small space is allotted to each year and each of these spaces is titled Annus Year. The spaces or years are grouped into tens, each tenth year being numbered off severally. This allows for easy calculation from 444 A.D. Just as with a diary. a brief sentence is used to summarise or describe the major events of the year, all of course written in Latin. Many years have no entry recorded and this may be because the entries concentrate on the deaths of kings and bishops and on the dates of important battles. The first fifty years from 444 to 496 have in fact a mere six entries and then the next fifty on to 544 there are only a further five entries. Eleven entries in one hundred years indicates fairly conclusively that the entries were in fact made some time around or after 550 A.D. and the chronicler was piecing together only the known major identifiable historical events.
-

The date 444 for a starting point of the Annals points clearly to one of two possible events. Either it marks the restoration of order and the election of Vortimer the son of Vortigern to be the British leader after the revolt of the Saxons in 442-4 A.D., or it marks the date of the re-establishment or foundation of a religious community such as an Abbey. It may in fact be the date that the British reorganised themselves to beat off the savages and to again be finally free of the burdens and thoughts of Rome. However Manuscript B does in fact go on past 954 and continues into the early part of the thirteenth century, gathering further detail and accuracy as it proceeds. The third fifty year period from 544 to 594 A.D. has a total of twelve entries of events, a sign of gathering momentum and detail. Gildas at the preface of his work explains that there were no British documents available to him, all that survived being taken to France Amorica. Manuscript B opens with two entries of remarkable accuracy which are capable of exact correlation and checking. The fourth year, 448 A.D. has the entry 'Dies tenebrosa sicut nox' meaning 'A day as shadowed as the night'. Astronomers have calculated that an eclipse of the sun was visible in Britain on 23rd December 447 A,D, and the fact that the entry is 448 not 447 lies with the fact that the New Year was considered to start on a day other than 1st January. The exact entry in Manuscript B is 453 A.D. which records 'Easter was changed to Sunday with the advice of Pope Leo of Rome'. Now this is accurate, for the dispute between the western churches and Rome over the date of Easter did arise in 453 with the Eastern church in Constantinople. The problem was whether Easter 455 should fall on the 17th or the 24th April. As far as Britain was concerned Easter was changed to a Sunday, although Rome had celebrated the festival on a Sunday for over two hundred years.
-

Other checks on accuracy are possible, with dates such as that of 547 A.D. where it is stated that 'The in which died Mailcun King of Guenedota'. In fact a terrible plague did spread out of great mortality Western Asia to ravage south east Europe throughout 543 to 544 A.D. This Mailcun is of course Maelgwn of Gwynedd who is believed to have died in 547 or possibly at the tail end of the great plague in 551 A.D. Gildas of course wrote of "Maglocunus the King the Dragon of the Island" and Gildas himself is mentioned no less than twice in the Annals. In 565 A.D. there is 'The journey of Gildas to Ireland' and in 570 A.D. simply "Gildas died". This clearly demonstrates that Gildas was indeed regarded by the writers as a person of very considerable importance. One manuscript describes Gildas as "Britonum wisest of the Britons, the other as sapientissimus" the wise.
-

"sapiens"

There are entries concerning entry states:-

Arthur, our ultimate hero and quest.

The first occurs in 516 A.D. where the

"The battle of Badon n which Arthur carried the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were the victors". The second entry is in 537 A.D. and this states:"Battle of Carnlann. Arthur and Medraut died and there was a plague in Britain nd Ireland"

12

in fact of early date, being made by contemporary has a fuller account of the event for it states:were

So Arthur, a Christian king is victorious at Badon and possibly killed at Camlann. Two different words in 516 there is Bellum (a battle in Latin} and in 537 there is are written for the work the British word from which we derive the modern Welsh cad battle. All this suggests that the entries
'battle', 'gueith'
-

different

authors or writers. The B Manuscript

"Batt/e of Camlan in which the famous Arthur King of the Britons and Modred his betrayer died of wounds they inflicted on each other".

This is an interpretation years after Camlan.

of an earlier cryptic entry and probably

wrong for Arthur probably

lived many

of Roman Britain, that state or province Arthur was not the last champion died in 410 A.D. Arthur was King of the Britons, neither friend nor dependant of Rome, the leader of the British state and the British way of life. This entry in the B Manuscript was however copied after the Norman conquest of England and Wales and at the time of the bogus discovery of the grave purported to be that of Arthur by the mendacious monks of Glastonbury.

Ib

AII manner of interpretation can be put on the brief, terse A Manuscript entry which can mean that the battle was between Arthur and Modraut (Modred) and that Modraut died or that both died, it certainly is not clear at all. Arthur and Modraut could have been allied fighting someone else, although the Welsh Triads are definate over their emnity.

One interesting entry in the year 573 records a Battle of Armterid between two British leaders, either princes or kings, named Elifer and Guendolen and also that 'Merlin became insane', a strange entry indeed. The folklore legends made Merlin the advisor of Arthur, so with Arthur dead sometime between 537 and 570 we have now the senility of a very old man, Merlin, in 570. This is all perfectly logical, for if Arthur was born in 485 as the Book of Llandaff so states, then he died aged 46 to 79 and if Merlin were age, then he became senile around the age of 85 or older.
For 150 years the Welsh Annals made no mention at all of the Angles or Saxons, nor of the Vandals or Mercians. The first entry concerning the English comes in 595 A.D. when there are three pieces of information given first that Columcille died, second that King Dunaut died and third that 'Augustine converted the English to Christ'. There follows a number of entries of the deaths of various bishops and then there is an entry in 613 A.D. recording 'Battle Caer Logion and there fell Selin son of Cinam'. Self son of Cinan was killed at the Battle of Chester by Aethilfrith the King of Northumbria, where the pagan Angles also slaughtered 1250 monks. Self or Selin is probably Welsh for Solomon.
-

The Annalsthengoon to record the northern wars of Cadwallon, Edwin and Oswald. The entries become fuller, more detailed and more frequent. One actually records the second Battle of Badon in 665 A.D. This is important as the British or the Welsh no longer held the areas of Southern Britain and points to Badon being in South Wales and not in the Bath area. (Bath in fact being known as Aquae Sulie by the Romans and probably as Celemon by the British, certainly not as Bath of Badon). Bath was never known as Bath or Badon by the Romans or the British. The entry of the Battle of Armterid in 573 A.D. is interesting, for in the Court Pedigrees of Howell Dda (d. 950 A.D.), these lists of ancient kings include "Elifer of the Great Army" or Great Retinue. A very possible reference of connection with Arthur's forces, but Elifer was king of Northern Britain for about six years.
-

THE ANGLO SAXON CHRONICLE

version of Dark Age history. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle of written marks the commencement record by the Saxon and Angle and other tra es in Britain, in place of oral, verbal records held in songs and recited lists. The Saxons and other Germanic tribes vvere illiterate before their conversion to Christianity, when Augustine and his successors imported the written of Latin. Recording began around 616 A.D. and from that time onward the major events of kniqns the German kingdoms in Britain were yearly recorded with regularity and accuracy. Incredibly the records were kept in English or Early English at least.

On the other side of the coin is the English

These early English Christain Chroniclers knew that they were writing for future generations, there can be no doubt of that and during the seventh century they were quite clearly writing from eye witness accounts in their brief descriptions of notable events. They also reached back into the past using the style of Nennius to give a brief description of Britain and of the five languages spoken English, British-Welsh,
-

13

Pictish, Irish and Latin. The coming of the British to Britain is described as is the arrival of the Picts from Scythia and this desire to record and acknowledge the history of other nations shows a wider aspiratton than mere nationalism.
The arrival of Julius Caesar and his departure are faithfully recorded, with few errors other than one or which are easily understandable. Example, the Romans did not leave their army two misinterpretations, in Hibernia Ireland, but in Liberna winter quarters. The later Claudian invasions and conquests are also briefly dealt with, with Nerodescribed as succeeding Claudius and losing the kingdom. This may not refer to the revolt of Queen Boadicea and the Iceni of East Anglia, so much as the doings of King Arviragus who plagued not only Nero but also Domitian. This can only have come from British rather than classical sources and demonstrates a greater mixing of Saxons and Britons than might otherwise be supposed. It also demonstrates that Britain certainly in the west may well have enjoyed more of a client kingdom than a provincial status.
-

The martyrdom of Peter and Paul in Rome is also detailed as well as the descruction of Jerusalem Vespasian. Then confirmation of British sources there, is recorded the fact that in 167 A.D. King (Lleirwg) sent messengers to Eleutherius to invite missionaries. The King sent from Evaristus. The ians were Christians until the persecutions under the Emperor Diocletian and the martyrdom Albon is noted in 286 A.D. There is an explicit deduction that the Christian faith died out Diocletian, whilst we now know that it did not, certainly not in Wales.

under Lucius Christof St. under

of Maximus and his defeat in 388, was dated as 380. The Chronicle goes on to account the adventure There are inaccuracies here which suggest that the source material was British, for Valentinian is said to have killed Maximus, whereas it was in fact Theodosius. The Gothic capture of Rome in 409 A.D. is recorded and this date is used to mark the end of Roman rule in Britain. This is accurate again, for it accords with the British ploy of sending help to Honorius when they knew he could give none, and finally getting confirmation of their independant status in writing from the Emperor, who charged them to see to their own affairs.

The Saxon coming to Britain is dated as 443 A.D. and source material, yet it includes one pertinent fact not could send no help to the British as they were fighting right, for although Aetius led a war campaign against

although again this seems to have as origin British

recorded by Gildas, for it records that the Romans with Attila the King of the Huns. This is not quite

Attila, this did not happen until 450 to 542 A.D.

The Anglo Saxon Chronicle then tells how the Britons appealed to the Angles to help them secure their island against invaders, whereas Nennius records that some Angles or Saxons had already landed in Kent onward the victorious Aetius was clearing the barbarians as exiles from Germany. Thefact isthatfrom430 out of Gaul and in 436 A.D. he won resounding victories over the Visigoths and suppressed thiBga&
uprising of 437. Angles and Saxons fleeing in exile to Britain were fleeing from Aetius and the Romans and it is clear thTffieBirifns rifndicTFoTeliaiii Roman attempt to re-occupy Britain. The entry for 449 records that Mauricus was Emperor with Valentinian. As Marcian, an able general had in factmarried Pulcheria the sister of Theodosius II who died in 450 A.D. and was then made Emperor of the East by Valentinian Ill, this is substantially correct. This is important, for the Chronicle records that it was during this time that King Vortigern invited the Germans to Britain. It is not impossible therefore, that the Angles, Saxons and Jutes were fleeing before Attila the Hun and his hordes. There are entries which make it doubtful that this information is of British origin for the German immigrants are named as Angles, Saxons and Jutes, and their place of landing is named as Heopwinesfleot, identified as Ebbsfleet in Pegwell Bay, Kent. The naming of the three tribes may account for the idea in Nennius' work that the Germans came in three keelsor ships, for each ambassador from a engaged in any negotiation, gnation would have come in a ship of his own tribe. This entry argues for a different landing than that of Hengist and Horsa, who are described as repreieTtingonly one nation by Bede, based on apparent Anglo Saxon tradition. It is now that the traditions of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes are set down. There is no mention of the peace treaty and the treacherous slaughter at the banquet or conference, where the leaders of the Britons Instead the Chronicle goes directly to entries recording Saxon battles with the Britons were massacred. at Aegelesthrep (Alysford) in 455 and at Crecganford (Crayford) in 456, with the Britons retreating to London. Nine years later there is the record of another battle at Wippedesfleot with Hengist and his son Aesc (Octha in Nennius) again fighting in 465.

The Chronicle tells of Hengist and Aesc again fighting the Britons in 473 and taking much plunder, which sounds like a typical Saxon raid, rather than a conquest of settlement. In the year 477 the landing of Aelle and his three sons Cymen, WIencing and Cissa is recorded and their achievements of driving the Britons of Sussex into the forests of the Weald. In 488 Hengist has died and Aesc become King. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not mention Vortigern, Ambrosius Aurelianus, Vortimer, or others and recent folk memory. there is no fact in reason why it should, for at this stage it was recounting

14

The landing of Aelle and his sons marks an increase in the migration rate from continental Europe. In 491 Aelle is described as conquering the fortress at Anderida and slaughtering every Briton inside. Anderida being the large Roman fortress at Pevensey. How he did this is not recorded, but an ancient
records how the barbarians would prepare secret attacks at night, gathering quietly in the waiting ladders, presumably for a cloudy moonless night before launching their sudden surprise attack, whilst the majority of the occupants of the fortress slept.
woods with

saint's-'Life'

This is not the end of the story of invasion, for in 495 A.D. the Anglo Saxon Chronicle records the landing of five shiploads of men as an advance force under Cerdic and Cynric. Againthe landing was on the of Britain around the Hampshire area and this landing led to the founding of coasts of thesoftunderbelly the West Saxon Wessex kingdom. The name of Cerdic as leader is something which has caused much speculation, for Cerdic is unmistakably a British and not a German name. These two leaders, Cerdic and Cynric are described as winning a battle in 508 A.D. where they slew 5,000 Britons, including their king named Natanleod. The West Saxons must have been considerably reinforced to have achieved thisgliarc
-

Certainly one British King was killed around this period who has been wrongly identified as Geraint or Gerontius of Dumnonia, as probably was his predecessor Constantine (Cystennin in Welsh). Up in South East Wales there was a mass Saxon raid allied with the Irish and King Theodericwas killed in driving out and defeating the Saxons. The most probable of these three deaths being Natanleod is Theoderic, for a Welsh poem described Geraints death, lamenting over his fall in the time of Arthur, and whilst 508 A.D. would definately be in the reign of the King but far too early for Geraints death, and is in conflict with Arthur's record of invincibility. Many scholars have pointed out possible inaccuracies in the Chronicle, one being the fact that a Saxon landing in 501 was led by Port, who landed at Portsmouth Longborth of the Britons. Port is interpreted as an attempt to place a name on a leader whose true identity has been forgotten. This type of misnomer is however hardlysmisleading, for knowing another name for Port would not alter the fact of his landing.
-

There is then proof by omission, for from 508 to 552 A.D. the Anglo Saxon Chronicle claims no victories: for 44 years nothing at all. The true West Saxon arrival took place in 521 A.D. and when Stuf and Wihtgar, their leaders, were allowed to settle the Isle of Wight in 534 A.D. this was a grant rather than a conquest. This period coincides with the reign of King Arthur from 501 to 537 or 542 A.D. and the reign of King Maelgwn of Gwynedd until 547 or 561 A.D. There is therefore strong evidence that the relatively small county size Saxon kingdoms or states behaved themselves during the reign of these strong British Kings. In the late 540's two events not recorded in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle had a profound effect on events in Britain. First a terrible 'Yellow Plague' probably virulent cholera or something similar, spread from Europe into Britain and killed at least a third of the population. Like most plagues it probably struck when this terror hardest in the cities and towns. Whole areas would have been left virtually unpopulated disease arrived in 547. Even the King Maelgwn died of it. It is not impossible that the Saxons in their semi-isolation from trading centres in Britain and Europe, were saved from this disaster. following on this shattering blow of pestilence, was the defeat of the Vandals in 533 A.D. in North Africa and their eventual departure from North Africa iT48 A.De Geoffrey of Monmouth records their arrival in Britain after the fall of Arthur and death of Maelgwn in 548 A.D. The Vandal defeat of 533 was no doubt the reason for granting the Isle of Wight to Stuf and Wihtgar in 534, to prevent any possible Vandal occupation. There is no mention of Arthur or his victories, not even of the major event of Badon Hill, which is in line with the policy of only recording victories and ignoring or forgetting defeats.

The second catastrophe

Only in 557 after Arthur and Maelgwn were sick and the plague had devastated Britain and the Vandals had seized Middle Britain Loegria is there notice of another battle between the Britons and Saxons at Salisbury, where Cynric, son of Cerdic won the victory. In fact Cerdic and Cynric are recorded as taking the Kingship of the West Saxons in 519 shortly after the great Battle of Badon, which points in fact to a
-

reorganisation, probably at the British King's direction, to bring some order into the chaos of uncotd mi ration by the Germanic tribes. The indications are that the Saxons in fact kept their word or and their treaties wit rWfiid11Ts30ccGisors, and there is in fact evidence that they supported Arthur

Saxon should be

against Vandal invasion in the 'Culhwch and Olwen' story. The fact that in 552 A.D. Briton again fought viewed in the light that for years after Arthur, Briton fought Briton as well. These battles werethereforenow of the nature of wars between different kingdoms both settled into the island.
'foederati'

In 547 the Chronicle makes its first reference to Northumbria, which clearly indicates that the Angles of the British state, but were now indeRRRlantly.organising own their were no longer the affairs following the collapse of the central British state after theVandal invasion and civil war. Now the centre had been torn from the British state and only smaller and seperated kingdoms remained, divided and disunited by jealousies. It was against these mini states that the Saxons and Angles could make head way. In 547 King Ida ruled Northumbria.

15

King Aethilbert of Kent is recorded in the Chronicle in 565 A.D. and in 568 he was defeated by the West Saxons who pushed him back into Kent when he attacked them. This is the first sign that it was no longer German against Briton, but kingdom against kingdom in Britain. In 571 these same West Saxons captured Eynsham and Benson in Oxfordfour towns, Limbury in Bedfordshire, Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire,
shire. Then in 577 they moved west and captured the important cities of Gloucester, Bath and Cirencester, swallowing of lowland Loegria. In Wales the Britons remained unmoved in their lands, up the remnants

as they had since before Roman times. United, the British were still too powerful for the Angles or Saxons and when four of their kings named Urbgen, Riderch Hen, Gwellanc and Morcant, attacked Northumbria around 585 A.D. they devastated the whole kingdom and drove King Hussa of Northumbria out onto the island of Lindisfarne. Incredibly the leading British King, Urbgen Urien was murdered by Morcant Morgan who feared his power and military ability. Urbgen is Urien, Riderch Hen is Rhydderch Hen, Gwallanc is the son of Llenuac, and Morcant is Morgan Bulc, son of Ginarbrant, first cousin of Urien. (Alternatively he is Morgan, son of Arthur, King of South Wales.)
-

Then with the opening of the seventh century the Anglo Saxon Chronicle blossoms out with the record of the coming of Augustine in 596, the appointment of Bishop Mellitus to London and Bishop Justus to Rochester by King Aethelbert in 605 and the notice of King Aethelfrith's victory at Chester that same year. There is of course no mention of Aethelfrith's murder of 1,250 Welsh monks. The British were certainly not alone in fighting each other or murdering. In 626 A.D. King Cuichelm of Wessex sent an agent to the court of King Edwin of Northumbria with a contract to assassinate the King. The attempt nearly succeeded, but the assassin only managed to wound the King Edwin and two of his thanes. The Queen, who was a Christian, the daughter of King Aethilbert of Kent, gave birth to a daughter prematurely in the aftermath of the uproar and the shaken King promised Paulinus her priest that if the Christian god helped him overthrow the King of Wessex he would himself accept the Christian faith. That Edwin in fact subsequently defeated and slew kings' in Wessex and then duly became a Christian is also recorded.
'five

with All thesubsequenthistory then recorded in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle greatly aids cross referencing other sources, to produce an accurate picture of events in Britain during the seventh, eighth, ninth and succeeding centuries. It obviously develops away from the period of Arthur as time passes, but it is valuable toour search as it is necessary to trace Arthur in both directions. We have to move from Roman, and pre-Roman times forward to Arthur and also from Norman times back to the elusive King. As we will see, the King lists of South Wales exist, but the paramount need is to date them and so fix each in time in order to place Arthur. In this way all of the ancient chronicles of Britain play a part in building up a picture and creating the time scale.

The emergence of Mercia as an aggressive power once the state was safely established is recorded, the caution of the Angles and Saxons in their dealings with this new power is revealed. The Welsh willingness to ally themselves with the pagan Mercians is detailed, for now the Celtic princes in Wales could ally with the Vandalic Mercians instead of the collection of Brito-Roman city and town states which previously spread across Britain. In 633 Cadwallon of North Wales and Penda of Mercia destroyed Northumbria, In 641 Penda killed Oswald, who succeeded Edwin in Northumbria and in 654 Oswy of Northumbria killed Penda of Mercia and thirty princes who were with him, some of whom were Welsh. The Chronicle names this battle as Winwidfeld whilst Nennius calls it Gai.
and on rolls the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, recording of Northumbria, the Christianising the resurgence of Mercia, the rise and fall of Wessex, the struggles between Wessex and the Britons of the south west, with Wessex expanding into Somerset, wars were fought with the Britons and between the Germanic kingdoms. So the available information piles up creating the stage onto which the Legendary Arthur strode and painting the scene which he dominated.

On

BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY

OF THE ENGLISH

PEOPLE

Bede was born the son of a tenant farmer on lands endowed to the Abbey of Monkwearmouth around 673 A.D. At seven he entered the monastery as a pupil under the Abbot Benedict in the monastery dedicated to Peter. Very shortly he was transferred to a new abbey at Jarrow dedicated to Paul, under Abbot Geolfrid. The senior abbot, Benedict, spoke Latin and Greek and was learned in astronomy and music and he imported builders and a singer from Gaul to promote the services of his abbeys and their surroundings. At the time Northumbria was ruled by King Ecgfrith who was more aggressive than wise. In 684 Ecgfrith attacked Ireland, burning and destroying fortresses, homes, churches and monasteries. This was probably part of a plan aimed at eliminating support from Ireland for the Scots, the Britons and the Picts of the north. Then in 685 Ecgfrith moved north against the Picts and was lured into a trap and slaughtered with all his army at the Battle of Dunnichen Moss. On top of this defeat in 686 a plague swept Northumbria decimating the population, leaving the monasteries almost unable to carry out their religious services. It was against this background that Bede grew

16

Angles

Saxons
,

Jutes
Britons Picts

P I CTS

Scots

DEI
rk

wa wie
WC ar
.

EAST ANGLIA

iff L

ES

WESSEX
Glastontwr

KENT
SUSSEX

BRITAIN AROUND 550-600 A.D.

17

to maturity being made deacon at nineteen around 692 A.D. and ordained priest at thirty in 703. Throughout his life he remained at Jarrow, working steadily away at the library, achieving a total of no less than forty works of translations, a treatise on chronology, biographies, commentaries on the various books of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible and most magnificent of all, his 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People' the Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum'.
-

Bede stands out as the finest of the early historians of Britain, English or Welsh. He is clear about his objectives, stating in his opening preface that by the recording of good, history can promote virtue and wickedness that by recording and evil, men could be taught to avoid these actions. Apart from these natural clerical intentions Bede is absolutely scrupulous in quoting the sources of his information, as well as acknowledging the aid of Albinus the Abbot who recommended that he do the work. The previous abbot, Hadrian, helped and the archives of London were searched. In addition, Nothelm, a London priest, journeyed to Rome and returned with copies of Pope Gregory's letters to Augustine and other papers. AII this found its way to Jarrow, together with information sent by Bishop Daniel of Wessex concerning Wessex and Sussex. Abbot Esi sent information on the East Angles and the monastery of Lasingham sent information about Mercia and the East Saxons. The information on Northumbria he obtained from first hand sources and numerous witnesses.

Bede constructed a spider's web network across England to gather the laboriously constructed documents which were in fact copies of the originals and soon this quite immense work got under way. The work itself follows the pattern set by Gildas and Nennius, opening with a geographical description of Britain with greater detail of its natural resources than ever listed before, listing the four races of English, British, Picts and Scots and the former twenty eight fine cities in Britain. Then Bede goes further and gives a description of Ireland which is not part of Britain.
There is a history of the Roman period in Britain, which appears to be drawn exclusively from classical sources, with all the Roman bias and emphasis. Bede uses Julius Caesar's description of his two expeditions to Britain and the more successful efforts of Claudius. The story of King Lucius is repeated with the information that this king became Christian in 156 A.D. (This may be Lleirwg's or Lucius' birth date). Carausias is correctly described as the fleet commander in Britain, with the commission to drive off the German pirates. The suspicion which fell on Carausius and the accusations of his conspiracy with the pirates is detailed, as is the defeat of this would-be emperor of Britain by the Romans. Here again Bede appears to be using Roman sources. When he then tells of the persecution of the Christians by Diocletion, Bede appears to be using a British source. He gives a great deal more detail of the martydom of Alban who apparently hid a fleeing Christian priest and was subsequently tried, flogged and executed. This Roman period also includes the reigns of Constantinus, Constantine the Great. and Gratian, and goes on to describe the expedition of Magnus Maximus and his defeat at Aquileia, all apparently from sources in Rome.
of the Pelagiandoctrine Then Bedegiveshisversion and displays obvious hostility to the views of Pelagias and Pelagias Morgan came from South Wales. Ou ite apart from the fact that Bede was an orthodox churchman preferring to stick to the rigid regulations of the New Roman Order and to let the Italians in Rome do his thinking for him, there is the additional consideration that Bede was an Angle and Pelagius was a Briton, Even at that early date, around 720, we can see the national characteristics of the English distinct and seperate from those of the Celtic races, preferring sets of rules and laws to live by, whereas the Celts chose to think for themselves. The idea of Pelagius that man could choose freely and affect and direct his poisonous and abominable teaching'. This brings us to the danger point own fate, is according to Bede of Bede's history, for he is an excellent recorder, but of no value at all as a commentator. Whereas the greatest of the ancient historians, Herodotus, travelled widely all over the ancient world seeking and verifying his information, many others of lesser capability merely recorded from documents available in their home cities of Rome and so on. Pelagius Morgan traveled from Wales all over Britain, Gaul, North Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Asia Minor and elsewhere, whereas Bede was born at Monkwearmouth and spent most of his life at Jarrow 12 miles north. In other words Bede was rather like a trained parrot, he never went anywhere and was totally institutionalised.
-

'his

As with the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Bede records the fall of Rome to the Goths in 409 A.D. (It also fails to record the fall of Rome to the British in 387 A.D.) and links this event to the collapse of Roman Rule in Britain. This passage of his history adheres closely to the work of Gildas, but adds further detail made available from his own Angle and Saxon sources. He confirms that Vortigern was responsible for bringing the Anglo Saxons and Jutes to Britain, placing the Jutes in Kent, the Isle of Wight and on the mainland across from the Isle of Wight covering Southampton Water. Bede goes on to include the exploits of Ambrosius (Aurelianus) the British leader who God's help' defeated the Saxons.
'with

Then Bede repeats Gildas's statement of the Battle of Mount Badon or Badon Hill and he also makes no reference to Arthur. Following this Bede then switches back in time to 429 to describe the visit of of St. account Germanus to Britain to try to destroy the 'Pelagian heresy', There is the obligatory Germanus leading the Celtic British to the 'Alleluia Victory' over the Saxons and Picts, a story which should be placed together with the accumulated mass of lies and exaggerations which form the bulk of the 'Livesof the Saints'of the Dark Ages and then the main theme of history proper and real is resumed.
-

Bede follows Gildas in stating that there was a period of peace, prosperity and plenty in Britain following the Battle of Badon. Certainly he does not refute the description of a time of peace and plenty in the land which would have been enjoyed by the Angles and Saxons as well as the British. So the allegation made by Gildas that the new, younger generation grew up in ignorance of the realities of the former disasters of war and that this generation (of leaders) disregarded the essential strengths of truth, justice,

and again plunged the nations towards disaster in Britain. This is all very well, but law and moderation the main theme of Gildas's complaint is that disunity and civil uproar will weaken the state's ability to defeat foreign invaders, it was the power struggle which he deplored. Bede adds extra charges against the British, alleging that:"To their other abominable crimes which their own historian Gildas mournfully records they added a complete failure to teach Christianity to the Saxons who now lived with them".

This is a piece of pious nonsense, as, not only is it completely untrue, it ignores the fact that when the British had attempted peace treaties and a conference with the Saxons, it had resulted in the most appalling and treacherous massacre of delegates ever recorded in history. This had resulted in the confusion and devastation of the British state which had taken nearly seventy years to even partially recover. The British had lesson after bitter lesson that a conference with the Saxons was the equivalent to stroking a rattlesnake or a king cobra. The statement is in fact a lie for Rhun ap Urien Rheged converted and baptised Edwin King of Deifr and 3,000 English in 509 A.D. see the Triads.
-

On the reverse side it is impossible to see how the Saxons would have received Christianity

if offered by the British; it is a certainty that they would have rejected it. The British Rhun was the Bishop who baptised and converted King Edwin of Northumbria and 3,000 of his men of Deifr.

When theBritish

made diplomatic marriages with the King's daughter and the son of Loehaire. High King of Ireland, the way was opened for Patrick to preach. Loehaire was totally unimpressed but allowed Patrick tocarry on with his preaching. The same type of marriage arrangement with the Saxons resulted in complete disaster, even when Augustine arrived in Kent, the King Aethelbert refused to meet him indoors for fearof witchcraft. King Edwin of Northumbria, like Aethelbertof Kent, was introduced to Christianity through his wife and by virtue of his victorious battles with Wessex, not through logic. Bede also ignores the work of the British St. Ninnian who converted the Picts of Scotland to Christianity and also the South Wales St. Patrick who converted the Irish.

which is our primary period of interest, is simply omitted by Bede, he has nothing to say of the period, presumably lacking sources. This blank period is surely interesting, for this is the period when the future of Britain was certainly in the melting pot. This is the time when the decisive events occurred yet Bede says nothing. The history moves from the Battle of Badon and strictures against the conduct of the Britons, straight through to 597 and the conversion of the Jutes by Augustine. This means that if any great victories to overthrow British power were won between 517 and 597 A.D., then the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes were not the people who won them. A colossal advance to take the whole of Middle Britain with its towns and cities would have been their greatest achievement, yet their records are totally silent. The conclusion has to be that someone else attacked the British and as Geoffrey of Monmouth states, the someone was the Vandals from North Africa who became the Mercians no kinsmen of the Angles or Saxons.
-

The sixth century

It isthis very omission by Bede, drawing on Anglo Saxon sources all over Britain, which is the clue to the fall of Middle Britain. There was no slow, remorseless, inevitable Angle or Saxon conquest, the Angles and Saxons were never a match for the united Britons. There was instead a sudden devastating invasion by a powerful new enemy, who seized fertile central Britain and Bede has little contact with or knowledge of the pagan Mercians. The letters between Pope Gregory and Augustine are marvellously preserved by Bede, as well as Gregory's letter to King Aethilbert, together with a short biography of Augustine. The dispute between the orthodox Roman Church represented by Augustine and the Celtic Church is described. The British naturally refusing to be subjected to a bishop sent from Rome and dwelling in the middle of their enemies, whom they still cordially hated. Rome had no authority in Britain in any case, since the abandonment letter of Honorius in 407 A.D., and never had authority in some Celtic highland areas in any event. The abortive conference of 603 A.D. is described, with Augustine's threat that unless the British submitted they would be attacked by their enemies. The sum total of all this is that both Gregory and Augustine in relation to their understanding of the political situation and were obviously totally incompetent history of Britain. Like all future Popes, Gregory's only concern was to bring as many churches under his control as possible and to establish more so as to increase the revenues that Rome could bleed from other countries and so gather wealth and power.

The actions of these Italian Catholic meddlers were to have later tragic consequences, for the Celtic peoples who were after all the original inhabitants of Britain. From this time on instead of Christianity

19

being what threat at the

'redefined',

is known of the proud and ambitious Augustine, it is typical that he should use blackmail with the of war to attempt togain his ends. Most of Central Europe was later 'Christianised' by Charlemagne
point of the sword.
're-modelled'

a common bond between the races now in Britain, it was to become a symbol of their division.

Froi

What had happened

isolated which they had originally been taught from 58 A.D. to 180 A.D. The Scots in the north of Britain and the Welsh, both continued in their old ways, the Scots having been converted by the Welsh. It is in fact difficult to understand truth and fact can or should be Shortly
called
'modified'

of three hundred or so years the church in Rome had certain aspects of Christian belief. Over in Britain, virtually since circa 300 A.D., the Celtic Church had just gone along with the same old belief and practice was and
'modified'

that

over a period

how a belief which is stated to be founded or

'redefined',

on a gospel of absolute

of 603 A.D. the promise after the failed conference who can hardly be or threat of Augustine Christian at all was fulfilled when at the Battle of Chester in 614 A.D. no less than 1250 Celtic monks were slaughtered. This action was, incredibly, applauded by the pious Bede.
-

In 604 Augustine died and his successor was Laurentius who wrote to the Scots attempting to get them to submit to Roman ideology as now practised in the new Church of England. A similar letter was sent to the British, but Laurentius was counting his chickens before they were hatched. When in 616 Aethelbert of Kent died, his successor Eadbold rejected Christianity as did the heirs of King Saeberht of the East
Saxons, Both Bishop Mellitus of London and Justus of Rochester fled to Gaul, whilst Laurentius stayed on to convert King Eadbold and then to recall Mellitius and Justus. When Laurentius died in 624 Mellitius became the third archbishop of Canterbury.

So Bede's story moves on, telling of the conversion of King Edwin of Northumbria, the council meeting before the King's baptism, the detail of the wars with King Cadwallon and his ally the pagan Penda of Mercia, all in full detail. The story of the wars is told of Cadwallon's death, Oswald's success, the conversion to Christianity of the West Saxons, the East Angles, the East Saxons and finally that of Penda
the son of Peanda of Mercia. This is really the essence of Bede's story, the gradual spreading of his faith all its plethora of spurious miracles and the building of churches and monasteries, the doings of the bishops and miracle healing of the sick is all fully recounted. The great divide between the Roman church planted in England and the Celtic church remained. In Northumbria itself the Synod at Whitby in 664 decided the issue that the church there would follow Roman practice, primarily because the 'Romans' argued that they derived their authority from St. Peter who held the 'Keys of Heaven' and was rock' upon which the church was founded by Christ nothing to do with logic or doctrine. There was a further Synod in 670 at Hertford, with representatives from East Anglia, Northumbria, Kent, Wessex and Mercia, with Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury organising the event.
'the
-

Bede goes on to insert a 'Life of St. Hilda' to tell of events in his own lifetime, to describe the book written by Adamnan who visited Jerusalem. There is a description of the request from King Nechtan of the Picts for assistance in adapting to the new customs of the church and of Abbot Geolfrid's reply. This is followed by the record of the monks of lona agreeing to follow the new ideas of Rome and another blast at the British who were still doing things their own way, even to the extent of cutting their hair differently. The worksend in751 A.D. with a note on the state of affairs in Britain. The work is a remarkable history of events in Britain in the seventh century, but unfortunately it adds very little to the detail which we seek to identify Arthur. What it does however, is to accurately date huge numbers of events and people who helpto create the framework from which we can work back to the time of King Arthur. Historically it is a document of incalculable value to all in Britain, collected, analysed and written under what must have been conditions of great difficulty, making sense of many of the short cryptic entries in the Welsh and Saxon Annals. Unfortunately Bede revealsan unmistakable bias against the British in his work, possibly independance of the Celtic Church viewed by the Roman Catholics as heresy racial discrimination.
-

'

as a result of the possibly simple

THE LATER HISTORIANS

As time advances away from Arthur, more historians appear to contribute to our knowledge of distant times and events. They do not necessarily contribute less to our knowledge of the period of Arthur, for they may well have had access to additional and different sources to those used by Gildas, Nennius, Bede and the compilers of the Welsh Annals and the Anglo Saxon Chronicles. All manner of other scraps, even large pieces of history, are available in the poems, king lists, folklore, stories, other minor chronicles and so on.

20

named Aethelweard with his highly dramatised 'History of the Kings of Britain'. A Wessex nobleman wrote a 'Chronicle from the Beginning of the World to the Year of our Lord 972' and a monk named

The principal later histories were complied by William of Malmesbury, a monk who lived from around 1085 to 1142 and wrote nineteen books at least one The History of the Kings of England De Gestis Henry of Huntingdon and of course Geoffrey of Monmouth (Gruffydd ap Arthur) Regum Angolorum
-

Eadmer from Canterbury to 1122 A.D.

wrote 'A History of Modern Times'

Historia Novorum

on the period 1066

The Anglo Saxon Chronicle had gone on and on, being kept in the Abbey monastery of Peterborough until as lateas 1154 A.D. The great Chronicle had been given fresh impetus to add to its constantly growing styleof lucid description and commentary, by King Alfred the Great. One copy of the Chronicle from Winchester was revised and edited up to 891 A.D. and then sent to Canterbury and is now Manuscript A
held in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The next two copies styled B and C are from Abingdon and up to 1066, the other appears were made in the eleventh century. One of these, Manuscript C, continues to be a copy being prepared for Canterbury where the Manuscript A had been sent and continued from 891. From Worcester comes Manuscript D, a copy of the older editions made around 1050 and maintained as a record of history until 1079. CopiesB, C and D are held in the British Museum, whilst Copy E from Peterborough is at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, an edition of the Manuscript recopied in 1121 and

maintained until 1154. King Alfred has seen to it that copies of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle were sent to large
monasteries, including Winchester, survived war and destruction.

Canterbury,

Abingdon,

Worcester

and Peterborough,

numbers of where they

Welsh from Asia Minor and beyond and correct in describing the Celtic conquest of Rome. He detailed Arthur's European conquests, and someone inflicted a shattering defeat on Clovis, Consul of Rome, King of all the Franks at Angers in 510. (Clovis was all conquering until the defeat at the borders of Soissons Brittany). Equally Geoffrey was correct in stating that the King of the Africans Sassy and Amorica invaded Britain in 548 A.D., the year the Germanic Vandals finally left North Africa after the collapse of their Mediterranean Empire.
-

Undoubtedly the later historians could draw upon the works of Gildas, Nennius, Bede, The Welsh Annals and the Anglo Saxon Chronicle in addition to whatever information they could aquire. The tragedy of Geoffrey of Monmouth is that he chose the bardic style of Wales to produce his work as an exciting rounded historical story. He made many errors, but he was in fact dealing very largely with periods and places which no other historian had even barely touched. He was correct in tracing the Cymru or British

It is our firm belief that Geoffrey of Monmouth was finally putting into writing the accumulated stores of oral history sung by the bards, the third and lesser order of the Druids. A form of bardic college had continued in West Wales Dyfed until well into the tenth century.
-

The other historians are mainly interesting for the minor discrepancies between their works and the works of Gildas, Nennius, Bede and the Chronicles. Some scholars seize upon these eagerly to promote the idea that the differences indicate different source materials. This is not only doubtful and improbable, but will never be known and therefore it is an unfruitful subject. In direct contrast to Geoffrey of Monmouth the work of William of Malmesbury gives a straightforward, of the known history of Britain. His task was more limited, his information well written, interpretation more solid and better defined. Wedo have from William of Malmesbury some quite invaluable information Abbey and indirectly on King Arthur. Of the King, William states:on the history of Glastonbury "It is of this Arthur that the Britons fondly tell so many fables even to the present day (circa 1130 A.D........ man worthy to be celebrated not by idle fictions but by authentic history.
........a

of the historical stature of the mighty Arthur, William of Malmesbury later gives a long and detailed account of the history of Glastonbury Abbey. It is remarkable that William of Malmesbury, who clearly had access to remarkable detail, since born out by excavation, never once makes any reference to Arthur in connection with Glastonbury.

So with this clear appreciation

William begins his account of Glastonbury in 643 A.D. one hundred years and more after Arthur's period and he writes:-

"Since we have reached the time of Cenwalh, and since this is the proper place for referring to of Glastonbury, I shall write an the monastery account of the foundation and advancement of that church, from its very origin, in so far as I can discover it from all the evidence available".

21

At this point William repeats the story of the mission at the time of Bishop Eleutherius of Rome as told by Bede and dates it at the time of the Emperor Marcus Antoninus Verus. This is a mis-dating as Verus ruled from 156 A.D. What it really amounts to is that Glastonbury was claiming to be of immense antiquity and claiming that King Lleirwg's missionaries went there and not to Llandaff. As the Glastonbury monks later claimed that St. Patrick of Ireland was buried there falsely, that St. Gildas was buried there falsely, that several other saints were also intered there before they ever got around to inventing the fable of Joseph of Arimatea being there, or their invention of the tomb of King Arthur, there is no real strength in these claims.
-

What William of Malmesbury does say, is that are documents of good credibility which have been found in certain places'. These state that the church of St. Mary was built by the Apostles of Christ. This is itself a dubious statement, for the Apostles in fact worshipped God and the practice of worshipping Mary was not adopted until later. The Apostles were all Jews who would not have founded a church to of the Catholic Church. Mary as they did not believe in the later pantheon made by William is that the Glastonbury foundation was called by the Saxons old church'. This simply means in fact that there was a church there before the Saxons conquered that part of the south west of England which they did around 630 to 650 A.D., not altogether unremarkable considering the antiquity of Celtic Christianity. The floor of the old church was covered with polished stone inlaid with patterns, which in effect means Roman mosaics, pointing to either an early Roman church building or a Roman temple or villa taken over as a church building. The altar was surrougded by all manner of relics and was a famous place for taking oaths.

'there

One

point

'the

A great number of documents existed according to William, but these he failed to transcribe. The rest of his work is of such quality that there can be no reasonable doubt that the documents did in fact exist, What William did do however, was to describe the two or stepped stone monuments, one surmounted by a statue of a pope, the other with the statue of a king. There were inscribed names on these stones and William faithfully listed them, just as he then listed the names of the previous Abbots of Glastonbury. Now although William was actively seeking information on Arthur, he makes absolutely of Glastonbury, neither does he say one single no mention of him in his obviously thorough research word of Joseph of Arimathea.
'pyramids'

by WiHiam describes how Paulinus the companion of Augustine, who came to Saxons in 596, built a shell wall of new timber around the old Glastonbury to preserve it. This may indicate that the church was indeed old, alternatively as the oldest or first church still functioning near Saxon lands and therefore important. In 602 A.D. the local British king gave lands to Glastonbury church, named Ineswritin, which William says means Isle of Glass, in old British; and King Genwalh of the West Saxons gave two hides of land or 240 acres, to the church. Ineswritin was in fact a manor 1 mile from Abergavenny now Coldbrook, the home of Richard Herbert in 1469.
rather peculiar entry Britain to Christianise the timber and wattle church it may have been regarded

One

William of Malmesbury clearly believed that Glastonbury was indeed a very ancient religious site and that there was some truth in the belief that its foundation dated back to Apostolic or near Apostolic times. of his work, William of Malmesbury provides a history of the English kingdoms, For the remainder including a wealth of detail and explanation found nowhere else. The history is a remarkable work, a well balanced, clearly expressed narrativeof detail. We can learn of the licentious events with some remarkable state of the church and kings in eighth century Mercia under King Aethelbald, who was roundly criticised by Boniface the Englishman who became bishop of Metz. As we have seen, there is considerable detail on Glastonbury and a fruitless quest for more information on King Arthur, who is in no way identified as related to Glastonbury by William. For the most part William of Malmesbury emerges as a fine historian of period 600 to 1066 A.D. In addition to the works of Gildas, Nennius, Bede, William of Malmesbury, Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Annals and Chronicles, we have the wealth of detailed information from Wales. The great Book of Llandaff, the Llancarfan Charters, both dating from the late fifth century, the King lists of the with their lists of fifth and sixth centuryprinces,nobles Harleian manuscripts, the Brecon manuscripts and saints and a whole mass of other scattered documents, poems and stories. All this provides lists and pieces, odds and ends and from it the whole story emerges. Geoffrey of Monmouth can be seen to be weaving his marvellous fiction around quite definite provable facts. There is in fact no shortage of information it. on the long period of Arthur, but rather an inability to organise and understand We shall deal in detail with Geoffrey of Monmouth in another chapter. For the moment it is sufficient to state that his critics have been too eager to denigrate and ridicule the truths that he stated, even as late as the 1970's we have read literary scholars criticising his work for a fabulous history of the Welsh'. By this they intend that the story of Celtic origins in Asia Minor or beyond and connections with ancient Troy and Rome were Geoffrey's Yet those stories of origin are firmly stated in the sixth century works of Gildas and the eighth century work of Nennius, to say nothing of the equally old Welsh Triads. Geoffrey of Monmouth repeated and he expanded and embellished, but he did not
'inventing 'inventions'.

invent.

22

On top of all this evidence in Britain, there is also the Gallic Chronicles of Brittany in France and the related evidence of the equally ancient Irish Annals, together with the mass of Irish and Gallic fragmentary documents, the poetry and folklore. facts relate to each other. Time and again the same names keep appearing, constantly the

In fairness to Glastonbury the Welsh Triads do state that four missionaries came to King Lleirwg in 180 A.D., and that Damianus and Paganus ( Dyvan and Phagan) taught in Siluria in South Wales; and two, Glastonbury or Anglesey. Meduinus and Albanus (Mydwy and Alban) taught in the Isle of Avallon Kyndav and Arwystli Hen around 70 A.D. (?) These followed the earlier mission of Ilid a Jew to Llandaff near Cardiff.
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THE BOOK OF LLANDAFF

THE LIBER LANDAVENSIS

The Liber Landavensis or the Book of Llandaff is so called because it is the ancient Chartulary or Register Book of the Cathedral of Llandaff. In it are recorded the biographies of the more eminent of the Bishops of the great Cathedral, the Grants of endowment to the church by the Kings and Princes, and other matters of importance and interest to the Cathedral and the whole diocese. This book has been called Llyfr Teilo or the Book of Teilo because the whole diocese sometimes went by the name of Teilo, and St. Teilo was one of the greatest of the early Bishops of the Cathedral and also because part of the content from which the book was compiled was contained in a still more ancient Register which was named the Book of Teilo which is in fact referred to in this Book. The Prelate who had the work compiled was Urban the Bishop of Llandaff from 1108 to 1133 A.D. who is the last Bishop mentioned in this work and this appears to be correct in this respect. Urban invited his brother Galfrid todo the work, and Gaffrid Jeffrey, is probably Ensi Dean of Llandaff who was amongst those present when the body of St. Dubricious was reburied in 1120 A.D. Galfrid it seems was told to use the old registers of Teilo as his basic source of information and to add any other suitable information which was proper to include. He also placed the much older information into the language and style of expression of his own times.
-

As Urban was made Bishop in 1107-8 A.D. and died in 1133, the work must have been completed by 1132 otherwise his death would have been fully recorded and it is not in fact mentioned. What Urban and organisation to bear on the accumulated mass of old was doing was bringing Norman thoroughness records and documents in his church and getting everything up to date so that no-one else could hang on to any church lands which they might have seized over the years. What he achieved was to preserve the history of ancient Dark Age South Wales in a most remarkable manner of accuracy and detail.

The Manuscript Chronicle of the Church of Llandaff is preserved in the Cottonian Library of the British Museum. This copy was written in 1439 and has reference which calls it the Manuscript Book of St. Teilo. This article recounts the endowment of the Church of Llandaff with rents and privileges by King
historian Bishop Godwin wrote a 'Catalogue of the Bishops of he was sub-Dean at Exeter, and he most certainly seems to have Bishop of Llandaff himself and he wrote, 'Our Church has a written upwards of five hundred years ago, from whence I have borrowed what was written of its Bishops who were not later than 1110.' So he reproduced the history of Llandaff using the work of Galfrid. Then in 1639 Archbishop Usher published his 'Antiquities of the British Churches', and frequently referred to Galfrid's work, calling it the Register of Llandaff, when dealing with St. Samson, and the Register of the Church of Llandaff when dealing with St. Teilo. He also calls it the Llandaff Register. When giving the account of the protest of Bishop Urban, he states that this account was placed in the Register of Llandaff called Teilo which was reputed to be compiled by Galfrid the brother of Urban. Meurig ap (son of) Tewdrig. A notable England', first published in 1601 when used this manuscript. Later he became Book of venerable antiquity which was

Likewise Sir Henry Spellman published his 'Concillia' also in 1639 and he quoted at length from the Llandaff Registers treating them with great respect. He calls it the Book of Llandaff when dealing with the times of Oudoceus around 560 to 580 A.D. He quotes of three Synods of Llandaff held at the time of that Bishop, which he says were extracted from the very ancient manuscript of the Church of Llandaff, and of eleven later Synods which are also taken from the old Register of Llandaff Cathedral. He also quotes the summons of William the Archbishop of Canterbury to Bishop Urban to attend the Council of London, and the decrees of that Council. Sir Henry states that the Manuscript was a splendid Book which was held in the archives of the Bishop of Llandaff from where he made his extracts.
in his 'Monasticon Anglicanum' first published in 1655. But now there is a subtle change for the quotations from the very ancient MSS Book formerly in the possession of the church of Llandaff at Cardiff is held by one John Selden. Dugdale published his second and third volumes of 'Monasticon Anglicanum' in 1661 and 1673. He used the Book of Llandaff widely and most important he recorded the thief who stole it out of Wales, John Selden. The use of the Book as a reference went on and Cressy writing his 'Church History of Britanny' published in 1668 refers to it, quotes from it and calls it 'The History of the Church of Llandaff'. Then the Rev. Henry Wharton wrote 'Anglia Sacra' published in 1691 also referring and quoting at length from it.

Attracted by this Dugdale used the Book frequently

23

Wharton however states that he is quoting from a copy held in the Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, as well as from Dugdale who used the 'Selden' ? copy. The story widens out when Rev. Edward Lhuyd writing the 'Archaeologia Britannica' in 1707 states;"Liber Landavensis in the Library of Robert Davies of Guissaney, Denbighshire. The register of the Church of Llandaff was compiled by Galfrid, brother of Urban, Bishop of the See about the commencement of the twelfth century. The Archives at Llandaff contain a very neat copy on parchment lately transcribed but elegantly than accurately written, the handwriting of the ancient book being preserved. There more is another copy in the library of Jesus College, Oxford. The work contains some charters of the Church of Llandaff written in the Welsh language which are understood but by few a on account of their antiquity". He then mentions that there is an account of the Privileges of the Church of Llandaff as well as matter in ancient Welsh.

Next Mr. BrowneWiuiscameupwithhis'Survey of the Cathedral Church of Llandaff', published in 1718. Browne Willis actually catalogued a whole list of these manuscripts in the Cotton Library as follows: 1. Antiqum Landavensis Ecclesiae Registrum MS F p. 85; then 2. MS Cotton Otho D.IV.5. and 3. MS Cotton Vitellius E.IV.6, and 4. Vespasian A.XIV. and 5. the Vespasian A.XIV, again and then the 'Chronicle of the Church of Llandaff from Brutus to A.D. 1370' in part Welsh, part Latin, the D.Titus XXII.I. manuscript written in 1439. Actually Browne Willis was disappointed with the D.Titus XXII.l. for it did not concern the Church only the history of the country. This work was examined by the Welsh MSS Society in 1839. However the history also contained the account of the founding of the church at the time of King Meurig. Besides these several manuscripts in the British Museum Browne Willis refers to the only three books in the custody of the church at Llandaff larger a paper book wherein the Charter Acts registered this book was made in the year 1573. Another book is as I am told the Liber Landavensis are referred to in the 'Monasticon' called Teilo, said to be compiled by Bishop Urban and the third relates to some orders made by Bishop Blethin."
-'one

Collier who wrote an 'Ecclesiastic History of Great Britain', which was published in 1708, used the Register extensively and he mentions a copy of the book in the possession of the Bishop of Norwich. Bishop Nicholson wrote his 'English Historical Library' now and published in 1714 calling Teilo also Eliud, and quoting widely. He stated that the old manuscript of Galfrid was now in Sir John Cotton's library.

In Nicholl's Antiquities of Llantwit Major, written in 1729, and also the insert to the Appendix of Williams 'History of Monmouthshire' of 1796 A.D. he mentions the Liber Landavensis old manuscript in which are found many accounts of the Abbots of Llantwit, he calls it as a very the Book of Llandaff, and then manuscript six hundred years old and the first part older yet by much'. Bishop Tanner who died in 1732 mentions it in his 'Notitia Monastica' giving great deal of detail including the a death of Dubricious and the seizure of the church revenues by the Saxons. Tanner refers Dugdales, Spellmans and Whartons works, and to Brian Twyne's extracts from the Corpus Christi to of Liber copy Landavensis, and again of the Ancient Register of Llandaff in possession of Richard Davies of Llanerch with Browne Willis identifying a copy in the library of Jesus College and the Cottonian library at the British Museum.
'a

So the trail goes on with the 1802 catalogue of the Cottonian library manuscripts referring the Liber Landavensis Vitellius CX.4.5. In the third volume of the Cambrian Register of 1818 there isto of the Manuscripts in the Library of Hengwrt in Monmouthshire called the Liber Landavensis a catalogue and said to be from Mr. Selden's library. The correspondance leading to Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt obtaining the manuscripts exists, and the catalogue was in fact written in 1658, with the Liber Landavensis arriving in
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1659.

When Ritson wrote his 'Life of King Arthur' in 1825 he quoted from the Liber Landavensis reference Noe ap Arthur and he states that Sir John Price had once possessed the Book and that it was now in the Lichfield Cathedral now called St. Chad's Book. This Book in Lichfield did obviously come from Llandaff and must have been stolen at some date, it is however a copy of the gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark and part of St. Luke. In the margins are some of the old entries relating to grants of the Llandaff Cathedral. As some of these names of witnesses and bishops can be traced to as late as 1059 A.D. there are questions to be answered as to how it got to Lichfield Cathedral.
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In the Introduction to the 'Dictionary of the Welsh Language' by Dr. Owen Pughe in 1832 there is the 'The most ancient Welsh vocabulary is short Welsh and Latin statement a one in the Book of Llandaff in the British Museum, a valuable manuscript of the twelfth century' see Cottonian MSS Vespasian, XXV.2. Lhuyd's Archaeologia Britannica p. 4. says that these are Cornish words now disused by the Cornish but understood by the Welsh a Vocabulary a Latin to Welsh Calendar the Lives of sixteen Welsh Saints and so on.
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Archbishop Parker built a library now in Corpus Christi College, which refers to the Liber Landavensis MSS 101.p.310, and MSS 119.p.435. Parker was born in 1504, was Archbishop of Canterbury in 1559 and died in 1575, and quoted from the Liber. The Rev. Brian Twyne's work contained further extracts from the Liber Landavensis from the Library of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, his Vol. Ill.p.9. and fonowing. Further extracts written in Archbishop Usher's own hand are in the library of Trinity College Dublin, in a MSS Book. Sir Matthew Hale's manuscript in Lincoln's Inn Library No.XXXII (xxxiv)
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24

volume of historical

extracts by Selden contains extracts from the Manuscript

by men of impeccable scholarly reputation

of Liber Landavensis.

is very important for many original pages of notes from ancient manuscripts by Bishop Theophilus of Llandaff. A quarto book of Manuscript form of Lewis Morris was in the Welsh School Library in London, No. 42, contained the Charter of privilege of Llandaff, copies of the several lives of the Llandaff Saints, and the record of all the charters and history of Glamorgan were said to be in the Manuscript of Liber Landavensis in the Llanerch Library of Mr. Davies in 1760 according to the Rev. Evan Evans who wrote from it. Lewis Morris was a poet and historian who left eighty volumes of ancient manuscripts to the Welsh Charity School, London, when he died 1702-1765 and Rev. Evan Evans, born 1730, another poet, spent immense time on ancient manuscripts leaving around 100 when he died in 1790.

Now all this recording

documents went missing or were lost. There are for instance three

What is in reality a tragedy of some magnitude now occurred for one by one all the ancient copies of the Liber Landavensis which had survived from 1120 now went missing. The copy first borrowed by Selden and then by him was to be left as part of his library first to the inner Temple and then to the Oxford Bodelian Library. Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt succeeded after five years of negotiation in borrowing the 'Selden' manuscript, a copy was made which is the basis for the work we produce. The Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Hengwrt Library, copied into the Cambrian Register there is the following entry Liber Landavenss from Mr. Selden's Library, folio in parchment, three inches thick, having Teilo's picture in brass on the lid thereof, formerly overlaid with gold and silver, but now almost worn with age'. This was written in 1658 with this particular entry made in September 1659.
'obtained'

'162.

Although Vaughan stated that it was in or belonged to the Oxford Library it was not in Selden's collection when it was deposited there. That this ancient book by Galfrid was at Hengwrt is known, but it was moved from there by some unknown person at a later date and extensive searches around 1820 to 1830 were unsuccessful in discovering it. Mr. Robert Vaughan did however make an exact copy of the book which still exists. The ancient copy of the Liber Landavensis which had been in the ownership of the Bishops of Llandaff had somehow come into Selden's possession and a copy of imitation put in its place; this was a good imitation and probably a switch by Selden. Lhuyd's Mention of it in 1709 appears to describe a copy not the original, yet Browne Willis in 1718 was of the opinion that he was looking at the original. Then in 1729 the Rev. David Nicholl mentions the Liber Landavensis and speaks of it as being over six hundred years old, so he was probably fooled by the substitution. Tanner Bishop of St. Asaph seems also to have been fooled, believing that the original was at Llandaff around 1735. Then in 1819 Edward Williams prepared a Propectus of Collections for a History of Wales and included the Liber Landavensis at Llandaff, a list prepared long before 1819. Yet the Liber Landavensis had been

missing from the Llandaff Archives since before 1790, and Edwards frequently told his son that he had used the book. He wrote a note in the margins of Volume lli of the Cambrian Register, page 301, reference Robert Vaughan's letter to Meredith Lloyd 'Apply all your endeavours for obtaining a loan of the Book of Llandaff for being /ong since conveyed to England there is not a copy of it in any part', and here he says 'It was at Llandaff where I have seen it and then compared my copy of the Llandaff Charter from Jesus College, Oxford. Bishop Watson some time after took it to Calgarth Park'.
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There was no trace of it at Calgarth Park where Watson died in 1816, and Edward Williams who died around 80 years in 1829 was possibly being misdirected to put him off.
Did Selden steal the book? It seems likely. Did Mr. Vaughan of old Trawsgoed an executor of Selden's will take it, for it never got to its place of destination. Or did a cleric like Bishop Watson take it or some other clergyman of Llandaff who was promoted to an English Cathedral. How on earth was it said to be held by the Bishop of Norwich? Brian Twyne described it before he died in 1644, and stated that the left cover there was a picture in either brass or copper of Teilo holding a book, and that the first part is the gospel of St. Matthew', matches The description that of Selden's obtained? copy. In 1707 the Rev. Edward Lhuyd said in his 'Archaeoloia Britainnica' that it was at Robert Davies library at Guissaney in Denbigh definitely a copy of Galfrid's Register of the Church of Llandaff. In Tanner's Nottia Monastica' of 1744, he says that it was held by Richard Davies of Llanerch in Denbigh.
'on
-

One other ancient copy of the Liber Landavensis was for a long time at the Llanerch Library. The Rev.

Then in Lewis Morris' book placed in the Welsh School in London, he says that in 1760 the book was at
Llanerch. He describes the manuscript in detail, it was fair, beautiful, on Vellum and very ancient, with the capitals in red. This book was said in the Catalogue of Welsh manuscripts to be in the Llanerch Library of the Rev. G. Allanson Transactions of the Cymmrodorion or Metropolitan Cambrian Institution.
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25

Volume II. 1828 p. 45-46. The Llanerch Library then contained only five books and was ruined. The most celebrated library in Wales was broken up. It was a moiety of the Gwasanau Collection and was divided between the two heiresses, Mrs. Puleston and Mrs. Leo. The remainder belonged to Philip Davies Cooke and there were only five books in his collection, the same number of manuscripts as the Llanerch Collection and neither contained the Liber Landavensis.
In 1811 the Bishop of St. Davids, a Dr. Burgess, noted in an Appendix to a charge to the Chapter of St. Davids, the following 'Library of Bryan Cooke Esq., M.D. for Ma/ton Registrum Landavensis or Book of Llandaff a very ancient manuscript in vellum containing the Lives of Elgar, Dubricious, Teilo and Oudoceus; communications between the Papal See and the first three Popish Bishops of Llandaff; and a register of the Bishops from Urban to the 16th century'. Now this book or copies of this note concerning it is published in Volume I of his Sermons by Rev. Richard Davies, the Archdeacon of Brecon in 1815, and in 'South Wales' by the Rev. T. Rees published in 1818. So this is apparently the Llanerch copy of the ancient Book of Llandaff.
-

From this time on the whereabouts of all three ancient copies made by Galfrid the brother of Bishop Urban around 1820 become a mystery. The Llandaff Transept copy, the 'Selden' copy, and the Llanerch copy vanish. The value of the ancient manuscripts had been recognised and temptation to steal, or possess, or even to sell may well have affected people with access to the Manuscripts. mentioned by Lhuyd in 1707 in 'Archaeologia Britannica'. p.259. Also Browne Willis referred to it in his 'Survey of the Cathedral Church of Llandaff', where he states that there were copies in the British Museum Cottonian Library and at Jesus College, Oxford. In 1819 Mr. Edward Williams wrote a prospectus for his proposed 'Collections for a new History of Wales', and he stated that there were copies of the Liber Landavensis, the original Charter of the Church of Llandaff, at Jesus College Library, in the Archives of the British Museum, at the Hengwrt Library in Merionethshire, and at the Llanerch Library in Denbighshire. The Jesus College copy was apparently a very poor copy from the point of view of mistakes and all manner of abreviations and was given to the Library between 1690 and 1707 by Dr. Jonathan Edwards. Then during the reign of King William IV, the National Record Commission employed one Aneurin Owen to make a translation of this mixed Latin-Welsh document into English using the Hengwrt Manuscript. This we can use today. The Teilo Register at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, turned out to be only sections and parts of it. The copy said by Collier in his 'Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain' to be held by the Bishop of Norwich also vanished and was heard of no more. So also did a copy held by John Pontesius the Book of Llandaff which had been lent first to Selden. The Register of Llandaff said by Browne Willis to be in the Cottonian Library of the British Museum also was found not to be present. Finally the Liber Landavensis actually catalogued as in the Bodelian Library, Oxford, in the MSS Collection by Dr. James Collection No. 24. p. 132 library catalogue p. 261.
-

So we are left with the Jesus College, Oxford, copy of the manuscript

So the final position was the survival of the Hengwrt manuscript and the Jesus College copy, plus all the many extracts made by all the clerical writers of the preceeding centuries. Two men principally made it possible for people to follow the Llandaff Charters in English by skilfull and scholarly translation and editing. William J. Rees of Cascob Rectory up in Radnorshire and William Henry Black of 16 Clements Inn in London, working between 1820 and 1840 A.D. A whole host of scholars beavered away recognising the ancient boundaries and territories, and so today we have the clear history of South East Wales Llandaff diocese from around 450 A.D. up to and well beyond the Norman invasions of 1090 A.D.
-

In this way the clues to the solution to the riddle of King Arthur were preserved and handed down intact. It is not possible to leave out the 'Book of St. Chad' as it is called at Lichfield Cathedral in England. This book undoubtably belonged to Llandaff, for its margins have many notations of donations to Llandaff by Glamorgan nobles and princes up to around 950 A.D. There was noted around 1840 a clear memorandum written by the Rev. William Higgins Precentor of Llandaff dated 9th February 1657 or 58 where he claims to have preserved the Book or Manuscript through the Civil War. The letter was addressed to Dugdale the great historian and expressly states that the Book belongs to Llandaff. It is not the Book of Chad and it is clearly the Book of St. Teilo of South Wales. In our opinion it should be returned. Saxon names in the Lichfield Book merely illustrate the Glamorgan connection with King Alfred the Great, Athelstane, Edward the Elder and others.
-

THE SCHOLASTIC CREATION OF THE ARTHUR MYSTERY

The mystery' of King Arthur has evolved as a creation of modern scholars who have looked for the King where they could not hope to find him. The assumption of most was that Arthur closely followed Ambrosius Aurelianus and there is in fact no evidence for this. Nor is there any evidence that the British wars with the Saxons were continuous. The result has been that where Arthur is difficult to find and locate between 500 and 550 A.D., the next assumption is to seek him between 450 and 500 A.D.
'great

26

All this misdirection is aided by the equally false assumption that there was a 'British' nation of Celtic people. The fact is that Britain before the Angles and Saxons was populated by a number of quite different peoples, some small, some numerous, and representing several different ethnic origins. These diverse peoples were at different stages of cultural and civilised development with different manners and of the Clyde estury through to dozens of Germanic and customs, ranging from the cannibal aboriginals other settlements of Roman auxilliary troops, the thoroughly Romanized towns and cities of central and southern England, the territories of the Belgic tribes along the southern coast of England south of the Thames and the Lloegrwys Ligurian Celts from Aquitaine to Germany in the Midlands and finally the Celtic client kingdoms of Wales and the North West of England, which had survived the Roman period relatively untouched.
-

The great sermon written by the monk Gildas is packed with historical information, yet it is not a history. By tradition Gildas was a friend and contemporary of Arthur, and yet he does not mention Arthur in his 'Dei Excidio'. The dating of this written work has been placed at forty years after the Battle of Badon Hill, but here there isa difficulty for Battle of Badon Hi!\?; was there more than one Badon Hill?and how many battles and when exactly was the Battle of Badon?
'which

The general assumption is that Arthur is not mentioned because he was dead and that the kings whom Gildas criticises so bitterly are his grasping and totally unprincipled inheritors. So if Gildaa is writing around 540 A.D. the assumption is that King Arthur is dead by this date. On many counts this theory does not stand up, certainly folklore and tradition deny it. No-one yet seems to have considered the obvious, which is that when Gildas wrote his great historical sermon 'Dei Excidio' King Arthur had not properly begun his campaigns of conquest. the mighty There is considerable evidence that Arthur's wars were not against the Saxons, but against the other rival British kirigdoms and the obvious proposition is that Arthur responded to the warnings of Gildas. This means that Arthur has to be placed between 540 and 570 A.D. as an active warrior king, give or take a few years either way. If Arthur's achievement was to unite Britain as recorded, then this certainly makes sense.
The simple truth is that if Arthur cannot be located in the period of 500 to 540 A.D. then he has to be sought in forward time around 540 to 570 and not backward time of 450 to 500. Gildas does not mention him because he had not yet conquered and ruled, it is that straightforward. Obce this is realised the search for the king is almost a formality. The names and relationships of the Kings and princes of this later period are well known.
'popular'

Most significantly an Arthur ruf ing in the 540 to 570 period fits all the tales of tradition and folklore and the characters portrayed in them. Principally Arthur figures in the Tales of the Mabinogion as the
central or pivot figure around whom the actions of the stories revolves and examination of these stories place Arthur into the 540 to 570 A.D. period. It is in fact a complete nonsense to dismiss the whole folklore and poetic tradition on the basis of one or two dates of a completely untrustworthy nature.

The hypothesis has to be that Arthur restored order in Britain after the writing of 'Dei Excidio' around 540 and accomplished what Gildas had exhorted the kings to achieve. Significantly Gildas, although born in the north, spent most of his time in south east Wales, the Christianised area. He consorted with Cadoc, David and Illtyd, at Llantwit Major Menervia and Llancarfan, and he lived for long periodsonthe Steep Holm, an-island in the Bristol Channel off-shore from Cardiff. The Cardiff area was the centre point of the most Christianised area of Britain at the time, extending east through Gwent to Hereford and west through Glamorgan to Carmarthenshire and north to Brecon. Gildas appears in fact to have launched the of brass' of later Morganwg on their career of conquest under their King Arthwys, whilst the old King Meurig adopted the traditional 'Druid' role as advisor to his son.
'men

There is considerable evidence of this practice of older Celtic and Germanic Kings acting as'Druids' or counsellor and advisor to their sons and successors to the throne, in Gaul, in Loegria (England), in Ireland and Wales. A modern example (fictional) would be in the very successful Mario Puzzo novel 'The Godfather' which was produced as an enormously successful film under the same title. Here the ageing Mafia leader Don Corleone steps aside to allow his son to take over the executive leadership of his criminal empire and takes upon himself the vital role of counsellor to the new leader.
'family'

There are four possibilities

to consider when looking at Gildas' work:1. He wrote after Arthur gained power. 2. He wrote during Arthur's reign. 3. He wrote during the great civil war and tried to prevent it. 4. He wrote after Arthur.

The most likely proposition is that he wrote during Arthur's culminating in Camlan around 537 (or 539 or 542).

reign

in an attempt

to stop the civil war

27

Of the five kings he refers to, we find that Arthur being a Generation 6 king, is being represented by Gildas to Custenahin Gorneu, a Generation 4 king in Cornwall to Cinglas a Generation 4 or 5 king in North East Wales; to Vorteporix son of Aircol Lawhir another Generation 5 king in Dumnonia; and finally to Maelgwn Gwynedd also a Generation 5 (possibly6) king in North West Wales.
-

These men are largely the seniors of King Arthur as Arthwys Gildas writing after Arthur's reign. Construction

son of Meurig. This rules out the idea of

of a simple map shows that these five kingdoms encircle Morgar wg, the territories

of King

Arthwys. And of course this south east Wales kingdom was where Gildas lived.
One Triad declared that King Cogidubnus was a traitor to the Br aking their invasion possible. Well, up to 50 years ado an idic No the idea that there a or ma a Ifinn OnnidAA s to some iggmg into the ruins, the great palace n mg Cogidubnu gical tourist sites at Fishbourne, Sussex. arch ans, and so uld have civil engine laying a primar of E
's
.

The Romans rewarded King Cogidubnus for his treachery by building him a magnificent palace, and so once more the much mocked and despised Welsh Triads were correct after 1,900 years.

28

CHAPTER TWO CULTURE DEPENDANT UPON MEMORY

The remarkable feature of Celtic civilisation is that it attained high levels of cultural development without employing any form of written record. This does not indicate that there was neither knowledge of an alphabet or the means of written expression in the same manner of the great Indian civilisations of America failing to invent the wheel. In fact the Celts were for many centuries in contact with nations employing all the techniques of literary expression and record. There is in fact a possibility that their tongue was written in ancient times in Asia Minor at the Hittite capital of Boghazkoy in what is now upper Anatolian Turkey. The choice of not employing written record was in fact deliberate although the reasons are obscure. and the province Knowledge in the academic sense was the of the Druids. There is ample evidence in fact that the Celts not only had access to a written language, but that they also used it. This we will see, but for the present it is sufficient to note that Celtic Kings issued coins bearing their names and inscriptions.
'property'

excellent translation of Homer's and this work was re-published around 1850 with a preface and introduction by the Reverend Theodore Alloysius Buckley. This introduction dealt with the problem of dating the for although the work seems to have been first written down around 850 to 750 B.C. there remains the distinct possibility that it was then already centuries old, having been passed on by an oral tradition. This is by no means as extraordinary a proposition as it may first appear and we can see this from one note of the introduction.
'lliad'

First let us deal with the idea of learning and scholarship by memory. In 1705 Alexander Pope made an
'lliad'

an ordinary case we might refer that a first rate actor whomustbepreparedatavery short warning to night a fter night, parts which if laid together would amount to an immense number of lines. But all this is nothing to two instances of our own day. Visiting at Baples a gentleman of the highestintellectualattainments and who held a distinguished rank among the men of letters in the last century, he informed us that the day before he had passed much time in examining a man, not highly educated who had learned to repeat the whole Gierusalemme of Tasso; not only to recite it consecutively but also to repeat those stanzas in utter defiance of sense, either forwards or backwards, or from the eighth line to the first, alternatively the odd and even lines in short whatever the passage required, the memory, which seemed to cling to the words much more than to the sense, had it at such perfect command that it could produce it under any form. Our informant went on to state that this singular being was proceeding to learn the Orlando Furioso in the same manner. But even this instance is less wonderful than one as towhich we may appeal to any of our readers that happened some twenty years ago to visit the town of Stirling in Scotland. No such person can have forgotten the poor uneducated man, Blind Jamie, who could actually repeat, after a few minutes consideration, any verse from any part of the Bible even the obscurest and most unimportant enumeration of mere proper names not excepted. We do not mention these facts as touching the more difficult part of thequestion before us, but facts they are, and if we find so much difficulty in calculating the extent to which the mere memory may be cultivated, are we in these days of multifarious reading and countless distracting affairs, fair judges of the perfection to which the invention and the memory combined may attain in a simpler age, and among more single mnded people'.
'rhapsodize'
-

"It is indeed not easy to calculate the height to which the memory may be cultivated, To take

29

Heaven in his 'Ancient Greece' observed:"The Dschungariade of the Calmucks is said to surpass the poems of Homer in length as much as it stands beneath them in merit; and yet it exists only in the memory of a people which is not unacquainted with writing. But the songs of a nation are probably the last things which are committed to writing, for the very reason that they are remembered".
'modern

their genealogies and pedigrees lists of ancestors as simple long lists of names. scholars' as being too simplistic and impossible to prove as This of course was seized upon by there were no dates, no supporting documents or proofs in the modern legalistic and clinical sense. There was a clash of cultures with the Welshman puzzled by the questioning of his pedigree which consisted of The Welsh maintained
the Welsh background, gable to understand the foundation lan tenure in aiid the social customs of the country. of giture and literature, the laws of

pales

the constant evidence of the vast numbers of children born to the Welsh It would be wise to remember princes and nobility, twenty being no unusual number in considering the widespread diffusion of royal and noble blood links. H.J.T. Wood was an Englishman who seemed to understand the Welsh and championed the cause of their ancestral lists in hiswork in'The Ancestor' 1903. Lewis Dwnn produced a book 'Heraldic Visitations of Wales' for the first time making information available to the public in book form in 1846. This work was edited by the meticulous and critical Sir R. Meyrick and his valuable preface states that taken as a whole, the pedigrees were extraordinarily accurate. Sir Thomas Phillips proceeded to carry out extensive research in Wales and in 1859 he published a seventeenth century manuscript of the Welsh pedigrees now known as 'The Dale Castle Mss'. Sir Thomas stated that the fault with the pedigrees was the lack of technique common amongst all early Welsh genealogists in ignoring dates or proofs in their work and he does find some spurious claims which he denounces. Then he says 'But I will do the author (of the Dale Castle Mss) the justice to say that where I have been able to test these descents by original documents, I have generally found them to be accurate'.

The root of the matter was that the Welsh were conservative, their pedigrees were exactly the same as they had been a thousand or more years before. The simple lists of names coincide with the same type of name lists used in the Norse sagas and king lists and the early lists of the leaders of every other race
in Eurpoe. These writers of 1700 to 1850 lived in a very different world to that of the late twentieth century, and were in contact with people who still lived as semi-nomads, who were sword bearing horse warriors, whose world was heroic and uncontrolled. The major point of memory training appears to be that of single-mindedness, not to be concerned with or bothered about, anything else. Single-mindedconcentrating upon their occupation of learning the Druids and the bards most certainly were.
'trade'and

subject in the quest for Arthur, for there is a mass of information to be detected from the Welsh Triads and the Mabinogion stories not to mention old pieces of folklore and poetry. Much of the credibility of such information will depend in the first instance on the understanding of how history and tradition was passed on in Celtic society. It was memorised by trained minds amongst the Bards and passed on down through the ages.

This is an important

THE WELSH AND THEIR LOVE OF GENEALOGY

It is simply not possible to understand either the mentality or history of the Welsh unless one has an undertsanding of their ideas on what makes a man. The last requirement in Wales was the possession of lands or wealth, quite different to the concepts of the Establishment of Modern Britain. The primary requirement of the Welsh was that a man be of good birth.

Now good birth or ancestry was in itself a different concept to that of England, for in ancient Wales both legitimate and illegitimate offspring were equally regarded in matters of inheritance. The Christian ideas of stigma attached to children classed as bastards did not apply. The major difference lay in the concept of an equal share for all, all sons inherited an equal share of their father's estate. In addition all held equal nobility and rank as a result of being descended from illustrious forefathers. This is of course a direct contrast with the mediaeval feudal system which preserved and enlarged estates, when the eldest son inherited a father's title and lands.
The effect of this is easy to calculate as we can see. A man has two parents, four grandparents, eight great grandparents and so on; and a simple calculation of one generation every twenty five years will

30

every generation, in twenty give a total of twenty generations. On the basis of doubling grandparents parents to the twentieth generation. In other words everyone is descended generations a man has524,288 from everyone one way or the other, and so virtually every Celtic Welshman was everyone's equal. tree' line of descent is of course a complete nonsense when viewed this way and the The idea of a trick used by the aristocrat is to pick and thread his way through the ever increasing multitude of ancestors, choosing themost promising and renowned lines available to him.
'family

The situation was clearly illustrated when Wales and England were united in 1536 A.D. As with the noble later unification of England and Scotland in 1604 A.D. and England and Ireland in 1801 A.D., the pedigree in the Royal Colleges of Arms families of both countries were now able to enroll jointly their in England. All part of splitting the Celtic nobility away from the people they led. Wales was at a disadvantage in one way, as there was no peerage as later existed in Scotland and Ireland. The last native prince had been murdered by the English years before and there was no system of dukes, earls, viscount, of Arms in marquesses and barons, Noble families were however still entitled to enrol at the College London. The result was astonishing, for whenthe learned Rev. John Evans of Bath made a count in 1804, he found of Arms. This incredible mass no lessthan 7,773 Welsh noble family pedigrees registered with the College of genealogical detail did not arise as a consequence of the Welsh union with England in 1536 A.D., it had always been there. There were sixteenth and seventeenth century Welsh tracing ancestry back to Dyvnwal Moelmud 2,400 years before. The situation in Wales was very simple, everyone was noble and could in some way trace himself back to a great king of his country's past. To do this many pedigrees switched occasionally from the male line of descent to the female lines, to arrive at the desired ancestor. Princes, as well as lesser men, did this. As we have seen, by simple arithmetic, a man could descend from referring to periods of 2000 and over a half a million ancestors in 500 years and when the Welsh were or cattle drover was 2500 years, clearly everyone was descended from everyone. A humble ploughman the descendant of kings and as such was entitled to respect.

G.T. Clark of Talygarn, a considerable scholar, produced Glamorganiae'. Here in the preface he stated the problem:-

in 1886 his 'Limbus Patium Morganiae et

"The difference between the Celtic and Tuetonic races is in nothing more clearly marked than in their treatment of their genealogies. An English pedigree is not considered va//d unless each

descent is verified. each date of birth, marriage or death accurately set down and any connection with landed estate duly recorded. A I/Ve/sh pedigree does not pretend to these accuracies of detail, on the contrary it seems to despise them. The absence of surnames and the continued repetition of a number of Christian names makes identification difficult. It is but rarely that a date is given or the family estate named, and although the manuscripts agree in the main they often differ as to the wives and as to the order and names of the younger chi/dren..........
,

it seems to have been the custom of the bards and genealogists who flourished in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to group the pedigrees around the issue of some of their countrymen well known chieftain or some popular local hero

and thus to connect by ties of common descent the families who dwelt in particular districts. By and this means they gained great popularity they introduced into the earliest portions of Welsh Pedigrees, a system which has, no doubt, merit of simplicity what ever maybe thought of
its accuracy".

After offering
'adverse'
-

Clark then submits that where tested and where possible to check towards the Tudor Period (1400 onward) the pedigrees are authentic, especially in North Wales. Many immigrants both Norman and English adopted the genealogical pedigrees of their wives of maternal lines of descent also carefully of the preservation which explains also the importance preserved in Wales. Gutan Owain the herald bard traced an Elizabethan innkeeper back to 'Adam son of
several other criticisms
-

31

God' in this way. This ancient practice of linking in to the ancient characters of the Bible was in fact a widespread practice in Europe, which was abandoned elsewhere but continued in Wales. The reason for
this may be better foundation than generally realised, for the possibilities of linking ancestral Welsh who came from Armenia with the Hittites as the great Hyskos and the Hebrews as the Minor Hyskos who dwelt in conquered Egypt from 1686 to 1552 B.C. does exist. Even as late as 70 A.D. Josephus states that the Jews may have expected their kinsmen north of the Tigris' help against the Romans & Armenia.
'from

excellant, for he was one of the very few people who have spent time on genealogy or history who had a sound grasp of statistical method. The precept was that if there were 100 statements and only ten could when those ten were checked and found to be accurate, it was be checked because of lack of evidence, reasonable to assume that the whole one hundred were correct. This is of course exactly how modern market research, government statistics and other polls are carried out, all with known degrees of probable statistical accuracy. In this Mr. Wood was undoubtedly correct as the quest for absolutes when dealing with ancient times is both pendantic, absurd and fruitless.

H.J.T. Wood in his essay 'The Value of Welsh Pedigrees' in 1903 used the eighteenth century Golden Grove manuscript and by examination sought to prove eleventh and twelfth century pedigrees. He was convinced that with certain exceptions Welsh pedigrees were accurate and he said so. His method was

What

we are going to demonstrate is that there was in Wales a cascade effect when dealing with the past. his seven or eight immediate ancestors and could produce The seventeenth century man remembered The sixteenth century Welshman before him could do the same and so on lists of their predecessors. back down the ages, each man remembering in the form of recited lists, poems and later written rolls of ancestral lists. It is the very simplicity of the system which allowed for its veracity, authenticity and accuracy. Had the system included all manner of dates and proofs, it would never have survived or
-

succeeded.

These ancestor lists were the sinews, the muscles, tendons and veins, which bound together the corporate body of the Welsh family clan system. A system probably more active and powerful than any elsewhere, rooted in the Dark Ages beyond memory. In court issues and disputes over land inheritance it was the pedigree lists which had decided the outcome in favour of one against the other. The system dictated the arrangement of marriages to preserve land holding and estates.

Again, what needs to be understood, is that there was in ancient Wales right down until the recent centuries, a very powerful clan system which bound families together in kinship and in land holding.

A Mr. Francis Green of St. Davids produced a monumental work in his 'West Wales Historical Records', a work based on immense effort of checking and double checking of records and legal documents. He discovered many errors and inconsistancies of detail, but finally he concluded:"First we have the testimony of genealogists and although they are wrong as to details, I have generally where documents are available to the I/Velsh frequently found that test their

statements that in the main they are correct". (F. Cymmrodor 1902 p. 102)
So with the modern but also the nature private, what were records were passing growth of critical analysis which subjected not only the statements made to testing, of the evidence, who held the documents, who wrote them, were they public or the backgrounds of the custodians and authors and so on, the Welsh genealogical the test of substanstantive accuracy.

The real problem is that there has been no concerted effort to deal with the question of Welsh genealogy although it is in fact the very core of Welsh history. It has to be examined scientifically and thoroughly and has to be removed from the amateur sphere of interested hobbyists, dilettante squires, parish antiquaries and maiden aunts. For the present there is no way that it can as a subject be made intelligible until there is an understanding of Welsh land tenure laws and those of the Anglo Norman feudal tenures in Wales. It is through the vast mass of medieval records relating to land tenure, Welsh tradition, English feudal and both combined that we can eventually piece togther the history. We can define the topographical boundaries, the history of ownership and tennancy, of customs and local place names in the cantrefs and commotes of Wales.

but he began to ask the correct questions. Then Judge T.P. Ellis followed with a legalistic enquiry and widely then came a Mr. Floyd researching into genealogy and land tenure combined. By study of medieval times one can begin to reach back level by level unearthing the way through the cascades of genealogical proofs. What we will see happening is that the same family groups held on to the same land areas century after century, after century.

Seebohm led the way with his great enquiry into land tenure in Wales, lacking material he lacked answers,

32

Records are now finally accumulating in our libraries and colleges, documents, deeds, manorial records and other evidence. In the National Library of Wales there are fine collectionsof mediaevaldeeds,often these deeds run consecutively in an unbroken series concerning specific districts and in the absence of detail of extent or surveys, they provide the only real clues to the past, to the mystery of the economy and the people. Judge Ellis succeeded in demonstrating that the areas of certain North Wales districts by virtue of the study of the knight's fee, the manor were held by the same family groups over centuries, and the gafael. (The Gafael in Bangor Ms 1939)

Now this correlation between the grouped pedigrees of families of Gwynfardd Dyfed and Cadifor Fawr in West Wales is supported by the records of the Barony of Cemaes and other documents now in the National Library of Wales. More important to our study is the fact that the same applied to the descendants of lestyn ap Gwrgant in Glamorgan where the family groups continued to hold their lands; this is supported by Clark's 'Cartae' and other published South Wales records. The clans held onto their
clan

lands no matter what happened. The Normans in Glamorgan took lestyn ap Gwrgan's lands, no-one else's, and this is importantto of events. The pedigrees and genealogies are inextricably our understanding linked to land holding and ownership and are in fact the backbone of the history.

THE EARLY PERIOD

This period extends from remote antiquity right up to 1450 A.D. The written evidence is limited yet not insufficient, for there are the laws and Institutes of Wales, the Annals Cambraie, the Bruts, the history of Nennius and of course Gildas, in addition to the Royal Pedigrees of the princely houses and the Pedigrees of the Saints who were invariably royal or nobles. The lists of pedigrees were written in two forms a column list beginning with the living person and then listing below his father, grandfather and so on, with the link word map (or ap or m) meaning of'; or a sentence was used listing the names consecutively with the link word.
-either

'son

'map'

Whilst the records are few, there is supplementary evidence in the form of poetry, for the poems of the period contain a wealth of genealogical information. They tell of princes at war, their battles, their deaths and their relatives and contemporaries. Certainly there is enough to piece together the framework of the history of the times. Some statements in genealogies need careful interpretation, for they contain startling and hidden truths. Sir Thomas Phillips of Middle Hill dismissed as an and ridiculous story' the statement that Llew Hen in the wars at Aberconwy with Julius Caesar and Governor of his army', a fact taken from the Dale Castle Manuscript. Yet the Romans traditionally recruited auxiliary regiments and even whole nations under their chieftainsto fight alongside the Legions. It is easily possible that the Romans would have recruited a Celtic prince with his army to help them in their wars. That the name used is Julius Caesar is not too important, for the term may be used to mean 'Roman Emperor' in a broader sense.
'amusing
'was

Public records such as those which exist and the invaluable Church records and charters which survive help to evaluate the accuracy of the genealogical lists and tables. There was of course the enormous outburst of activity in this field when in 1485 the Welsh conquered England and their prince Henry Tudor became Henry VII King of England. The King's pedigree had to be proved and this was a task involving great fuss and excitement amongst the Welsh bardic circles. The King took an active part in this, for his victory was seen as the fulfilment of the ancient prophecy that the blood of Cadwallader would again rule Britain. Not only was Henry VII-Tudor a competant herald and genealogist, but for a period he decided to hold the office of Earl Marshal of England and in this office he presided over the College of Arms (see Wagner's 'Heralds and Heraldry in the Middle Ages' Chapter IX). The senior Bard of Wales at the time was Guttan Owain who was prominent from 1450 to 1530. He assisted in the compilation of the Tudor genealogy and King Henry VII was duly traced back to most of the great Welsh families and leading princes and then taken back to all the great heroes of classical and Biblical antiquity, It is in fact not possible in this volume to deal with the subject of Welsh bards, heraldry and genealogy. We can do no more than indicate the trends and the general outline of the whole composite mass. What emerges is the unmistakable fact that the Welsh knew who they were and they knew who their ancestors were with quite remarkable exactly who your ancestors accuracy. It was vital to know and remember were to establish your claim to status and landholding, to win any possible legal cases,in short to survive. Welshmen would get on their horses and ride across several counties to marry the right woman to clan lands. There are inumerable instances of Welsh couples getting Church permission to preserve consummate consanguinous marriages to keep lands in the family clan, the Church of course getting a large fee for allowing cousin to marry cousin. The Welsh were not alone in their respect for ancestry, as the Anglo Saxon Chronicle reveals. In 495 A.D. Ethelwolf is traced back through thirteen generations to Cerdic; in 547 A.D. King Ida is traced back through fifteen generations to the god Woden and on the Gaeta. Then in 552 A.D. Cerdic is traced through eleven generations to Woden and before 560 A.D. Ella is traced through twelve generations to Frithowulf. Under the year 954 A.D. is a long pedigree of forty nine generations which traces Ethelwulf

33

back to Sceaf the son of Noah was born in Noah's Ark', then the line continues back to 'Adam the first man and our Father, that is Christ, Amen'. A good analysis of Anglo Saxon ideas is found in 'Studies in Anglo Saxon Institutions' by Chadwick.
King Vortigern ruling from 425 to 461 A.D. had is remarkable. The continuity of the Welsh experience twelve court bards and Llewellyn the Great 700 years later also had twelve, as did the other princes. Not until the Union with England which resulted Nothing had changed, the Welsh kept their customs. the fabric of their society begin to crumble. The English laws of inheritance from theWelshconquest,did were introduced and slowly but surely the old structures began to give way, yet for centuries the habit . remained of intermarriage and preservation of pedigrees.

'who

(Cibwyr in Gwent), written in the historical Brits, we have the lists in Harleian Manuscript No. 3859 which can be then construed mentioned in the ancient charters of to match the names and relationships Book of Llandaff. The Harleian Mss 4181 contains fifty nine pedigrees, the B.M. the Liber Landavensis Vespasian A XIV gives an account of Brychan of Brycheiniog copied from a manuscript of around 900 A.D. Other saints pedigrees are in Peniarth Mss 16 and 45 in the Welsh National Library.
-

So what do we have as a result of this mass national necessity to keep lists of ancestors? In the Gwent area we have in 1062 A.D. the genealogy of Cynfyn ap Gwesstan, Arglwydd (Lord) Cibwys yng Ngwent
-

In the Mostyn Manuscript 117 is the pedigree of Llewellyn the Last as follows:"Llewellyn ap Gruffyd, son of Llewelly, son of lorwerth, son of Owein, son of Gruffyd, son of Kynan, son of lago, son of Idwal Voel, son of Anaravt, son of Rhodri, son of Merfyn, husband of Esy//t, daughter of Kynan Tindaethwy, son of RhodriMae/wynawc, son of Idwal /wrch, son of Cadwallader vendigeit, son of Cadwallon, son of Cadfan, son of lago, son of Beli, son of Rhun, son of Maelgwyn Gwynedd. Beli wasthe sonof Eynyan, Maelgwyn Gwynedd was elected King of the island of Britain after Arthur'.'

This clearly shows that at early dates even the most illustrious pedigrees were questioned by the Welsh themselves when they appeared to be even slightly incorrect. This list also clearly restates the facts of Maelgwyn Gwynedd following Arthur, the dating and existence of Arthur is not doubted.
The people responsible for keeping the records were the Bards, who were the official genealogists of the Welsh; then there were the historians (the cyfarwydd) or storytellers, then the clergy who were also historians, and finally there was the corporate memory of the people themselves. Gildas, Nennius and Geoffry (Gruffydd ap Arthur) were clerics and yet the pedigrees retained in the memory of Giraldus people' were those of the free tribesmen (clan members) orally transmitted and remembered for economic and social purposes and for the legal process involved in galanas and sarhaad. Myvyrian Archaeology in 1801 has in the preface 'Our bards were not barbarians amongst barbarians; they were men of letters'. The common fault of the English imperialists was obviously well apparent, if a culture differed from their own, it was automatically regarded as inferior or crude, even barbarous, a truly barbarian attitude worthy of the Romans themselves. The bards recorded the family of St. Cybi in the form of poems englyns, Llyfyr Sion Brooke Vowddwy circa 1600. Similar poems identified the five royal tribes or clans (BM Faustina, E.11, folio 218) and also the fifteen clans of Gwynedd (Bangor Mss 5943 folio 187 and Golden Grove Mss). This concept of preserving ancestor lines in the form of poems was in fact almost universal. Homer did it in Greece, even the Maoris did it in New Zealand as did many other peoples (see Growth of Literature Volume III, p.391 Chadwick).
-

"common

Early bards were known as Cynfeirdd and little genealogy exists in their poems which have survived. Even so the names which occur with their references to one, two, or rarely three, generations,serve to confirm and to reaffirm the record of the genealogies, i.e. Urien, Geraint ab Erbin, Cynddylan ab Cyndroyn, even Arthur. These surviving poems confirm Aircol Lawhir in Dyfed and tell us that he was buried there. The type of poetry produced by these bards of the Cynfeirdd lasted until around 1100 A.D. and from the early period came the Book of Taliesin, the Black Book of Carmarthen, the poetry of the Red Book of Hergest and others. What is not generally appreciated outside a small circle of Welsh scholars who in defence of their culture and language mostly write in Welsh is that the bards continued to operate and to hand on their traditions right up to modern times. Each successive generation or group overlapping and continuing the
-

34

work of the others who had gone before them, adding more and more pedigrees of their times onto the known lists which existed. It is very difficult to explain the extent and the depth of this national passion of the Welsh. The undying and listing went on and on and on, at every level of society fascination of pedigrees, ancestor recording and everywhere. It was no casual matter or hobby indulged in by a few bookish scholars, the whole * nation took part all of them.
-

",

Bards or heralds were not mere musicians, they were men of standing, scholars and also warriors. The bards were expected to accompany the prince in battle along with the teledu bodyguard. The Doomsday Book of William I, records that Prince Gruffydd ap Llewellyn (died 1063) had granted lands on the borders of Gwent to his bard Berddig. Ruling princes maintained household bards up to the end of their lines. Weknow thenames of many continuing the traditions of Arthur and Maelgwn Gwynedd, Llewellyn the Great kept Dafydd Beirfras (1220-1257) a warrior bard, and Llywerch ap Llewellyn (1173-1220) and Elidir Sais (1195-1246). Then Llewellyn the Last had Bleddyn Fardd (1257-1285) and Prince Owein Gwynedd and his son Hywel were both bards and princes poets of a very high order. The very famous Cynddelw Bryddyd Mawr (1155-1200)was bard in chief to Owein Gwynedd (died 1170). Another prince was also a distinguished bard, Owein Cyfeiliog of Powis son of Gruffydd ap Maredydd ap Bleddyn ap Cynfyn. This Owein Cyfellog of Powys married the daughter of OweipGwynedd and tipir son was the famous Gwenwynwyn. 4
-

The namesof only the prince bards of Demetia have survived, Gwynfardd Dyfed, his son Cyhylyn Fawdd and grandson Gwrewared Cerdd Gynil. Gwynfardd is in the Mabinogion the son of Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed, Cyhylyn appears in a twelfth century deed and Gwrwared in the public records. A direct descendant of these rulers was the Great Dafydd ap Gwilym the greatest of all bonheddig bards. The bards were the guardians of the ancestral lists and the pedigree tables, the most important task in Wales, their poetic and musical duties were supplementary. Ancestral listing bound the Welsh together with blood as the cement, just as the Jews were preserved by their rgion and kinship.

One problem of Welsh ancestral listing was that Welsh law regarded legitimate and illegitimate children equally. So there was often confusion over full brothers and half-brothers, for example the great prince of South Wales the Lord Rhys, had in addition to his own children, no less than eighteen illegitimate children all of whom werareeted properly, the girls by dynastic marriages and the boys by being given estates.

*
1282
-

1450 A.D.

Changes occurred in Wales following the final fall of the princes, yet although the arglwyddi (the lords) r were gone the bonheddig (freemen-squires)emained quite untroubled and untouched. Quite contrary to any supposition that the Normans and English attempted to transform the country, they in fact became assimilated with it and many of their descendants proved to be its staunchest supporters.

Robert the Consul was the i!\egitimate son of Henry I and a Welsh princess. Before 1063 Gruffydd ap Llewellyn King of Gwynedd married Ealdgith daughter of Aelfgar of Mercia, Nest daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr married Gerald de Windsor, and Gruffydd (died 1201) son of Yr Arglwydd Rhys married Matilda de Breos. Then Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn (d. 1286) married Hawise le Strange and to cap it all Llewellyn the Great married Joan, the daughter of King John of England and his six children all married Anglo Normans. Llewellyn the Last married Eleanor de Montfort and Prince David his brother married Elizabeth Ferress. Even the great patriot Owain Glyndwr had de Audeleys blood in his veins and he married into the family of Hanmer. The Anglo Normans routinely married Welsh women as a matter of policy and now the blood lines of the old British kings and Welsh princes ran in the Kings of England. They too with all their baronage were becoming involved in the great Welsh pedigree game. The seventy odd pedigrees of Gower produced by Clark in 1888 and the pedigrees of Pembrokeshire totally explode the myth of English settlements seperate from and unmixed with the Welsh. The whole lot married and intermarried from the beginning, they all learned Welsh, they adopted the Welsh instead of surnames and became part of Wales.
'ap'

There was wholesale intermarriage, notably the powerful

This is important, for the outcome was that the Norman conquest in Wales left the land and its laws and social customs undisturbed. Norman feudal tenures of land continued alongside Welsh native tenures and nothing really changed. The Welsh continued their practice of close intermarriage the incest roundly condemned by Giraldus Cambrensis, and Church wrath preserved the record for us. The marriage of cousins continued as a feature of Welsh lifeand lands and estates were preserved unchanging. In 1290 a dispensation was granted to Hewel Vechan son of Hewel Abrisgrit and Eva Kemraies (Cemaes) to remain married; they claimed on oath that they did not know they were cousins Baronia de Kemaesp. 73. In addition a dispensation was granted by Papal Mandate to the Bishop of St. Davids allowing a South Wales prince, Rhys Mareduc to
-

35

marry Anda de Hastins, again cousins, Papal Registers Vo. I p. 515 dated 4 December 1283. Again in 1345 the Pope adowed David Vichan and Alice daughter of Howel Vichan in `t. Davids' diocese to remain married, again cousins. This time the Earls of Hereford and Northampton petitioned the Pope grounds that the marriage would on the stop strife and slaughter.
-

in 1445 A.D. who were cousins in the double fourth degree of kindred and the second, third and the third and fourth and the triple fourth degrees of affinity'. The whole clan the parish priest picked his way through all this impossiblewas intermarried all over the place, just how is to say.
'related
-

on Bishop of Exeter was empowered on, to grant dispensation to Thomas Aaron of Wales to marry his close cousin Elizabeth St. John Papal Registers Volume hl p. 138. For ap example of the intricacy of Welsh genealogy an we have the marriage of Morgan ap David Hopkin and Gwenllyan, the daughter of William ap David ap Meuryk of St. David's Diocese
-

It went

and

in 1343 the

Occasionally the Church dug its heels in and refused to allow such marriages and Adam Houghton Bishop of St. David's, 1361 to 1388, pronounced Meredith ap Thomas lord of iscoed illegitimate in a complex case over the lands of the Lloyds of Blaiddbwll. The freemen or continued quite happily to act as patriarchs with mistresses or concubines, admitting the children of these unions into the family group. Extensive illegitimacy was quite normal in medieval aristocratic society. An inquiry at Builth in 1298-99 declared Eva, Amhareth, and Tangluted, to be the heirs of Owen, although all three daughters were illegitimate.
'uchelwyr'

During the period 1100 to 1250 the Church of Rome became dominant and with the of abbeys and of monasteries it became mushroom spread a large land owning corporation. The land owning situation brought the church into the pedigree profession now and the abbeys sheltered many Welsh bards all transcribing the ancestor lists and constantly keeping pace with the ever entwining maze of family relationships in the genealogical tables. Time and again ancient references pedigree lists and rolls obtained are from or held in abbeys and monasteries. It was during this periodmade to that the fiction of tacking Biblical onto the king lists began under Church ancestors Many clergy wrote pedigrees including themselves pftuence. and many bards were clergymen. to be supported by the lesser lords and gentry after 1282 and names we have Dafydd y Coed (c. 1300.1350), Goronwy are Ddu (after 1282), Gruffydd ab Heitin of Anglesey lorwerth ap y Cyriog (c. 1360), frowerth Ffychan ab lorwerth ap Rhotpert of South Wales (1320-1370), Mareddydd ap Rhys (1350? and a priest of Rhiwabon. The N.L.W. Manuscript No. 6680 contains a great number of other thirteenth century names of this Gogynfeirdd class of bards. The period around 1400 lesser rank entering the bardic ranks saw men of and the freedom movement of Owain Glyndwr demonstrated the popular power of the bards. The English King Henry IV in 1402 passed a law against rimers, minstrels and other vagabonds' these and forbade the Welsh to have or gatherings of the common people'(4. Henry IV chap.27). Thisis typically the action of any state wishing to crush another, even in the twentieth century.
'wasters, 'comorthas

The bards continued

However the bards went rolling on, in South Wales they still attracted members of noble families, including leuan map Rhydderch fab leuan Llwyd and Gruffydd Llwyd ap Dafydd ap Einion Lygliw descendants of Griffith Voel, Cadifor and Gwaethfoed. (Gwyneddion 3. p. 32 see Dwnn op cit. Vol.I p. 45 p. 85). Professor G.J. Williams demonstrated that most Giamorganshire bards of the fifteenth and sixteenth century period claimed descent from Einion Collwyn Traddodiad

ap

Llenyddol Morgannwg.

altered and changing with time but still carrying on doing what it always did. Bards collected pedigrees far more enthusiastically than any stamp collector enthusiast. Around 1300 they began modern coin to put their lists and names into verse form, lolo or 1398) a descendant of Hedd Goch (c. 1320 ap Alunawg did this on a large scale. There may be older they have not survived. lolo Goch such poems but traced twelve generations of Owain Glyndwris' ancestors with extraordinary accuracy and then gave lists of the others before them, doing exactly the same job for the Prince in 1400 A.D. as the bards of Maelgwn Gwynedd did in 540 A.D.
-

The institution remained

unshaken,

The style of preserving ancestor lists in Rhys the Red of Snowdon) from 1395 poems was continued by Rhys Goch Eryri (Rhys Red Eagle or to 1448. One of his poems ending:"Fab Seth difasth diofer, Feb Addaf, Duw Naf fy Ner." There is of course the famous 'Ynglingatal' the Viking poem written around 900 Heidumboeri which traced his family A.D. for Rognvald back for thirty generations about 1,000 years to Odin himself. (Viking Age Vol. I 67). There p. also two poems tracing St. Cybi's family are said to have been written an ancient British poet see 'A History of Anglesey' by (supplement)Mona Antiquita 1775 p. 29. Then there followed Guto'r (1400-1500c.) who carried on this style, addressing poems to all the leading Welsh soldiers of his day, including Sir Richard Gethin, Mattew Goch, John Burgh, Lord Mawddwy, Sir Rhys ap Thomas and the major nobles Dafydd ap Thomas of Blaen Tren, William Ffychan of Penrhyn, the Herberts, the Kyffins, the Kynastons and even to Edward IV of England (1461-83) who counted Welsh princes amongst his ancestors.
-

36

pedigrees continued to be recorded in this period although they were of no further practical value. It was all part of bardic learning and numerous thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth century manuscripts survive giving the ancient time honoured lists of names. Jesus College MSS 20, Penarth Mss 191 (c. 1450), Harleian MSS 673 and Bonhed Gwyr y Gogledd see Y Cymmrodor Vol. VIII. The Bonhed Gwyr y Gogledd was written by a priest who was also a poet, bard, genealogist and armourer, Llewellyn Offeiriad, see Burke's Landed Gentry 1850 Vol. Il p. 223. The Hengwrt MSS contains the pedigrees of Urien Rheged and others who reigned over Northern England and Southern

The old Welsh princely

Scotland. In the Cardiff Public Library is 'Hanesyn Hen' a seventeenth century manuscript which is a copy of older eleventh and thirteenth century manuscripts. This copy was made by John Jones of Gelli Lyfdy whilst he was securely locked up in London's Fleet Prison in the year 1640 and John Jones recorded that one original was four hundred years old (folio 22) and the other six hundred years old (folio 31). This is a document indeed, worthy of an indepth study by competant scholars, for it gives not only very valuable rubrics and also links place names to personal names but also contains uniquely names. It lists not only the4ynasties, but also the families of their followers, the freemen and as such it is absolutely unique. John Jones may have whiled away the hours in Fleet Prison to better effect than he could ever imagine. There is always the fear that John Jones added to the originals, but it is difficult to see how orthy would do this. The document is certainly unique. he

Numerous written documents appeared as paper became readily available and less expensive and time and again Welshmen's names appear with their four to seven immediate ancestors appended on all manner of legal and other documents. Right through the Middle Ages up to 1450 and beyond, the Welsh kept up their indispensable family trees which were often the passport for a poorer man to contract a good marriage. The bards kept on beavering away recording and re-recording the names and relationships, still journeying around the countryside from house to house, offering their poems and preparing new lists for the owners of the estates.

THE GOLDEN AGE

When the Welsh Henry Tudor became King of England by right of conquest, the Welsh genealogical and bardic tradition received a massive boost, for now Henry's followers flocked to London for the rich pickings which were to follow. The Welsh genealogists remained remarkably true to the old traditions. At first the school of Guttan Owen dominated Welsh bardic ideas and laid the ground rules for future practice, a body of thinking which lasted from 1450 to 1536 A.D. Guttan Owen was a fine scholar, a chronographer Son of Huw ap Owain of Maelor Saesneg or historian, a poet and naturally a genealogist. in Flint, he was taught by Dafydd ap Edmwnt of Hanmer whom he accompanied to the Carmarthen I;isteddfodd of 1451 A.D. He wrote 'Llyfr Du Basing' a conventional history now N.L.W. MSS 7006 D. probably at Basinwerk Abbey.
-

Amongst his early triumphant on the founder of Britain in Wynne's 'History

tasks was of course that of tracing the ancestry of the Tudors now thatinry VII.sat throne of England. Henry Tudor was unhesitatingly traced back to the Welsh Brutus, and also to all the major Welsh family groups. Now B.M. Royal MSS 18. A published of Wales' and the preface of Dwnn's Heraldic Visitations Vol. I.

With leuan Brechfa he (Guttan Owen) produced the important genealogical manuscript now Penierth MSS 131, listing not only descents, but also the descent of the mothers very important in a land where women could succeed and hold property and even lead armies in battle. The never ceasing labour went on and Guttan wrote the Penarth MSS 186 listing saint's days and in 1455-56 he produced the Llanstephan MSS 28 on theology, saint's pedigrees and lives, etc. He probably wrote the 'History of the World up to
-

1472 A.D.' now Jesus College MSS 6 and Harleian MSS 1970 folios 34-59 contains many very important and historical notices of Thomas Chaloner who states that he took them from Guttan Owen's book. Guttan Owen was clearly working from much more ancient sources, preserving them, making clear the lines of ancient descent and vitally listing not only the editing them and clarifying, males, but the mothers and the mothers of the mothers of the mothers back into remote antiquity.
pedigrees

The B.M. Add Mss 14967 contains some of his poems (folios 46-82) and in folio 244 is a life of St. Martin in Welsh. Peniarth Mss 129 is a genealogy and folio 22 demonstrates that Guttan was using very old manuscripts to deal with Cuneda Wiedig (circa 400 A.D.). Guttan Owen or better Gruffydd ap Hugh ap Owain was buried at Llanfarthin in 1530 A.D.
Another important bard was Griffith ab euan ap Llewellyn Vvchan who worked with Guttan Owen. In South Wales there were leuan Brechfa and Gwilym Tew, both around 1430 to 1500. leuan Brechfa was he wrote Peniarth 131 with Guttan a considerable authority, a man from Brechfa in Carmarthenshire, Owen. In the 'Llyfr Edward ap Roger' (The Book of Edward son of Roger) now Peniarth Mss. 128 folio 850 there is a pedigree of Urien Rheged stating that it was taken from the work of lauan Brechfa. The

37

Mostyn Mss 134 folio 51 also quotes his authority and on pages 26-27 of Volume I of Dwnn's Visitations are thirty one pedigrees of South Wales families all from Sir Rhys by leuan Brechfa. Even the author of Llanstephan ap Thomas's book written Mss 156 acknowledged debt to leuan.

is known, for we have in Peniarth Mss 178 folio 42, his own pedigree. Both he and leuan are penceredd bards. Wrexham Mss 1 names his father Rhys Bryddydd. Gwilym Tew wrote the Peniarth Mss 51 (circa 1480) and there is mention of Gwilym Tew's Black Book in N.LW. Poyston DD (No. 12).
more
'phenberdd'
-

Of Gwilym Tew

One ancient manuscript now in Cardiff Mss No. 1 was written around 1259 A.D. and it contains the poems of Aneurin (circa 560-600) in the margins are written the names of Gwilym Tew and Dafydd Namor who studied the manuscript. So when these old bards state that around 1480 they studied 400, 500 or 600 year old manuscripts they tell the truth.
Another
pedigree,

contemporary bard was Howel Swrdwal (1430-1460 circa) who whose son was also a noted bard and genealogist around 1460-80.

helped compile the Herbert

Among the priests who were also bards we have John Leiaf who helped with King Henry Vil's pedigree, Sir John Powys, (wrote Mostyn Mss. 113 folio 161), Sir Hugh Pennant (Penlarth Mss 182), Sir Thomas ap leuan ap Deicws, Hywel son of the priest Sir Matthew died circa 1560. The Llanstephan Mss 46 contains Hywell ap Sir Matthew's work and the author of Llanstephan Mss 156 states that he owned some of Hywel's works. Now because of the complete mixture of royal blood lines and pedigrees, there was a need for Welsh support for English claims to precedence and in 1510 A.D. Richard Duke of York, Richard Mortimer and Lionel Duke of Clarenge all received pedigrees from Sir Thomas ap leuan ap Deicws Peniarth Mss. 127.
-

Then came Lewis Morganwg from 1500 to 1560 A.D. son of a bard whose father was also bard. This a Lewis Morganwg presided at the Glamorgan Eisteddfod Griffith Hiraethog in the year 37 of the reign of Henry of 1520 and granted a bardic certificate to Vill,
work Lewis Glyn Cothi, Tudor Aled, Dafydd Nanmor and leuan Deulwyn (Lewis Glyn Cothi 1430-90; Dafydd Nanmor 1450-80?; leuan Dentwyn died c. 1500; Tudor Aled 1465-1526). The point is that from generation to generation, century to century down through the ages, the records, the lists, the stories and knowledge of who they handed on by the Welsh. A monumental storehouse were was of information piled up and accumulated all in Latin or Welsh, most of it preserved even today in the dusty silent archives of the brary collections and museums, locked away from the mass of English speaking scholars by the barriers of language.
-

other

notable

bards supported

the heraldic

and

genealogical

see Peniarth

Mss. 194. A whole bevy of

There were great changes in the sixteenth century following the Act of Union with England, for now was the law not gavelkind and the London Royal College of Heralds loomed large in importance. But Welshmen did not have surnames and still named themselves with a dozen names after their own. When they took the English practice of surnames the confusion was utterly incredible, for Andrew, a Welsh judge who died c. 1631 A.D., took his grandfathers became Andrew Powell (ap Howell) name Howell and whilst his brother Thomas took his father's name John and became Thomas Jones of Trostrey Monmouthshire. Worse still it became customary in some areas for the eldest son to adopt his mother's father's name as surname and for younger brothers to take their father's and then grandfather's name in strict rotation. Daughters took their father's name and so we have for example, Richard William father of William Pritchard father of (Mrs.) Catherine Williams mother of Wiulam Pritchard whose brothers were surnamed Williams, etc. (see 'Celtic Folklore' Sir John Rhys 1901). The tangle of Welsh descent remained a very dangerous minefield for the unsuspecting English scholars.
primogeniture
'ap'
-

THE SCHOOL OF GRIFFITH HIRAETHOG

The period of Griffith himself is from 1520 to 1566, but those who 1600 A.D. Histrainingwasof the tradition of Guttan Owen and his stage in the cascade of continuing tradition.
'period'

followed him continued up to represents yet another linked

Griffith Hiraethoghad to cope with the enormous changes of 1530 to 1542 with the effective unification with England. He coped and thenew type genealogies reflected the impact of the English outlook. It took a man of some brilliance to bridge this period of adjustmentduring which the whole framework of the Welsh bardic tradition could easily have collapsed and been forgotten. so Griffith Hiraethog bridged the transition period and set the standards which have stood since.
'gap'

ever

The work of preserving the records of genealogy went on and still some of the bards visited the houses of the gentry, preparing laudatory poems, writing up the ancestral records and receiving hospitality and their fee. Analysis has shown that it contrast to England, the estates in Wales were small and there

were

38

a great number of them. Ivot only did the Welsh not live in towns, they did not live in villages either. Their houses were spread about, solitary, each on their own land. Wales was a country in which the death of princes counted little, their loss or absence weakened the position of the bards, their support played a part of maintaining the tradition. The princes and royal families were part of the material, the silk of the tapestry, but it was the herald bards who were the weavers. The actual official licence of Griffith Hiraethog, granting him the grade of penkerdd survives in the Peniarth Mss 194, written in the hand of Lewis Morganwg and granted by James Vaughan, Hugh ap Dafydd ap Lewis esquires. Griffith was licensed to receive gifts and donations in his travels around Wales. He was said to be deputy for all Wales under Garter Norroy and Clarencieux. An important document is Egerton Mss 2586 folio 270 published in Dwnn's 'Visitations' (i-xxii) headed 'Instructions of Gryffyth Yrathoc'. So now the Welsh hereditary bards were part of the larger and much younger English system. Part of Griffith's in Wales were the bards Simwnt Vychan, William Cynwal, William Lleyn, Dafydd Benwyn, Griffith and Lewis Dwnn, Jevan ap John Williams, Rhys Cain, Sion Brwgnog and Robin lachwr. When Griffith Hiraethog died his manuscripts were distributed amongst William Lleyn, Owen Gwenedd, Simwnt Vuchan, William Cynwal and Sion Philip in 1566 A.D. The passing of the of bards in fact marked the end of the traditional school of poets, scholars and genealogists, in the future there would only be genealogists, specialists in pure heraldry and Guillin's 'Armoury' would take the place of 'Llyfr Mawr (the Great Book of) Griffith Hireathog'.
'school' 'school'

Over two hundred poems by Griffith are known and he had a sound knowledge of the national necessity, genealogy and of heraldry, of ancient history, of the classical writers and heroic literature of Latin (and possibly Greek). Not only do a vast number of surviving manuscripts survive of his works, but he quoted copiously from the sources of his information, telling where he found his facts. His works were of the traditional type Lives of Saints, the Pedigrees of Christ, gentry, churchmen, lists of princes, kings and queens, anecdotes, stories, poems, grammatical works. He widened the scope by taking records from old tombstones, colpes of arms and even church windows.
-

Matters would never be the same when the of Griffith Hiraethog died out, but the task was in fact accomplished. The record of the nation's past had been preserved up into the period of more enlightened scholarship, to the age of printing, to the age of collections and libraries and to the time of growing scholarship. A weiter of documents survives in the great collections preclaiming the work of this school. These men still toured around their clera' their route of listed dwellings of the gentry of Wales as their forebears had done 1500 years before. Rhys Cain called upon 105 households around Eastertide see Peniarth Mss. 178 folios 56-62 and he received money and gifts from them all.
'cwrs
-

'school'

Quite as survived down to the 1600's a pleasant enough life, riding on horseback through Wales, dining and sleeping in the ancient homes of the gentry, worshipping in the ancient grey churches set in the valleys and hills, singing to entertain at weddings, and making the records and notes as they went. There neithors and sadly sometimes funerals and of course their were the eisteddfods and the wedding feasts fees. It was no profession for the ijl.ompetaat, for the Welsh nobility and squires knew their subject and around 1580 William Bassett, a squire of Merthyr Mawr, threw the poem of Meyric Dafydd, a Glamorgan bard, into the fire. The poem was not good enough and it mistook Bassett's pedigrees, so the bard got his fee but the work was burned.
-

With the end of the school of Guttan Owen came the end of the ancient traditional bardic practice. The next school of Griffith Hiraethog still following the Welsh tradition, admitted English influence and saw the translation from the bardic poetic and literary bias towards heraldry. Then in continuity of the bardic tradition came a third new concentrated in South Wales, a school not of traditional full time licensed bards travelling the country, but of landed gentlemen.
'school'

This latest A. B. C. D.

'school'

of the late sixteenth

century had certain different

characteristics:-

and took no fees. Their education was legal training so they could understand and historical records. Remarkably they wrote mainly in English. They associated with the London College of Arms.

They were from South Wales. They were all landed gentlemen

the legal documents

E.
F.

G.
H.

They were solely genealogists writing no poetry. They treated their subject as a hobby, not as a living. They adopted the old Welsh traditions to new conditions and new language and saved the old learning, so laying the foundation of the modern scholarship of genealogical research.

39

These new preserverswere George Owen of Henllys, the Rev. George Owen Harry of Whitchurch, Thomas Jones of Fountain Gate, Rhys Meyrick of Cotterell and later George William Griffith of Penybenglog. The old, old work went on, collecting details, preserving and copying docu nts, tracing who was descended from whom. The host of others also employed in this traditional art form is too numerous to mention. David Edwardes, Hugh Thomas and William Lewes, and then John Guillam 1562-1621, Rouge Dragon who wrote 'Display of Heraldry', William Jones with his 'Treatise of Nobility' 1595, Simon Thelwal of Plasyward, Sir John Wynne with the 'History of Gwydir', Richard Davies, Bishop of St. David's from 1562-81. The old Welsh custom of gavelkind splitting an inheritance between all heirs was an absolute bonanza for the lawyers in legal squabbles for generations, but the legacy of these records of the past is invaluable to the modern historian. Every school child is taught how John Hampden refused to pay the money' tax of Charles I and precipitated the Civil War of 1642, but few have heard of John Jones of Coed-y-Mynydd who also challenged the King's right to tax him or of Parliament's. John Jones merely produced the ancient rights of tenure by which he held his land, he began with King Dyfynwal Moelmud, of 400 B.C. and then traced the pedigree list of all the British Kings, then the Princes of Powys and the, Lords of Englefield down to John Jones himself. Just what General Mitton and the Parliamentary) officers made of all this we unfortunately do not know. Doubtless they were amazed at the majesty of John Jones. Later John Gwyn submitted a similar document to King Charles IL /
-

'ship

We include in Appendix No. 1 a list of just a few of the ordinary folk who could trace themselves from the ancient kings farmers fiddlers tanners weavers and so on.
-

ENGLISH REACTION TO WELSH ANCESTOR LISTS

There are inumerable records of the reaction of Englishmen when confronted with the extraordinary phenomenon of Welsh farmers or squires who were the direct descendants of kings. Slowly after the union of the two countries the English went on into Wales, cautiously touring a land of strange and different customs where values were totally different. It obviously must have seemed incredible to the point of impossibility to an English traveller of 1700 to meet quite ordinary Welshmen who could trace their forefathers back some sixty three generations as could John Jones of Coed-y-Mynydd.
'safari'

Oliver Cromwell whose proper name was Oliver Williams after his father and grandfather Richard Williams, a brewer of Llanishen of North Cardiff, was traced back through his father to Bleddyn of Cynfyn, Prince of Powys, and the Welsh pedigree of Charles II was also traced. It would be interesting to know to whom Henry Morgan (pirate) of Llanrhumney Hall, East Cardiff is to be traced back, probably Morgan, son of Arthur. Humphrey Wanley of England was amused by the true pedigree of Piers Davies of Chester, a linen draper, The secret was that the Welsh did not use surnames and their practice of one name per man made it both necessary and possible to preserve the lists of forefathers. A John Jones or a William Williams or Owen Owen would soon have been submerged and lost in the generality and confusion of the many other similar names. It was the very lack of surnames which allowed the whole massive intricate spiderweb network to operate and to be recorded and remembered.

Quite apart from their lack of comprehension of the Welsh, we have to be indebted to many Englishmen who travelled in Wales, for they recorded what they saw as str'ange and unbelievable. At Llanrhaiadr church Bingley recorded an old tombstone:"Here lyeth the body of John ap Robert of Porth ap David ap Griffith ap David ap Vaughan ap Blethyn ap Griffith ap Meredith ap lorwerth ap Llewel/yn ap leroth ap Helin op Cowryd ap Cadvan ap Alawgivaap Cadell the King of Powis, who departed this life the XX day of March in the Yearof0ur Lord God 1643ofhisageXCV". Hugh Thomas preserved other such inscriptions tombstone of Edward Games who died in 1617:in Breconshire

(see Harleiun MSS 6821),

one on the

"Here lieth the body of Edward Games ab Edward ab Edward ab John ab Morgan ab leuan ab Morgan ab Sr Dauid Gam Knight and Gwen/hean his wife daughter to Jank(in) ab levan ab David ab leuan ab Lleyson paternally descended to Jestin a Prince of G/amorgan".

40

These are only two 800 and 600 years. essential of Welsh, authors have rashly always knew exactly The celebrated

illustrations of Welshmen around 1600 quite soberly recording their ancestry back There are many more. Without the necessary informed insight into this absolute indeed Celtic life, and mentality, a veritable army of English and even American attempted the of King Arthur. There is in fact no problem, for everyone who everyone else was or had been.
'problem'

author

Daniel Defoe visited Wales in 1724-26, he wrote:Welsh Gentlemen were very civil, hospitable and kind, the people very obligng and conversible, especially to strangers. They value themselves much on their antiquity, the Antient, X Race of their Houses and families and the like, and above all on their Antient Heroes, their X,, King Caractacus Owen ap Tudor,Prince Llewellin and the like Noblemen and Princes of British extraction the Gentlemen of Wales indeed justly claim a very Antient descent and have X preserved their families for many Ages".
-

".....the

y
i

'*

Another English traveller of 1743 found the situation almost hilarious shall hear a poor beggar woman derive her extraction from the first maid of honour to Nimrod's wife or else she is a nobody'whole nation is one of quality for as every Lord's son is a Lord here, so everyone is crowned with the title of Gentleman'.
'you
-

'the

In 1797 the Reverend

Richard Warner thought

thickset Welsh guide of around fifty, recited his ancestors back some three thousand years. But in 1804 another tourist found this trait a potential source of danger John Evans of Bath wrote
-

it harmless pride that his guide to Cader Idris, a stocky

"A Welshman if he can find in his genealogy a Chieftain Bard or Warrior considers himself nobly born, the least reflection on his family, especially over a jug of cwrw infallibly subjects the libeller to a volley of abuse if not to a direct assault".

When Warner visited Llangollen church he was astonished when the sexton told him that the church was dedicated to 'St. Collen ap Gwynnawg ap Clydawg ap Cowrda ap Caradog Freichvras ap Lleyr ap Merim ap Einion Yrth ap Cuneda WIedig' (circa400 A.D.).
There was a monument of 1717 in Cadoxton church near Neath, Glamorgan, tracing the Williams family of Dyffryn back to lestyn of Glamorgan and one in Llanover church tracing William Pritchard back to Caradoc Vreichvras 'Earl of Hereford' Prince between Wye and Severn'. (500 A.D.)
-

One English traveller met the incredible Mr. Prodger of Wernddu near Abergavenny who dwelt in an ancient and sadly dilapidated mansion house. The stranger asked Mr. Prodger who lived in the house and so Prodger told him:"That Sir is Wernddu a very ancient house for out of it came the Earls of Pembroke, the Lords Herbert of Chirbury, the Herberts of Coldbrooke, of Rumney, Cardiff and York, the Morgans of Arxton, the Earls of Huntingdon, the Jones' of Treowen and Llanarth and all the Powells and by the female line came the Dukes of Beaufort". The astonished stranger then asked, 'Who lives there him 'Then pardon me and accept a piece of advice, and crush you'. No-one knows what the choleric hospitality of his neighbours house on a stormy descent for his own house.
'bard'.

now?' and when Prodger replied, 'I do sir', he told for God's sake come out of it yourself or it will fall Prodger said, but he was a man who refused the night because his neighbour claimed seniority of

As for the genealogists of Wales, well they kept on and on, one after the other taking his place down the lady Margaret Davies of Coedcaedu whose 793 page years. As late as 1850 there was a remarkable manuscript is Cardiff MSS 64 and she also produced the volume N.L.W. MS5. 524 l.C. We do not intend to list the later genealogists or to detail the subject, there are too many persons and the subject is too vast. The value of all this ancestor tracing to the Welsh should be understood by the English more than any other people. Any soldier with pride in his regiment and its battle honours, any sailor of the Royal Navy proud of his ship and the Navy's descentfrom the longships of Alfred theGreat,

41

the public school pride of school tie', pride in company or in town or village, will readily understand the value of the ancestral pedigree cult to the Welsh. An invader could knock down every building in the land and kill pvery prince without ever denting the Welsh pride and togetherness.
'old

As the English have now pretty thoroughly mixed and intermarried with the Welsh it is hightime they shared the secret and took part in the great game. In the modern and language age of photocopiers machines, possibly an effort can be made to assemble all the data even in copy form and to get it translated into English. There will be no real English support for the Welsh language, culture, or history until they understand why. Only translation and publication will help and of course the proper explanation of the ever popular Arthur legend which is of course history and fact. possible. To do this it was necessary to switch from the lines of the male descent to those of the female descent in many cases. Therefore a Welsh ancestral list offered tremendous possibilities for variation and permutation, the changes were almost infinite. At any generation the switches could take place and the trace could continue through the mother rather than the father. As every man born has sixteen greatgreat grandparents and when one gets back from four to say twenty generations over half a million ancestor possibilities, then it is simple to see that all men could relate to the princes and k ings. Some royal lines switch from male to female descent, continue then in male lines and then switch to female descent again to continue in a third male line. The objective was to trace oneself back to one of several necessary to the royal lines of the past. An ancestral line could succeed by getting back into the right family before the time of certain princes. Then these would be the automatic claim to be descended from those princes and all the kings who went before then
'gateways'

Welsh ancestor lists had one major objective and that was to trace back to the most illustrious ancestora

The key names which were ingespensjblejo the best ancestor lists were first Brutus the founder king who traced back to Adam; second `eti Mawr or Beli the Great (Bellinus) who could be traced back to Brutus; third any of several kings, the most Yrominent of whom was Rhodri Mawr. The principle was to discover somehow to nt indescensable ancestor', once this was done everything else followed
'the

mt

caLack

The importance of Beli Mawr was that he was the greatest of all the ancient kings. Nennius states that 'Julius Caesar fought against the pro-consul of the British King who was named Belinus, the son of Minocannus, who governed all the islands of the Tyrrhene Sea'. This means that in line with the Celtic Welsh connection with Italy and the Romans, their king is said to rule the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, the Balearics (Majorca, Minorca, etc.). This war fought by the Romans of the Republic in fact failed to take these islands. As we have seen the Welsh claimed Etruscan and Roman connections and they believed that Beli Mawr ruled all Britain, Gaul and these islands of the Mediterranean. The great Rhodri his mother. Mawr could trace his way back to Beli Mawr both through his father and through

also more important with the fact that in Celtic nations women great attention was paid to maternal genealogy.

An example of this switching of ancestors lies in the lists of Dyfunwal Hen (the Old). In the Harleian lists he is traced as Dyfrwal Hen map (sonof) Cinuit map Ceretic Guletic but in North Wales genealogy he is Dufrwal Hen son of idnyvet (his mother) daughter of Maxen Wiedic (Hengwrt MSS 536 of the 14th century).it all had to do with Maxen being a far greater ancestor figure than Ceredic the Leader and
,

could inherit land. Therefore

very

This we see in the lists of Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd who in 1171 went to Ireland to claim lands which were his through descent of his mother Pyfog. The life of Gruffydd ap Cynan demonstrates this vital importance of knowing maternal descent (Vespasian A XIV folio ll.G) and Ceredic of Ceredigion switches from male to female lines to get the right descent. Arthur married the daughter of the giant (pagan) Ogvran, named Guinevere and Cadwaladers mother was sister to Peanda (Penda King of Mercia) on her father's side. The laws of galanas had clear bearing on female descent (see Veneditian Code 222-12) and these laws stressed the need for purity of descent on both father's and mother's side.
'

This need for pure blood descent by father and mother has direct bearing a on the lack of popularity of Arthur with the Welsh as an ancestor. The great King Arthur li was descended of mixture of imperial Roman and Welsh blood and he further married Guinevere the daughter of Ogvran a the pagan. The Welsh Annals throughout always stress a king's right to rule, the idea of blood came first, what he achieved in his reign or what happened was incidental. His ancestral descent and right were more important than his acts. No Welshman wanted to trace himself back to a king who would then lead them back to Magnus the Roman emperor, orworsestill to Ogvran's family, or even loosely to the unfortunate Vortigern. As a king Arthur had been great, afett4e-leader without parallel, but as blood stock in the ancestral lists he was to the Welsh a very down market commodity.

42

'

One Triad statesthatArthur!! had three wives all bearing the same names, an oddity in itself. We can find the names of his sons from poems and charter lists, Anir, Llacheu and Noe (or Nowi) and there was a King Nowi of Gwent, around 900 A.D. who had a son named Arthur.
With Arthur the importance of the twelfth century copy of the Liber Landavensis as a record cannot be over stated. From here we can glean the pedigrees of the local rulers, the princes and the great lords of South Wales,all recorded in the listing of the land grants these men made to the church of Llandaff. Evan D. Jonescomplied lists from the Liber Llandavensis and compared the result with the Harteian MSS 3859 and got corroboration on the list of ludhail back to Teudibric (our Theoderic grandfather of Arthur II).

Even the Mabinogion stories tell of Welsh genealogical practice. For when Culhwch asks Chief Giant Ysbaddaden Penkawr for his daughter Olwen, the Giant replies that as Olwen's four great grandfathers and four great grandmothers all still live, he must consult with them. The pedigrees had to be checked to see what effect this proposed marriage would have on succession, landholding, social status and so on.
Whatever the reaction of ordinary Englishmen of later centuries the Normart Kings, barons and knights were under no illusions. They married and intermarried with great haste and regularity to allow for their

heirs

'legitimacy'.

Scottish crown. Intermarriage

Possibly the average Scotsman is not aware today that John Baliol, Robert Bruce and Henry Haysting all had English mothers and a Welsh aunt. John le Scot the Earl of Chester married Helen the daughter of Llewellyn the Great and John's three sisters were in fact the mothers of these three claimants to the
was the order of the day for the Scots, Welsh and English.

43

CHAPTER THREE HOW IT ALL BEGAN

In 1140 A.D. Walter Map the Court Chaplain of King Henry II of England wrote These o a stories of King Arthur.

The Normans succeeded in penetrating Glamorgan in 1090 A.D. when their senior general Robert Fitzhamon, the cousin of William I seized the lands of lestyn ap Gwrgan. This Iestyn Justin was a friendless and disliked old man, and was the last of one line of the Kings of Glamorgan. He was head of of the Royal clans of South East Wales. When one the Normans succeeded in entering Glamorgan they began a systematic policy of intermarriage with the Welsh and one of these marriages was between a fonower of Robert Fitzhamon named Blondel de Mapes and the lady Tiflur daughter of Gweirydd one of the lordsof Glamorgan. As Arthun, only son of Lord Gweirydd, had been killed in the fighting between the princes of South East Wales and West Wales, this meant that Tiflur inherited the estates of Gweirydd.
-

The son of this Norman Welsh marriage was Walter Map, son of Tiflur and Blondel de Mapes. He was in effect born into the Royal clan of South East Wales. Walter Map grew up and inherited the estates, and action is believed to be the building of the village one Trewalter Tre town. This is from the Llandover Manuscripts and has to be treated with caution. What is certain is that he entered the church, and reputedt h members of the family. And so ved onto the larg of
-

is'ming t

Henr

o
.

g a member of the organ Royal cla d doubtedly ed into ve been edu ory and I re of the ancie ingdo So when tefM said that Ki A ri in the ur was Chapet it s ems entirel easonable Xss that he kne act nd at he as t abo seemed re look for both the Black Chapel and King Arthur in Glamorgan. mg
~

sion for there is ed a great 'Blac m ry nc ent to Th *Black C el' it is eas or te Ben Ict T reat om t e slab is believe to 700 e from ound 00 t establi h Ar r 11 in te are ut al N im as d aroun time per cor e

ThTproved
as a i
an

to

orrect

'

70

sea

Which is

We then researched the Kings of the area, piecing them together from the various ancient which are available. Amazingly all these ancient Welsh sources match and fit together they serve sources to corroborate evidence in each other. There are the Ancient Court Pedigrees the of Hywel Dda Howell the Good of Dyfed who died in 948 A.D., with their thirty one lists of the ancient kings of Britain. Then there are the Brecon Manuscripts and lives of the Saints the B.M. Vespasian. A. XIV and the Then there is the great and quite wonderful record of the 'Book of Llandaff', the Harteian 4181 MSS. charters of the Kings of South Wales from 450 A.D. on down to 1200 A.D., together with the surviving Charters of the Abbey of Llancarfan from around 450 to 600 A.D. The histories of the early British are well recorded in the ancient Welsh Triads, the Roman histories of Caesar and others, and the later well recorded campaigns of the emperor Magnus Maximus and his and grandson. sons
-

Add to all this the monumental pile of other manuscript evidence which is available from other including the old of the histories by Gildas circa 533-537 A.D., Bede circa 700 A.D., sources, Nennius of 822 A.D. and the later muddled record of Gruffydd ap Arthur in 1135 A.D. and his near contemporaries Henry of Huntingdon and William of Malmesbury, and the total information available is in fact enormous. We did also include the ancient Welsh Mabinogion Stories, and the much later twelth century century 'Romance' period literature.
'faithfuls'

What emerges was that once the 'King' had been located into specific a area all this information began to fit together with great precision. What had before appeared to be a nonsense was now perfectly logical and sensible. We had discovered the cipher to unravel and de-code all the mass of information which has been lying waiting for use for centuries. The result was truly astonishing for there among the lists of the great paramount Kings of South Wales we have the answer to the riddle of 'King Arthur' for it is in fact only muddle rather than a mystery. a There were in fact no less than five kings named Arthur, and the first two Arthur I, son of Victor Uther in Welsh grandson of Magnus Maximus Emperor of the West, who died in 388 A.D., and Arthur 11, son of Meurig, grandson of King Theoderic of South Wales became hopelessly and almost inextricably mixed up together.
-

44

The historians of around 1100 A.D. failed completely to differentiate between Arthur I Arthun, and Arthur II Arthwyr. Both of these kings were great military leaders, one conquering all western Europe the Welsh Mascen Wiedig, the other fighting as the chief general of his grandfather Magnus Maximus great wars of liberation against the Saxons in Britain and also campaigning on the continent of Europe in Brittany against King Mark Count Conomurus. So we have a confusion between two mighty generala
-

To explain all this we have to look back in time to follow a great historical trail which leads us finally to the tomb of King Arthur II, lying undisturbed for 1400 years in the South Wales. We can find the two halls of this King Arthur 11 one for his retinue, one for his visitors just as the stories relate; we can find a sacred lake where offerings, including swords, were thrown. AII the paraphanalia and ingredients of the Arthurian legends exist in the South East Wales area and can be indentified.
-

Not until we had spent several years of researching did we in fact see what was staring us in the face a fact which finally became recognizable that there were two Dark Age kings named Arthur, both of whom the same and both of whom were mighty warriors. Even King Arthur Ill Arthfael were named Arthmael, the son of King Rhys was killed fighting the Saxons. This King Arthur III f the battle but his army won the battle and crushed the Saxons.
-

The first King Arthur can be found listed as the of Magnus Maximus in the King Lists of the Court Pedigrees of Hywel Dda List No. 5. he was in fact grandson, not the son, of Magnus. His father was Victor the son of Magnus who lived on in folklore and legend correctly as Uther the Pendragon. This same Arthur I, mis-spelled as Arthun, also appears in the ancestral list of King Tewdrig in the 'Brecon' manuscripts, and King Tewdrig is of course the grandfather of King Arthur II. This second Arthur and his family is well recorded in the chronicles of the 'Book of Llandaff'. In the Court Pedigrees of Hywel Dda he appears in List No. 28; Prince Hywel Dda was the ruling Prince in Wales who died in 948 A.D.
-

'son'

Fortunately all the ancient King Lists and ancestor lists in fact overlap each other and in this way it is possible to link them together down through the ages. What we did first was to piece together these lists and to arrange the line of succession of this ancient line of kings. Once this is done the story in the histories, the legends, the charters,becomes clear. The Welsh remembered their great conquests of Europe between 383 and 388 A.D. by Arthur ! their prince known to Roman historians as Andragathius. Then 700 years later they confused this with their other mighty King Arthur II Arthwyr the conqueror of the Saxons and all Britain, who also campaigned on ge European continent in Britanny where Count King Mark was defeated around 561 A.D. Conomurus 4
-

So with two mighty kings merged into one the great muddle which has so bedeviled British history followed. These kings can be traced to South East Wales with great clarity and to the Cardiff area in particular. Their descendants carried on ruling until 1091 A.D. and some continued as minor ruling princes until around 1200 A.D., and then continued as noble families well up into modern times. THE KINGS OF SOUTH EAST WALES from 350 to 1091 No.
1. 2. 3. 4.

'personality'

English Name
Magnus the Greatest of the Great Victor Arthur i Theodorus d. 388 in Gaul d. 388 in Yugoslavia

Welsh Name Mascen Wiedig Uther Arthun

-

Magnus Maximus

Pendragon
-

Anhhun

Teitheyrn

5. 6.
7.

Theodore
Theodosius

Theoderic
Maurice I Arthur 11 Morgan i

d. 509 at Tintern
d. circa 575 d. circa 570

Tathal (Thathal) Teithfallt Tewdrig (Tudor)

-

8.
9. 10. 11.

Meurig Arthwyr Morgan Ithael

-

Arthrwys

Howell I

12. 13. 14. 15.

Rees 1 Arthur III Maurice 11 Bernard

Rhys Arthfael Meurig Brochmael

-

Arthmael

16.

Vivian i

Gweirydd Viriathus
-

45

17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

Arthur IV
Rees Il Howell ll Morgan Il the Great a. Howell 111,and b.Owain d.884. i

Arthfael

Arthmael

Rhys Rome
"

lthael Morgan Mawr Ithael and Owain Meurig and Ithael

24.

a. Maurice III and b. Howell IV a. Rees III, and b. George I b. Justin Deposed in 1091
Rhydderch

Rhys and Gwrgan lestyn

e

What we have done is to give the English equivalent to the Welsh names and to trace the line of the most important of the Kings of South East Wales. There was always king, but at any one time one paramount there could be a total of between two and eight kings in the area, all with different levels of importance and status.

Under the Welsh system a Grandfather, his son and grandsons could all be ruling at the same time. The older king acting as This is the remarkably stable line of the descendants of or "Arthur". However Vivian I No. 16 and Arthur IV No. 17 were brothers, sons of Bernard 1. Some sources claim that Morgan I No. 10 was not the son but the cousin of Arthur II, and there versions of Arthur 1; he is in one source the son and not grandson of Magnus Maximus. Two are two lines of princes both claimed descent from this Arthur I, by sons named Eidinet and Theodorus Teitheyrn. Both lines can be located in South East Wales.
'counsellor' 'druid'.
-

of nearly 600 years. In presenting

We know that lists of kings are not the most interesting reading but this is list well worth looking at for it answers an age old problem which is of major interest to the British, a and possibly to men of many other nations. We now present the detail of the evidence showing how we arrived at our conclusions and what the nature of the evidence is. We finish up with no less than five King Arthurs spread over a period
the evidence it has been necessary to debunk the false Arthurian stories of Cornwall and malice but in the most straightforward manner possible.

Glastonbury. This we have done without

normal version of there being little information' on the Arthurian period we find that the inforni ation is piled up mountain high, despite the destructive efforts of the Fnalich over 1,000 years of time. We have a detailed record of the Kings, the princes, the nobles, bishops and abbots and their doings over the whole period. It is in fact a matter of knitting together the mass of information held in all the related ancient Welsh manuscripts and charters.
'very

Once this totally false En li trail had been debunked and the correct location of the Kings established, the project became one or exploration and straightforward correlation. The result is that far from the

We have the King Lists,the Lives of the Saints, the charters of Llandaff over 150 of them of Llancarfan14 of them Roman histories, the Mediaeval histories of Rice Meyrick (Rhys Meyric) and others, the ancient British histories, masses of old records, and most important, old maps. The maps of even 400 contain much information which is not shown today, and place years ago names tell extraordinary story. Old stones have never been properly appreciated or used in Britain, yet they alsoan tell a great deal. Time and again the trails lead back to South East Wales and in particular. to And the great slab grave m the ancient 'Black Chapel' may hold the final answer.So nowiive will tell the story of 'Arthur', with the quite astonishing fact that affthe Welsh sources match, fit and support each other. We have the physical evidence of a great hill fortress, of a great slab grave, of twin halls of the period, battle sites, old abbeys, cathedrals and churches, a fortress and towns, old stones and so on.
-

We present a selection of the vital evidence for there is too much to put into one book. This is how it all happened. THE KINGSOF ANCIENT

BRITAIN
-

ship laid down that Troy fell around A.D.

The bestknown work ontheancientBritish kings is that of Gruffydd ap Arthur Geoffrey of Monmouthand it is unfortunately one of the most inaccurate. Poor old Gruffydd was dealing with a mass of historical data which no-one had ever put into any order, it was all jumbled up and he had no dates. What he did know however was that his people had Constantinople is', and that come from they claimed kinship and descent from the Trojans. The Romans also claimed descent now these from same Trojans and they said that their city was founded around 725 B.C. As the general consensus of scholar'where

1250 B.C. this gave Gruffydd

two dates to work with back in 1135

What he could not have known was that firstly Rome was not in fact founded until 575 B.C., and that there were a number of cities built on the site of Troy. Neither could he have known that there was an exodus of related peoples from this Asia Minor area under pressure from the Greeks around 650 B.C.

46

Modern scholarship has confirmed that the Carians and the Pelasgians were both driven from the coastal areas of Asia Minor by Greek expansion at this later date, and it now appears that Homer's Illiad was in fact written down sometime around 700 B.C. Modern archaeologists have proved in the 20th century that beyond all doubt Rome was founded around 575 B.C.
So Gruffydd had 1250 B.C. for Troy instead of 650 B.C. and he had 725 B.C. for Rome instead of 575 B.C. He also knew nothing of the mass movements of other related tribes down from the Russian the Kimmerians were driven to invade Syria and Asia Minor by the Scythians caucasus atthesametimeas who were themselves pushed forward by the Massagatae. The task facing Gruffydd was to sort out a gigantic, muddled jig-saw of history but with no picture of the jig-saw puzzle to guide him. On top of that the only dates he had were wrong. Well, Gruffydd ap Arthur did his best, and quite understandably he made some major mistakes. He tried to fit the old kings of the pre-Roman period from 55 B.C. back to 570 B.C. into the period 55 B.C. back up' all the to 1250 B.C. covering an extra 675 years. The only way that he could do this was to Kings of the Roman period of 50 A.D. to 400 A.D. and then to also use the kings of the north of Britain from between 400 to 600 A.D. In this way Gruffydd obtained a further 600 years total of royal kings, and he now had enough to fill the whole period back to 1250 B.C. As we now know he only needed to go back properly to 570 B.C.
'use

Not only Gruffydd made this error, almost every other ancient chronicler did the same to some extent. British history appears in the manuscripts of the 'Brut D'Engleterre' A much moreaccuratedescriptionof of which several copies of around 1400 A.D. exist MSS Douce 323 Bodelian, MSS 171 Bodelian, MSS Trinity College Dublin 490. Here the only error is to place the kings of the Roman Period into the preRoman era B.C. Here we can identify these kings of between 50 A.D. and 400 A.D.
-

This 'Brutof England'iswritten inthe standard form of at least one chapter to each early king, describing the major events of the King's reign. Then suddenly we have a chapter which lumps together a whole group of kings with no description of any sort other than the name of each king and the number of
years in his reign. This complete change in the pattern is clearly marked. These kings in Chapter 33 contain the 35 kings who reigned after Arviragus between c. 65 A.D. to 411 A.D. What was happening was that someone had tried to make out the history of the British back to Troy and aimed for 1250 B.C. and made the error of using all the known ancient kings. This meant putting the Kings of the Roman period back into the pre-Roman period of B.C., and this error was then repeated by all the other scholars. In the light of modern discovery and excavation in both Rome and Troy we now know that their target date should have been 600 to 550 B.C. and not 1250 B.C. These Bodelian and Trinity College papers illustrate the position perfectly for they begin with the flight of Aeneas from Troy after it's fall and the Greek conquest. Aeneas arrives in Italy which is pure logic as the Romans claimed descent from him. In Italy Aeneas allies himself with the Latins and kills a Turocelyn. This fits as the first king of Rome was a Tarquin, and so was the third king named Tarquin and last king of Rome. As a reward Aeneas is given the daughter of King Latinus as a bride the princess Lamane. They have a son named Asquanius who holds the lands of the defeated Tarquin.
-

In his turn Asquanius has a son named Sylveyn, who against his father's wishes has a son by a woman who was the cousin of Lamane. The child is named as Brutus. When Asquanius dies his son Sylveyn rules and when his son Brutus is 15 he accidently kills his own father with an arrow whilst out hunting. This disaster results in Brutus being driven into exile and he returns to Greek held Troy in Asia Minor. Here he meets seven Trojan nobles and they seek permission of the Greek King Pandras to lead the Trojan people away to a new land. A war takes place and Brutus captures the Greek King; although hopelessly outnumbered Brutus now has the hostage he needs and gets one hundred ships with provisions to sail away. Later we learn that Brutus has 7000 men, with their wives, children and old folk they must have numbered around 20,000. Now begins an epic which makes the wanderings of Abraham look as trivial as they were.
After three days the fleet arrives at an island which they name as Loegers. Here at the temple of Diana a prophecy is made that they must sail to the island of Albion away to the west beyond France. So away sail the ancestors of the British, west across the Mediterranean, for twenty days. When they make a landfall they find another group of refugees from Troy led by Coryn, and so Brutus now has 7,300 men. So again they sail and land in France in what is now Gascony where they come ashore to repair their ships and rest their people. The local king, named Goffar, decides to drive out these uninvited strangers, and marches against Brutus with twelve other local kings and a force of 20,000 men. So Brutus builds a fortress to shelter the women and children and gives battle. The Trojans win the battle and kill 1,000 of their enemies but the cousin of Brutus named Turyn is slain. This leads to the place being ever after named Tours. Then King Goffar and his allies attack again and Brutus and his men cannot stand against the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. So they take counsel behind their defences, and decide that Coryn with a group of men will slip out of the defences at night and hide behind Goffar until the next day. This they do and when Goffar attacks again the next day, the Trojans come out under Brutus and fight. Everything went as planned and at the height of the unequal

47

battle Coryn and his men charged Goffar's army in the rear creating panic with their surprise attack. In the rout which followed the Trojans killed several thousand of Goffar's allies. Brutus' position was now desperate as he had lost 715 of his 7,300 men. Every day Goffar grew stronger, and they had to leave and take their chance on the unknown seas. For five days they sailed before the wind and then they found land. And so they came ashore and the Trojans now gave the name of their leader to.the land and became the British. This is the basic essence of the great British epic tale. Not surprisingly, having regard to the weird twists of the British official, or so called upper class mind, the children of Britain are never taught or told of the epic tales of their ancestors. Instead there is history' with the teaching of the epic tales of wandering Hebrew bedouin,far away in foreign lands, and Greek and other legends. It is all too weak and pathetic for words that children are taught this totally foreign and alien folklore, whilst that of Britain is thrust aside.
'substitute

What we have in fact is a story which fits the dates very well indeed with Brutus arriving around 550 to 500 B.C. To test this we listed all the ancient kings before the arrival of Julius Caesar in the reign of Cassivelaunius in 55 B.C. There are thirty of them and their reigns total 515 years. This means that the history is stating that Brutus arrived around 570 B.C. to found the British race. For an oral history this is extremely accurate indeed. It means that Aeneas fled from Troy around 650 B.C. and fought Tarquin in Rome. The second King of Rome was in fact Servius Tullius, following Tarquinius Priscus. All we have to do is remove the 35 Kings of the Roman era who followed King Arviragus around 65 to 70 A.D. and the equation is solved. The 35 Roman Period Kings listed in Chapter 33 of these manuscripts of the 'Brut of England' are said to have ruled for a total of 358 years which fits the period 65 A.D. to 411 A.D. reasonably well. Absolute and perfect accuracy is in fact impossible as a period of ten years and six months would appear as either ten years or eleven years. What we have however is the solution to the riddle and confirmation of the accuracy of the British epic legend. The time period of the old British history ran from 570 B.C. to 411 A.D. when the British finally shook themselves free of the Romans. A total of 1009 years and not as the misdating of history over both Troy and Rome a period of 1661 years. That is all that there is to it; a mistake arising out of placing too much faith in the works of the Greek and Roman historians who could in fact have taken lessons in accuracy from the British.
'classical'

The proof of this displacement of the Roman period kings lies in our ability to test the place in time of some of them. We can in fact get a fix on King No. 15, Bran, and his son, King No. 16, Caractacus, and then we have Coel and his son Lies, or in Latin terms Coelus and Lucius. We know that these two lived around 150 to 180 A.D. and that Lucius wrote to Bishop Elutherus in Rome who was of around 175 to 189 A.D. The matching of the lists is correct. We then have Bran listed as Vran who the Welsh called the Blessed Bran so we can try to fix him. In this way we can see that the general framework of this King list is in fact correct. By using whatever folklore that is available, together with the valuable source of the Welsh Triads which are in fact history without dates we may now be able to put this Triad material into a proper order. So we have an ancient British history which indicates that there was an exodus of Celtic related peoples from Asia Minor around 650 B.C.a fact which modern scholarship proves to be correct. This same history records two of the three kings of Rome at around 650 to 600 when Italian archaeologists are revising the date of the founding of Rome from 725 down to some later date, possibly 575 B.C. Mediaeval scholars took the inaccurate histories of Greece and Rome as true and then revised the originally quite accurate British record to bring it into line with history, and in doing so gave the British history a totally undeserved reputation for inaccuracy.
'classical'

Whilst endless energy has been expended on clearing up the muddles left by the ancient chroniclers of Egypt, Greece, Rome and elsewhere and chasing the travels of primitive Jewish shepherds worshipping their sun-god, no attempt at all is made to unravel exactly the same type of muddle in British history.

We cannot rely on the Mediaeval Bruts which are a muddle of names. In fact we have to remove King Ebracus from the lists of Kings who ruled Britain B.C. before the Roman invasions. This King Ebracus is none other than King Brychan of Brecon, first cousin to King Arthur of Glamorgan. The Chronicler has used the B.M. Vespasian A XIV and Harl MSS 4181, Manuscripts which give the list of Brychan and his twenty three daughters and numerous sons. The whole family is translated back from 500 to 600 A.D. to the time of 450 B.C. The removal of Brychan as Ebracus and the forty years reign allotted to him reduces the total time of the reign of the kings after Brutus' arrival down to Cassivelaunius in 55 B.C. to a total of 515 years which fits with the founding of Rome around 575 B.C. and the reigns of Tarquin and Sylvanius. The King list in Chapter 33, of 35 Kings, and the Ebracus entry in Chapter 7, naming Ebracus Brychan as fifth king after Brutus are the only entries containing long lists of identifiable names of the later
-

48

periods. They are the only names which are differently portrayed, every other king being shown with his own brief history and no family or ancestral listing. We anticipate that if Chapter 7 and Chapter 33 A.D. then this casts doubt on the other 30 kings. The are of the periods 50 to 400 A.D. and 500 to 600 point remains that the style of presentation of the others is quite distinctive, each king being treated seperately and the chapter or group of chapters beginning and ending with his reign. We have tabulated these kings in an organised identifiable periods as follows:-

manner

and we get three distinct

groupings

in three

1. 2. 3.

The Pre-Roman Period B.C. The Invasion Period

The Rornan Period

30 Kings 6 Kings 35 Kings

517 years 98 years

339 years

These periods run back from 406 A.D. with the election of Constantine to the year 572 B.C. We can use the Invasion period to establish the date fixing for we know that Cassivelaunius was king when Julius Caesar invaded in 55 B.C., and that Arviragus became king when 'Gynder' was killed in the Claudian invasion of 43 A.D. So after a 24 year reign Arviragus died 67 A.D. at the end of the 122 year invasion period. For the 339 year period from 67 to 406 A.D. the Brut gives 35 Kings reigning for 346 years, a very good matching. For the 30 Kings of the Old Period Pre-Roman, the Brut has 515 years which moves them back to the arrival of Brutus in Britain in 570 B.C. which certainly ties up with modern archaeology in Rome and Asia Minor. After Arviragus dying in67 A.D. the Brut D'Engleterre toses its way for the Kings have all been misplaced back into the Pre-Roman Period. By sorting out this muddle we are left with a very accurate story in line with modern archaeological and historical research. The mediaeval Bruts are of course a muddle of names and mistranslations. They are derivations of the Welsh royal pedigrees and cause nothing but confusion in their form of presentation. The fact remains that wherever and whenever the British King Lists are tested they prove accurate. The whole mass of evidence from Wales also attests to the Kings being the rulers based in South East Wales Siluria. Julius Caesar never came up against them in his expeditions to Britain and it was not until the Claudian invasion of 43 A.D. that they came into collision with the Romans.
-

Remarkably the genealogies of these Kings, which were nationally approved and recorded, list no less than 56 successive rulers of South East Wales. In 43 A.D. the Old King was Bran 'The Raven' and the Caractacus. Bran, the son of Llyr, was the 16th King of the British young executive King was Caradoc and Caradoc the 17th of his line. A simple calculation of 30 years per King or generation shows that the line began sometime around 450 B.C. and this fits very well with the legend of Brutus and Rome and the persecution of the people in old Byzantium by the Spartan King Pausanius around 500 B.C. This story matches the Greek histories which detail the problems Pausanius had over a girl and his greed and rapacity and finally his fall all at old Byzantium.
-

This arrival of a nation in Britain around 450 B.C. was of course the fifth of the great remembered migrations the 'Coming of the Dragon'. Other parts of the British race having settled at least 500 or maybe 1,000 years earlier.
-

THE KINGDOMSOF ANCIENT BRITAIN

There are quite surprising parallels between the eras of the British Kingdoms and those of Ancient Egypt. There was an Old Kingdom which lasted from around 570 to 55 B.C. Then there was a Middle Kingdom half of the kingdom in Gascony, period when the invasions of the Romans began and the
'continental'

Britanny and Normandy were lost to the Romans and Britain was again invaded in 43 A.D. This middle period ran from 55 B.C. to 67 A.D. when King Arviragus is said to have died. Then came a period of loose natural resumption domination by Rome which lasted from 67 A.D. to 411 A.D. when the British took of their sovereignty'. This was followed by the establishment of a New Kingdom from 411 A.D. onwards.
'a

Considerable reliability can be placed on the lists of these Kings of South Wales from the Roman period onward as a number of them can be corroborated from evidence elsewhere and others can be attested by their works and deeds. King Bran, No. 16 and King Caractacus, No. 17 are definately authenticated from Roman histories. The 19th King, named Owen, was stated to be son of King Cyllin, the son of King Caradoc, No. 17. He is quite definately authentic as he is recorded as building a great 8 acre palace which now still remains buried; possibly the legendary Camelot. From King Owen at No. 19 we have a very positive King, No. 20, in Lleirwg, or Lles ap Coel, King Lucius who corresponded with Pope Elentheriusaround 170 to 180 A.D. So the picture is accurate and perfectly authentic. Not much is known outside Britain until King Crair, No. 27 of the line, burned down Roman

49

\
London around 300 A.D. This is authenticated evidence of the 'pre-Saxon'fire. by modern archaeology which turns up considerable

King No. 28 is Euddar or Octavius and of him a great deal is known as his daughter, Elen, married Constantine Chlorus, the Emperor of Rome. King Euddav dominated Britain from 322 to 367 A.D. and from histime onthe Kingsarewell attested.Sowhatwedohave is an accurate listing of all the 56 rulers of South East Wales from around 450 B.C. to 1091 A.D. after which date many of their descendants can be traced down to modern times as minor lords and gentlemen.

In this Dynasty of Kings which lost control of Britain, then Wales and finally its own lands we find the mighty King Arthur. The miracle which he achieved was to preserve his nation and kingdom intact for over 500 years from 520 to 1091 A.D. when every other part of Roman Western Europe succumbed to the barbarian onslaught. Even more his nation were able to preserve their identity and individuality if not freedom and independance up to the present day. their
As wewill eldest son elsewhere attacks on see, the invincible Arthur was the thirty seventh (37) King of his line. Generally the old King's was elected but not always. In the thirty three Roman towns the Roman law was effective but the British law and the British King held sway. With the Roman withdrawal and the Germanic these towns the last vestige of Roman presence evaporated like a morning mist.

histories begins to look absolutely correct. The great island was quite literally a client kingdom, with some areas occupied by the Romans, where they had been most opposed, other areas run by olmnet kings, and the major part of Britain under the rule of the British Kings. In fact almost an identical picture to that of India and Pakistan under British rule in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with various Maharajahs and Rajahs completely independant, others in a client position and others totally subject to British rule.

What all this means is that the picture of Britain between A.D. 4 and A.D. 411 as given by the British

therefore seem to be a worthwhile task. What is emerging is that a complete revision of the view of Britain between 50 A.D. and 400 A.D. is required. The Roman conquest was not nearly as complete as has generally been supposed. If the lists of the Kings turn out to be accurate as indeed they do, then the other information has also to be considered as accurate.
'standard'

The Kingship of Britain was in fact an elected office, and there would be some switching aboutalthough the eldest son of the King would very often be chosen. Comparisons with the Welsh ancestor lists would

What we are now able to do is to make proper use of the masses of historical information contained in the Welsh Triads which are undated in the Welsh tradition. We now have a framework into which we can fit these facts. All we are doing is precisely what was done to date Hebrew kings in the Bible stories and Egyptian Pharoes from the Mantheo lists.

THE LOCATION OF CORNWAILES

The major difficulty in unravelling the story of ancient Britain is to follow the changes and mutations of names of people and places. The outstanding name confusion with the Arthurian legends is that of

Cornwailes.

When the first King, Brutus, led the ancestors of the British into their future homelands his chief lieutenant was a chieftain named Conan to whom Brutus gave the land of Cornwailes. Now this was North Wales and has to be clearly understood otherwise the confusion will remain. The area of South West England now known as Cornwall did not become so called until around the seventh to eighth centuries. So later scholars reaching back transferred the old Cornwailes to the new Cornwall along with the real

history of the area.

What we have in fact is the arrival of the British around 575 to 500 B.C. under Brutus when they took three areas which were South Wales and the border counties of England, North Wales and Northern England including Cumberland, Westmoreland and Northumberland. In later times the extent of the British territory was misunderstood and the historians wrongly believed that they held the whole of the British Isles. The result was that Britain which was Wales became identified with present day England. Cornwailes became Cambria and so all Wales instead of North Wales and the lands of the North of England became Albany or Scotland. The people identifying themselves as British never occupied the whole of the island; they most certainly dominated it but they lived in the three areas which we have specified. When the histories of ancient times speak of Cornwailes they mean North Wales and the King of the British was the King of Wales, plus the northern lands.

This mis-identification of Cornwailes is the vital area of Arthurian confusion. Conan Coryn's descendants or in Caernarvon, the place name Gwely Wyrion Kynan meaning settlement of Conan's descendants' was the very ancient name of what later became Eivionydd in Caernarvon. By establishing
settled
'the

50

PicTS

BANY

CORNWAILES LOEGRIA BRITAIN

d

THE LANDS OF THE "BRITISH" CELTS

51

that old North Wales was called Cornwailes we solve much of the puzzle surrounding the stories of "King Arthur". We can see that .it is easily possible for his father, Victor Uther Pendragon to have had a marriage relationship with the daughter of a prince in North Wales, the result of which was Arthur and his sister, Anna. Victor was ruling from Cardiff and his own father, Magnus Maximus, married Elen the daughter of Octavius Euddav of Caernarvon. It also explains how over 150 years later a descendant Arthur Il fought a great battle at Camlan in Cornwailes which was North Wales. The place of the supposed birth of Arthur is a castle or fortress which is again in Wales if this was a dynastic marriage between the King of the ruling clan in the South and the daughter of the Lord of the North. Tin-dagol is the fort of the dewlap or fresh fields, as Tin-deryn is the Princes fort. If the princes fort is that of the northern prince then we favour Caernarvon if it is the princes fort in the south then it has to be Cardiff, tIte place of Uther the King Consul.
-

The wrong identification with Cornwailes and Cornuailles Britanny, and also with Cornwall, the South West tip of present day England has caused endless problems to those trying to understand the history of Britain in the 'Heroic Age' between 400 and 600 A.D. Any original reference to Cornwailes before 800 A.D. means North Wales and nowhere else, which disposes of the false West Country myths which have misled searches for so long. I
-

What appears to have happened is that following the dynastic marriage between Magnus Maximus and Elen the daughter of King Euddav of Caernarvon, or King Octavius of Segontium, his son Victor Uther the Pendragon at Cardiff also contracted a similar marriage with the daughter of the Lord of the North who succeeded Euddav. This lady was named Igerna by Gruffydd ap Arthur and this is therefore Eysuelt
-

or Isolde. Her father is named as Goriois and this is also translatable.

-

As there were two children of this marriage, Arthur ! Anarawd, or Andragathius in Latin and a girl named Anna, it was no quick illicit love affair as some fables suggest. There is a remarkable parallel as 150 years later the second Arthur was born a son of King Meurig of Glamorganand he also had a sister named Anna who wasmarried to St. Illtyd.
-

Further evidence of this North Wales connection exists in the Manuscript of the Brut D'Engleterre, where Uther Pendragon is clearly described as conducting a military campaign in Wales. The Brut is quite explicit that the campaign was directed at clearing Irish settlers out of North Wales. This makes sense as this military effort was carried on around 400 to 420 by Cuneda, and by his sons and grandsons Cadwallon Lawhir driving the Irish from Anglesea around 500 A.D. in the notable battle where he hobbled his armies horses so that there could be no possibility of retreat. The modern English Cornwall tales of Tintagel do not make sense and are patently false.
-

Cornwailes in North Wales from around 550 B.C. If Arthur I or Arthur II were in Cornwailesthen they were up in Snowdonia, North Wales, which was the Cornwailes of their period. The confusion of modern times is understandable as some ancient and mediaeval historians made correct re-adjustments to name changes and others did not.
'the

So once again it is all a matter of names. We have Dumnonia in England and Dumnonia in Britanny, we have Cornwall after 800 A.D. in England and we have Cornouailles in Britanny ages earlier, and ancient

Camlan where Arthur Il fought the great battle in the civil war is still clearly identifiable in mid-Wales, and it is reasonable to assume that Tin-deyrn fort of the Prince' where he was born or where Arthur I was born, is also in Wales. We are after all dealing with Welsh Kings.
-

Gelli Wyrion Cynan in Cornwailes, meaning Conan's Settlement in North Wales, somehow became Gelli Wig in Cornwall and the great muddle began. Alternatively, Arthur's court and hunting lodge over in Britanny, accurately located by folklore and tradition, in old Cornouailles became confused in the same way.

ARVIRAGUS THE KING

B ook XII
-

The Annals

Volume One By Tacitus

-

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was born in Rome around 53 A.D. in the reign of the Prince Claudius. He was educated for a career in law and under the late emperor Vespasian he was successively quaestor and practor and a member of Rome's Sacred College. He was sent in 98 A.D. to Germany but also sought to aquaint himself valuable account of the life of these Britain. He had in fact married the short biography which he published. in some form of high official capacity, where he did his official duty with the manners and customs of the people. So he recorded a people in his 'Germania' and also in his 'Annals' he tells us a little of daughter of Agricola, the governor of Britain, of whom he wrote a

Here weare interested in whathehastosay of theSilures, the inhabitants of what later became MorganwgSouth East Wales. The Romans had conquered or made treaties with the peoples of the area.which they

52

line' existed drawn between the angle of the Severn and the Wash, see called Britania Prima and a The Romans had subdued the Belgic Gallic tribes of the south east, but now they Diagram 1, Map 1. faced the problem of the Celtic tribes of the west. Both the Romans and the British knew that this frontier, marked by a great communicating highway known later as the Ickneild Way, could not be held
'front

Saxons knew it, later the secure unless South East Wales was subdued. This the Romans knew, the Normans knew it and later again Oliver Cromwell knew it in the English Civil War.

So with the arrival of a new general to command the Roman armies in Britain, the nations of centr%I Britain attacked the Romans again. Ostorius was equal to the occasion and advanced quickly to take the Britons by surprise and defeat them. Again he fought the leeni of East Anglia and then with the Cangi of Cheshire and the Brigantes of Lancashire. To conquer these nations he did what all other Roman Generals had done in Gaul and in Britain; he laid waste their lands, burned their dwellings and stole and
plundered their possessions. So far the Romans had destroyed what was the Belgic empire in lowland Britain, which had once included most of England and all Northern France in Julius Caesar's time.

'

of Western Britain. Away west lay a different confederation of nations, the Celtic tribal confederation Their newly elected top war chief, Caractacus, was king of the chieftains of the leading nation, the Silures of South East Wales. No doubt these chiefs knew that the Romans would attack them next and that war was inevitable and so they planned their defence. To retain any credibility in the war code of the Britons, Caractacus badly needed a victory against the Romans. The Silures decided to fight in defence of their own country in 47 A.D. Tacitus tells something of what happened:"The Silures were not so easily quelled; neither leniency not rigorous measures could compel them to submit. To brid/e the insolence of that warlike race, Ostorius judged it expedient to form a camp for the legions in the heart of their country".

So the Romans had decided

to build the great legendary fortress at Caerleon "For this purpose a colony supported by a at strong body of veterans was stationed Caernelodnum on lands conquered from the enemy. From this measure a twofold result was expected: the garrison would be able to overawe the insurgents and give the allied states a specimen of law and civil policy".

in modern.Gwent:-

Now Ostorius was guarding and holding down his rear before starting any attack on South Wales, for Camelodunum is Colchester:"These arrangements settled, Ostorius marched against the Silures. To their natural ferocity these people added the courage which they now derived from the presence of Caractacus. Renowned for his valour and for various turns of good and evil fortune that heroic chief had spread his fame through the island. His knowledge of the country and his skill in all the wiles and strategems of savage warfare gave him many advantages, but he could not hope with inferior numbers to make a stand against a well disciplined army".

Now this is rubbish and Tacitus probably knew it. Poor Caractacus was later exhibited as a captive in Rome and his stature and prestige was exaggerated to further boost the prestige of the emperor Claudius who King'. The battle sites and tactics against the Romans in Wales would be selected by conquered this the chieftains of the South Welsh Silures and the North Welsh Ordovices who would know the country, under Caractacus'guidance. This is plainly evident from the typically Welsh mountain tactics employed. However:'great

"Having drawn to his standard all who considered peace with Rome as another name for slavery, he determined to try the new issue with a battle. He therefore marched into the territory of the Ordovices. For this purpose he chose a spot where the approach and the retreat were

53

difficult to the enemy and to himself every way advantageous. He took his post in a situation defended by steep and craggv hills. In some places where the mountains opened and the aclivity afforded an easy ascent, he fortified the spot with many stones, heaped together in the form of a rampart. A river with fords and shallows of uncertain depth washed the extremity of the plain. On the outside of his fortification a vast body of troops showed them selves in force and in order of battle". Next Tacitus describes the activities and speeches of the British chiefs and of Caractacus. As Tacitus was not present at the battle and wrote his account several years later, this must be pure fiction. He does however say something very interesting indeed when he invents Caractacus' speech 'This day my fellow warriors, this very day, decides the fate of Britain. The era of liberty or eternal bondage begins from this hour. Remember your brave and warlike ancestors who met Julius Caesar in open battle and chased him from the coast of Britain'. Here is a Roman dignitary telling any who read that Caesar was forced to retreat from Britain by British resistance. He also displays a good understanding of Celtic attitudes towards Rome. Tacitus goes on with the description of the battle:-

"The intrepid countenance of the Britons and the spirit that animated their whole army struck Ostorius with astonshment. He saw a river to be passed, a pallisade to be forced, a steep hill to be surmounted and the several posts defended by a prodigious multitude". "Ostorius reconnoltred the ground and having marked where the defiles were inpenetrable or easy of approach gave the signa/ to attack. The Romans advanced to the parapet. The struggle and as long as it was fought with was obstinate missile weapons the Britons had the advantage. Ostorius ordered his men to advance under a military she// and level the pile of stones which served as a fence for the enemy. A close engagement followed. The Britons abandoned their ranks and fled with precipitation to the ridge of the hills". The Romans now got to close quarters and gained a decisive victory, with the Britons fleeing into the hills. The wife and daughters of Caractacus were taken prisoner and his brother surrendered. Caractacus now fled to the Brigantes where the Queen, Cartimunda, handed him over in chains to the Romans. AII this made no difference to the Welsh, who simply carried on with their war with the Romans. They were learning more and more about Roman military tactics and now they knew for certain that the very heavily armoured Roman legionary soldiers could only struggle up steep hills. The Romans thought the war was over, the Silures of South Wales were just beginning to get organised for a long struggle. Tacitus tells us of this again. In the previous battle believed to have taken place at the river Clun where it is joined by the river Kemp in Salop, the whole affair muct have involved large numbers on both sides, the Romans had available in Britain four legions of around 6,600 men each and each legion was accompanied usually at that time by an equal number of lighter armed auxilliary troops. So each side would have had something between 45,000 and 50,000 men at the battle. What Caractacus had so very badly needed, the Silures now obtained, while he was a captive in chains in Rome, they defeated the Roman army. This time Tacitus gives a brief and cursory description, for even in ancient Rome propaganda was pract ised at a high level. Victories were described in detail, emphasising the valour of the Roman army, with detail; of the speeches made by commanders and remarks on the ferocity of the enemy. Now whereas Tacitus gives mass detail and eulogises over the victories of Suetonius Paulinus over the Iceni and that of Ostorius over Caractacus, he says next to nothing over the Roman battle with the Silures. This is the normal pattern of affairs when the Romans were beaten in Britain and elsewhere. This is what Tacitus says:"A carnp had been formed in the country of the Silures and a chain of forts was to be erected".
-

(The fortress of Caerleon had been founded

and other forts were being built. See Diagram 5) "The Britons in a body surrounded the officer

54

O
HIBERNIA Mona Mo

Valum Antonia Antonine Wall VALENTIA

OCEANUS

GERMANICUS

Hadrians Wall

Monatia dians

MAXIMA CAESARIENSIS Brigantes

OCEANUS

HIBERNICUS
Mona

ERNE Ordovices Huici

Coritani

Cenimagni Simeni FLAVIA CAESARIENSIS Cotienciani Trinobantes Atrebati PRIMA Cantii Iceni

BRITANNIA
4

SECUNDA Silures Dobnni

.

Demetea
.

OCEANUS VERGINIUS

SABRINA EST.

Belgae BRITANNIA Durotriges

Damnonni

OCEANUS BRITANNICUS

ROMAN BRITAIN
This map bears an extraordinary i.e. similarity to the later division of Britain in the 7th Century.
= = =

Britannia Prima Britannia Secunda Flavia Caesarensis Maxima Caesarensis

Wessex and Kent Wales Mercia

and Valentia

Northumbria

55

been cut to pieces. The praefect of the camp with eight centurions and the bravest of the soldiers were killed on the spot".

who commanded the legionary cohorts and if succour had not arrived in time from the neighbouring garrisons, the whole corps would have

Now this isvery illuminating,forelsewherewhen an important soldier official is killed or even threatened, his name is written in full, even centurions doing brave actions Here there or being killed were recorded. is NO DETAIL NO NAMES NO NUMBERS and that means a Roman catastrophe, a defeat:"A foraging party and the detachment sent to support them, were soon after attacked and put to rout, Ostorius on the first alarm ordered the light armed cohorts to advance against the enemy. That reinforcement was insufficient, until the legionary soldiers marched to their support. The battle was renewed at first on equal terms, but in the end to the disadvantage of the Britons. But their loss was inconsiderable".
-

Here there is no talk of valour, mass slaughter, pursuit of the enemy and victory. The Silures knew that with the Roman practise of spreading a network of forts to cover a frontier that they only had to take the Romans by surprise and batter them and the remainder of their army would have to be flung straight into the fight as they arrived gasping and sweating at the run, one unit at a time. This is exactly what happened, cavalry were little use in the hills of South Wales, the first support units were the light armed auxiliary soldiers who could run faster and then the heavily armoured slow moving legions.

This must have been a big battle for only the major battles are described in any form of detail by Tacitus or any other Roman historian.
The shock wave must have gone all across official Roman Europe. The news was obviously kept as quiet as possible lest it set off a chain reaction of revolt in Britain and Gaul. In Rome there would have been consternation as the conquest of Britain had been duly celebrated with triumphs, honours, games and senatorial speeches. The whole population believed that Britain was conquerad and here were the Silures defeating Ostorius' army, so nothing much could be said. The extent of the defeat can be gauged from the Roman reaction, for Ostorius.decided to wipe the name of the Silures from the face of the earth. Tacitus writes:"From that time the Britons kept up a constant s/arm. Frequent battles or rather skirmishes were fought with their detached parties roving in quest of plunder". (How on earth did the Silures in quest of plunder' in their own country?) "They met in sudden encounters, as chance directed or valour prompted in the fens, in the woods, in the narrow defi/es, the men on some occasions led on by their chiefs, and frequently without theirknowledgeasresentmentorloveof booty happened to incite their fury, Of all the Britons the Silures are the m ost de termined. They fought with obstinacy, with inveterate hatred".
'rove
-

It seems that the Roman General had declared that the very name of the Silures must be extirpated, like that of the Sigambrians, formerly driven out of Germany (This was around 50 A.D. and the Romans clearly planned to destroy and scatter the Welsh Silures as they did the Jews in 70 A.D. They failed). "That expression reached the Silures and roused . ther fiercest passions. Two auxi/iary cohorts (1,200 men) who the avarice of their officers sent in quest of plunder were intercepted by that ferocious people and all made prisoners. A fair distribution of the captives and the spoils drew neighbouring states into the confederacy. Ostorius at this time was worn out with anxiety. He sank under the fatigue and expired to the great joy of the Britons, who saw a great and able commander not indeed slain in battle, but overcome by the war".

There is no doubting from this account that the Silures were mauling the Romans to the extent of not

56

trying to kill them but capturing them to use as slaves. This is the time when the British King Aviragus was driving Nero to distraction in Rome, lording it over the Island of Britain. It is reasonably certain that Arviragus was King of the Silures and a worthy ancestor for the later Arthur. So the Roman Emperor Claudius sent out Aulus Didius, another capable general. The state of the war
with

the Silures is well described by Tacitus:his arrival found the island in a state of distraction. The legion under Manlius Valens had risked a battle and suffered a defeat...../n the defeat of Valens it was the nation of the Silures who struck the blow".
"....,but

It is almost unbelievable to read this a Roman legion RISKED a battle and lost. The British with a strange perversity tell their children, write their history books and romanticise over Queen Boadicea who with her mob of men, women and children numbering 80,000 was massacred by Suetonius with 10,000 Roman troops. Yet quite extraordinarily they say nothing at all of this war of the Silures and the full scale defeats of the Romans. Possibly the reason is that Boadicea lived in what is now England and was crushed by the Romans, and the Silures lived in what is now Wales. It all happened a long, long time ago, but it appears that English pride is offended by their ancient defeat and Welsh success against the legions of Rome.
-

A statue of Boadicea stands in London, but nothing

to Arviragus anywhere.

The importance of this record set down by Tacitus lies in the fact that the South Welsh Silures were a large, powerful, well organised and warlike nation. The corroborative evidence lies in the network of permanent Roman military forts spread through Wales, extending in lines from the 50 acre permanent in the area. The fortress at Caeleon and the mass of other fort sites temporary and marching forts royal families of these people were probably eventually recognised as client kings by the Romans, recognised by them and allowed to run their own affairs.
-

This ties in with the later legend of King Llierwg sending for Christian missionaries in 178 A.D. and is wholly consistent with the Romans allowing the Silures to live in their own fashion. The Romans policed the area, keeping to their fortresses and two towns and preventing any major gathering and raids into the plains of England.

These hill and mountain areas would therefore be very little affected by Roman influences. A parallel to to the situation would be that which is often portrayed in American Western films, with U.S.A. Army
forts scattered across hostile frontier areas holding down an uneasy peace with Red Indian tribal nations. In fact this was exactly the Roman situation in Asia Minor over to Armenia and in Syria, it was also the position in Western Europe and for long periods in North Africa. Certainly the later Welsh royal families preserved king lists of ancestors which stretched back through the Roman period from around 80 A.D. to 400 A.D. What Tacitus establishes for us is that there was a leading Celtic nation of considerable military capacity in South East Wales. From other sources we can establish that their princes were recognised by the Romans, and from this it is reasonable to infer that the area was never made Roman, nor was lowland Britain (England) and the whole of Gaul. There are very few Roman civilian remains in South Wales. There is of course the forty four acre town site at Caerwent which held the same population as one possible danger and hundred acre towns elsewhere,a proof that it was a frontier situation of considerable a similar fortress town at Carmarthen. There are few villas in South Wales and it is not impossible that representatives, these were built for either Roman political-military or more likely for the local kirigs. These villas would be abandoned later as being indefensible in time of war.
villa at Cardiff at Ely, some three miles from the Roman fortress of There is one such farm-cum-foundry Cardiff Castle and two miles from Dinas Powis, the later seat of the local princes. There is another large villa near Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan, again in a coastal plain position well away from the hills and mountains.

The villa at Llantwit Major is notable for it lies buried one mile north west of the town in a field known It actually as Caermead. It was partly excavated in 1888 and was then covered over and re-turfed. covered an area of eight acres larger than Cardiff Castle the living quarters occupying two acres with twenty rooms. One room was sixty feet by fifty one feet, with remaining walls rising to nine feet. A smaller room was thirty nine feet by twenty seven feet, having a floor covered with a richly designed mosaic. The walls were plastered and covered with remains of beautiful paintwork. There were forty three human skeletons in this room and those of three horses, indicating that there may well have been an attack or raid. In 1938 a dig revealed six more human skeletons below the wall foundation level, which were of a later date, when it may have been imagined that this ruin of the only stone building in the area was a holy place.
-

There is a tumulus 300 yards north of this buried villa and some 1,400 yards to the north east, a gold
torque was found in 1861.

57

defeated after a struggle where their army was battered. and journey towards our ubiquitous Arthur.

These vinas were believed to have been built around 100 to 150 A.D. by King Owen King Llierwg Lucius the ruler who re-imported Christianity. Hopefully something before the time of can be done in the future to discover something more and probably confirm what we have deduced from Tacitus' writings, it is very strange to read of battle with a British nation and were a war where Roman legions
-

'risked'

It is indeed an important

section of our search

The evidence is that the mountain nations of Wales were never really Romanised and lived in a form of client co-existence with the Romans, a not uncommon arrangement on the frontier areas of the Roman Empire. Furthermore, there is ample evidence that 383 A.D. under Magnus Maximus and in as late 406 A.D.under Constantine, these semi-independangwarlike as areas were able to provide large numbers of fighting men for imperial campaigns in Gaul, Spain and Italy. This means that when the Romans finally withdrew from Britain after the Vandal nations caused the collapse of their Western Empire in 406 to 413 A.D. the military power of Britain lay with these Celtic nations in Wales and what is now western Cumbria and southern Scotland. The lowland areas may well have been near defenceless, but this was of the western client kingdoms of Wales and the north. not true The Silureshanded on to King Arthur a priceless inheritance of.independance and military capacity to be used to combat the invasions of the 1prbaric German tribes collectively known as the Saxons, the Jutes, and the Angles. The tradition of the nation was warlike, free and true to its own native traditions. The Silures had a natural position of leadership and military achievement and it is notable that when Magnus Maximus made his move to Gaul as Emperor in 383 A.D, he made no attempt to interfere with the leadership and rule of the Silures areas which must have remained firmly in the hands of the native chieftains. The Silures provided the power base and the leader in Arthur to crush the Saxons. His grandfather Tewdrig-Theodoric and his father Meurig Maurice Iaid the foundations of his victory as we will see. The temper of these ancient Welsh towards the Romans may be gauged from the fact that they regarded Carausius King Crair who rebeled against Rome as great national hero figure. a Carausius declared himself Emperor of Britain around 290 A.D. (seeWelsh Triads).
-

Finally, the Roman historian Juvenal tells of Arviragus in Rome, where he made a complete nuisance of himself by driving his chariot at breakneck speed through the streets of Rome. As of Rome's honours was permission to ride a horse in the city we get some good first impressions here.one Presumably Arviragus went with Caractacusas a hostage after the initial defeat. What Juvenal says is illuminating for the Romans had a nickname for Arviragus who they called 'Taurus Negri' meaning the Black Bull. This must refer to his typically black curly hair from South Wales.
-

Arviragus is said to have married the illegitimate daughter of the Emperor Claudius. This would be a significant addition to the claims of the later descendants of Arviragus back in South Wales or Britain generally.
A shadowy figure, but a great ancestor
name

in South Wales. A man recorded

as being feared by Nero.

AFTER THE WAR

The Welsh recordsarequiteemphatic that the Kings of Britain the hereditary royal clan were the Kings of Situria. These were the Kings of what is now South East Wales, Glamorgan and Gwent, and probably much of Carmarthen, all Brecon, western Gloucestershire and southern Herefordshire.
-

When Caradoc Caractacus was defeated in 51 A.D. after fighting the Romans for nine years, he went north to Aregwedd Voeddawg Cartismandua, queen of the Brigantes, who betrayed him to the Romans. Aregwedd Voeddawg was the daughter of Avarwy who quarrelled with his uncle Caswallon Cassevelaunus, and betrayed Britain to the Romans. However the whole family of Caradoc son of Bran son of Llyr Liedaith was taken prisoner to Rome. Bran the father was a bard and a trained Druid. So they were in Rome at a very special time, from 51 to 58-9 A.D. a mere 17 years after the crucifixtion of Jesus of Nazareth (Triads).
-

What happened is a long detailed story but the summation is that Bran and his family became Christians. They returned to Britain in 58-59 A.D. and they brought the Christian faith with them. Not only did Bran bring Arwystli Hen, or Aristobulous the Aged, a Roman citizen possibly a Greek, but also liid a Jew, and Cyndav and his son Mawan who might be either British or Jewish, probably British. Aristobulous was Bran's chaplain, he is probably the same Aristobulous spoken of in Paul's epistle to the Romans xvi. 10., a fact born out by his listing in the Greek menology as Aristobulous said there to have been appointed by Paul tobe first bishop of the British. So there is Greek and Welsh corroborative evidence with no collusion. Also Dorotheus in his synopsis i.txLepen<j_et confirms that Aristobulus was made first bishop of Britain. The 'Genaeology of the Saints' states that Aristobulus was confessor and instructor to Bran.
-

Both Aristobulus and llid are said to have converted many British to Christianity. Ilid set up many churches. The Genaeology of lestyn ap Gwrgan which was published around 1845 describes the arrival

58

Tre-Vran, the house of Bran. The King who was father of King Caradoc who fought the Romans. This is the long remembered traditional site of King Bran's house.

The

dof Ilid, one quarter of a mile from Tre-Vran. St. Ilid came to Britain from Rome with King Bran when he returned in 58 A.D. St. Ilid is also known in the Scilly Isles.

The circular mound north of the Church of St. Ilid. The mound is steep sided and circular, and about one hundreReet in diameter. The inside is hollow and very much lower than the circular mound. It is very likely a grave site, not a fortification.

59

of Ilid at the request

twelve saints, established was buried at Avallon.

of Eurgain or Eugene the daughter of Caradoc. He set up a system of a choir of called Illtyd' and subsequently retired and many churches, including one
'later

The Triads are quite clear that the family of Bran became Christian returning around 58 A.D. This really is important for it sets the scene for the continuing Christian Kingdom later to be ruled by the great Arthur. At this date the war with the Romans was still going on, with South Wales unsubdued until 77 A.D. D. Cyllin, the son of Caradoc was a Christian, recorded as a Saint with his sister Eurgain, and Bran the Blessed his grandfather. The farnily were probably sent back to South Wales in an attempt to end the hostilities. Old Bran issupposed to have died around 80 A.D. and Arwystli Aristobulus around 99 A.D. a calculation by Bressy.
-

The Romans ruled most of their Empire through client or allied Kings and they could not hope to hold down a perpetually rebellious Britain, in particular the lands of the people calling themselves the Cymry in the West with their ferocious adherance to their own national customs. The Massacre of the Druids of the Ordovices in the North on Anglesey was a straightforward attempt by Suetonius Paulinus in 59 A.D. to eliminate the leaders of national culture who would never allow foreign practices to be adopted. The Silurian Druids were wiser and more fortunate for they embraced Christianity and became its priests and bishops. It was after all the British religion. This transformation was finally concluded by Lles ap Coel King Lleirwg or King Lucius around 175 A.D.
-

the war king of the British. As late as 1845 authors were still describing the farmhouse of Trevran as the site of Bran's home, and the church of Llanilid nearby as the foundation of Ilid. The annual celebration of this parish wake' was called Gwyl Geri after Ceri the great grandfather of Bran. A strange and strong combination of related circumstances.
'the
-

So the Romans re-instated the British Kings, the minor King Cogidubnus is a good example of this. When Caradoc returned to Glamorgan is not known, he was peculiary the King of South Wales and by election

Roman style' meaning a great villa. This was published in English in 1794 A.D. and in 1888 a great buried palace was found in the correct place, quite a vindication of ancient Welsh records. The inference must be that Owen some time between 100 and 160 A.D. was in close and good relationships with the

The Romans undoubtably recognised the Silurian Kings as the titular Kings of Britain. The sons of Caradoc were Cyllin and Euddav, and Cyllin ruled as King a Christian King remembered as a Saint. At this time relations with the Romans were probably good. When Cyllin died he was followed by his son Coel as a Bard and a second son as King Owen. This King Owen was recorded the as building a large palace
-'in -

Romans.

King Owen was in fact succeeded by the son of Coel his brother, this was King Lleirwg, or Lles ap Coel. The son of Owen was Meirchion or Eirchion who was the Bard. King Lleirwg sent his famous embassy to Eleutherus the Bishop of Rome at some time around 170 to 180 A.D. At this time Marcus Antonius Verus issued an edict against the Christians and what Lleirwg was doin o find his way around a political-religious problem. King Lleirwg is credited with building the firs of Llandaff, previously the British had used the old Druidic circles to celebrate their Christian rehgious rifes. He was the nominal King of Britain, which is perfectly in keeping with Roman practice. At this time Lucius Verus permitted conquered kings to continue to reign and there is no doubt that Lleirwg ruled.
from the mad, the legions in Britain mutinied and there was considerable bloodshed whilst Helvius Pertinax gained control in Britain. From Britain Pertinax returned to Rome to become Emperor, a portent of future similar climbs to power. When Pertinax died there was a squabble for power with the leading contenders emerging as the British Legate Didius Clodius Septimus Albinus, and the Pannonian Legate L. Septimus Severus each supported by their legions. They fought it out in Gaul where Albinus, after whom Cardiff is probably named, was supported by a British army. Septimus Severus won and became the new Emperor, and he now came to Britain to secure the Island to his Empire. He had a problem as the legions had fought him in Gaul and he needed to place new garrisons in Britain.
-

When Lleirwg died however the Emperor Commodus attempted to wrest sovereign power Silurian Kings and assumed the title Britannicus. He was not only unpopular and probably

and built his great wall, simply reinforcing Hadrians work. At this time Tertulian wrote of British districts, to Roman arms but subduedby Christ'. This can only mean Wales and in particular South Wales. Too many have seen the Roman relationship with Britain as one of absolutes, conceiving of complete Roman domination. This was far from the case except in limited areas, such as the Southern area of England, south of Gloucester where the Triads record the Coritani as joining the Romans to such an extent as to become part of them. Elsewhere the Roman influence was confined to their thirty three towns and their forts. Their towns were enclaves of isles of Roman rule in a sea of native power. These civitates or colonies were dotted throughout Britain and were of different status with differing rules of government. Nine colonies were set up by veteran retired legionaries, these being minature representations of their parent Rome, with the same laws and customs. Next came two municipia equal with all the rights of Roman citizenship, using however their own laws unless they selected those of Rome. Then came ten towns invested with Latii' the Latin right, electing their own magistrates and enacting their own laws. The remaining twelve towns were termed stipendary and liable to payment of tribute until they were relieved by the Emperor Caracalla.
'inaccessible

So in 207 A.D. Severus came to Britain

'jus

60

What it all amounts to is that the Roman rule over Britain left the vast mass of the country and the people unaffected. Triad No21 tells that the chief compulsory effect of Roman Rule was the payment of soldiers for foreign an annual tribute of 3,000 pieces of silver, whilst the Romans alternatively recruited
service. Camden names twelve such units, including the Ala Britonum in Egypt, the Cohors VII Britonum in Armenia, the Britones cum Magistro Equitum Galliarum, the Invicti Juniores Britones intra Hispanias, and the Britones seniores in Illyrico. As we have said it was as with King Herod and Pontius Pilate, or with the Kings of Pontus, or Nubia, or Bythnia, and so on. Only the Coritani became Romanised as Triad No. 15 relates.

Septimus Severus died in 211 A.D. at York, unable to leave unstable and volatile Britain. His two sons had different mothers, Caracalla, a British mother,and Geta a Roman. So the British backed Caracalla and he defeated Geta in a bloody war. As emperor Caracalla turned out to be both tyrannical and immoral he was murdered at Edessa in 217 A.D.
Over in South Wales King Lleirwg had died around 180 to 190 and King Gorwg, son of Meirchion ruled. by Later he was succeeded by King Gorthfwn. These Kings still ruled a Christian Kingdom as attested divine goodness of our Lord and Saviour is equally diffused Origen writing around 236 A.D. stating of the world'. Actually Justin Martyr wrote circa 140 among the Britons, the Africans and othernations that in his time every country known to the Romans contained professors of the Christian faith. Again Irenaeus in A.D. 169 speaks of Christian churches established amongst the Celtae. The third century is in fact a generally obscure period in British history.
-'the

of the Christians by the Romans they were What is noticable is that in all the various persecutions unable or even afraid to proceed against the British Christians. Any Martyrs would have undoubtably the Herald Bards, and they recorded none. been recorded by the Arwyddweirdd
-

In Wales King GwrthI succeeded King Gorthwfn,was himself succeeded by his son King Ensyth (Idnerth?) another descendant of GonNg, 8 JOint King named Rhun. These two were succeeded by another pair, their respective sons named King Arthvael (Arthur) and King Meirchion. Over in Colchester the Roman general Flavius Valerius Constantius married the daughter of Coel Godebog around 270 A.D. This was Helen the mother of Constantine the Great born in 273, and divorced by Constantius in 286 when he
married Maximian's daughter Theodora in order to inherit the Empire. what was the state of Britain during the years 77 A.D. to 411 A.D. is The problem of understanding actually a problem of understanding just exactly what was the nature of the Roman Empire. It appears to have been a collosal commercial enterprise. A trading monopoly, a gigantic closed market, with it's trading outposts scattered throughout the Meditteranean world and Western Europe. AII through this great spread of nations the Romans established trading towns and colonies, and exploited the wealth of the nations. It's motivating force was that which was behind every other Empire, the Spanish empire, the Portugese empire, the last British empire, greed. The desire to keep Britain inside the empire lay in the fact that the Romans feared for the security of Gaul if Britain were totally gependant. Then if Gaul fell to the British or others, Switzerland was not safe, and if Switzerland felt then so might Northern Italy and then Rome. The domino theory. All through the Third Century, emperors were selected by armies, and the imperial title was decided by force of arms. The only place where contenders might marry into highly regarded families and so gain some legitimacy was in fact Britain. Powerful native kings were strong allies, and the whole Island was a great unique fortress. In 286 Diocletian, who had definite ideas about governing the empire through a number of top men a committee or board of directors, made Carausius, the King of the Silures, governor of Britain. Carausius the Admiral soon declared himself Emperor of Britain, a fact accepted by in their Triads. He seized Northern Gaul and made invasion from Europe the British and recorded impossible the domino theory in reverse.
-

Carausius was killed by his lieutenant Alectus in 292, and almost immediately a ruler named Aesclepiodotus Britanny, or more doubtfully North Wales or of, doubtfully, Counuailles of either Cornwailes
-

Cornwall, claimed total overlordship of Britain. He was opposed by Coel Godebog up in York, but in to the 297 an invasion by Constantinus, the husband of Helen, settled the matter. So Britain returned ruled Loegria England from York, Roman empire, Coel Godebog dying in 297 A.D. Coel undoubtably and the line of Glamorgan Kings still dominated in South Wales. Britain was still a power base with independgroyal families and kingdoms, all following their own laws and customs.
-

Around

evidence The Welsh record credits him with burning down Roman London, and certainly archealogical proves that the city was burned down. This would have happened around 280 to 320 A.D. and is an with the British Kings. Notably this was the indication of the peculiar nature of Roman relationships period of the great anti-Christian wave of persecutions launched by Diocletian and Maximus in 303 A.D.

this time there were upheavals in Britain, two new kings sat on the throne in South Wales, a King Gwrgan Frych the Freckled and King Meurig. They were succeeded by King Crair, the No. 27 King of Gwent. He is notable as his titles included 'The Dragon of Gwent', a warrior general designation
.

61

where in Britain only Roman citizens in Roman towns suffered. These were Julius and Aaron at Caerleon and Alban at Verulanium, Constantinus up in York was unwilling to persecute and simply pulled down some churches. King Crair undoubtably gave the British answer to this attack on their religion and burned down Roman London. The successor to King Crair, who died around 310 to 330 A.D. was his son King Euddav Octavius. The interesting point is that Euddav had a brother named Casnar Wiedig The Dragon of Gwent, and Wiedig means Leader in Battle so they were at war. This is borne out by the scraps of history which remain, for when Constantine the Great left Britain to become Emperor of East and West in 306, King Euddav rebelled around 312. By 322 King Euddav presumably through the efforts of Casnar Wiedig on the battlefields was master of Britain. He remained so until at least 367 A.D. The Emperor sent a British kinsman Trahairn to oppose Euddav and Euddav killed him.
-

\
3

What we have done is to trace in brief the outline history of the earliest and only consistently Christian kingdom in the world. We deal with this more fully in the 'Origins of Arting' here it is sufficient to show the basis of the old Christian kingdom which produced hii. The Triad No 62 gives the position. "The Three Archbishoprics of the Isle of Britain". "The first Llandaff; founded by Lleirwy the son of Coe/ the son of Cy//in, who first gave land and national privileges to those who first embraced the faith in Christ". "The second York; founded by the Emperor Constantine, who was the first of the Roman Emperors who embraced the Christian faith. "The Third London; founded by the Emperor Mascen W/edig (Magnus Maximus)". Bishop Usher and Spellman quoting from Optat de Schism ilb.i. get the picture very wrong; they quote Bishop Eborius of York, Restitutus of Londinensium London and Adelfius of Londinensium accompanied by Sacerdos his Presbyterand Arminius his deacon. This would mean York, London and third Lincoln, which cannot be for the representation from each province was a bishop and hisPresbyter. So the three Bishops from Britain at the 314 A.D. Council at Artes were from the three provinces of Maxima Caesarensis York, from Britannia Prima London and from Britannia Secunda Caerleon on Usk or Llandaff. Here was the colony of the Second Legion and ignorant transcribers obviously committed the blunder of placing civit col. Londin' instead of civit. col. Leg, ii'. Significantly Iolo Morganwg Adelfius states that Edelfed was the fourth bishop of Llandaff. There is no case for the sending of a bishop from Lincoln, making uniquely two from one Roman province. In fact the correct transcription civitates Landavensi'. Many Welsh church 'Llans' were styled civitates. may well have been as follows,
-

'de

'de

'de

Britain.

In fact Church Councils prove the domination of Britain by King Euddav, Only the Archbishop of York would have attended at Niceain 325 for only his see conformed with ideas from that Council. In A.D. 347 at a Council in Sardica in Illyria British Bishops were reported by Athanasius. They would have been from London and Wales dominated by Euddav as the Council condemned Arius. So also did Council a convened by Constantius at Ariminum in Italy in 359 where the Emperor compelled bishops to subscribe to the views of Arius, and no emperor would have dared attempt to compell British bishops to support such views whilst Euddav ruled in Britain. Athanasius in his 'De Synodis' of 358 congratulates the British and German bishops on their rejection of the Arian heresy. Again Athanasius and the Antioch Council of 363 assured the Emperor Jovian of British adherence to the Nicene creed by letters from

Roman power / on a summer's

in Britain was confined to colony towns and fortresses and it vanished like morning mist day when these were evacuated finally in 406 to 411 A.D. For most of the period from 77 A.D. to 411 A.D. a total of 334 years of their control was in fact minimal and even non-existant for long periods. The Kings prevailed and the Christian religion based on British Druidic philosophy continued without a break.

THE GOTHS
In Eastern Europea human flood was threatening to engulf the Empire whilst Britain remained an uneasy unstable outpost of Roman influence. Herodotus the Greek historian in his works tells of how around 700 B.C. there were great population movements up in Russia and Asia, north of China. In two seperate accounts he describes what modern political observers have classified as the Domino syndrome. One domino falls, knocking over the next, which in turn knocks over the next and this tumbles the next and so on in a chain reaction. In the simplest description he describes how the Massagetae tribal confederation encroached on the Scythian confederation who in turn moved west to encroach on the lands of the Kinmeroi confederation. The result was that the hordes of the Kimmeroi burst west and south down into Asia to attack Assyria, Syria and Asia Minor (Turkey) and west into central Europe.
and

The Scythians of who a great deal is known, slowly moved west, their successful outmanoevering of the armies of the Persian Empire at its peak is well recorded and they were a very large, very well developed group of nations with a vast population. For centuries they lay scattered through Southern Russia around the shores of the Black Sea stretching through Southern Poland into what is now Rumania and Bulgaria. Slowly and inevitably these masses of people moved west into Europe and around 200 A.D. the Roman

62

Empire was awakened to the fact that an enormous mass of people was assembling on the northern shores of the River Danube, which formed the frontier of the empire. These masses were known as the Greutungi the Goths who had been the Scythians of the Central Steppes in the time of Herodotus.
-

The major tribal groupings of the Goths were the Tervingi inhabitants of the forest region', and Greutungi inhabitants of the Steppes'. Later the Tervingi would become known as the Cesegoti the Visigoths, and the Greutungi as the Ostrogoths. Along with these major tribal confederations were another group of very large tribes named the Heruli, the Gepidae, the Borani, the Urugundi and the Taifali. The Taifali are our major interest.
-

'the

'the

Then added to this massive conglomeration of Scythian Gothic tribes were others such as the Alans, a large Vandal related tribe out of Central Asia old Parthia and other allies.
-

The tribes known as the Ostrogoths derived their name not from East Goths, but from their armour. They were known as the 'Shining Goths', and their previous base had been around Kerch in the Crimea, with the Visigoths west of them over the Dniester River. In the reign of the Emperor Severus Alexander, 222 to 225 A.D. the attacks began and the Greek towns of Olbia and Tyras fell to the Goths. In the time of Gordian III the Goths again crossed the Danube with the help of the Dacians and Carpi on the Roman side. The Roman Procurator of Macedonia and Thrace could do nothing and he, Tullius Menophillas, in 238 to 242 agreed to pay an annual subsidy or tribute to the Goths to stay north of the Danube. So the Roman Empire paid tribute to the Gothic Kings. The attacks were later renewed and in 248 A.D. the Taifali, the Asdingi, the Bastarnae, under their kings Argaith and Gunterich attacked Moesia Bulgaria, and besieged Marcianopole.
-

In 250 they came again into Moesia with the help of the Carpi from Dacia under the legendary

King
4
.

Kniwa.
The worst was yet to come for in 251 A.D. the Emperor Phillipus Arg Philip the Arab was killed in battle with Decius at Verona and Decius became Emperor of Rome. The new Emperor was faced with a Gothic invasion of Thrace, for they had waited for a hot dry summer to cross the Dobruja marshes. So on a hot summer's day the new Emperor Decius brought his Roman legions to face the massed heavy cavalry of the Goths at Dobruja and Decius became the first Roman Emperor to die at the hands of the Goths as his army was annihilated.
-

The border was now wide open and from 254 to 268 there was constant fighting as the Romans fought to save Macedonia, Thrace, Greece and Illyrium, whilst the Goths, the Alans, the Roxolani, the Heruli, the Taifali and others ravaged the whole area. Finally to finish off the war the Gothic king decided on a In 269 he attacked with a land army of some 300,000 men, mass assault and made his preparations. crossing into Roman territory and a huge Gothic fleet from the Black Sea, numbering some 2,000 ships, passed through the Dardanelles to attack Greece thus creating an enormous pincer movement.

The whole of Greece was plundered and so finally was Thessalonica the capital of Macedonia. The slaughter of the population was enormous, resulting in whole areas on a vast scale being totally deserted. Fortunately the Romans had again managed to produce an excellent general and in Claudius Il they had a man capable of outmanoevring the Gothic hordes as they split up and wearily and hungrily went home.
He caught them at Naissus and won a complete victory; the Taifali are recorded as fighting at Banat. Now Claudius II had to try to make peace with the Goths whilst he still held some advantage before other armies of the great hordes could be moved against him. There was now a Inass settlement of Goths in Dacia, which did nothing to bring real peace and for fourteen years from 270 to 284 the raids went on. Thousands upon thousands of Goths were colonised to fill the depopulated zones of the empire and the Romans regularly recruited Goths into their legions and auxilliary regiments. On all sides the Empire was being subjected to barbarian attacks, not least the cornerstone of western defence, the island of Britain. The attacks on Britain were coming from the Scots of Ireland, the Picts of Scotland and the German tribes from up around Heligoland the Rhine estuaryknown as the Saxons. AII these sea borne raiders were plaguing the British province and to meet this threat the defences of the island were placed in the hands of Carausius, the military governor and admiral. Carausius was provided with a substantial fleet to clear the seas around Britain and took his appointment from 286 A.D. How effective this appointment was is difficult to assess, for Carausius took the opportunity to declare himself independant Emperor of Britain. This ran contrary to the plans of the new and energetic who could not tolerate an independant Emperor Dioc and potentially hostile Britain which could threaten Gaul and so with a domino effect threaten Italy and Rome itself. War between Carausius and Rome was inevitable. Carausius was of course King Crair or Carawn of Menevia.

of two Emperors styled Augustii one for the west, one for the east. Each Augustii was to havean executive lieutenant called Caesar, a younger man who would in time become an Augustii him-

Now Diocletian which consisted

evolved a new form of government

of the Roman Empire. He organised the Tetrachy

63

self when the older man retired or died and would appoint a Caesar in turn as his lieutenant. So Diocletian took the east with Galerius as his Caesar and he appointed Maximian as Emperor of the west with Constantius Chlorus as his Caesar. Galerius had to divorce his wife to marry Valeria the daughter of Emperor Diocletian and Constantius Chlorus had to divorce Helena, his wife, to marry Theodora daughter of Maximian.
.

So Constantius Chlorus, Caesar of the west was sent against the independant Carausius Emperor of Britain. The first round went decisively to Carausius for he used his fleet to win a major battle in the Channel on the 21st April 289. (The site is known and a number of wrecks should lie on the sea bed King Crair Celtic there). Peace was now made and the writer Aurelius Victor tells that Carausius King of the Silures was recognised and allowed to rule Britain. In fact Carausius held most of the major ports on the French Channel coasts, supplying them and protecting them with his fleets a clear portent of the British colonisation of present day Normandy, Britanny and Poitiers, which began around 383 A.D. one hundred years later.
-

The Roman accusations against Carausius were that he was a worse pirate than the Picts, Saxons and Scots, making no attempt at defence but taking a share of the predator's loot as a form of tax. This was we believe propaganda to justify the Roman conquest of Britain, for Gaul lay at the mercy of Britain as Magnus Maximas and Constantine were to prove. For two years Constantius Chlorus prepared his invasion of Britain to attack the rebel Emperor. First he had to capture the French coastal ports for unless he did this, his invasion could not be launched. One by one the Romans took the ports until finally in 293 Constantius Chlorus took Boulogne.

Over in Britain events were also

moving fast when Allectus the deputy of Carausius murdered his chief and took control. The fleets of Britain were deployed along the south eastern coast to meet the invasion, but they never actually got into battle. The Romans sailed in two fleets under cover of a dense fog, a quite incredible risk tohave taken. One fleet under the Praetorian Prefect Aesclepiodotus slipped past the fleets of Britain to enter Southampton Water and set the troops on shore, whilst the other, under Constantius Chlorusfound its way up into the Thames estuary and by 296 A.D. Britain was reconquered. The Emperor Augusti Maximian had moved his army into Gaul whilst Constantius completed the British invasion and re-conquest.

This brings Britain back into the orbit of the Roman Empire which now includes large scale contact with the Goths. The names of Constantius and his son Constantine and grandson Constans now take their place in the history, myths and legends of Britain. Constantius had killed off Alectus, the murderer of Carausius the King, and in 298 he returned to Gaul to defeat the German Alemanni. Then on the 1st May 305 both Diocletian and Maximian resigned as Emperors to go into retirement. In the west Constantius Flavius Valerius Constantius (Chlorus) became Emperor and in the east Galerius was Emperor. Two new Caesar lieutenants were chosen, Flavius Valerius Severus in the west and in the east the nephew of the Emperor Galerius, named Galerius Valerius Maximus Daia was selected. Trouble began immediately for in the west Maxentius, the son of Maximian had been ignored and so had Constantinus the son of Constantius. The mob in Rome proclaimed Maxentius Emperor Augusti and Constantinus fled to Britain to his father the Emperor Augusti Constantius. Here he married Helen, daughter of the British King named Coel, a sign of British power.
-

In July 306the Emperor Constantius died at York and the British legions declared Constantinus Emperor Emperor, Constantinus I, was of the west. Out of the confused muddle which ensued this new to emerge triumphant. Severus the Caesar lieutenant of the west was forced to surrender to Maximian by the Emperor the retired Emperor Augusti when his troops deserted. Poor Severus was then executed of the Roman mob, Maxentius, son of Maximian (retired).In 307 Galerius tried to invade Italy and failed, then in 308 Maxentius raised himself from Caesar to Augustus level and his father fled the Constantinus who now ruled Britain and Gaul. So Galerius Emperor of the east, dragged Diocletian out of retirement to a conference which stated that Maximian who was supposed to have retired in 306 should in fact addicate. The conference decided that Valerius Licinianus Licinus should rule the west, with Constantinus as his Caesar and Galerius and his nephew Galerius Daia should continue in the east.
'soldiers'

Constantinus Constantinus in 311 (May) east, Licinius

refused this so he was offered the title of Filius Augusti and finally killed the troublesome Maximian who would not retire peacefully the situation resolved itself into another four cornered fight with ruling the Balkans, Maxentius ruling italy and Constantius holding

that of Augusti. In 310 Galerius died Galerius Daia ruling the Gaul, Britain and Spain.
and when

First Constantinus made a shock invasion of Italy and defeated Maxentius's army at Verona, and then defeated and killed Maxentius himself at the Milvain Bridge (Saxa Rubra) October 28th in 312. Then he met with Licinius at Milan in 313 and the famous Edict of Milan was issued restoring rights to Christians something the Christians quickly forgot in their scramble for and giving equal rights to all religions wealth and power.
-

Now there were only three Imperial contenders and Daia crossed from the east to attack Licinius in the Balkans. He was defeated at Tzallium in 313 and fled to Tarsus where he died. Now there were two Constantinus in the west and Licinius in the east. There was friction as Licinius was an anti-Christian

64

and Constantinus was pro-Christian and this led to war. In 314 Licinius was defeated at Adrianopole and his fleet was destroyed by Crispus the son of Constantinus and in 324 Constantinus I became Great' ruler of the total Empire east and west.
'the

Constantinus
council

the Great now involved himself deeply into religious affairs. He had sponsored the great of Arles in 314, he summoned the first world wide ecumenical council of the church at Nicea in Asia Minor in 325. On the 11th May 330 A.D. he dedicated the site of his new capital city of Constantinople to be built on the site of Byzantium to command the Bosphotus.

This good Christian Emperor put his own son to death on the insistence of his second wife Fausta in 326, and three young sons succeeded him.
Whilst all this was going on inside the Roman Empire, the Goths were not totally inactive. On the 20th April 322 the Emperor Constantinus fought the Goths and the Taifals who had crossed the Danube again. The Romans had allies in the Sarmatians for this battle which caused the Goths and Taifali to withdraw. Over in Britain King Euddav of Gwent ruled as an independant King. When Constantinus died in 337 (May 22) the twenty year old Constantius*Il got the east, his twin Constantinus Il got the west, and the 14 year old Constans got the Balkans and North Africa. These three naturally now tried to kill each other. Constantinus II of Rome and the west attacked Constans and was killed for his trouble at Aquiliea in 340 A.D. Constans ruled the west and was himself killed by Magnus Magnentius in January 350. Constantius in the east had as his first action executed or murdered his cousins Dalmatius and Annibalianus the nephews of Constantine the Great in 337. Now when his brothers were dead he ceased his Persian wars and attacked Magnus Magentius in the west. In 351 he defeated Magnus at the confluence of the rivers Danube and Drave and Maxentius fled to commit suicide in Lugdunnum Lyons in Gaul in 353.
-

On 15th March351 Constantius Il chose his cousin Gallus as Caesar but in 354 he executed chose a half brother of Gallus named Julian to be Caesar.

him. Then he

At this time the Goths were consolidating an Empire north of the Danube and an even greater threat was slowly developing over in the vast wastes of the steppes and deserts of Russia and Siberian Asia. became more stabilised however and by 350 A.D. the Gothic Empire was ruled by their King Ermanaric. This King was a strong and energetic ruler, but fate in the form of the ancient barbaric and feared Massagetae, now called the Huns, was moving against the Goths. In 376 A.D. the Huns The situation but it must have been a attacked Ermanaric and defeated his army, the scale of this battle is unrecorded Ermanaric has been recorded as a villain in the great saga which now pushed the Goths huge encounter. south and west away from the Huns, but it is difficult to know exactly what occurred. Next Athanaric the judex or paramount chief of the Visigoths resisted the Huns unsuccessfully, and in late 376 he led his people across the Danube. This move by Athanaric to place his people in safety south of the barrier of the Danube was opposed by the Romans and in 378 A.D. Athanaric killed the Emperor Valens at the battle of Adrianopole. Now we know that during the semi peace from 269 to 350 between the Goths and the Romans that the large numbers of Gothic tribes into his army, including Taifalic Gothic Emperor Claudius Il recruited tribes as complete heavy cavalry units and the Emperor who succeeded Claudius Il followed this policy. The names of many of the Gothic and other tribal chiefs are known and they include Fritigern who rivalled and replaced Athararich in status and power and the later Ermanarich. Others were Alavio, Manderich, Eriwuff and Fravitta. In 377 the Taifali were off again under their chief Farnobius and they again over-ran Thrace. As far back as 270 A.D. the Emperor Claudius II had recruited Taifalic cavalry into the Roman army and these units may well have accompanied Roman emperors and their generals on expeditions into Britain. Our interest in them will centre on their presence inside the eastern borders of theWestern Empire under the paramount the Register chief of the Goths, Athanarich in 376 and 377 A.D. We know from the Notitia Dignitatus of the Roman Army that Taifalic cavalry was sent to serve in Britain. We needed to see how they got there.
-

The Empire of Rome lay under the command

of the Augustus Constantinus 11 and his Caesar Julian in 360 A.D. Julian as general in the west, fought the Germanic Alemani and the Franks in Gaul, and in 357 he had won a decisive battle at Strassburg where he defeated the combined army of seven kings and ten 35,000 men. These kings included Vestrap, Serapio and Chuodomar sub-kings of the Franks, numbering and the composition of this army with its large collection of kings and sub-kings gives a good illustration of the later composition of British armies fighting under King Arthur.

Julian marched, inevitably, to fight his Emperor, Constantinus II, in 360 but Constantinus died before Julian arrived in the east in 361. Julian became known as the Apostate when he tried to get rid of

65

Christianity and substitute the older religions. He was a successful emperor as a soldier defeating enemies in the east and the west before he died in July 363.
The next emperor was Jovianus, an elected choice of the Roman soldiers. He surrendered to the Persians and then died on 17th February after reigning for seven months. Next came
general and successfully

Mesopotamia

Flavius Valentinianus I, elected in 364 at the age of 32. The new emperor was an able beat back barbarian invasions in the west of the Empire. The east he handed over to his brother Valens to rule as co-Augustus (28th March 364). This new emperor was a hard and cruel man, ruthless in carrying out his plans. One of his most able generals was named Theodosius, whom we shall call Theodosius the Elder for Theodosius the general who served successfully in Britain had a son who was destined to take control of the entire Empire, also named Theodosius. The rightful heir to the Imperial throne was however Magnus, the son of Theodore, who was a first their fathers were brothers. His family regarded all emperors after cousin of Constantine the Great Jovianus as usurpers. Both Magnus and Constantine married British princesses and the descendants of Magnus as Kings of Glamorgan were the heirs to Rome.
-

MAGNUS MAXIMUS- MASCEN WLEDIG

The story of Magnus Maximus who figures so largely in Welsh tradition, is probably a tale of greater effort and tragic failure which eclipses that of Arthur II. Certainly history seems to have been unkind to Magnus Maximus Greatest of the Great' and strangely appreciative of his enemy Theodosius I who did more than any other man to destroy the Roman Empire, and yet is called Theodosius the Great. Like Constantine, Magnus had a British princess as his wife.
'the
-

For generations the Romans had been forced to recruit soldiers from the Germanic tribes which pressed along the northern borders of her Empire. Some tribes had been admitted into lands within the Empire to act as farmers to replace the dwindling population and as federate allies to repel other invaders in the east, but the frontiers held. In 379 the Franks and Vandals crossed the Rhine and the Emperor Gratian threw them back. He had many German soldiers and favoured the Alans amongst them, so alienating the Romans and the other Germans. To help run the enormous empire Gratian made his young half-brother, Valentinian 11, co-Augustus in the west; and then made Theodosius, the son of a successful general from Britain, Emperor of the East in 379 A.D. Gratian's half-brother was a child whose appointment was to secure the succession. Theodosius I had the task of securing the tottering Eastern Empire at Constantinople and his policies were to prove disastrous for the west. Gratian was an able soldier, capable of winning battles, but nothing else. Outside of soldiering his only interest lay in sports and hunting. He even entered the arenas of the Roman amphitheatres to hunt wild beasts. Yet all around him there was economic and social turmoil, crying out for reform, demanding action and sapping the moral fibre of the Empire. The Emperor was inadequate and the Romans of every province knew it. His co-Emperor in the East, Theodosius I, was in a desperate situation with the Eastern Empire beset by Persian strength and the violence of Saracen desert raiders, already in 376 the Huns had swept south through he Russian Caucasus following the path of the Kimmeroi of one thousand years before and attacked Antioch. Up on the Danube the barbarian Germanic hordes pressed in upon the Empire and the East seemed destined to fall. Then in 383 A.D. the legions and auxilliary regiments in Britain elected Magnus Maximus as their Emperor tosolvethe problem. Now Magnus Clemens Maximus claimed kinship with the Eastern Emperor Theodosius and when he crossed from Britain into Gaul he was welcomed. First Magnus Maximus took Paris and after five days of desultory skirmishing with the army which Gratian brought against him, won a bloodless victory. First Gratian's Moorish cavalry deserted to Magnus and then the rest and fled. Magnus Maximus sent his grandson and chief general, Andragathius Gratian, left with 300horsemen, (in Welsh Arthur) to catch Gratian and he found him at the city of Lugdunum (Lyons) where the Emperor was assured of his safety by Arthur I, and then murdered at a banquet on 25th August 383. In fact three ancient cities were known as Lugdunum Lyons, Leyden and St. Bentrand.
-

To ratify

his position, Magnus now sent an embassy to Theodosius I in Constantinople to demand of his right to the title Emperor of the West. It was notable that the chamberlain and Ambassador of Magnus was not a eunuch in contrast to general practise. The whole of Britain, Gaul, Spain,and North Africa, rallied to Magnus Maximus and statues were erected in public places to him. Even in Egypt the mob in Alexandria rioted in the streets, shouting for Maximus.
recognition

Maximus made his fatal and disastrous This iswhereMagnus Italy, where the child son of Gratian, named now Valentinian and Bishop Ambrose of Milan.

mistake, for he hesitated to march into II, was fought over by his mother Justina

In the east,Theodosius I delayed his answer and in the west when Magnus Maximus sent his son Victor Uther to Italy, Ambrose and Justina resisted this move. During these delays Bauto, the Frankish
-

66

Mascen Wiedig

--

Grandfather of Arthur the Conqueror

-

Magnus Maximus

Emperor

of the West A.D. 383-388

Magnus Maximus Emperor of the West A.D. 383-388, first cousin of Constantine the Great, Emperor of East and West - lived around A.D. 300 to July 388. He married Helen daughter of King Euddav of Britain. Invaded Gaul 383, with Conan Meriadauc nephew of King Euddav, gave Britanny to Conen. Magnus died at Apulia after first ruling from Triers. Magnus was the father of Victor Uther in Welsh of Marcellus, of Owain King of Britain 411-426, of Publicus and Constantine Victor was the Augustus of -- both saints, St. Peblig and St. Custenhinn (Anhun, Arthun, Anarawd) Gaul and father of Arthur who commanded the armies of Magnus.
--

67

general of Valentinian II was desperately blocking the passes through the Alps, sealing off Italy from Magnus. The impatient Magnus invited Valentinium Il to Gaul, but excuses were made. Then in 385-386 Ambrose went to Trier in Gaul to see Magnus Maximus, who flatly refused to release Gratian's corpse for re-burial in Italy. Finally it became clear to Maximus that war between himself and the eastern Empire, plus Italy, was inevitable. His own position was strong but he had hesitated seeking the cooperation of Theodosius, instead of taking what was there to be had. In the east Theodosius I was in some difficulty in 383 when Magnus Maximus arrived in Gaul, for his enemy Emperor Ardraschin of Persia (379-383) had died and no-one knew how the new Emperor Sapor III would act (383-388).Then when the time wasting was going on between himself and Valentinian, the Jungurthi tribe of the Alemani confederation invaded Rhaetia (the Austrian Tyrol) then the Huns and Alani approached Gaul and were diverted to the Alemani territories. Maximus complained and Valentinian still afraid of Maximus, paid the Alemani to pull back. The main problem for the Western Empire was Theodosius, whose whole life and policy whilst Emperor was directed to one ambition and nothing else, whatever the cost; that was to place his two sons on the Imperial thrones, Arcadius in the east and Honorius in the west. To do this and to defeat Maximus, the megalomaniac Theodosius opened wide the floodgates to the barbarians who had recently threatened the Eastern Empire with extinction, recruiting them in huge numbers to swell his armies. So great was this recruitment that it was irreversible, no matter what the outcome of the war between the eastern and western halves of the Empire which Theodosius was making inevitable. In Italy the danger was seen and Dominus, who had replaced Ambrose as minister sought help from Magnus Maximus to drive a barbarian invasion out of Pannonia. This gave Magnus his chance and he sent part of his army to help, but followed on immediately behind with his main armies and so forced the passes of the Cationian Alps. Now Magnus was in Italy and Justina fled with the young Valentinian II to Thessalonica where they were soon joined by Theodosius I. As Theodosius had recently married the sister of Valentinian there was no longer any doubt of the future war breaking out.

As Valentinian was an Aryan Christian and Magnus an orthodox worshipper, he again sent an embassy to Theodosius stating that his actions were in support of the Creed of Nicea Again Theodosius gave non-committal and vague meaningless replies, and spent time converting Valentinian to orthodox religion, In Magnus Maximus the Empire of the west based in Rome had the Emperor it needed to legislate, govern and organise it out of chaos and to preserve it as a strong entity, yet Theodosius's ambition was to found a dynasty and he was determined on war.
.

ceremonies each month which the Emperor had to attend; evening main meals were simulations of the Last Supper yet any slave unfortunate enough to drop a dish was either beheaded or flogged and tortured; at Easter the Emperor attended this supper with his face painted white to resemble a corpse and wearing a shroud.
-

To get some insight into the nature of this cruel and cunning monster, we may do well to consider the religious practices of the old Christian church in Constantinople. There were some thirty religious

However Theodosius now opened his treasury and recruited barbarians from all corners. The lure of the chance to ransack Italy, Gaul and the west brought thousands from every corner to his standards. Patatus tells us that from Taurus to the Danube and from the Nile to the Caucasus they flocked in. He enlisted Goths, Huns, Alani and many other tribes. Theodosius appointed Promotus to command his cavalry and Timasius to command the infantry, but the chief commanders were in fact the Goth, Richomer, and the Frank, Arbogast. In January 388 Maximus took Rome and set his fleet to patrol the Adriatic and prepared for the struggle. The situation is alarmingly stark and simple; here was an Emperor of the west, acclaimed and needed by Italy, Gaul, Spain, Britain and Africa and against him was coming the co-regent of the Empire in the east. This Eastern Emperor had married an heiress of the west, Galla sister of Valentinian Il and had the young Valentinian in his power and he was obviously bent on ruling both East and West. This Theodosius did not give a damn whether he ruled a Roman Empire or any other sort of empire as long as he and his heirs ruled it. So he tore down the frontiers of the Empire and brought in the barbarian hordes. moved with his hordes, on 14th June he was at Stobi and by the 21st June he Now Magnus tried to promote the assassination of Theodosius I by plots among the Germans but this failed and the tigges rolled on. At the battle of Siscia on the Sare River Theodosius's generals defeated Arthur the Conqueror the senior of Magnus Maximus's generals and his grandson, and killed him. Then came a second defeat for Maximus's forces when his army, under his brother Macellinus, was defeated at Poetovio. Theodosius moved on to Aemona (Laibach) and took it whilst Magnus Maximus retreated to Italy and entered Aquileia.
was at Scupi (Uscub).
-

In June 388 Theodosius

Theodosius I gave no time for Magnus Maximus to gather fresh forces and he forced Magnus to surrender. This Emperor of the West was then murdered by the megalomaniac Theodosius I on the 28th July 388. The fleet of Magnus was defeated by that of the East off Sicily.

Then the senior of Theodosius's

generals, Arbegast the Frank King, now moved into Gaul and fought

68

Uther --Father Victor

--

of Arthur

Son of Magnus Maximus, Augustus of Gaul

Victor, Marcellus, and Arthur the Commander his name translates as Uther in Welsh. in

The Generals of Magnus were Congn Meriadauc, Chief. Victor was appointed the Augustus of Gaul

Victor was the eldest son of Magnus Maximus, Emperor of the West A.D. 383 to 388, and Queen Helen of Arthur who conquered daughter of King Euddav of Britain. He lived around 330 to 388.

Europe for his Grandfather Magnus Maximus,

$wke

69

with Victor Uther the Pendragon Augustus of Gaul the son of Magnus. Victor, the Augustus of Gaul, was killed and Arbogast became ruler of Gaul. In fact when Magnus Maximus was forced to move east to Sunno invaded Gaul. Magnus had left Quintinus and Nannienus, who had been Magistra Militum under Gratian, to defend Gaul. Theodosius had obviously attacked Magnus in the rear and these Frank hordes threatened Cologne. The Romans Quintinus and Nannienus won a victory against them at Tournai Silva Carbonaria and unsuccessfully invaded Frankish territory. Now Arbogast the Frank ruled Gaul, with Syrus and Carrietto as magistri militum.
-

Now Theodosius ruled Constantinople and Rome and Valentinian was his puppet. They were both at Milan in 389 and significantly Theodosius brought his younger son with him, 5 year old Honorius, and Bishop Ambrose was back in political power. From this moment on the fate of the Roman Empire was sealed, never again would they rule Britain, Gaul or Spain after Constantine would make a last effort in 406 A.D. Valentinian Il now realised his peril from Theodosius I and too late he went to Gaul. Here he found that Arbogast ruled as a king, whilst in Rome the pagan party again raised itself to attempt to restore the old religions instead of Christianity, demanding the restoration of victory'. There is someof the thing to be said for this wish to return to an old established creed and system which might again bind Romans together and revive their nationalism. Obviously a large number of Romans consistently and always held the view that Christianity had emasculated their nation.
'altar

Arbogast avoided this pagan party however and took no action to cause friction with Theodosius. Now Valentinian Il fled to Gaul and here he realised his position. His minister Harmonius was butchered by Arbogast literally at his feet, and when he handed Arbogast his written dismissal, the Frankish king tore it up and threw it into his face laughing. Arbogast told Valentinian 11 plainly that he only recognised Theodosius and now Valentinian, in fear for his life, sent for Bishop Ambrose. On the 15th May 394 the Emperor Valentinian was strangled and this was widely advertised as suicide, although it is not certain how anyone achieves the feat of self strangulation. Arbogast had done the job of removing Valentinian and Theodosius was left with clean hands. The policy of Theodosius was to destroy the Western Empire completely for he blindly ignored all other considerations apart from putting each of his young sons onto an Imperial throne. Virtually all the positions of power in both eastern and western empires were now in the hands of Germanic barbarian chieftains and he had taken almost unlimited numbers of barbarian soldiers inside the Imperial frontiers, not as recruits to Roman legions, or auxiliary units; but as groups, or armies, or regiments, in their own right under their own military leaders. No matter how long it took or what the nature of the struggles from that moment on Theodosius condemned the Western Empire to extinction and changed the nature of the Eastern Empire beyond recognition. died in 395 A.D. his young son Arcadius succeeded as Eastern Emperor, firmly under the control of Ruffinus a Goth, and then a eunuch Eutropius. In the west the child son Honorius succeeded undertheabsolutecontrol of Stilicho,a Vandal general. Had not the cunning and unscrupulous Theodosius had such a tremendous ambition to found dynasties with his sons, the Empire of the West may well have survived under the leadership of Magnus Maximus. The Emperor from Caernarvon offered a better opportunity for preserving the integrity of the empire of the west than anything Theodosius could offer. In fact the effort and failure of Magnus Maximus with his British grandson and commander Andragathius Arthur ! is a tale of heroic tragedy besides which that of even Arthur 11pales. Magnus had the support of all the western areas of the Empire, Spain, North Africa, Italy, Gaul, Britain, but Theodosius not content with the Eastern Empire used the barbarians to destroy Rome's last real opportunity for survival.
-

When Theodosius

Pendragon of legend and his grandfather, his victories.

Magnus Maximus has been underrated by history. Significantly his British grandson, Andragathius Arthur I was remembered in the Mabinogion story of Pwyll Lord of Dyfed. This tale tells of Anarawd and Pwyll (Apulia) who exchange kingdoms with a phantom king in order to settle the affairs of the land. Theodosius died in Milan on 15th January in 395 A.D. Back in Britain they remembered Arthur the Conqueror who seized Gaul, Spain, Switzerland and Italy. His father Victor became Uther
-

'secret'

Magnus Maximus, became Emperor

of the West as a result of

KING ARTHUR
It is said that
'genius

(c. 350 to 388

is the perception

A.D.) and KING ARTHUR II

(c. 491 to 570 A.D.)

was not a real life

of the obvious that no-one else can see'.

Modern pseudo-scholarship now often twists towards the view that King Arthur personality, but a figure of myth and of legend. A form of folklore phantom.
'sorf

This theory we have to allow to collapse under the weight of its own ididy, for there were ih fact two King Arthur's in the Heroic Age of Wales. There was Arthur I the of Magnus Maximus, Emperor of the West, and there was Arthur II, King of Glamorgan and Gwent, the son of King Meurig. They lived and died 150 years apart. The problem was that the Welsh preserved their history with great accuracy,

but they never used any dates. The stories were sufficient; it was the deeds which counted not the dates.

70

is that most people base their knowledge on the Both Kings are in fact very well recorded. The work of Gruffydd ap Arthur who completely failed to realise that he was describing the deeds of two quite different ancestors when he presented the Welsh history to the world in the first attempt of with a glorious proper chronological order in 1135 A.D. With the best of intentions Gruffydd came up muddle as he tried to put the true Welsh histories into their correct place in time. Gruffydd, told the truth of the great campaign of Arthur I, the son of Magnus Maximus, So Geoffrey Gaul, Spain, North Africa and Italy. When between 383 and 388 A.D. The mighty wars that conquered Gruffydd described these collosal wars he spoke the truth, with Arthur I meeting the great coillition of nations brought against him by Theodosius the Great Emperor of Constantinople. The armies of the west
-

'problem'

I r r

a 6
.

OE

The confusion begins wh n Arthur II, the son of Meurig, and grandson of King Theoderic, also fought of Cornwall and Dumnonia. This expedition a continental campaign against King Conomurus (Mark) took place in 560 A.D. and Arthur II was also victorious. Unlike the first Arthur he lived to return in triumph to Britain to be crowned King of Glamorgan. So Gruffydd ap Arthur, working without dates and only with stories made his great mistake some 747 years after the death of Arthur I in the Balkans. with the second He thought that there was only oneX.mg Arthur and he muddled the first WimyArthur to 388 A.D., and the utber lived around 491 or 503 to 570 King Arthur. GrwHiveckfrom-arotmtP350 or 575 A.D. statements of modern historians that Marcellus The whole thing makes a nonsense of the the Welsh. Marcellus was the brother of Magnus Maximus. It also gives a clue to the is a name not used by son of Magnus Maximus was named as Victor, which is Uther. This Uther Pendragon myth,forthesecond the general who took Gaul and ruled as 'Augustus' and was killed by Arbogast the Frankish general was
'authoritative'

of Theodosius. each of which The truth of this lies in the combination of at least three sets of old Welsh manuscripts have the Dyfed Court records of Hywel Dda, the Book of Llandaff, and provestheothertwo.We matches and the Brecon manuscripts. The Court Pedigree List No. 4 begins with the Emperor Magnus Maximus, followed by his son Arthun. This entry read s as fol lows: "Arthun son of Magnus Mamus who killed Gratian the King of the Romans". killed the is perfectly correct as the Latin record also states that "Andragathius This statement Emperor Gratian", and Andragathius was the great general of Magnus Maximus. According to Celtic custom he certainly would have been the son of Magnus. can What we are saying is that Arthun is Andragathius of the Latin texts. First it is easy to see that an with a small extra stroke of a pen, and the old monks were notoriously bad at spelling be mis-written and copying. So we have Arthur for Arthun.
'n' 'r'

Comparison of the Dyfed King Lists is the next step. First we combine the two lists of the Glamorgan Kings in Lists No. 28 and No. 29. The first name on List No. 28 is King Tewdrig Theoderic, the grandfather of King Arthur II. We know Theoderic's five ancestors from the Brecon manuscripts and so we can extend the list back in time.
-

AII that then remains to be done is to write the King List No. 4 down alongside the combined Brecon for we get clearly identifying matching and King Lists No.28 and No. 29. The result is quite remarkable, and the Brecon record of the Glamorgan ancestors begin with Arthun and Annhun, placed List No. 4 in the same generation.

The Glamorgan lists No. 28 and No 29 show King Meurig in the generation 5 place and King Arthwyr Arthur in the generation 6 place. Directly opposite them in the 5th and 6th place of List No. 4 are Neithon and Run. The placing of Neithon can be checked from at least two other Lists, in No. 5 and in Arthur of No. 16 so he is correctly a Generation 5 King. This is important for this means that Arthun List No. 4 is highly probably, in fact almost certainly the same King as the Annhun who is opposite him in the Glamorgan lists.
-

From this we can now look at other sources, and it is a very simple matter tofind both Neithon and Run in the epic literature, in the Mabinogion stories they appear as contemporary to and at the court of King Arthur. This is correct for it matches the Court Lists of Hywel Dda with these kings as contemporary. The next step is to look in the Llandaff Chronicles to see what the great charters of the kings tell us. that Welt we know that we find Arthur there as a paramount King of Glamorgan, but it is extraordinary between all these very we can also find Neithon and Run. So now we have a complete web of support varied ancient documents; they fit closely, even exactly together. By checking other names of charter Arthwyr the King. witnesses we place Neithon and Run into the same time period as Arthur
-

71

The outcome of all this is that there was a great Welsh ancestor who the Welsh remembered as Arthur the son of Magnus Maximus, recorded as Annhun and Arthun. This must be the general killed fighting Theodosius the Great in 388 in the Balkans and who the Latins recorded as Andragathius, after his armies conquered all western Europe. At the same time a great Emperor of the Goths named Arthanarich arich) was entrenched in power in the Balkans, Macedonia and Greece. The Glamorgan and (Arthan
-

Brecon records

name

their Annhun,

King of the Greeks

Arthun in the Court Pedigrees.

It is all a matter of either taking a negative view or alternatively a positive view. In Egypt, Greece and other 'Classical' countries the unquestioning positive view is taken to set out to prove the story correct In Britain the totally negative view is taken to prove the tales incorrect, all because the history is that of the Welsh and not of the English. In fact it is very simple to unravel the muddle of historical fact written by old Gruffydd ap Arthur, and to put together the concise history of the Britons from around 550 B.C. when they arrives in Britain down through to 600 A.D.
.

So we have Gruffydd ap Arthur taking the oral history of his nation in 1135 A.D. and setting it down in the order he to be correct. His content was correct, but the order in which he placed his facts was wrong. He confused Arthur who fought the Romans in Europe from 383 to 388 A.D. with Arthur who fought a campaign in Northern France in 560 to 561 A.D., and who battered the Saxons. The result barks, dmithralidlistorians never was a hopeless confusion all arising from a simple error. The Welsh invented anything, they told the truth as their moral code of conduct led them to do over the centuries and even thousands of years. AII we have to do is to accept these truths and to put them into their correct order. It is the same as having a Bible old testament with the history of the Jews all shuffled around out of place and in the wrong order.
'believed'

There

were

two King Arthur's,

in the Dark Age

the Heroic Age of the Welsh.

THE COURT LISTS OF DYFED circa 900 A.D.

Generation No. King List No. 4
Magnus Maximus No. O 1 c. 320-390 c. 350-420 Arthun Eidinet
-

King Lists No. 28 and 29

ARTHUR

Annhun King of Greece Teudfal

Brothers

2 3 4
5 6 7

c. 380-450
c. 410-480 c. 440-510

Tutagual Dinacat Senill Neithon

Run Tutagual Anthec Mermin

Teuder Teudfallt
Tewdrig Meurig Arthwys Morgan
-

c. 470-540 c. 500-570
c. 530-600

ARTHUR

11 Morcant

8
9 10 11 12

c. 560-630
c. 590-670 c.620-690 c. 650-720 c. 680-750

Ith ael Brothers

Fernfael Arthwys Ithael ARTHUR III

ludhail Ris
Artmail Mouric Brocmail

Anavaunt
Tutagual ludual

The names are easily translated into modern English, and are in fact names generally in use today. Arthwys is obviously Arthur, and Meurig or Mouric are now Maurice, Ithael has become Howell, and Tewdrig or Teuder still are used as either firstor second names in Wales as Tudor. In time Mermin became Mervyn and ludgual turns into Idwal with Senill probably deriving into Cecil.
-spelt

At a guess the name Tutagual may indicate the origin of the place name Tintagel in Cornwall. What definately emerges from these lists is the splitting of Morganwg into Glamorgan the death of Ithael the grandson of King Arthur of the Round Table. and Gwent after

Inescapably there were two great kings both named Arthur, both fought European campaigns, and the great campaigns of Arthur I which were fought between 383 and 388 A.D. became mixed up with the limited campaigns of Arthur II who fought King Conomurus (King Mark) in 561-562 A.D. in Northern France. Writing all this down in 1135 A.D., 747 years after Arthur I, and 565 years after Arthur II, the Geoffrey of Monmouth historian Gruffydd ap Arthur got it wrong but he was no liar and certainly no inventor.
-

So what we have in effect is that the leading general of Magnus Maximus in his wars of 383 to 388 in Europe was Andragathius (or so known by historians) who was known to the Welsh as Arthur. This

72

*
O

Arthur Conqueror of Europe Arthur am of Vitter King of Greece

gT

Arthur lived around A.D. 355 to 388 from Britain in 383 he conquered Gaul, Spain, Southern Germany, killed at Sisica on the Sica River in June 383 fighting Switzerland and Italy for Magnus his grandfather Theodosius the Great Emperor of the East. This Arthur killed Gratian, Emperor of the West 24 August, 383 A.D. at Lyons, but Theodosius hired the Goths, Huns, Heruls, Vandals, the Persians, Syrians and Uther. even Egyptians to fight Arthur son of Victor
-

Grandson of Magnus Maximus Emperor of Rome A.D. 383 to 388 Arthur Anarawd in Welsh Tradition or Arthun - King of Greece in the Brecon Manuscripts and the Dyfed King Lists, was the son Uther the Augustus of Gaul, under his father Magnus the Emperor grandson of Queen of Victor Helen daughter of King Euddav, King of Britain. Brilliant General, fierce and valiant.
-

73

Andragathius certainly killed the Emperor Gratian at Lyons on 25th August 383 A.D. so 'Arthur' did in fact kill Emperor Gratian. He was himself killed at the Battle of Siscia in June 383, in huge battle a with the Emperor Theodosius of the East. Gruffydd ap Arthur simply mixed up the campaigns of Maximus, of Constantine, and of Arthur. Examination of the Magnus names of the characters appearing in Gruffydd's story confirms this. Marcellus, the brother of Magnus Maximus, appears; so does Geraint, another repeat as Gerontius, general of Constantine and Geraint, King of Cornwall at King Arthur's
time. Promotus, chief general of the Emperor Theodosius appears as Petreius Rhicherus, Quintinius as Quintus, Caracius and Quintus Milvius Catallis. Cocta, Rhichimer

as

ARTHUR I AND HIS REGENT CONSTANTINE

The ancient histories of the British record that when Arthur I was injured in battle he handed over the government of his Kingdom to a King named Constantine. By checking the family tables which we from the great charters of Llandaff we can can construct see that this is again true and correct. We list the Kings below.
I

1.

Magnus Maximus

Marcellus
Constantine Annwn Publius

2. 3.
4.

Victor

Uther Pendragon
-

Eugenius

Servilla
daughter

Arthur I
Teitheyrn

Andragathius -Annhun, Anarawd. Annun.

Anthun

Madrun-M-Ambrosius of Caerwent

Erb King of Gwent & Ergyng

5. 6.
7.

Thathal Teithfallt
Tewdrig-M Meurig
I
-

Nynnio King of Gwent Llywarch

Teitfal King M Oueen Onbrawst

Pebiau King of-M-daughter of Constantine Ergyng of Dumnonia in

Britanny

8.

Arthur II

Arthywr

The Welsh Triads relate that Constantine and Publius the sons of Magnus Maximus, and therefore broth ers of Victor,were monks and Saints. This conforms with the story of Nennius the historian and with the Brut D'Engletterre and with Geoffrey of Monmouth. In Welsh Victor was Uther, Constantine was known as Cystenhinn, and Publius as Peblig. The story tells how Arthur gave his lands into the care of his kinsman Constantine, who we can see was his uncle. The histories also relate how Vortigern married the daughter of Magnus Maximus named Servilla, and as the brother in law of Constantine he became chief minister and then usurped the throne of the British.
-

This provoked the civil war between Ambrosius of Caerwent and the usurper Vortigern, a war carried on by the sons and descendants of both Arthur I, and of Constantine. It is strange that Vortigern usurped the throne of Arthur i and just over 100 years later Modred attempted the with
same Arthur II. What is plain is that the second Emperor from Britain Constantine of 406 to 411 A.D. was the son of Magnus Maximus, brother of Victor and uncle of Arthur I. This is in fact clearly stated in the Brut D'Engleterre and the combination of various records indicates that this is absolutely correct. The family of Magnus was making a second determined attempt to seize the empire of the West.
-

The Brut's also say that Constantine had three sons who were named Constance, Aurelianus and Victor. So this makes Aurelianus of Caerwent the possible son of Constantine the second emperor to invade Gaul and Spain from Britain. Intermarriage between cousins remained common in Wales right up until modern times as families sought to preserve clan rights and land-holdings. There is a further possibility of tracing the second of the Ambrosius's also in information held in the Lives of the Saints. The entry number 43. concerns a Saint Tyurydauc who is in modern terms Theoderic, who is said to be the son of Thuder. The first thing to do is to find Thuder, and he turns up as the grandson of Annhun Arthur I in the B.M. Vespasian A.14. manuscripts. What is important is that with this King Thuder (Teidtheyrn or Teithryn) we are dealing with a prince who lived around 410 to 480 A.D. and he is said to have other children besides Saint Theoderic, who are a daughter named Marchel and a son named as Hawystyl Gloff. The wife of Thuder is named Dwyanned the daughter of Amlodd Wiedig of Britanny.
-

From every name Augustus Claudius is correct as these Meurig and hisson

comparison we are able to make it appears that Hawystyl Gloff translates as either or Augustulus Claudius, or 'The Lame Emperor'. If this is Aurelianus then the pattern are the descendants of Uther the Pendragon, and Arthur I, and the future ancestors of Arthur11. This makes them the natural leaders of the British in times

of crisis. Nennius

74

writing in 822 A.D.statesthatthe

British swarmed to Aurelianusiike

angry bees to fight the hated Saxons.

The grandson

of Thuder was Tewdrig, King Theoderic of Glamorgan and he also named his daughter Marchel. As for Saint Theoderic there was such a saint with a cell 1 miles east of Margam in Glamorgan.
-

The identity of the great King General of the British who led them before Arthur II would also appear candidates in the to be found in the same ruling family of South East Wales. We find other better known Welsh record and genealogies to fill the role of Ambrosius (ap) Aurelianus, notably Emyr Wiedig Emrys Ambrosius the leader, who was Emhyr Llydav the great lord from northern Gaul. Emhyr is the Leader probably the Welsh Amheredur meaning Emperor, and Llydav is northern France including Britanny, Normandy and the lands up into Belgium. This means a ruler of before 480 A.D. The point we are making is that this great general of the British before Arthur 11 can also be traced with a little research and effort. The title Wiedig leader was given to national leaders who were not kings; primarily they to lead the army. were commanding generals appointed
-

UTHER PENDRAGON

AND KING ARTHUR

I IN SOUTH WALES

We do in fact possess one remarkable piece of surviving historical evidence which connects both Uther Pendragon and King Arthur I together as father and son, and which also proves that they were both located in South Wales. This isin the Lives of the Saints Harleian 4181 Manuscript. It concerns entry No.44 and No. 45 where manuscripts it we have St. Keidau, and St. Madrun. This is in fact a split entry, for in copy B and G of the appears as one. We include below:-

"Keidyau m Enyr Guent a Madrun merch VVertheyyr Uendigeit urenhin Enys Brideyn ac Anhun Llauuorwyn idi". What we have is a statement that St. Keidyau is the son of Enyr Guent which means that he is the son of Ambrosius of Caerwent. It says further that his father married the princess Madrun, the daughter of none is to Blessed the King of the Isle of Britain. The final piece of information other than Uther Pendragon here named as Anhun as in other Welsh sources. We have: also include King Arthur I asson of Pendragon
-

Wertheuyr
I

Uendigeit King (Of the) Isle

Uther Pendragon

Blessed

Urenhin Enys Arthur i Anhun

(of) Britain
M-Enyr Guent Ambrosius of Caerwent Saint Keidyau

I
Madrun (Daughter)--

This is a complete vindication of the truth and accuracy of the old Welsh legends and history. Here we have none other than Uther Pendragon who we know was Victor the son of Magnus Maximus the Emperor of the West and his son Arthur I. As Arthur I died fighting the Emperor Theodosius the Great at Sisica on the Sare River in the end of June 388 A.D. and Victor who was then ruling as Augustus in Gaul was also killed later that same year, then the whole of the senior line of Kings was killed in one year. The Emperor Magnus Maximus, hisson Victor, and his grandson Arthur I, all were killed in 388 A.D. The right of succession would then have passed to the sons of the Princess Madrun and initially to her husband Enyr Ambrosius of Caerwent. This simple chart proves that Vortigern was indeed a usurper with no right to the throne of the Britons. It confirms the historical story of King Ambrosius the Elder fighting against Vortigern for the crown of Britain as told by Nennius in 822.
-

The situation in Welsh law was entirely clear right down through the ages. Ambrosius of Caerwent would rule as the uncle of any sons of Arthur I until they were of age. Surviving sons of Magnus Maximus, or of his sons Marcellus and Victor would take presidence unless there were none, and then sons of Arthur would be the heirs. The ancient histories tell us that Vortigern usurped the throne in 427 A.D. and that Ambrosius the Elder fought him. Well Ambrosius of Caerwent would certainly have and sons. By identifying fought Vortigern of Gloucester on his own behalf and that of his nephews Ambrosius the Elder we clear up one of the major mysteries of early fifth century Britain.

The later Ambrosius the Younger is either a descendant

-

of Ambrosius of Caerwent and his wife Madrun, or alternatively is a descendant of either Arthur I or his uncle Marcellus. As Arthur I Anhun is recorded as having at least two sons the answer lies in their descent. The King List No. 4 of the Court Pedigrees of Hywel Dda list Eidinet as son of Arthur ! Anhun, and then his other successors. The Pedigrees of the Glamorgan Kings give a second son, probably the Elder one and in fact this is recorded three times in the Brecon Manuscripts.
-

75

1.

2. 3.

Annhun King of Greece and his son Teudfal, and then the other descendants. Annun Negri King of Greece and his son Tathal and then the descendants. Annwn Ddu King of Greece and his son Thathal and then the descendants.
-

The spellings are incidental,

for Anhun

Annun

Annwn

Arthur I.

The word Negri is Latin for Black, and Ddu is Welsh for Black, so we now know that King Arthur I the Great Conqueror had black hair, as do most of his descendants and kinsmen in South Wales to this very day.

prince was the grandson of Arthur I and would have lived at exactly the correct period. He was then the Tied Theyrn, which is part title just like great grandfather of Arthur II. The clue is in the name Gwytheyrn, teyrn or theyrn meaning the ruling prince.
-

The struggle for supremacy was resolved in favour of the ggiff Kings and the Gloucester family of Vortigern faded into the background. The most likely identity of Ambrosius Aurelianus the leader of British resistance to the fifth century resistance to the Saxons before King Arthur II, is Teidtheyrn. This

and Arthur I in the area. As we will see we have Uther Pendragon and Arthur I ruling fromgand Enyr Guent Ambrosius of Caeryvent twenty miles east similar Roman t>uilt~fortr.ess, the rother in law of Arthur I by marrying his sister Madrun. This again gives cIe echo of the fable of Arthur's sister being one Morgan le Fay, fouhis sister was named Madrun.
-

The entry of the pedigree of St. Keidyau gives the vital clue, it has often been misinterpreted as meaning Honorious of Caerwent, instead of his grandfather Enyr Keidyau son of Ynyr Gwent mrys Ambrosius of Caerwent. Once more the trail comes back to the Oggligf area and locates Uther1Pendragon
-

K1NG CONSTANTINE
The death of Magnus Maximus the Emperor, Marcellus his son, Victor his other son the Augustus of Gaul and Arthur Andragathius, Caesar of Britain in succession to Victor Uther all dying in 383 A.D. was a disaster of the greatest magnitude for Britain. The leadership vanished overnight, and with it the prospect of a united western Europe against the barbarian hordes.
-

The Irish and Picts began invading along with Saxon pirates and the country was militarily weak as the Triads relate that between 23,000 and 63,000 of the warriors had accompanied Queen Helen and Conan Mieriadauc when they went with Magnus Maximus to seize the Western Empire. Various elections were attempted before Cyhelyn the Bishop of London was despatched by the British Senate to go to King Alan of Amorica, the son of Conan Meriadauc, and heir to King Euddav the King of Britain from 312 to 367 A.D. Conan was either son or cousin to King Euddav Octavius. So King Alan sent his brother Cystennhin Constantine to Britain with an army to offer himself as King. Along with Constantine came his son Constans.
-

The British duly elected Constantine as Caesar, Consul of Britain and with his disciplined army he was able to bring some form of order and stability. Over in South Wales the old Royal clan still held firm. The Welsh Triads distinguish the new King Constantine as one of the 'Three foreign sovereigns of Britain'. Triad No. 44. He was a strong Christian as Magnus had been and was recorded as Constantine the Blessed. He must have ruled between 389 and 411 A.D. and died launching yet another expedition into Europe to recover the Empire between 406 and 411 A.D. This action was necessary because of the great German invasions of the West of 406, led by the Vandals which in fact spelled the end of the Western Empire. During his reign Constantine is believed to have founded the first great monastery at Llantwit Major Llanilltud Fawr, in co-operation with Theodosius the Emperor. This is close to the great palace of the British Kings, now buried, and known as Caer Worgan Castle of Gwrgan. This palace being built by Owen in 100 to 120 A.D., Gildas describes Constantine as the purple' and Bede says nomen et insigne' name and title'. Tradition says that he was a soldier which is correct as he landed with his army. What also emerges is a tradition of King and Emperor, for the Gwent Silurian prince Geraintled the British armies and Constantine the imperial forces when they invaded Gaul in 406.
-

'wearing

'regium

'imperial

This mirrors the British Constantine although he

Magnus, Victor and Arthur, leading the Legions, and Helen and Conan Meriadauc leading in the 383 expedition. Some have confused this Constantine ap Conan Meriadauc with ap Magnus Maximus, but the later was a monk and under British law could not be King, was also a grandson of King Euddav.
-

CONSTANTINE

EMPEROR

407 A.D. to 411 A.D.

Over in Europe troubles multiplied after the death of Magnus, Uther and Arthur in 388 A.D. In 395 the death of Theodosius i then brought his two juvenile sons to the thrones of the Roman Empire, Arcadius in Constantinople and Honorius in Rome. Before he died in 395 Theodosius had further troubles in the west, for inevitably his general Arbogast the Frank had been drawn into conflict with him. Arbogast ruled Gaul as a king would, but made no attempt to claim the imperial throne of the west, instead in the f cael pcehrl eodosius exhibited towards any whom he thought might in einsanepjeh h any way m o n

76

Arbogast would never have had Christian Church or Roman popular support and other Frankish chieftains would have been jealous had he claimed the Imperial throne himself. So Arbogast nominated Eugenius as his puppet emperor, a man who was a pagan and a vigorous opponent of the Christian Church. This roused Bishop Ambrose of Milan, a church leader of immense influence, and so Arbogast sent for Ambrose who came to talk the matter over and on the 15th May 392 Arbogast had Bishop Ambrose strangled. between the strong pagan party in Rome where Eugenius had the conflict This resolved restored the ancient Altar of Victory, and the Christian Church. Next the 'Emperor' Eugenius recognised Theodosius I as Emperor of the east and further recognised his heir Arcadius; he did not however recognise the child Honorius as heir to the west. Arbogast stayed out of these political manoeverings although obviously dictating matters from the background.

The main preoccupation for Arbogast was in fact a series of wars against invading and revolting barbarian tribes up in Gaul, and he was forced to fight against the Bructeri, the Chamari, the Alemanni and the
other Frankish clans. In 393 Arbogast moved down into Italy and took Eugenius with him. In 394 Theodosius again marched from the east, as he had done in 388 against Magnus Maximus, and brought the same collection of barbarian national armies with him. From one Gothic nation alone there were 20,000 men. Again Timasius was his chief general and the other commander was Stilicho, a Vandal chieftain.
'

The armies met at the River Frigidus (the Whiplash) between Aemona and Aquileia. (At the top of the Adriatic Sea, east of present day Trieste in Yugoslavia). The battle took place on the 5th September 394 and both Arbogast the Frank, Count of Gaul, and his emperor Eugenius were killed and the empire briefly reunited for only five months before Theodosius himself died. There was to be no peace in the west where Stilicho the Vandal ruled in the name of the child Honorius. All the highest offices were filled with Teutons and Germans to the dismay of Celtic Britain and Gaul but now a and Spain. Another German, the Goth Gainus, commanded the armies of Constantinople, barbarian nations were inside the boundaries of the empire, thanks to the number of independant ambition of Theodosius, and the floodgates broke. The Visigoths in 396 under Alaric invaded Greece Alaric was at his mercy and three times he let him go, presumably and Stilichodrovethem out,threetimes seeking an ally for further days of trouble ahead. Then in 397 the Moorish prince Gildo rebelled in North under the General Mascezel. The battle was at the River Africa and Stilicho put down the rebellion Ardatio, a tributary of the Bagrades between Tebests and Ammedera. Then the Visigoths moved to invade Italy and in 402 on the 6th April, Stilicho and the Romans won a victory at Pollentia which stopped them. Worse was to follow for in 401 A.D. King Godigisal had led the bordes of the Vandals together with the Alani from their territories in Pannonia between the Theiss and the Danube down towards Italy. (Pannonia is modern Hungary). Stilicho had settled King Godigisal and Carinthia Wurtemburg and Bavaria. These Vandals and Alans had his people in Noricum and Vindelicia himself a Vandal to drive back Alaric and the Visigoths at Pollentia. fought alongside Stilicho
-

The bubble burst however when in 405 the chieftain Radagasius led the Ostrogoths and the Vandals, the Alans and the Quadi, down into Italy. Stilicho, with Roman forces and the aid of Sarus the Goth and Uldin the Hun, halted this force at Florence, breaking up their advance on 23 August 406. This italian invasion appears to have been a diversion on a massive scale, for whilst Stificho was fighting this decoy army in Italy, the main forces of the Vandals, the Alans, the Suevi (Quadi) and Burgundians, burst into Northern Gaul under King Godigisal in 406. This host rolled along the frontier to the River Main and there yet another savage nation joined them, the Silingi, a Vandal tribe which had moved west with the Burgundians in the third century.

The whole mass moved on and a large part of the Alans then joined the Roman army of the Rhine. Next the Franks attacked the Vandals and King Godigisal was killed, which caused the Alans to hurriedly rejoin the horde and under their King Respendial they routed the Franks. Now the section of frontier by the Alans was open, by courtesy of the Romans who had enlisted them and the whole mass of tribes crossed the Rhine on 31st December 406.
'defended'

The descruction of the Roman Empire of the west was now about to begin, the whirlwind sown by Theodosius, the dynast was about to be reaped. The Vandal horde poured across Gaul, destroying the cities of Mainz, Treves, Theims (where they killed Bishop Nicasius), Tournai, Terouenne, Arass and Amines. Then they turned through Gallic Lugundensis and successively destroyed Paris, Orleans, Tours, then on to Acquitania and Novempopulana to Bordeaux and down to Toulouse. So complete and horrifying was their destruction of Gaul that this tribal confederation gave a new word to the languages and dictionaries of the world vandalism.
-

Even worse followed, for now there were migrating peoples settled into fertile Narbonensis, Southern France, for an orgy of destruction. Then the mass of the Burgundians moved from their position across the Rhine, west into Southern France to join the mass migration. Meanwhile the Alemani invaded and took the cities of Worms, Speier and Strasbourg. Rome could do nothing as Stilicho and their army was fighting desperately against the Goths in illyria (Yugoslavia).

The peoples of Britain must have watched with increasing anxiety as the European Empire of Rome in

77

rol across Europe in 1939 the West collapsed like a pack of cards just as they watched the Nazi hordes 1940 in World War II. With the whole of Gaul in the hands of German savages, the coasts of Britain to would now be subject to constant raids, attacks and invasion.
-

collapsed, The Britons did the only thing which they could do under the circumstances, with Gaul soldier. Their Spain and Italy about to fall, they elected an Emperor. The man they chose had to be a Cystennin the Blessed in Welsh third choice in fact was Constantine, one of their Kings, a Royal soldier British had to invade the son of Conan to whom a church is dedicated near Conway in North Wales. The back to the Rhine away from the Channel and the French coast. At Gaul to push the German menace Ireland and the the same time they were being attacked by the Picts from Scotland, the Irish from felt from across the North Sea from Northern Germany and Holland. The British obviously Saxons resist these sea pirates whilst they sent their main army under Constantine, into France. strong enough to channel is The complete drama of his situation with a new army entering the arena from across the difficult to imagine, when in 407 A.D. the British entered France Gaul.
-

Stilicho in exactly the same manner as his previous master Theodosius I, failed to grasp what was married happening. He had married first one daughter to the Emperor Honorius, and when she died he second. With armies of the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, the Vandals, the Huns, the Franks, Honorius to a Stilicho the Sueves, and a dozen other barbarian nations plunging around Western Europe, the incredible his General, Sarus the Goth, to attack the General Justinian in the West, and he marched against sent Constantine and the British army in Gaul. So the army of Britain sent to restore the Empire of Rome in the west, now had to fight the forces of that Empire before it could deal with the barbarians. General Sarus defeated the forces of Justinian at Valence. Then there was a conference called to discuss him. when the British general attended, Sarus murdered a truce between the Romans and Britons, and Geraint a Briton, and The result wasa resumption of the conflict and Constantine appointed Gerontius Eudobic a Frank, to take command. In the next battle Sarus was defeated and Constantine was now master of Gaul and Britain.
-

and relatives of Honorius the Emperor of Rome, named Didymus, Vernianus, Theodosius, and Logadius; made treaties with the Alemani, the Franks and the Burgundians, who were afraid of him, so Constantine defeated before attacking Spain. He sent an army under his son Constans to take Spain and Constans these Roman supporters of Honorius. Then the British general Gerontius was given command of the passes between Spain and Gaul.

the Next Constantine moved towards Spain where again he was opposed by Romans. This time it was

For the British third choice of Emperor, Constantine was doing well. Britain was holding out, Gaul was and then retaken and Spain was at his mercy. The first British choice had been Marcus, who was too old Gratian definitely another Briton, before Constantine was finally elected. Which family or area they
-

unlikely that they were from Wales. The people of Gaul, Britain were from is not known, but it is not supported Constantine against the savage German invaders and his position was improving. and Spain, Constantine had in fact married a daughter of M4iiTIVlaximus and so had a legitimate claim to the throne.

Then in 408 came the opportunity to restore the Empire, when news came from Constantinople that Arcadius wasdead.Therewas only the child Theodosius II, aged 7 years, as heir in the east, and Honorius hesitated before going to Constantinople to seize the throne. Like his greedy, meglomaniac father, Theodosius I, Honorius wanted everything, west and east, and he dare not move east as Constantine would take Italy and consolidate the Empire of the west. So the dynastic ambition of the family, lacking First Honorius decided to eliminate it to destruction. the west, condemned power to re-establish 408 he had all Stilicho's generals, ministers and adherents murdered, Stilicho, his father-in-law. At Pavia in whilst Stilicho was at Ravenna. Then on the 23rd August 408 Honorius condemned Stilicho to death.

When Stilicho was killed the Visigoths under their King Alaric, immediately invaded Italy. Having learned absolutely nothing from the mistake of Magnus Maximus, the British under Constantine and Constans, immediately offered to help Honorius from Britain, Gaul and Spain. The British, under Magnus Maximus, and now under Constantine, wanted to restore the Empire of the west, but Theodosius I and
his son Honorius only sought to retain power.
named Now the situation became almost a farce as Alaric King of the Visigoths, made a pagan Roman Attalus, Emperor, and attacked Honorius at Ravenna. Then the British under Constans marched through Spain to North Africa to fight Heraclian who controlled the grain supply of Roman Italy. They were fighting Heraclian to help Honorius and yet it was Honorius who stood between Constantine and the re-unification of the Empire of the west. The result was a disaster as the army under Constans was beaten and forced back out of Africa.

had made a strategic blunder of colossal magnitude. Alaric and the Visigoths were forced to Italy and the puppet emperor Attalus was deposed in 410 A.D. Then suddenly Honorius's general Sarus, who was himself a Goth, changed sides and when he joined Alaric the invasion was renewed. The target of the Visigoths was not Italy or Rome itself, but the vast grainfields of North Africa, the greatest prize in the west. When the Visigoths got to Rome, disaffected slaves quietly opened the Salarian gate to them and they took and ransacked the city. Constantine
retreat from

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Then the Visigoth nation streamed south, heading for Africa. They crossed over into Sicily and there they assembled a fleet and finally embarked at Rhegium. For the Visigoths the attempted voyage was a disaster, a great storm came up and they were forced back to Italy. This decided them against the
and they marched back up through Ataulf, they headed west into Southern Gaul.
venture

Italy and Alaric died on the way. Under their new King

Constantine already had a mass of barbarian peoples under his control and the Visigoths would now destroy any balance of power which he held. The problem was solved by the British General Gerontius who decided to take matters into his own hands. His main objective was to keep Gaul and so Geraint safeguard Britain, and so he opened the mountain passes into Spain and let the Vandals, the Alans and the Sueves pour through out of France. Gerontius clearly did not give a damn about Rome, which was destroyed anyway, his duty lay in keeping the barbarians away from Britain. Next he set up his own In this he was right, for with emperor Maximus and proceeded to attack Constans, son of Constantine. victory in their grasp Constantine and Constans had hesitated to strike at Honorius with everything they In 411 A.D. at had to destroy him whatever the outcome, the war could not be won by Vienne, Gerontius fought Constans and killed him.
-

'gentlemen'.

Wulfila and combined

the real threat came from Gerontius the Briton, Honorius now recruited the Gothic King him with the Roman army under Constantius, and sent barbarian and Roman against the British. The British had sought under Magnus Maximus, Constantine and now Gernotius, to drive the Germans out of the Western Empire and three times the Italian Western Empire used the Germans against them. This time Gerontius was defeated, his troops scattered and he took refuge in a he had created named Maximus house which was set on fire and he burned to death. The emperor escaped and according to Gruffydd ap Arthur he got back to Britain. Recognising

Next Wulfila and Constantius attacked Constantine's general Edobic and defeated him. This was the end for Constantine, who surrendered with his youngest son. By Honorius's order they were both murdered and Constantine's head was delivered to Ravenna on the 18th September 411. Twice Britain had raised armies to restore the Empire and twice the man selected for the throne when they had the arms, the strength and the poptilar support to they had been sent to grasp. They would never again put their trust in a man who percent British. Gerontius the British General had tried to recover the situation but he had released the enemy who would surely destroy Rome the Vandals.
-

had tried to negotiate seize the prize which was not one hundred when it was too late,

The major point which further emerges is that British Generals and therefore British soldiers, played large parts in these continental expeditions. Therefore native British kingdoms were still surviving in parts of Britain with their warrior traditions. Two generals, first Arthur I Andragathius, with Magnus Maximus, and then Geraint Gerontius with Constantine, were very successful in these wars. By his action in letting the Vandals, the Sueves, the Alans and others through the passes into Spain, Gerontius saved Britain from a larger and earlier invasion of barbarians. The Visigoths now replaced these tribes in Southern France, and the British stood fast in Britanny and Normandy whilst others crossed the channel and returned home.
-

I did in fact conquer all Western Europe between 383 and 388 A,D., a fact remembered British history legend and folklore, and Geraint did the same.
Arthur

in

THE THREE ROYAL CLANS OF BRITAIN

The situation existing in Britain from the time of the departure of the Romans in 400 A.D. was that there were three great royal clans founded by the holders of three great offices of Britain. These clans were based 1. in South Wales and the West Country, 2. in North Wales, 3. in the north of England up to the Clyde Estuary and the Firth of Forth. The holders of the three great offices of the Roman State of Britain were appointed by Magnus Maximus he left and undoubtedly they were leading members of the British royal families. These men made their title hereditary and quickly translated their offices into kingdoms.

when

In South Wales the ancient line of kings of Britain tracing themselves back through Ar-viragus, Bran, and the pre-Roman kings, still held power. From the fringes of this royal clan emerged Vortigern and later the rightful Arthur IL This family would have held the title of Magister Militum Commander in Chief virtual president of the island and also that of Count of the Saxon Shore. This was the role played by Vortigern and his son Vortimer.
-

The second line of kings was of the clan formed by Cuneda, appointed around 440-450 A.D. to the office of Count of Britain, a roving commission to act in any area other than the Northern Wall or the Saxon Shore. Cuneda drove the Scots, Irish, from North, Mid and West Wales. He had nine sons who founded kingdoms and a poet recalls his personal war band as containing nine hundred horsemen.

The third great clan was founded by Coel or Coel Hen, or Coel Odebog, who filled the role of Duke of Britain in charge of the Northern defences of the Wall area against the Picts, Scots and Germans.

79

royal clans form the lines of kings who are faithfully listed in the records of the Court Pedigrees of Howell Dda King of South Wales, who died in 950 A.D. These records are complete and concise.and easily followed.

The descendants of these three

There is and was NO GAP in British history in the period 400 to 600 A.D. at any stage. There is no mystery about King Arthur. Even the Mabinogion Tales refer to the three armies of Britain. It is in fact possible to construct 'Family Tree' tables of the lines of the kings of these three royal clans and remarkably the persons shown in these families fit the history, the folklore and the stories of the period, with exceptional accuracy.

ARTHUR AND THE FAMILY OF COEL

The location and placing in time of Arthur depends upon secondary references. We can place various bishops and saints in time accurately and we can relate them to Arthur. We can calculate the time other princes and kings from king lists and also relate them to Arthur II. Most Welsh Bishops and Abbots who became saints were active as Bishops and Abbots probably when aged 30 to 40 or 50, then they retired to what was considered to be a well earned life of contemplation and devotion. So we can get a fix' on Arthur by dating those.
'time

We know from the surviving seven Llancarfan Charters that the first three were made to St. Cadoc himself before the year 520 A.D., so we can roughly Cadoc. We know also that Gildas who lived around 500 to 570 A.D. was a friend of Cadoc and Arthur, so all three can be placed in Glamorgan.
'fix'

We know that Cadoc was contemporary of Arthur and of St. Illtyd who founded Llantwit Major. We know that Illtyd taught St Samson who can be accurately dated as Bishop of Dol in France from 547 to 565 A.D. We know that St. Teilo was a direct contemporary of Samson and of St. Dubricious Illtyd and St. David and also St. Padarn. We know that Cadoc and Padarn both had direct direct dealings with Cadoc in South Wales, Padarn in Mid Wales at Aberystwyth. AII these saints can be accurately Arthur placed between 490 and 570 A.D. Teilo for example, visited Geraint of Cornwall in 557 and arrived in France to stay with Samson later in 557 A.D.
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David died by 544 A.D. when Teilo returned in 562 he came as Archbishop. The Triads tell us that David was Archbishop at the time of Bidwini Archbishop of Cornuailles; either North Wales or Britanny, and Kyndeyrn was Archbishop over in the North, in Southern Scotland and Cumberland. We know from the king lists of the family of Coel Hen (Cole the Aged) -Old King Cole of folklore, that descendants of Coel who are linked with Arthur as members of his Round Table can be calculated to fit the Arthurian Period. These include Gwrgi, Peredur, Eliffer and others.

The house of Coel can be illustrated as below:Generations

1. 2. Garbaniawrn Dumngual Gurgust

Coel IHen
Cenen Maggiuc Clop

I
'

3. 4. 5.
6. 7.

*Pappo Post Prydain

Bran Hen Cincarbrant

*Morcant Bulc Coledauc Morcant

*Eleuther
*Gurci
i

Merchiaun
i

Llenauc Guallanc

Sawyl Guticun

Dunaut

*Peredur

Cinmarc
*Urbgen

Catguallian

Liu

8.
A.

In Generation 3 we have Pappo Post Prydain 'The Father and the Pillar of Britain' who was King of AII the Britons. This type of election was rare and only took place in time of great national emergency. B. In Generation 4 we have Eleuther who is described as Eileuther of the Great Army (or Great Retinue) and also Sawyl Benn Ascell, Saul Lofty Head who is mentioned alongside Arthur in both tile Brecon Manuscripts and the Mabinogion Tales. Eleuther or Elifer was fighting in 573 A.D. Battle of Armterid see Welsh Annals he was for a time king of Britain in the north.
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elected

80

Generation

Approx.Dates
320-390

Wales
Mascen Wiedig

Mid-EastWales
Glovi King of the Gloucester area.

South Wales
Arthur I the King of Greece son of Victor Uther Pendragon

North Wales

The North

Cornwall

Magnus Maximus

Emperor 1 350-420 *Owen son of

Mascen King of Britain Ambrosius of son-in aerwe 2

Guitolia Guitaul
as SaCounnt

Tuedfall

Coel of York Duke of Britain

(Coel Odeborg)

380-450
Ambrosius the

Tueder

CuoddanCount
o ai

Ceneu

Elder

Shore
*425-456

410-480

Gwytheryrn Vortigern King

of Britain

Teithfalt King of Glamorgan

Einion Girt
Yrth

*Pabo Post Prydain King of Britain

456-490
Tewdrig King of Gwent and Glamorgan Meurig King of Gwent and Cadwallon Lawhir King of Gwynedd Merchiaun and nKing "rt Custennhiu

Gwythelin
4

440-510

ortimer) scen Catigern Brittix

.

Gorneu King
of Cornwall

circa 485 Cinmarc

470-540

Briacat Powys Area

un-named
uncle?

Glamorgan
*Arthwyr II King of Britain d.570

Erbin King of Cornwall

*Maelgwn
Gwynedd King of Britain d. 562

500-570

Mepurit

Urien King of Rheged

Geraint King of
Cornwall d. circa 562

d.596

PRINCIPAL BRITISH KINGS

In Generation 5 we find Gurc (Gwrgi) and Peredur, both are named as Godparents with Arthur in C. the Brecon Manuscripts in the entry concerning Nevyn ap Brychan. We know that Peredur was killed in battle in 580 A.D. D. Then in Generation also of this generation. 6 we have Urbgen who is Urien, who was killed by Morcant Bule in 596 A.D.,

As Urien of Generation 6 was killed as an older man in 596 A.D., we can say he was possibly 70 which means he was born around 525. So his father Cinmarc, contemporary of Gwrgi and Peredur, was born around 500 to 495 A.D., the Generation 5.

Generation 6isthatof

KingArthwys of Gwent and Glamorgan, son of King Meurig, grandson of Tewdrig.

This means that Eleuther (Eliffer) and Sawyl of Generation 4 could be older, senior soldiers serving in Arthur's armies as the Mabinogion states, or that Eleuther could be, as a young man, part of Ambrosius' army. In Generation 3 we find Pabo Post Prydian the Father and the Pillar of Britain, one of only three Kings' ever elected by the British. Generation 3 would by this thirty year per generation time scale, mean men born around 430 to 440 A.D. and so 'Pabo' (the Father) fills the age of Ambrosius of Aurelianus. It also correctly places Ambrosius in the person of 'Pabo' as High King of Britain, contemporary with King Tewdrig, grandfather of Arthwyr Arthur.
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A great number of other similar calculations and constructions can be made, all of which place Arthur by comparison with contemporaries, into the period 500 to 570 A.D. King lists and ancestor lists can be compared by identifying odd bishops and saints of the familes and dating them, e.g. Cadoc. Dubricious, grandson of Pebiau King of Ergyng, Illtyd married Tyrnihid, an aunt of Arthur, Samson a nephew of the King Arthur, and so on. By identifying a daughter of one king who married another, we

can place kings along side each other, e.g. Sanant, daughter of King Brychan of Brecon, marries King Maelgwyn Gwynedd and Brychan is son of Marchel, sister of King Meurig, who is Arthur's father. So Brychan is contemporary with his first cousin King Arthwyr in Generation 6 and his daughter could certainly be the wife of Maelgwyn who ruled Gwynedd from 516 to 557 with a break when he lived at Llantwit Major as a monk. The comparisons are almost endless in their permutation and they all keep coming back to Arthwyr son of King Meurig,whowas himself paramount King of South Wales from some time around 520 to 575 A.D.

THE FIFTH CENTURY KINGS KING OWAIN EUGENIUS- SON OF MAGNUS MAXIMUS
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In 411 A.D. after the failure of the expedition of Constantine and Gerontius Geraint the British appealed to Honorius at Ravenua for aid from Rome to help fight off the raids of the Irish and the Picts. The Saxons were also making themselves a growing menace at this time and much of Britain's military strength had been spent on the two great continental Imperial ventures of Magnus Maximus and Constantine. From Italy Honorius replied that he could do nothing to help and so the British came to a momentous conclusion which was reached nowhere else in the Empire of Rome, they decided to withdraw from the Empire.
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This was an unparallelled rebellion or revolution with no equal in the annals of the Empire and Britain and Amorica (Brittany in France) decided to go their own way. The facts are accurately stated by the Greek historian Zosimus, who wrote barbarians above the Rhine (the Saxons) forced the dwellers in the British Isle and certain of the Keltic tribes to revolt from the Roman Empire expelling the Roman Commanders and setting up a government of their own as they were able. The Emperor Honorius wrote to the British cities charging them to provide for themselves'. (Lib. V I pp 376-381).
'the
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This statement by Zosimus puts a completely different light on the British situation in 411 A.D. to that commonly accepted. Contrary to the general modern trend of thinking, Zosimus confirms that the western tribal kingdoms still existed, as we have said is shown by other evidence. The natural conclusion is that these tribal kingdoms of western Britain were still militarily potent and un-Roman in their general culture and life style. We know of King Lleirwg Lucius around 170-180 A.D., we know of Magnus Maximus and his Welsh Celtic marriage and connections and therefore a source of his army recruitment and his general Andragathius the Welsh Anarawd of the Mabinogion. We know also of Constantine and his Welsh Celtic connections and his reliance on Britiah troops under Geraint who again must have come from these western tribal areas. We have the statement of Origen and Tertullian around 200 A.D. that Christianity had penetrated areas of Britain where the Romans could not or feared to go.
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Now the British had realised what others had not, that there was no magic in Roman government. Welsh tradition awards the merit of the revolution to Eugenius or Owain, the son of Magnus Maximus Mascen Wiedig. Finally the sheer uselessness of Roman political and governmental incomag_tance and corruption
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82

in Britain was realised and the British now expelled the Roman officials from their lands. The stark sanity of the situation was that self help and self government was to be preferred to wallowing amidst the debris of the collapsing Empire. The Welsh Triads supply the answer to the question of the time, one of sovereignty from the Roman Empire according to the of them calls the action of 411,'the resumption natural right of the Cymry'. Another Triad attributes the action of 411 to be a direct consequence of the Roman government drafting off the men best capable of military service to 'Arabia and other distant Roman policy and practice and the Triads countries, whence they never returned'. This was certainly plainly insinuate that the Roman authorities accepted the levies in place of arrears of the assessment of Roman tribute. Britons in fact did serve in Arabia at Petra, in Egypt, in Spain in Syria and elsewhere.

There is no reason to suspect that the Triads are anything other than correct. Twice the British had mounted major continental expeditions to restore the Empire, and twice they had been fought by

Roman emperors who employed masses of barbarian soldiers who were in fact the cause of the collapse which the British were trying to repair. The letter to Honorius appealing for help was no doubt a deliberate political ploy designed to draw from Honorius precisely the answer he gave. Honorius and Rome could not help Britain, they officially abandoned Britain and therefore there could be no further Roman claim on Britain nor Roman government in Britain. So out went the Roman officials and their administration and in came a British King.
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Now the Triads style this king as Owain the Eugenius son of Mascen Wiedig who is one of only three monarch means monarch of Britain. Now a kings listed to that date, as a of kingship was conferred on the king by a national convention of the country, i.e. the that theauthority Caractacus. It is reasonable to Cymry. The other two such kings are named as Prydain and Caradoc thatthis King Owain ruled Britain from 411 A.D. to 425 A.D. Nennius tells us that after Maximus assume Consuls and never after were there Caesars'. By this he seems to refer to the succession to the British throne, for the consuls were elected to serve a term of office as governors or rulers. The idea of a originated clearly with the Emperor Diocletian who split the consul-augustus as distinct from a Empire of Rome in two in 285 A.D. when he appointed a colleague named Maximian to rule the West whilst he kept the East. Each of the two emperors were styled Augustus and each had a junior or lieutenant to aid him who was styled a 'Caesar'. Diocletion had a Caesar, Galerius, and Maximian had a Caesar named Constantius Chlorus. The intention was that the caesars would eventually succeed the effect emperors as Augustus and then in turn appoint two younger men as caesars. Nennius is saying in that there was no line of such succession in Britain, but only the election of kings and that Consuls Rulers of a higher rank than Caesars appointed by Roman Consuls, were now in charge.
'conventional' 'conventional'
-

'began

'caesar'

The arrangement could conflict with those claiming succession from Constantine and the 'Roman'party. Britain, as with the Celtic mania for not possibly satisfy the lowland areas of midland and southern genealogy and precedence accorded in relation to the blood lines of a man's ancestors, they were faced with an endless succession of Welsh mountain kings all claiming descent from Magnus Maximus and

So a successor of Mascen Wiedig exerted his dominant influence over the island of Britain. The British Celts generally ignored the other line of succession through the second emperor Constantine, classing Constantine with Gwryddyled and Morien as one of these three foreign kings of Britain. This was to lead would be drawn into to trouble, as those claiming descent from Mascen Wiedig Magnus Maximus
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Cunnedda.
no easy task, for there were already large numbers of foreign barbarians settlements in Britain. These were a direct result of the Romans recruiting auxilliary troops and legionary soldiers from all over their vast empire and from outside it and then giving them land grants in the territories to which Vandals, of Marcomani and they were transferred to serve. There were in fact already coloniegof s next Quadi (Suevi) already settled in Britain these the most ferocious and to the Saxons, There were Thracians at Maglova (Machynlleth), Moors at Aballaba (Appleby) and elsewhere Batavians, Dalmatians, Spaniards and even Syrian and Taifalic cavalry units were given lands. of the Romans lived in a hundred or more places, owing allegiance to their own chieftains These only, quite seperate from the indigenous population, subordinate to the general military administration of the Empire whilst it lasted. These groups represented a potential time-bomb of possible disaffection and infiltration in an indeperLdant,Britain.

King Owain had

'guests'

The situation was the same up on the northern border at the Wall, where again foreign barbarian troops had been settled by Rome. These Border soldiers were called Limitanes and they held lands upon the condition of providing military services. The situation was the same as that of the feudal tenures of the Middle Ages where men were granted land in return for their loyalty in arms in time of war. The duty of bearing arms passed with the land from father to son and military service was inseparably connected with the holding of property. (See Palgrave p. 353).

but we can has yet been published, Blue Book of the lists and registers of Roman military units Yugoslavia and Thebais Egypt and even at Petra ascertain that British regiments served in Illyrium in Arabia. The mass of barbarian settlements made by the Romans in Britain in pursuit of their divide and conquer policy can only be estimated at present, but it was considerable. We know by excavation that therewere Saxonsin East Anglia well before Magnus Maximus made his expedition. So key defensive
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These many foreign groupings in strategic positions owed no allegiance to a British king hailing from Celtic West. No accurate detailed publication of the Roman 'Notilia Dignitatum utriusque Imperis' the
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83

areas of lowland Britain were in the hands of people with no connection with the British and no concern for the safety of the cities and rich farmlands of the country. The highlands and the west was British, in the hands of Britons.

ROMAN TAXATION
The most compelling reason of all to get rid of the Romans from Britain once and for all would be the grinding weight of oppressive taxation. This apparently varied according to the means by which the Romans acquired overlordship, the distinction being made between populations which resisted violently and those who submitted more readily. Whilst in Gaul the standard tax rate was one twelfth of produce, often inflated by the tax gatherer appointed, the picture revealed in Britain by patient research is varied. Some poor unfortunates in areas which resisted Roman invasion were actually taxed up to three fifths of their total produce on their farms, mainly concerned with pig breeding. The greed of Rome both under the Empire and the later Popes is something which can never be left out of any calculations or estimation concerning the motives of peoples dealing with Rome. All mineral wealth would be claimed by the Empire as state property, British tin, gold, iron, lead and copper, along with silver, jet, marble and even river pearls, all would be claimed and swept away into the great greedy gaping maw of Rome. of General Pitt-Rivers at Cranbourne Chase, followed by the work of Professor Hawkes, illustrates the levels of servitude by which farm communities were oppressed in larger villas there was under the Romans, slavery, the labourers being herded to the fields like cattle and shut up at night in barns; labourers were bred like cattle with unwanted children put out to be exposed and die. There is in fact such degradation, cruelty and lust for wealth under Rome that there can be no conceivable way that the British would want them back. The major objective of the British would undoubtedly be to take the opportunity to get some formal statement from the Emperor that they were free to go their own way and this Honorius gave them in 411 A.D.
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The excavation

From this time onwards King Owen grandson of King Euddav and son of the Emperor Magnus Maximus, ruled Britain.
The failure of Constantine to seize the Imperial crown of the west left Britain quite literally without a Head of State. As long as a Roman Empire was available the squabbles and civil wars between the Celtic kings and the nobles of the lowlands could be avoided and so the Great Council of the British wrote to Honorius at Tavenna seeking his aid. They were in 411 still trying to preserve the Empire of the West, fighting off the barbarian marauders, pirates and would be invaders. Honorius was unable to help, he was far too deeply embroiled with barbarians swarming all over his continental Empire. problem was different now in the early fifth century to what it had been in Roman days. In the heyday of the Empire any incursion into the territory brought retribution of a terrible kind, no matter how far the fleet or army of Rome had to journey or what the difficulties. There was just no possible way that Britain could threaten this type of retribution at this time, or at least the leaders did not seem to appreciate the necessity of such a policy. In fact a campaign to ravage Ireland and one then to ravage the land of the Picts, followed by the devastation of the Saxon homelands, was ut of the question at the time.

So from Ravenna in Italy Honorius wrote back telling them that he could offer no help. The British

problem was to find a leader. The mixed up muddle of Gruffydd ap Arthur's history and folklore suggests that at first the puppet Maximus the created by Gerontius in Gaul in 410, was chosen to act as Head of State. This is not an impossible event, as the person chosen would in fact be compromise a choice to satisfy all parties. As Gerontius the Briton had not tried to make himself Emperor, it is reasonable to assume that Maximus was a Roman. A Roman leader who could not bring Roman aid to Britain quite obviously would have a very limited tenure of office in the face of opposition from the Celtic kings of the west unless he could produce some extraordinary military miracle to demonstrate his worth.
'emperor'

The

Apparently the leader, possibly Maximus, could not do this and disaffection spread the Irish and the Picts raided the long and difficult British coastline at will and the defenders had the impossible task of trying to protect far too long a shoreline with not enough men. The low shanow boats of the raiders were difficult to spot and by the time the alarm was raised of their surprise attacks, they were away at sea out of the reach of the British Military forces. The situation was one of a great bull tormented by a swarm of wasps, unable to destroy them as they flitted out of range and unable to reach their hive or nest to trample it. The raids began to destroy the island's economy, animals were killed, people taken as slaves, crops destroyed or neglected, houses burned, trade and commerce disrupted as free movement became dangerous.
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The reply from Honorius finally ended all thought of outside aid and in 411 the British did something remarkable. Theydeclaredthemselvesunilaterallyindependantof Rome.Theletterto Honorius now appears in a totally different light, for the British when writing for aid knew perfectly well that the Roman emperor could not provide it. The British wanted Honorius to officially free them from Rome and that is exactly what Honorius did, writing to the British assembly telling them to look after their affairs.

own

84

of Now if all sources are taken into consideration, including Gildas, Nennius, Bede and Geoffrey named Monmouth, wehave only one certainty arising out of this situation and that is the fact that a king of Owen rose to pre-eminence in Britain and was elected leader. In the West there was still the King Gewissy which means Glywisswg the land of Gloucester bordering the old Silures in South East Wales. when the Romans This is notso remarkable, as we have seen that there was a powerful people in this area invaded in the first century A.D. and there is evidence that the kings of the area ruled as Roman allies.

King Owen was in fact the first British High King since the days of Arviragus who opposed the Romans descend under their emperors Nero and Domitian. There is evidence that he was Celtic and did in fact will see. Certainly the area had from the area of South East Wales, west in Gloucestershire, as we preserved its kings and social structure through the Roman period. The obvious course to take is to examine the genealogical tables and charts of the Welsh of this area to see who he was, as there will with be some reference. The appointment or election of the first High King of Britain such an appointment
for 350 years was no small event. faced an enormous task in reorganising the whole of British England and Wales the barbarian onslaught. Such a task must have been monumental by any standards, as he had to to meet weld together the different ethnic groups of the Belgic peoples, with the Brythonic Celts and his own Goedelic or Iberian Celts, and also consider the interests of Romans remaining in Britain, plus dozens of small foreign tribal communities. These last groups were the result of the Romans using auxiliary and legionary troops from all over Asia, Africa and Europe and settiing them on lands in the countries where they served once their period of service was over. These included dozens of different ethnic and tribal groups from all over Europe and Asia.

King Owen undoubtedly

The British inherited the Roman practice of settling barbarian tribes on the frontiers to act as foederati federate soldiers and guards. Significantly modern archaeology in the third quarter of the twentieth established before the century has revealed Saxon settlements on the east coastof England which were n what is now East Anglia in Norfolk and SuffolkRoman withdrawal from Britain. These settleme thiit'Vortigern first allowed Saxons info were established around 375 A.D. giving the lie to the statement their farms, Britain. These people, true to their type, altered the land, denuding it of trees to create similar to those at Merthyr Mawr and Kenfig on the Glamorgan sand-blow then came a great storm a under a foot of sand. So these remains of Saxon coast of the Severn and the whole area was covered villages have remained preserved until this day as proof of their early settlement.
-

The new High King obviously had a very difficult task ahead of him, and he ruled for only 15 years before dying in 425 A.D. Gwytheyrn. This When King Owen died in 425 A.D. he was succeeded by the treacherous Vortigern recorded during the second visit of St. German in 447-8 A.D. when he first had stolen church prince was
-

Faustus was Vortigern's son by incest with his own lands and also offered his son Faustus as a cleric Triads daughter. Now this ambitious man killed the king and forced his brothers to flee to Amorica. The of the three notorious drunkards'. Finally of the three notorious traitors' and as him as record posterity were subjected they record that he and his family are'one of the three persons who with their todisgraceanddivested of privilege forever',Triad 21.Triad 37.Triad 100.Triad 20.
'one 'one

Vortigern needed allies and he turned to the Saxons fleeing pressures in Europe created by the advance of the Huns under their Kings Blaedia and Attila. Fearing the brothers Emrys Ambrosius, and Uther in as alfies, Victor, now in Britanny, Vortigern who had gotten himself elected King invited German tribes but their station makes it obvious that they were to support Vortigern against Emrys and Uther who were in Britanny with King Budic.
-

Uther, Vortigern gave Kent to his Saxon allies to prevent an invasion across the channel by Emrys and promised he married Rhonwen Rowena the daughter of Hengist the Saxon chieftain. He also and then First that he would make the son of this Rowena born to him, the King after his death. Triads 48, 91. Series. Triad 6. Second Series. Triad 21. 37. 53. 100. Third Series. Nennius Section 31. Brut Tysilio. Brut of Gruffydd ap Arthur.
-

Histories, state that the Saxon mercenaries numbered 6,000, probably correctly. They Mediaeval Bruts destruction threatened of the whole country and now the British had had enough. They deposed the King in his place. No doubt Gwythevyr was only Gwythevyr Vortigern and made his son Vortimer being born too pleased as were his brothers, as they had no wish to be dis-inherited as a result of a son So began the wars between the British and the Saxons, and in a savage conff ict the Saxons to Rowena. mortally wounded, and one of his brothers were defeated. Tragically for the British their King was killed in the fighting. The Norman historian Matthew of Westminster states that Vortimer was poisoned Rowena his father's young Saxon wife. in 460 A.D. through the contrivances of Rhonwen
-

With Vortimer dead the country was in an uproar, and old Vortigern now took his chance to seize the and throne again. Again he needed allies for whilst the British were ruled by Vortimer, both Emrys Now they would certainly return, and when they did they would surely Uther would remain in Amorica.

85

mmi

'

kill old Vortigern. So once again he let in the Saxons as his allies, and this time there was to be a great peace conference. This was held at Caer Caradoc Salisbury Plain and both sides were to come unarmed. The Saxons however brought concealed weapons with them and on a signal from Hengist they slaughtered the unarmed British elders and representatives. AII were killed except Eidiol the Lord of the Gloucester area, and Vortigern himself. The Triad number 20 clearly implicates Vortigern in this infamous plot.
-

Pandemonium reigned with a new war raging and the Saxons again running wild, murdering, burning and looting. Vortigern gave up most of his lands to the Saxons. The savages roved over what is now England and invaded Wales. Now Emrys Wiedig Ambrosius the Leader, and Uther Victor, landed from Britanny with an army and were joined by the Welsh armies The Cymry. Gwytheyrn was apparently a pagan or more probably held the views of Pelagius, and so was regarded by the orthodox church as a heretic. The Bishop of London, Vodin, had condemned his late marriage to Rowena and Hengist murdered the bishop, see Hect. Boeth Scotor. History lib. 8.
-

Now matters took a different turn as once again the British went after the blood of the Saxons. The barbarity of the treacherous massacre under the guise of a peace conference was to be remembered for all time by the British. They rallied around Emrys Wiedig Ambrosius the Leader, who was made sovereign in 466 A.D. according to Matthew of Westminster a historian who seems to be very accurate. The invading Saxon horde was chased up to North of the Humber, as they literally raged through the country stealing all they could and destroying the rest. Ambrosius caught up with the Saxons at a place known as Maes Beli the field of Beli. This time the Saxons were faced with the British armies and not with a gathering of unarmed Elders. Ambrosius completely defeated them, and now Hengist fled up Caer Conan, where Eidiol of Gloucester, the man who escaped his trap at Salisbury to Connisburgh caught him. Eldad the Bishop of Gloucester advised his brother toget rid of Hengist, and Eidiol had him taken out of the city and beheaded.
-

Octa the son of Hengist and Eosa, his uncle or cousin, both surrendered to Ambrosius. For some reason which is difficult to understand, unless it has to do with the British warrior code, Ambrosius did not kill the Saxons who now surrendered to him. Instead he gave them lands near the Pictish borders to live in Brut Tyssilio and Brut G. ap Arthur.
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There was no peace in Britain even after Hengist had been disposed of. There were still large Saxon elements in Kent and other tribes under Aelle and Cerdic were attempting to settle and set up kingdoms in Sussex and Wessex. There was also pressure on the East coasts of Loegria England. Numbers of British first moved north away from the south coast where raids and invasions were frequent, and then moved down and west into Wales, this time away from Picts and Saxons in the north. In Wales there were continual invasions from Ireland and attempted settlements, determined war leaders notably Cuneda Wiedig and his sons completely cleared them out of the country.
-

Down in South East Wales, the King of Gwent descended from Bran and Caradoc held firm. They were the royal line of Wales and would recognise the legitimate elected Kings of the whole Island only as

Leaders Wiedig.
-

There was further trouble in store for Ambrosius however for he had given lands in Powys at Builth to Pascen the surviving warrior son of Vortigern. Vortimer and Cattegirn were killed in fighting the and Edeyrn, Aerdeyrn and Elideyrn had all become clergymen in Glamorgan. Now Pascen rebelled Saxons, against Ambrosius who really was beleaguered, with Saxons and Jutes in Kent, Sussex and Wessex, the Angles and Danes raiding and settling along the East coasts, and now Pascen warring on him from mid-Wales. Pascen held Buellt and Cwrtheyrnion and caused considerable trouble in what is now England before Ambrosius defeated him.
In 500 A.D. Ambrosius Aurelianus died and hisbrother Uther who was by now very old himself succeeded him. The Welsh Uther is as we have stated Victor, and Victor now ruled from 500 to 517 A.D. see Cambrian Biography.Thiswasa period of further advances by the Saxons, Jutes, Frisians and others with an old king on the throne. Undoubtably Victor ruled from the stronghold of London. He in fact
-

Breconshire.

was a vigorous old warrior and beat back his foes in the north, but in the south they gained ground and grew stronger. See Hughes Horae Britanicae p. 194. Stillingfieet's Origines Britannicae historian Mattew Florilegus translated by Usher states that in 511 A.D. the Saxons made p. 332. the effort a mighty to the whole island of Britain and destroyed almost all the churches in conquer the land in the this time the Irish also began infiltrating parts of Wales again, and Caradoc Vreichfras drove process. At them from
-

Caradoc was a son of Gwrgan Mawr Varius of Vivian the Great, his sister was Queen Onbrawst who married King Meurig of Glamorgan and so he was an uncle of Arthur 11 son of Meurig.
-

The old British genealogies list the successive kings of different kingdoms in order. Unfortunately many of themusethesame term to identify the relationships between these kings. So where a king is succeeded by two of his sons in succession they listed as King Rhys ap King Hoeil Howell, are ap King Arthvael ap King Meurig. This should mean of' but here it means to', for King Rhys was
-

'ap'

'son

'successor

86

father to all three, and Howell was indeed his son, but Arthvael was not his grandson the son of Howell, but a brother to Howell. In the same way Meurig was not the son of Arthvael and grandson of Howell but yet another brother of both, and like them son of Rhys. When King Uther died in 517 he was followed by the celebrated King Arthur who was elected in his place. Now all the ancient lists would have now shown Emrys as father of Uther and Arthur as son of Arthur ap Uther ap Emrys. Yet Uther ap Emrys means Uther successor to Emrys not son of, as Uther they were well recorded as brothers. Similarly Arthur ap Uther means Arthur successor to Uther, for Arthur was the son of King Meurig Maurice of Glamorgan. King Meurig the son of Tewdrig Theoderic, still lived in Glamorgan, but Arthur his son was King of Gw.ent and elevated still further to lead all
-

Britain.
The mystery of Arthur is in fact that simple. The Brut of Tyssilio and the Brut of G. ap Arthur agree that Arthur was crowned King of Britain in War Leader or 517 A.D. In fact there is no record of Uther being crowned King, he was Pendragon Generalissimo, just as Emrys was Wiedig Leader. This gives weight to the tradition that the Kings of Gwent were in fact the Kings of Britain. King Owain was the grandson of Euddav King of Britain and so was Constantine. Then Constans was of the same line. But the next Kings Vortigern and Vortimer were more distantly related, as were Emrys and Uther. With Arthur the line of Gwent returned in full again.
-

THE CRUCIAL REIGN OF VORTIGERN

There was The Fifth century kings are difficult to place at first until the system of rule is understood. apparently a carryover of imperial concepts, which provided for an over-all Governor of both Loegria (England) and Britain (Wales). So whilst King Euddav of Britain (Wales) was succeeded by his son CasnaF named after Euddav's brother Casnar Wiedig, the Dragon of Gwent, over in Loegria (England) the rule was after 367 in the hands of Magnus Maximus and or his son Victor Uther. The imperial role devolved of course on Magnus.
-

When in 388 Magnus, Victor and Arthur I were killed, another son of Magnus named Owen was available but the Imperial role fell to Constantine the son of Conan Meriadauc, who was either brother succeeded by his brother or cousin to King Euddav. In Wales, Britain, King Casnar, son of Euddav, was King Edric the thirtieth King of Gwent, and then by another brother King Erbin the Thirty first of the line.

When Constantine and his son Constans were killed in Gaul in 411 A.D. another grandson of King Euddav took the Loegrian position as Emperor or maybe Governor, King Owen a son of Magnus Maximus and Helen. The rule of Owen appears to have lasted until 426 A.D. when an upheaval occurred on the King's death. Whilst the line of Gwent Kings went on through the joint rule of King Bran and King Yrb

as King No. 32 the senior role of Imperial Governor was taken by Vortigern or properly by his correct name Gwytheyrn. This was a radical appointment for this Gwytheyrn was a prince of the Royal clan of South Wales but certainly not the king. All British Kings needed not only the blood descent to succeed but also had to demonstrate that they possessed the military power to do the job effectively. Gwytheyrn may well have demonstrated this power in Loegria as he was the most Easterly of the Gwent Silurian princes holding the Gloucester area.
-

The appointment or election may well have been satisfactory in Loegria but was totally unacceptable in Britain Wales where senior ranking Kings to Gwytheyrn would not recognise him. Worse still, other descendants of the royal lines of King Euddav, Conan Meriadauc, Constantine and others would not recognise him from Britanny. So after 426 and Gwytheyrn's rise to power a civil war was now inevitable. Further trouble loomed as Gwytheyrn was either a pagan or a convinced follower of Morgan Pelagius, so a collision with the orthodox church occurred.
-

In 428 St. Germanus Garmon and Lupus were sent from Gauf by the Pope to preach orthodoxy. There was already trouble in the Island, and Gwytheyrn seems to have allied himself to Saxons and Norsemen. St. German, a former soldier, took charge of British forces in Powys to face a combined force of Saxons, Norse and Loegrian British. The battle site is still known. Vortigern as the Saxons called Gwytheyrn had trouble with Germanus, he had seized church land, was a pagan and had committed incest with his daughter the son of this union became Bishop Faustus of Rietz in Gaul.
-

Then in 437-8 the storm broke and Gwytheyrn was opposed by Ambrosius, a prince with a claim (by virtue of his marriage) to the succession of Constantine and Owen. Noticably the British Welsh King Emrys. At a great battle in was not his opponent, although they may have supported Ambrosius Hampshire at Guodolph Wallop Gwytheyrn and his son Gwythelin Vortimer defeated the forces of Ambrosius.
-

Meanwhile Gwytheyrn had been building up forces of Saxons on the Channel coasts of England. These were officially to combat Irish and Pictish pirates, but they were placed in an area where there were no such pirates. The Saxons were located in Kent to oppose any invasion from Britanny by rivals to

87

Gwytheyrn. These'coastguards'broughtinhuge numbers of their kinsmen and in 442 seeing the divisions amongst the British (Loegrians and Welsh) rose in a revolt and rampaged through the land in a riot of massacre. They were defeated and driven back by Gwytheyrn and Gwythelin. Now in an attempt to seal a workable peace, old Gwytheyrn married Rowena the daughter of the Saxon leader Hengist.
This did no good as it alienated even more of the British and also Gwythelin Vortimer who saw his future threatened if Rowena had a son. In 450 or near that date, the Saxons rose again and a fullscale war developed. The old leader Gwytheyrn was deposed and his son Gwythelin took the throne in Loegria. At this time King Bran and King Yrb were probably succeeded by King Nynniaw in Britain Wales, the king No. 33. in Gwent, and was himself succeeded by King Teithfallt. This was a momentous time for King Teithfallt married a daughter of Teitheyrn who was a grandson of the mighty Arthur I, grandson of Magnus Maximus. This reunited the royal British and imperial line of Constantine and the Great Magnus Maximus.
-

'

Over in Loegria Gwytheyrn was deposed and retired to estates in West Wales, whilst Vortimer Gwythelin fought a ten year war to finally crush the Saxons. Tragically he was either mortally wounded at the end of the war or was poisoned by Rowena his father's Saxon wife. So in 460 old Gwytheyrn, noted as a debauched drunkard somehow reascended the throne or governorship in Loegria. Again this reprobate outcast looked for Saxon allies, and brought back the well beaten Hengist. This time there was a peace conference between all the Loegrian leaders and the Saxons, and a massacre which lived down the ages in infamy now took place as the Saxons carried secret weapons to the peace talks and killed over 300 British leaders in cold blood.
-

Again a war raged and the infuriated British flocked to two princes descended from Constantine, who arrived from Britanny Amorica. They were Emrys Wiedig and Uther, or Ambrosius and Victor. In Wales KingTeithfallthad been succeeded by his son King Tewdrig Theodoric. Back in 448 St. Germanus had made a second visit to Britain and Tewdrig, a young man had re-established the church at Llandaff. Emrys Wiedig and Uther finally cleared the Saxons out of Loegria and held the Saxon settlements in Kent, Sussex and Wessex. He ruled as the King or Imperator until c.500 when he was succeeded by the ageing Uther who died in 517 and was succeeded by Arthur, grandson of Tewdrig, King No. 37 in Gwent. He was unique being recognised as supreme both in Britain Wales and Loegria England and also in Amorica Britanny.
-

The Fifth century Kings are important to the tracing of Arthur in two ways. Not only can we identify the first Arthur as the son or more probably the grandson of Magnus Maximus, but also in tracing the the second Arthur.

A Dark Age scribe listing the Kings of Britain who were paramount over the whole island would have written the following:- King Arthur ap Uther ap Emrys ap Gwytheyrn ap Owen ap Cystennhin ap Mascen ap Euddav. This would mean:- King Arthur son of Uther son of Emrys, son of Gwythelin, son of Gwytheyrn, son of Owen son of Cystennhin, son of Mascen, son of Euddav. This as we know is a nonis used to mean to' and not literally sense for the linking of'.
'ap'

'successor

'son

We know that Arthur elected around 517 was only distantly related to his predeccessor Uther Victor. In the same way Uther was not the son but the brother of Emrys Ambrosius, and both were at best very distant relatives of Gwythelin Vortimer. In fact Gwythelin was the son of his predeccessor named Gwytheyrn Vortigern. The previous King, Owen was no near relative of the infamous Gwytheyrn, but he was a cousin of his predeccessor Cystennhin which is Constantine. The previous overlord was Mascen Magnus Maximus only related by marriage to Cystennhin. Finally Magnus was in fact the son-in-law of Euddav Octavius.
-

What we are doing is to unravel a confusion. There is however an obvious and very remarkable coincidence which would bemuse most copyists and historians. Magnus Maximus had a Uther, son named Victor and either another son or a grandson named Arthur, and over a hundred years later the second Arthur, King of Gwent was elected as King over all the British in succession to another Uther Victor. The overlord of Britain was the Prince, set above the local kings, a military appointment, an elected appointment. Such a leader need not be a king, in the royal sense, Magnus and Constantine were Emperors, Gwytheyrn and the Gwythelin were 'Over-Lords', Emrys was Wiedig the Leader, and Uther was called Pendragon Head General.
-

I, invaded Gaul, and then in 517 Arthur 11 succeeded Uther Victor, as King. A remarkable repetition and one safely guaranteed to cause a great deal of muddle. This became a certainty as both Arthur ap Uther ap Mascen e.360 to 388 and Arthur ap Meurig ap Tewdrig of c.500 to 575 were great warrior Kings.
-

So in 383 Magnus, Victor and Arthur

88

CHAPTER FOUR
THE ARTHURIAN THE GENERATION

KINGS OF WALES
TECHNIQUE

Without actual dates we need a system to arrange the history by generations. This technique is simple and effective and was adopted to overcome the lack of dates available in the records of the ancient Celtic Kings. We have available lists of Kings of different areas of Britain which stretch back into the times of the Romans. These lists consist of a succession of names, each king following on behind his predecessor but very few dates. The period
which we

have to analyse

is that

departure of the Romans from Britain and the age when written
survived is available to us.
-

from 400 A.D. to 600 A.D., the time between the documentary evidence which has

We know that Magnus Maximus Mascen Wiedig left Britain to become Emperor in 383 A.D. and we know there were senior 'Roman' officials appointed in Britain. From the senior officials spring the lines of some of the Kings of the British. So we have constructed a Generation framework into which these kings will be slotted or fitted. The Generation 1 Kings would be those active when Magnus Maximus left in 383 A.D., so they would be of mature age. So we date Generation I as 350 A.D. (born) to 420 A.D. From this we can date Generation 2, (sons of Generation 1) as 380 A.D. to 450 A.D., and subsequently Generation 3 as 410 A.D. to 480 A.D. and so on; Generation 4 is 440 A.D. to 510 A.D., Generation 5 is 470 A.D. to 540 A.D. and Generation 6 is 500 to 570 A.D. The Seventh Generation Kings are 530 to 600 A.D. and begin to fall into the period of recorded written history. The system can be worked in this manner. We know that Cuneda, founder of the North Wales royal clan, was ordered into North Wales at some time around 430 A.D. to 460 A.D. so he is a Generation 1 or 2 King, probably Cuneda was the Count of Britain. Better still we know that Coel was ruling from York around 380 probably as the Duke of Britain, so he is firmly a generation 1 King. Then we know that Gwytheyrn became King of Britain Vortigern in 426 A.D. so he is probably a Generation 2 or 3 King.
-

Fortunately the Celtic records not only give the names of kings and princes but also those of the queens and princesses. So where we find a Generation 4 King marrying the daughter of another king we can place the father-in-law into Generation 3. In this way we can start to place the various lines of names into some chronological order and to bring order into what at first appears to be chaos.

In the area of our primary as follows:Generation 1 Generation 2

Generation 3 4 5

interest South East Wales

Teudfalt Tewdwr Teithfalt Tewdrig
.

Morganwg

we find that the Kings work out

350-420 A.D.

1
u

380-450 A.D. 410-480 A.D. 440-510

Generation Generation Generation Generation

A.D.

Meurig

b
'

470-540 A.D.

6
7

Arthwyr
Morgan

500-570 A.D.
530-600 A.D.

There are anomalies in this generation system for a king could die young, be born 15 years into a 30 year generation slot or live to a great age. Fortunately age is not a problem at all for sons and grandsons were allowed to become kings whilst their fathers and grandfathers lived once they were of age. In fact this practice gives the system great accuracy as it does provide for an extremely period of the succession of sons after fathers. regular time

The target was to discover King Arthur who is believed born in 495-500 A.D., crowned in 506-517 A.D.
in Western Britain by a South Wales Bishop, fought the Battle of Badon in 518-520 A.D., was forced to abdicate after the Battle of Camlan in 537 A.D. and died around 570 A.D. What we have is a King of Glamorgan and Gwent whose name is Arthwys or Arthwyr who fits exactly into this time period. This Kingis a major figuree-tfre area, bing the paramounter leadintyKing ofthe

89

mi

From this point on we are able to concentrate our search in South Wales. We find wholesale family links with the Breconshire manuscripts, with King Arthwyr's grandfather being father to King Meurig and also to Queen Marchel,motheroftheKingof Brecon Brychan (Brachan). From this point on the search explodes in all directions with place names, tombstones, battle sites, fortress systems; all making sense for the first time.
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The story of the association of the South Wales Kings with their kinsmen in Britanny and of the expedition of 560 A.D. to fight a war in Britanny makes sense at last. Once Arthwyr is cast into the role of Arthur, the stories and legends make sense, the folklore can be interpreted. From this point on there is almost too much information to handle. There are too many sites and too many associations. This is a complete reversal of the situation commonly portrayed and possibly it is just in time to save what can be saved from the past before modern development, new roads and rebuilding is allied to the loss of the old folk tales, the remembrances of the past, which give the essential binding material to the story.

THE METHOD
The information is not available in date form or histories so we haveto find another way. The method of finding King Arthur is in fact very straightforward. It requires charting, tables, cross referencing and mapping in the manner of USA or Japanese Industrial Engineering practice as opposed to the English method of endless debate and masses of words.

SAINTS
First we locate all the Saints who had contact with King Arthur or were related to him. We find that there are eight such saints and nine recorded events. Seven of these saints be firmly located in South Wales and eight of the incidents or encounters are also recorded there. Socan we can map them out and we find South Wales heavily marked. The other record is of Arthur in Dumnonia Britanny with Cato (Catogirnus is recorded on a stone at Morgan Abbey in South Wales).
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So we have Arthur as a close relative to St. Illtyd and St. Samson at Llantwit Major, Glamorgan with tiltyd serving at his camp as a soldier before joining the church. Illtyd stood guard on the River Thaw, central Glamorgan. We have a story in the life of St. Cadoc of Arthur on a mountain top near Merthyr Tydfil, in Glamorgan, and a second story of Arthur arriving at Usk in Gwent to demand compensation for the murder of two of his followers. St. Cadoc was also a relative of the King. Next we have the life of St. Gildas which saint spent a great deal of his time in Glamorgan at Llantwit Major and Llancarfan and fasting on the 400 foot rock of the Steep Holm in the Severn. Gildas is recorded as a friend of the King and the two met for a solemn reconciliation at Llancarfan in Glamorgan after Arthur killed Heuil, the brother of Gildas. St. Gildas was also a kinsman from the North whose family were settled into North Wales.

Next we have St. Dubricious Dyfrig another member of the royal clan of South Wales. This another is relative of King Arthur with his principal establishment on the Eastern edge of the South Wales Kingdom of Morganwg (now part of Hereford since 1536). Dubricious is recorded as crowning Arthur as King of the Britons (B.L.D.) Arthur's court at Caerwent in Gwent.
-

St. Teilo

the Bishop of Llandaff

near Cardiff

is another

relative,

the

disciple

of St.

Dubricious.

Finally we have Padarn, an older man who also studied at Llantwit Major before moving off to found his own monastery at Aberystwyth outside the North Western edge of the South Wales Kingdom. Here at Aberystwyth Padarn had a famous encounter with Arthur.

So apart from two references Wales South Wales.

-

to Arthur in Dumnonia

Britanny

we find all the other

'sightings'

in

TIME
task is to try to these saints. Some would be old when Arthur was young; some would be near his own age; others would be younger. The dates in the 'Saints Lives' are generally unreliable for deaths of the Saints but other events help to establish some framework.
next

The

'date'

For example St. Teilo fled from Llandaff to escape a great Plague. The Welsh Annais record this as in 547 A.D.; Gregory of Tours records it as 557 A.D. The life of St. Teilo, St. Oudoceus and St. Samson give evidence of the nobility over in Britanny where Teilo fled at this time, and record their wars with Conomurus variously known as King Conomurus, King Mark, Count Comotus and so on. They also identify the King of the Franks and others, so a framework of time begins to emerge with vital key dates upon which to hang the whole pattern. Gregory of Tours wrote an accurate contemporary history dating all the important Frankish Kings and nobility. St. Samson attended the Council of Paris in 557 A.D. and so on.
-

'

90

The Welsh Annals record the death of Gildas the Wise in 570 and we know that St. Teilo returned to Wales after the Plague finished. The Plague lasted for five years and could have ended around 548 to 552 Welsh Annals, or 562 A.D. Gregory of Tours. We prefer to trust Gregory unless there were A.D.
-

two great plagues.

GILDAS AND THE KINGS

When Gildas wrote his famous 'Dei Excidio', a history and sermon combined, he blasted five kings of

the Britons for their wickedness. The obvious thing to do therefore is to identify those five kings and to draw a map of their territories not to talk about them. We find that Gildas was addressing the kings of the five areas which totally encircled South East Wales. As Gildas lived most of his life in South Wales it is reasonable to suppose he
was writing

from there yet he makes no mention

at all of the King of his area.

The Kings of South East Wales have a record of constant warfare with the Saxons during the period 450 to 520sothey were powerful. Additionally St. Dubricious of this area is claimed to have crowned Arthur and six other saints were related to him or met him in the area.

THE MABINOGION STORIES

Next the Mabinogion Stories have to be examined. possibly dramatized or stylized but basically true.
-

We begin with the assumption

that they are true,

is again to identify sites where King Arthur can positively be located in these ancient The objective stories. Again the result is that Arthur is named as being at Caerleon in Gwent, at Cardiff in Glamorgan, and fighting a major war all over South Wales. He is located as assembling his army at a river esturary on the Severn shore on an islet, a site which can only be at Ogmore in Glamorgan.

The Battle of Badon is to be fought near this assembly point so the Mabinogion clearly places the site in South Wales. Another site mentioned is Malpass which is a district of Newport in Gwent. In fact the stories of the Mabinogion very firmly place Arthur in South Wales.

LEGENDS
At this time there is a build up of information from Saints; their 'Lives', relationships and encounters

with Arthur. There is evidence by omission of Gildas and the additional evidence of the Mabinogion. So then we have legends; the fabulous sword Excalibur, the Lady of the Lake, Morgan-le-Faye, Arthur
taken by ship by women in black. There is the round Arthurian story. table, Sir Lancelot and all the other knights in the

This requires a careful approach but we can in fact discover perfectly acceptable locations, explanations and sites, together with artifacts and real life personalities to match all the elements of the Arthurian stories in South Wales and in the royal clans of North Wales and Northern Britain.
-

We have a lake with an ancient shrine, swords thrown into this sacred lake; the Celtic water goddess of deep water, Margan, Arthur's aunt Morgan Le Faye Marchel wife of King Brychan.
-

We alsohavetwoislandswhere Saints spent their time in solitude and on one we have the vestigal remains of a nunnery the Women in Black. Women in Black are in fact the female Druid sect well reported by the Roman generals on Anglesea. In fact all the ingredients of the magical Arthurian story can be found in South Wak
-

PEOPLE
The next move is to try to fit the cast of the Arthurian characters to real life sixth century personalities. exercise as all the characters of the stories can be fitted This is in fact a comparitively straightforward quite easily to contemporary people. Comparison with the known life of the major character of the prince cast in the role of Lancelot demonstrates almost com\ete accuracy. This is taken further when great numbers of other names also check out accurately.

So

we have stories based on a real life cast of people in a precise geographical proven names in the many surviving church Charters of the period.

area, and hundreds

of well

NAMES
This now widens the search for names and there are three good sources available. There are the Court Pedigrees of Hywel Dda who died in 950, the ruling prince of Dyfed. These cover all the major royal

91

houses of old Britain, naming the senior or high kings of each area. These lists go back into the mists of time to before the Romans in some cases. Then there are the Charters of Llandaff Cathedral and of Llancarfan Abbey. These remain in copy form and date from around 480 to 500 A.D. onward. Only fourteen survive from Llancarfan but over 150 successful battles, survive from Llandaff. These charters give descriptions of the reasons for charters, souls of dead kings, murders, grants of accession to thrones, and so on. As such they contain a wealth of history, naming many locations and events. The charters also include a wealth of historical comment naming people, places and events and include several 'Saints Lives'. In short they all tell the history Charters name people concerned but they also supply in each case a double list of people who witness and they are invariably important the charter. These are the clerical witnesses and the lay witnesses people the King, his sons, other Kings, nobles, relatives and for the clergy, Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Princes and others. This means in effect that a complete list of personalities for the period is As the charters roll on down the years names disappear from the lists and new ones being presented. them appear; rather like a football team with older players retiring and a few youngsters replacing every year. Kings die and their sons replace them, lesser clerics are elevated to be Bishops or Abbots and so on.
-

The third source of basic names available is the Brecon Manuscripts and the Pedigrees of the Saints. AII Celtic Saints were of Royal or Noble blood and their ancestry was duly recorded. So we find their royal fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers etc. and invaluably often their mothers and their mothers fathers. We find lists of Brecon princes and princesses and the kings, nobles or queens they married, and the complete history of the royal line of Glamorgan and Gwent and that of Brecon. The amazing thing about all this mass mass of evidence from these sources is that they match. The evidence fits together cogently and coherently. This is particularly true of the lists of the Kings of Morganwg Glamorgan and Gwent.We can therefore construct a family tree of the ruling family of South ast Wales and wecan fit these kings into a time framework, matching their generations with their known and the Saints. Using the few exact dates which we can get from the various charters, contemporaries histories and other events to form a picture.
-

result is absolutely extraordinary for there in the correct is a king who was the paramount or leading king of South East Wales and his name is King Arthwyr. The name is variously spelled in the different documents but we can locate a powerful king in South East Wales at exactly the right time 500 to 570 A.D. He is contemporary with the Saints associated with Arthur and his father is the same man King Meurig named as Arthur's father in the ancestry of Saint Illtyd and St. Samson.

The

'timeslot'

we shall see.

So we have our King named variously Arthwys, Arthwyr, Athwys, Athwyr, Arthmail, Arthmael, Arthur: but always the same man. It is common in ancient manuscripts to find variable spellings for one name as
-

We can even find a Charter to Dubricious by Noe son of Arthur (meaningNoah) and later Nougoy in the tenth century.

spelled Noe in Dyfed, Nowi in Gwent

Now, for the first time, we have something definite to work at; and the charters of King Arthwyr's grandfather King Tewdrig, his father King Meurig, of Arthur himself and his son King Morgan and later descendants can be examined minutely to reveal the story of the time. The Bishops, Abbots and clerics, can be examined as can other charters by minor kings in the area and the lists of the nobles and princes. From the Brecon record we get Arthur Penuchel and Penuchel is the ancient name of the country of Morganwg now named Glamorgan.
-

With this as a basis we can now check Arthwys in time and location with all the other Kings and Bishops of the sixth century and also with the known events. From the dates we have we discover the story. The facts we get match the stories and legends and Arthwyr or Arthur emerges as a real life warrior king. The fact that we can accurately locate his home kingdom and family enables us to locate battle sites, saints cells, his father's camp, timbered halls and hunting lodges which were probably his own, and graves. In fact the situation virtually explodes into a mass of related explanations and understandings once the primary task of locating the king and his family is accomplished. The Battle of Badonwas almost certainly fought on one of three sites in South Wales, the favourite being the Mynydd-y-Milwyr the Mount of the Soldiers at Llandyfodwg. The Battle of Camlan of the great civil war is easily located at Camlan in mid-Wales, a place which still is, always was and always has been called Camlan; it is clear enough on any O.S. map.
-

'obvious'

Sense emerges from nonsense in the older stories of the British or Welsh and an understanding of the events of Arthur's time emerges. A complete revision of concepts of sixth century Britain particularly the ople, is both required and possible.

O THE IMPERIAL THRO

F BRITAIN

THE RIGHTFUL C

OF

nND C

ofUC r

inSOR S

King Octavius of Britain King Euddav of Caernarvon Octavius had no son

so Elen was the heiress of Britain

Theodore

Constantinius I
Augustus of the West

M 1. M 2.

Theodore
Helen the daughter of

Elen --M

-----Magnus

Maximus Emperor of the

-388

Marcellus

Constantine the I Great Emperor

-

VVest383 M Vortigern King of Britain 427-461 Vortimer King of Britain

of the East and West i Victor -Uther King of Britain Augustus of Gaul Arthur i Andragathius Teitheyrn Thathal
-

Servilla

Constantine

Cystenhinn

Publins Peblig

Eugenius Owain

Constantine I Emperor of East

Constintinus Il Emperor of West

Constans 337-340

Cousin of Constantine Jovianus the Apostate 361-363

11

337-350

337-361
Jovianus The subsequent Emperors Valentinian I, Gratian, Theodosius were all elected by the Army or by each other.
-

Cattigern

Pascent

445-455

Ambrosius -M of Caerwent

-Madrun

d.388

I
Kings of Powys

Enyr Guent
Theodorus

Eidinet
Aurelianus

Theodore

Tutagual
Dinacat

King Teithfallt

i
-

Theodosius

King Tewdrig
Honorius of Caerwent Ynyr

Senill

Gwent

King Meurig

Queen Marchel

Neithon Run

I
Idnerth

King Arthur 11b.491

Arthwyr d.570

(Rhun)

I Frioc

Kings of Glamorgan

STONES
Memorial stones, tombstones, commemorative Finally we have one other resource available to us stones. This is a remarkably fruitful area in South Wales and one which although of primary importance and neglected in Wales. We can see from the story which has in Egypt has been greatly underestimated itself that these Memorial stones were erected for Kings, princes, Saints and bishops not for or revealed by ordinary folk. Additionally they were often in two scripts in South Wales, Latin and Ogham, and all Welsh nobility had Latin translatable names.
-

Fortunately in South Wales there are a large number of such ancient stones and several provide quite remarkable evidence. In the confines of our search we look for the Kings of Arthur's time and for saints and bishops. There is in fact a remarkable list of the ancient tombs or sepulchres of ancient Welsh notables in the 'Song of the Graves' and the equally ancient Brecon manuscript.
Several other tomb sites are listed in the Brecon papers picture of the period of Arthur. and these all help to create the geographical

So we can add stones with inscriptions for the other sources of evidence. Vortigern the High King of Britain is a name, but his tombstone somehow makes him more real. It places him and makes him understandable. All this and we have not yet used the Welsh Triads.
The result of all this is the plain and simple fact that the identity of King Arthur has been there to be read and placed in Glamorgan and Gwent down through the centuries. As one Welsh scholar of over 100 years ago wrote quite simply:"Gwent is chiefly il/ustrated by the heroism of

Arthur grandson of Theoderic of Tintern and the Roman magnificente of Caerleon".

and terrible' was in "Arthur the Map Uther or fact the son of Meuruc son of Theoderic of Tintern, prince of the Silures".
'the

In 1794 similar assertions were printed in Histories. The Welsh have known who he was all along; only English journalists seem to have had any problem.

TEWDRIG, GRANDFATHER
THEODERIC, GRANDFATHER

OF ARTHWYS
OF ARTHUR

There is in fact a considerable amount of information available concerning King Theoderic. Unfortunately this ruler of Morganwg who reigned from around 450 or 460 to 493 or 509 A.D. has been confused of King Arthur instead of being recognised as his grandfather. This arises from as a contemporary back' the period of Arthur's rule from 500 A.D. to 542 (or 539) A.D. to an earlier attempts to period of around 485 to 511 (or 518). It is an old and common fault of those who seek to explain what if the facts don't fit the story that is preferred, they do not fully understand then change the facts.
'move
-

However, Theoderic or King Tewdrig as the Welsh would have styled him, has left considerable information which helps fill the gap in the murky confused period between 450 and 500 A.D. when the Britons struggled for their lives and homelands with the Saxon savages. Now Theoderic may have been Roman' name and of pure native Silurian extraction, that is a very distinct possibilit w of his this is where we begin. The possibility is that he was part related to Taifalic Goths.
'non

The King Tewdrig or Theoderic of South East Wales was in fact a descendant of the line of Bran and Lucius (Lleirwg) and others. His name could well have been a borrowing by the Welsh, recognising the efforts of Visigoth and Ostrogoth kings in Europe attempting to restore and maintain the Western eoderic Empire of Rome which they invaded. is a Whi querors e Wower th de endants o t the e n_cient Scythians sought and strove against the more other including the Sueves,..the V.andals erm it the Franks is no axons an e a un me o o i mgs who replaced the thoroughly decadent and corr omans nd who represented the main hope of Western European cultural survival, should be adopted in ntain.
,
.

Another

Southern France

and less probable is that Theoderic was a Visigoth who came over from or small army. As the Visigoths of Southern France were in possession of their fleets and lands until 507 A.D. when Clovis the Frank defeated them, this is an untenable theory as our Theoderic died in 509 A.D.
with hiswarband

theory,

more dramatic

We know of King Theoderic from several sources, one our Book of Llandaff, where he is many times

94

remarkable source is the mentioned as the father of King Meurig and grandfather of Arthur. Another with no interest or involvement in any direction to either promote or Brecon manuscripts, documents fourth and fifth centuries, 375 to denigrate the name of Theoderic. We know that throughout the late attempting to move into South Western England and all parts of Wales. We know 495 A.D., the Irish were mid and north Wales and the South that the great Cunedda and his sons destroyed them in most of one in Brecon and one in South West WalesWelsh princes confined them to two small areas kingdoms threat to the Welsh and the men of Cornwall and Devon as Demetia. These Irish areas were a constant atteelethe native kingdoms? ther barbariansio with the Saxons a they consistently made alliances
-

attacked the South Eastern Welsh the SiluresSuch an attack took place around 492 and when their foes the Saxons attacked from the east. These were not sea borne invasions from the north and west, whilst from people settled and living in Wales. o er from Ireland, but attacks
-

Irish. The Brecon Manuscripts tell us Triad legend names Caradoc Vreichfras as clearing Brecon of these campaign and graphically illustrate the geography of the fighting. The Saxons were Theoderic's of Cardiff and Brecon defeats were reportedly defeated at Cardiff and the Irish at Brecon, possibly both the obviously over in the east of Morganwg in the Gloucester area inflicted on the Irish. King Theodericwas his rear from Brecon and West Wales. when he was forced to turn to deal with the treacherous attack in he advanced along the Roman Road which runs from Gloucester up to Hay-on-Wye The story tells how despatched a daughter named as and on through to Brecon. Here he drove out his enemies and then he turned to face the Saxons again. Marchel was pursued Marchel to flee the enemy, whilst presumably Llandovery on to Carmarthen and by enemies down along the Roman roads from Brecon through to They chased her down to Whitesands Bay near St. Davids in then on to the Irish territory in West Wales. stood and fought and twice they were known Pembrokeshire, as Porth Mawr, twice on the way they hundred men. This keep running. In each battle it is reported that Marchel's escort lost one forced to of the Silures army which was assigned to the pursuit must in itself have been a means that this part face the Saxons. Marchel considerable force, probably in excess of 2,000, whilst the main body went to returned to in Ireland where she married King Coromac's son, Anlach, and they later survived to arrive

Wales.
what was later a small estuary from There is not much at Porth Mawr now, but the ruins stand above Four miles inland is the hill fortress of Caer Farchelf the Fort which the sea has still further retreated. Great') was an important harbour at of Marcellus a reminder of events. This Porth Mawr (meaning'Port and marks the place where St. Patrick embarked to set sail for freland. the time
-

Llan-Marchell, a place five miles Back up at Hay-on-Wye is another reminder of Marcellus or Marcella at from the town of Hay. So we have a story of one of Theoderic's
campaigns with no less than six definite place names given to us generals, Equally important are some other facts. We are given the name of one of his in the text. Marcella his daughter, of course and Agricola and in Welsh these names probably a kinsman. These are that Aircoll Lawhir was given the task of driving the Irish appear as Marchell and Aircoll. We know Agricola (Aircoll Lawhir Agricola Longhand, a name appearing in many texts). First from West Wales. Vortipor, which clearly demonstrates the Roman legacy is named as Tribune, and Marcellus as Protector honours were being used in the same way as the Ostrogoths to Britain at the time. The same titles and Franks used them in Northern and Visigoths preserved them in Italy, Southern France and Spain,and the that they were not in fact France. In fact these Roman names surrounding Theoderic clearly illustrate Anfach the Irish but pure Silurian South East Welsh. Out of Marchel's union with foreign or Roman, Brecheiniog. King of Brecon prince came Brychan
-

The campaign in West Wales succeeded and the new

ruler became Aircoll Lawhir as a sub-king to King overlord kings. Irish elements remained in the area and the new state was Theoderic and his successors as and Ogham for the frish. in fact bi-lingual, with royal memorial stones using Latin for the Welsh

himself trained Irish pupils. It is no accident that St. David was baptised by an Irish bishop and that he Porth Mawr was Irish Nor is it strange that the type of rule established by David only five miles from remainder of South Wales preferring proved most popular in that West Wales area and in Brecon. The and Christianity. a more relaxed, less austere mode of that he was in fact a The memory of Theoderic extends well beyond South East Wales, illustrating in Cornwall to defend South Western Britain, as the records reveal. senior king in Britain. He fought also off and so he turned his One Irish chieftain sailed to invade Britanny and was badly mauled and driven and Cornwall. This chieftain, named Finbar, was either an Irish king or accompanied a king attention to 770 men. An alliance had been made with a British chieftain named the invasion force at Cornwall was numbers, to join Finbar. Guinner who also brought his army, of unspecified Theoderic was tried to land his men at South East and Mid Wales and he prepared to deal with Finbar. When Finbar force as Bay, St. Ives in Cornwall, Theoderic was there to meet him and he destroyed the Irish Hayle well informed of events, which is not unnatural, as Brittany was largely colonised from t

95

The they landed in the surf. Then the king turned his attention toGuinneranddefeatedhimaswell, survivors were allowed to settle quietly in the area, giving their names to a number of Cornwall's parishes and creating links with Shannon and its monks. Names included Senan of .Inis Cathy, Cairan of Saigir,
Findbar of Fowey and Breaca. This Cornwall area was part of the Dumnonian Kingdom, but it appears that lands around the Padstow arrangement, as Theoderic appears were ceeded to King Theoderic. This is an obvious military estuar to have had a fleet. The provision of a naval base in this area of Cornwall would not only assist directly in the defence of Cornwall and Wales, but also Brittany, as it would be an invaluable staging post on the route from Central England and South Wales on the way to the Brittany peninsular. Legend holds that Theoderic established his principal bases at St. Ives and near Falmouth, but neither of these ruined sites has yet been excavated. Strangely even in the late twentieth century major naval powers still contend for naval bases on foreign soil to give them strategic advantages, It is however the first real indication of the old relationship and alliance between the Silurian Kingdom of South East Wales and Cornwall in South West England.

The provision of naval bases at Falmouth and St. Ives for the Silurian king by the king of Dumnonia Cornwall also gives us the basis for the later Cornish claims for involvement in the affairs of the Silurian royal house and in particular with the illustrious King Arthur, the grandson of Theoderic.
-

later, Gruffydd ap Arthur, trying to interpret the confused mass of fact and legend Later, some650years in 1135 A.D. was to describe how one Uther Pendragon warred with Duke Goriois of Cornwall. We know Terrible' or Victor, and the Pen-dragon meant the 'Head Dragon' or War Chiefs that Uther can be This was how 650 years of oral history had twisted the story of King Theoderic, the High King of the Britons, crushing a 'Duke Guinner' who allied with invading Irish chiefs and threatened the safety and stability of British Dumnonia. This is where the Cornish nonsense of Arthur's origin began, with a Saxon war on the East of Dumnonia and an Irish invasion and rebellion in the West of Cornwall, a classic in the back' situation. The obvious result was that whilst the Dumnonian King faced the Saxons in the Hampshire area, the Silures King Theoderic, sailed to Cornwall and defeated the enemy in the rear. Cornish tradition, not admitting their treachery to the British cause, invented the opposite to cover their guilt and strove to appropriate Arthur and so confused history.
'the

'stab

THE CHURCH OF ST. CLYDAWG THE PARISH CHURCH OF CLODOCK IN HEREFORDSHIRE

Now the history of Theoderic shifts back to his kingdom of South East now Clodock. It may be difficult for people in Hereford to understand, were always Welsh and remained so until 1536 A.D. The area was part later became the Kingdom of Morganwg and not until a Welsh prince, England in 1485 was it in danger of being lost to the Welsh. During the Welsh monarch ordered his minister Thomas wives, this unsympathetic unite England and Wales and so Wales was organised into thirteen counties into Union with England.
Wales to the parish of Clydawg but these areas of their county of the Silures territory which Henry VII Tudor conquered reign of Henry VIII of the six Cromwell to prepare a bill to and annexed and incorporated

part of the west was added to In this Act of Union of 1536 Morganwg was finally partitioned, Carmarthenshire, part of the north to Breconshire, part of the east to Hereforshire and the central area was split into Monmouthshire and Glamorgan. So an area of Welsh Morganwg was in 1536 allotted to the relatively small English county of Hereford. There was no conquest of south west Herefordshire by the English other than by their lawyers in Westminster. The peoples of this area in fact continued to speak Welsh until well into the nineteenth century and many of their place names are pure Welsh.

So we have in this beautiful border county area the village of Clodockand a very ancient church, which was originally founded around 485 A.D. This church commemorates a sub-king of the area who was King in the Book of Llandaff. Apparently Clydawg was of mixed Clydawg of Ewias whose story is recorded
Welsh-Irish royal parentage, his father being King Cledwyn of Ewias, and his maternal grandfather is said to be a King Glywys of Brecon. There was a brother named Dedyw and both King Clydawg and Dedyw were very strongly influenced by the Bishop (later Saint) Cadog or Cadoc. So King Clydawg was regarded as a good and holy man, but he still had enemies. rival' were having an affair with the same lady and this caused a dangerous Both King Clydawg and situation in old Wales. Despite the efforts of the church to persuade the two to swear solemn oaths of non-violence, other man' took a spear and when King Clydawg was hunting in the woods, he murdered him, so eliminating his rival. There was naturally an outcry from the church and a demand for land to be given to the church to compensate for the king's death. Onthe day appointed for the funeral of Clydawg the two oxen pulling the burial cart refused to go any further when the yoke of the cart broke at a ford of the river. So this was the spot where the King was buried by the riverside. One can see the thinking of the old monks and their bishop quite clearly; they had chosen this piece of land for compensation' and not only did they have a ready made martyr for their new foundation, but they also road' across the river. Pilgrim and tourist trade was guaranteed. had it on good land right on the
'the
'their

'his

'main

96

Ewias comprised the parishes of Clodock, Graswell, Cusop Llancillo, Llanveuno, Longtown the church (Ewias Lacy), Michaelchurch, Escley, Newton, Rowlestone, St. Margarets and Walten-stone. So the Llan of Merthyr Clydawg came into being around 500 to 520 A.D. whilst King Theoderic or Meurig or Arthur ruled thewhole area of Siluria, later Morganwg, and on the 3rd November, the date of Clydawg's death, pilgrims gathered to his church shrine in crowds.
-

The land was duly bought by the murderer to atone for his sin and given to the Church. A shrine was built and the whole plan worked beautifully, with Merthyr Clydawg the Martyr Clydawg becoming a pilgrimage attraction. Here the people of Ewias where he had ruled, came to worship and make gifts to
-

and then destroyed his invading Irish allies. In this way Theoderic now owned and controlled Cornwall as well as the lands of the Silures. There is then a legend to consider, for the folktales tell of how Uther Pend ragon to Cornwall and seduced the wife of Gorlois and his kinsrnan and from this union was born Arthur'. Well the story is corrupted, for Gorlois was Guinner and he was no loyal duke, but a treacherous villain and the Pendragon who went against him did not seduce his wife and withdraw, that Pendragon was Theoderic who slaughtered Guinner and took all he owned. This brings us to the wife of the dead Guinner who would be part of Theoderic's booty and here we have the very essence of the story, for here in the territory of Silurian Morganwg is the clue. In the church of Clydawg a memorial stone was dug up in the restoration of 1916 to 1919 made of local red sandstone. The translation reads something like this:'went

The church area is however important to our story in another way, for Clydawg was a sub-king under the sway of Theoderic. We have seen how Theoderic crushed Guinner the treacherous ruler of Cornwall

"This tomb has the remains of that faithful woman the dear wife of Guinnda who herself was resident in this place".

So Theoderic took the wife of Guinner of Cornwall back to his lands in South East Wales and here he kept her finally at the monastic site of yr Clydawg. The object of removing the wife of the now dead Guinner is clear, for under Welsh ustom where there was no male heir, the husband of the
female claimant could claim the thr ing Theoderic removed her from Cornwall to his own Silurian territories in South East Wales so retaining his hold on Cornwall. King Clydawg probably had designs on the wife of Guinner of Cornwall and Theoderic or Meurig killed him. As we have seen in early times, Queen Cartimunda ruled the Brigantes of Northern England at the time of Claudius and Nero in Rome, as did Boadicea rule the Iceni of Norfolk and Suffolk. In Wales in the ninth century, in the absence of a male heir, Ethel succeeded to the Kingdom of Gwynedd; her husband Merfyn Ffrych, King of the Isle of Man, became King of Gwynedd. King Clydawg was probably killed by King Theoderic when he persisted in giving attention wife presumably to marry and inherit Cornwall. to Guinner's

So we can see how the idea that the great Pendragon of South Wales coveted the wife of the ruler of Cornwall originated. Th man was taken but not for love or lust, but to secure the area of Cornwall to the British cause. T invaded the area to prevent foreign Irish invasion and to suppress the revolt of the Cornish rule ner. e fact that the woman who had been Guinner's wife was held in King Theoderic's territory will explain how the lie came about that she was the mother of Arthur, the grandson of King Theoderic. Actually the tombstone praises her chastity and faithfulness and as a Oueen forced attraction for the early monks to become a nun, her grave would be an additional pilgrim-cum-tourist hence her praiseworthy tombstone.
-

This disposes of the myth that Arthur King of the was born in Cornwall or had anything to do with the place. Theoderic chose the place to hold of Guinner well, it is well inland away from the main river and sea and would have been difficult to escape from to go to Cornwall. The husband of this captive woman (Guinner) killed by Theoderic, is recorded in the lists of the Brecon manuscripts where his name is listed amongst those of the ancestors of the Saints. Bonnedd No. 34 Llewe/yn Y Saint map

(son of) Bleidud,

means

map
-

Tegonwy
"two

map

Teort map

Guinner deu urendvyt

'Deu urendvyt'

two dreams

literally

faced".

We next have an explicit entry in the book of Llandaff describing how two brothers and their sisters son Martyr, and Clydach for Clydawg the King. came to Merthyr Clydach and lived there at Merthyr Clodock village or church today.
=
-

The brothers were named Lyb iau and Gwrwan and their sister's son Cynuir, and they came from Penuchen, which is the ancient name of Glamorgan. This became a typical Celtic church, the property of the family to be handed down through the generations. No mention is made of Guinner's wife but these men were probably her keepers and guards. King Theoderic would take no chances.

97

THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF CORNWALL

There is in fact a reason for Guinner's taking up arms against King Theoderic and we can piece it together from various stories told in Brittany, in Gaul and in West Wales. The scenario is as follows. A kingdom in Brittany named Quimper was in the possession of one Marcellus, and two brothers who had to Quimper. From this we can infer that these two a claim to it had fled to Britain and now returned brothers named Budic and Maxentius were driven out of Quimper, possibly when their father was killed by some usurper or conqueror. Then King Theoderic sent his general Marcellus who had chased the Irish from Brecon and West Wales, to recover this kingdom of Quimper and to hold it. All this is straightforward as Theoderic had a considerable fleet. Next the brothers Budicand Maxantius returned to Quimper in Brittany after Marcellus had re-conquered it and driven off the invader. The invader may well have been the Irish chieftain Finbar who then tried his luck with fatal results, against King Theoderic in Cornwall. So with Finbar driven off, Marcellus holds Aircoll Lawhir holds West Wales and Theoderic secures South East on to Quimper, whilst Agricola Wales Siluria and then Cornwall.
-

The crux of the matter is that Budic and Maxentius recovered their lands from Marcellus, presumably a peaceful handover, and promptly quarrelled as all good Celtic princes did. Maxentius expelled Budic from Quimper, again creating a tension and trouble spot in British lands. So this time Agricola sailed depriving Maentius of part of his kingdom' from West Wales to Brittany and restored Budic
'so

This is all derived from mediaeval scraps, but the Budic and Theoderic connection is as well known to and attested by Gregory of Tours in the sixth century A.D. (30/11/539 17/11/594). Actually young Budic, who lived until 557 A.D., named his son Theoderic after old King Theoderic of Siluria, who gave him back his kingdom on two occasions once through his'son the general Marcellus and once through the other general Agricola.
-

However the other brother Maxentius had been firmly put in his place by Theoderic and one of his relatives was his nephew Guinner. So this gave Guinner the pretext to revolt and ally himself with Finbar and the Irish. Actually the possession of Cornwall was vital to the British of the fifth and sixth centuries, for if an enemy controlled Cornwall, then the sea routes to Brittany and Europe could be cut. There was no way that King Theoderic could allow that to happen, which accounts for his going in person to seize the area and to crush the Irish and Cornish rebels. The campaign was too important to even send a senior general like Marcellus or Agricola and the King who the Welsh record as King Tewdrig, went in person.
-

We have therefore not only the background and reasons for the strategic Irish attempt to seize Cornwall after being ejected from Brittany, but a clear demonstration of the extent of the power of the early kings of what became known as Morganwg. This also gives the clue to the future election of Arthur, crown prince of these Silures, to be King of the Britons, following his grandfather Tewdrig Theoderic and his father Meurig Maurice.
-

There is also an ample demonstration that the British kings of the 'Arthurian Period' were fully prepared to wage war on the continent of Europe and had the fleets and military strength to do so. THE DEATH OF KING THEODERIC
We have very strong evidence of a Saxon invasion of Morganwg before the time of Arthur. This is given in the Book of Llandaff, where a description of the action occurs. The King, Theoderic, has decided to etire from public life as o dvances upon him and so he hands over his crown to his son who is ing Meurig. This sensi habit of elevating sons and even grandsons during the lifetime of an ageing king, ensured that th s a younger, more vigorous man to lead the nation. Din-teyrn fort of the prince' and retired to live amongst the of that still very beautiful place. Then during the reign of his son the Saxons and meadows invaded Morganwg, killing,burningand destroying. So the old King came back to court to aid his son and the battle was fought with all the usual ferocity of the age. The Saxon host was defeated and put to flight, pursued by King Meurig, decimated as they struggled back across the Wye. The old King Theoderic was killed in the fighting and died defending his country. No prince of the Silures could ask for more. The place where Theoderic was mortally wounded was the Tinterri Ford which is by Brockweir on the
-

Old King Theoderic went to Tintern

rocks

-'the

River Wye.
with This King Theoderic who we know in our king lists as King Tewdrig, was clearly contemporary Aurelianus Ambrosius the leader of the Britons against the Saxons in the second half of the fifth century. He is not to be confused with Theoderic the son of King Budic who ruled Amorica from around 490 to 520 A.D., the Budic who received Teilo when he fled from the plague in Britain in 555 A.D.
-

There is a record of an Irish attack which combined with a Saxon invasion of Glamorgan around 492 or 493 A.D. The battles were fought at Cardiff and at Brecon and the invaders were crushed. This does not

98

St. Gildas wrote his famous "Dei Exciddio" calling for the six senior Kings of the Southern Welsh to u his resulted in the election o rt King of the Britons.

A. Gildas criticised the five Kings of the lands surrounding Gwent and Glamorgan where he lived. B. Gildas called for a return to unity under one King obviously intending the Kings of Glamorgan and Gwent, who traced their descent from Bran and Caractacus and the earlier Cunobelinus who fought Caesar and Claudius.

Northern

Kingdoms of the Welsh 450 to 600 A.D.

Cunoglasus, King Cinglas great grandson of Cunedda. Cousin of Maelgwn Gwynedd.

GWYNEDD Maglocunus Maelgwn Gwynedd King of Gwynedd.

POWYS

DYFED

Vorteporis Vortiporix son of Aircol Lawhir King of Dyfed

Gildas the rigand King son

is LONDON A rei sn

CAERDYV CARDIFF

CORNWALL

DUMNONIA
"

mr also known as King Mark PORTSMOUTH

Custennhin (Gorneu) King Constantine

BRITAIN AROUND 540 A.D.

99

mean that the invaders came from Ireland by sea, it means in fact that the Irish dynasty of the Kingdom of Brecon combined against the Welsh of Morganwg with the Saxons eMiaglagl. This conspiracy was thoroughly defeated and it gained a new place for the Kings of Glamorgan in the political sphere of the kingdom of the Britons. Here was the old kingdom quite capable of defeating not only the Saxon enemy, but also of fighting off their Irish allies at the same time. This enhanced status of the Glamorgan kings and the military ability of their people was an important factor in the election of Arthur, the son of Meurig to be King of the Britons in 518 A.D. to lead the armies into Dumnonia in support and protect ion of the Celtic ruler of that area, against King Conomurus King Mark, and his Saxon, German and Norse allies.
-

'

The idea of a king retiring to a quiet monastic life was not so unusual. We have a good example of the Prince Regent Belshazar ruling in Babylon at the time of David, whilst his father King Nabonidas lived out his old age at the oasis of Teima.
Then in Britain there is a similar example of an Angle king doing exactly the same thing, when King Sigibert of the East Angles retired to a monk's cell and placed his son on the throne in his place around 630. Sigibert also had to return to power to help his son fight an invasion of the pagan King of Mercia, who was probably Penda, son of Pybba (d.circa 655). The later biographer of St. Finnian, a contemporary and colleague of Cadog, also records the event of the Saxon invasion giving the worthy saint a major and obviously fictitious role in the defeat of thn Saxons. Nothing is gained from this 'Life of St. Finnian' other than confirmation of the struggle and a rough confirmation of date, as Finnian was with St. Cadog and long dead by 630 A.D. probably contemporary living around 500 to 560 A.D.

THE LINE OF THEODERIC

Arthur, elected King of the Britons, was as we will see, the most cosmopolitan truly modern type Briton who could be found. He was indeed the champion of the Billi Britons, or but he was probably not of pure 100% Celtic stock,

of Arthur and the ancient lineages which he combined in his person must begin with his father King Meurig and the ancestry of Meurig we can get from the Brecon Manuscripts. Theoderic was as we have seen, a powerful king dominating South East Wales with his sphere of political and military influence stretching West to West Wales, south west to dominate Cornwall and south across the seas to lesser Britain, which included then modern Brittany, Normandy and much of Poitiers. This monarch decided to conclude dynastic marriages for both his son and daughter, Marche.I (Marcella) and Meurig (Maurice). The daughter was married into the Irish/Welsh family of the Kings of Brecon, the family of Brychan. The son Meurig was married to Onbrawst, daughter of the Welsh King Gwrgan the Great and so strong family alliances with other dynasties were being created in much the Vortigern married the Saxon princess Rowena, daughter of King Hengist same way as and his daughter married the son of Leobaire (Leary) the High King of Ireland. Now the important question is who exactly was Theoderic King of South East Wales? Where did his family originate and what was their claim to royal status? The answers are strange beyond any invention of fiction and are in the Brecon manuscripts. These ancient papers, quite unconnected with the affairs of South East Wales (later Morganwg), have no possible reason to contain any untruth over Theoderic. They state the King's line of ancestors simply because it was the custom in such involvements as marriage alliances.
-

The answer to the identity

The Brecon papers in fact record and this is what we have:Kynauc son of son of daughter of
son of

the ancestors of King Theoderic of South East Wales more than once
Kynauc son of son of daughter son of son of of Brachan (Brychan)

Brachan Marchel (Tewdrig)

Teudiric Teudfall Teuder

Marchal
Teudric Teithphal Teithrin Tathal Annun-negri

son of son of son of

Teudfal son of Annhun the son of King of Grecorum

King of Grecorum

100

Madley founded by King Pebiau on the spot wngp and prandson St. Dyfrig was born around 450 A.D. crowned King Arthur, and Pebiau was also grandfather to Gwrgan Mawr, King Arthur's maternal grandfather.

`f"`yxrig

The river Wye, close to the place where King Theoderic the grandfather of King Arthur was fatally wounded when e Saxons, around 509 A.D.

of the Prince', from the location of King Theoderic who retired to live nearby.

Ruined Tintern Abbey from Din Teyrn, the 'Fort

101

Now this means in our terms the following:Cynac the

son of son of daughter son of son of son of son of of Brochmail Marcellina Theoderic Theodosius died circa 500 died circa 493 or 509 (or Theodebald) Theodosius Theodorus A.D. born 350-360 A.D.

Theodore Theodorus Arthur I

died circa the King of Greece

This is quite an extraordinary statement, for the King of South East Wales was claiming descent from the King of Greece Arthur. This was the man, the sworn enemy of the Romans, who had launched his massive attacks across the Channel againstthe Empire into Gaul, Spain, Switzerland and Italy into Thrace, Macedonia and Greece. He is inevitably Andragathius, grandson of M Romania aximus.
-

We have seen how other sources identify the father of Theoderic King of South 500 to is as one Teithfalt. This is important, for amongst the enormous Gothic confederation of emy se was a large tribe known as the Taifalic Goths. After the defeat and death in battle of the Roman Emperor Decius, a series of campaigns to drive out the Goths resulted in large numbers of them finally being recruited under their chieftains into the Roman army. It is known that Taifalic cavalry heavy cavalry was recruited into the Roman army and it is further known that these Taifalic cavalry units recruited into the army, were brought to Britain. This cavalry force would be recruited as a tribal unit, complete with chieftain, subchiefs, warriors, women, children, everything and located where their services were required.
-

There is no doubt whatsoever that the names of the line of Theoderic of South East Wales are Gothic names. There is no doubt that up to the time of Theoderic himself, the naming of the line of the family followed the German custom of naming the son with a name beginning with the same letter or sound as that of the father, in this case 'T'. Equally there is no doubt that the names of these kings are not only Gothic but that they identify with the Taifalic Goths, for example Taithfalt and Taifalic. It is probably the origin of the naming of the River Taff and also the origin of the old Saxon rhyme which named the cattle thieving Welsh of South Wales which most people in Britain know:-

Taffy was a Welshman Taffy was a

lhief

Taffy came to my house And stole a leg of beef. This is a clear echo of the origin of an influx or migration sponsored by the Roman Empire of around 370 to 390 A.D. placing the Taifalic Goths to defend the most vital area of Britain.

oman/Saxon shore fortress at Cardiff was the base and original headquarters of those large heavy cavalry units. The plains of Gwent and Glamorgan and the rolling hills would be ideal horse breeding country and with the linked fort system along the shoreline which we will examine later, the heavy cavalry could move quite swiftly to deter any invaders. Significantly Cunedda and his sons, whilst seizing north, mid and west Wales, kept well clear of South East Wales. There is no doubt that the The line of ancestors quoted for King Theoderic is in fact quite short when compared to many Celtic genealogies, it lists a mere five names behind that of Theoderic. The whole pattern is correct in that it fits with the policy of Magnus Maximus in settling new chieftains and their war bands into different areas of Britain, where they would lack hereditary and popular support, before he left Britain to conquer Gaul, Spain and Italy.
Just over one hundred years later the descendants of these 'Roman Emperors' were to save Western Celtic civilisation under their young king, Arthur. The heavy cavalry settled into South East Wales was to prove more than a match for the Saxon foot soldiers. The lines of genealogy illustrate that Meurig the father of Arthwys (Arthur) was in fact of ancient royal descent, possibly a full blooded British Celt, Meurig's father Theoderic was married to a woman named Teitfall which is again possibly not Celtic. Arthur's mother, as we have seen, was Onbrawst the daughter of Gwrgan 'Mawr' ('The Great'). So we have a very different picture emerging of the ancestors of Arthur to that which is popularly supposed. We wi!I in fact see that Arthur II was of the best pure Welsh ancestry, and only part of his descent from Magnus Maximus an exception to this. He was however indisputably the champion of

the Britons.

102

Line of descent as recorded:Annhun Tathal Te thrin I Teithphal Teudric

I

King of the Western Empire Chieftain King

-

Arthur

Greece

Tewdrig
I

King of South Wales Theoderic King of Glamorgan, Gwent and Dyfed

-

Marchel Broc mail Kynauc

I

Meurig Arthwys

King King
-

I
Gwaednerth
Ithael (Noe) Morgan
-

King

There is therefore no obvious parentage of Arthur. The on\

for the Celtic peoples to do anything to obscure the birth and which was not Welsh came from the totally part of his illustrious and prestigious Ma e is no need for anyone to wonder that the Brythonic Celts of no claim on association with King Arthur. They sought to blot Arthur orth, Mid and West Wales ma their history and they wanted no part of the senior line of kings which limited their own claims; trorn Arthur was in any case a man of South Wales. efina us. T
'blood'

There is in fact a possibility that Theoderic, grandfather of Arthur, had married into another Welsh Celtic family by marrying the daughter of Llywarch just how many wives he had we do not know.
-

This would account for the ending of the practise of naming the sons of the family with names commenc-

ing with 'T'. Both of Theoderic's children were named with Roman/Welsh names, calling the one Marchell Marcellus and the other Meurig Maurice. His daughter was named Marchel.

That Theoderic was of Celtic and therefore British ancestry is revealed in his story of the funeral hearse drawn by two stags, and of course his name. The tale is told in full in the Book of Llandaff with The grave is in fact Theoderic buried in a church I grave on the shore of the Severn near Cardiff. exactly where stated and the church built by his son for him still stands at Mathern -'Martyr-Theyrn' The Martyred Prince.

There were in ancient Wales three Royal houses known as the Royal Tribes which were those of Morganwg in the South, of Gwynedd in the North, and of Powys in Mid-Wales. The Gwynedd kingdom clan or tribe, as was the creation of Maelgwn Gwynedd, and was an offshoot of the original Morganwg
A.D. After was the Powys Kingdom which was set up as a barrier or defensive kingdom around 450 the time of King Rhodri Mawr around 900 there were five royal houses, for he ruled Gwynedd and Powys, which he split between his three sons into Aberffraw in Anglesea, Dinevawr in West Wales, and Montgomeryshire. The house of Powys continued down until Elystan Mathraval in the North (Athelstane) Glodrudd and h.is successors, whilst the old original Royal House in South East Wales continued until lestyn ap Gwrgan of Dindryval in Morganwg, his sons and their descendants becoming There was no way that the Kings of Glamorgan would submit to the upstart local lords and gentry. House of the princes of West Wales who were an offshoot of the original Gwynedd offshoot, and the result was the fatal civil war of 1090 A.D. which allowed the Normans to penetrate into Wales.
-

Dindryval is probably Dew Fields"

the more ancient Dindagot where Arthur ap Uther was born

--

as the "Fort on the

103

KINGS OF SOUTH EAST WALES FROM THE FIFTH TO NINTH CENTURIES

1. 440-510 480-570 or 575 506-537 or 542-570 537 or 542-600 600-630

2. 3,
4. 5.

Tewdrig ap Teithfalt Meurig ap Tewdrig Athrwys ap Meurig

Morgan ap Athrwys Ithel ap Morgan

Theoderic
Maurice Arthur Morgan

6. 630-670 7.

(Ffernfael)
(Meurig (Rhys

Ivor or Howell
Maurice Rees Roderick

) ap ) )

Ithel

(Rhodri 8. 670-710

(Gwrfafarn) (Athrwys ) ap Ffernfael

(Meurig

(6)
Maurice

9. 10. 11. 740-770 12. 13. 14. 710-740

(Brochwael ap Rhys (7) (Ithel ap Athrwys (8)

(Gwriad ap Brochwael (9) (Ffernfael ap Ithal

(10)
(11)
Rees

770-800

(Arthfael ap Gwriad Rhys ) Meurig

15.

756-880 or 886

(Hywel ap (Brochwael)

) ap Arthfael (12) ) Rhys (13)

Meurig

Howell

(
(Fernfael
c. 800-848 c. 800-849 (Ithel (Meurig

) ap ) ) ) ap )

Hywel (15) Maurice

d.880-886

Hywel ap Rhys

The line continues OWAIN, to MORGAN, to ITHEL, to GWRGANT, to IESTYN the last prince of lowland Glamorgan who ruled from 1043 to 1091 A.D. Other princes continued in Gwent and upland Glamorgan for long after this date. Kings princes were in fact elected in the lands and titles during their father's lifetime. or area and sons received

KING MEURIG
There is a wealth of detail of the career of Meurig son of King Theoderic, also figures in the Saxon manuscripts and ancient king lists.
in the Book of Llandaff. He

As a young man the account tells of his ruling as King whilst his father Tewdrig retired Wye Valley. During his reign to Tintern in the as a young man there was a serious Saxon raid into South East Wales and Tewdrig returned to assist his son. King Meurig drove out the but Tewdrig, as died in the fighting at a ford. we have recorded, E Meurig was his father's the Church the church

(f6AS

Wales. In common with is said to have established of Llandaff, so also is Meurig, and this appears to mean that Tewdrig gave grants to and Meurig actually built the first support Cathedral, in addition to continuing their

without doubt the senior king of the royal clans who ruled South policy, he promoted the interests of the Church. Whilst Tewdrig

sponsorship.

The grants of King Meurig demonstrate that he was a supporter of the Bishop Oudoceus who was a successor and contemporary of Teilo, the successor of Dubricious. To explain this it is necessary to understand Welsh religious practice, for once a Bishop had done a sufficiently long stint of work he retired and moved on, usually to live on an island in peace and contemplation. At the time of Oudoceus who probably attached himself to Meurig's court, Teilo was acting as Archbishop whilst Archbishop Dubricious was in semi-retirement in West Wales, Pembrokeshire. Different kings patronised different

104

bishops and Meurig patronised church boundaries.

Church patronage resulted in lists of witnesses from the laity surviving charters, we have not kings, the sub-kings and princes

Oudoceus and later Greceilis; there were no settled

dioceses

or

a priceless heritage, for when the Charters of grants were drawn up, the and the clergy were written down. The result was that with the numerous only place names of the areas concerned, but also the lists of the senior alongside the bishops, abbots and senior clergy of the realm.

With these charters are often historical comment on the reasons for the grants and interspersed between them are 'Lives of the (contemporary)Saints' the bishops of the period which throw further light on the events of the period. In fact we know a great deal about King Meurig.
-

Meurig was the nineteenth king of his line in fifteen generations, after Caradoc ap Bran Caractacus lost his war with the Romans and was taken to Rome as a prisoner around 52 A.D. Allowing thirty to the kings between Caradoc son of Bran to Meurig, we get 15 by 30 450 years, years per generation which brings us to 52 + 450 502 A.D. As a test calculation this confirms Meurig's ancestry.
-

who

It is in fact important to place King Meurig in time, for he is the father of King Arthwys or Arthwyr, the legandary King Arthur. St. Teilo in his 'Life' is claimed to be the contemporary of a number of South Wales kings, including the High King Tewdrig who was of course Meurig's father. St. Samson who studied at Llantwit Major under St. liltyd and later became Bishop of Dol in Gaul, claimed to be Meurig's grandson, his mother being Anna, sister of Arthwys, daughter of Meurig. This St. Samson was definitely Bishop of Dol in 557 A.D. and is recorded as attending the Second Council of
Paris in that year. Teilo arrived in Gaul from South Wales in that same year, which marked the outbreak of the Great Plague of the Yellow Pestilence. This plague lasted for five years and King Meurig is known to have outlived it, so he was alive in 562 A.D.

King Meurig is traditionally recorded to have lived to a great age, something not uncommon in the royal house of South Wales. As it was not at all uncommon for princes of royal blood to become bishops at quite early ages we can make a guess at the age of Meurig using St. Samson. If Samson were between 30 and 35 years old in 557, then Meurig would be somewhere between 40 and 50 years older, although with girls marrying at around 14 he could be only 35 years older. So Meurig was in 557 something like 70 to 85 years old, with a possibility of being as young as 65 or as old as 90, we can get no nearer than that. So King Meurig appears to have been born sometime between 467 and 487 A.D. This is important as King Arthur is recorded as being crowned at the age of 15 by Dubricious in 506 A.D. (or 518 A.D.). If Arthur was born in 491 A.D. or 503 A.D. then King Meurig is obviously his father on this time scale.
So we have King Meurig senior king of the royal clans of South Wales, son of King Tewdrig and father of King Athrwys Arthwyr Arthwys or Arthur as it is generally spelled out.
-

Meurig as we have seen, fought the Saxons as did his father. He was undoubtedly a product of his time, superstitious rather than religious. In common with almost every other Welsh king he fell foul of the church which he sustained and was excommunicated. The Charter Grant of the Villages of Ringraenauc, Nantauan and Guerberth tells the story. King Meurig had quarrelled with King Cynfeddw and the church in the person of the bishop, intervened to play the traditional role of the Druids to create peace. Both Kings swore peace at the church of Llandaff, and afterwards unwary King Cynfeddw. King Meurig seized his chance to kill the

Bishop Oudoceus now adopted the Celtic practice of laying the cross, the bells, holy dishes, chalices and relics on theground and refused to conduct any services and also excommunicated the King. This did not move Meurig to any panic at all and the situation of the church on strike lasted for two years until with this charter peace was made. King Meurig was accompanied at this ceremony by his son Frioc, (brother of Arthwys), and Morgan son of Arthwys, and also by Cynflws, Briafael, Cenddig, Gweddwen and Gwengarth all local royal princes. The church was represented by Bishop Oudoceus, Abbot Cyngen of Cadoc (Llancarfan), Abbot Caggen of Illtyd (Llantwit Major), Abbot Sulien of Docunni (Llandough Cardiff) and Cynfran, Sedoc, Cynwr, Cetu, Llyngesog and Cynwar, the top clergy.
-

The notable grant by King Meurig was however that of Cihein-hinn and Conuoy and Llangenei. Here we by his Queen, Onbrawst, daughter of Gwrgan the Great, with Arthwyr his son and Idnerth another son. The other princes are Cyndaf, Llywerth, Cadwal, Cadlaw, Rhiacad, Cynfryn and Merthyr (the Martyr) Gwrgan. On the church side there is Bishop Oudoceus, Abbot Jacob of Cadoc, Abbot Cadgen of Illtyd, Abbot Eiddigern of Docunni, Cynfan, Cynweon, Cynwar, Mainwg the doctor and Gwynfwy the master. This grant concerned Little Tintern church, one mile north of the great ruined abbey.

have the King (Meurig) accompanied

Here we get the gem of information over the death of King Tewdrig and his being drawn in chariot a hauled by two stags. 105

Another grant by King Meurig to Bishop Oudoceus is that of the Church of Garuis, where once again, Oudoceus is accompanied by the same three Abbots, Jacob, Cadgen and Eiddigern, and Meurig by twelve nobles or princes, Cynfelyn, Tudur, Llynfran, Afrgen, Anwyn, Unhw, Cynfrwyn, Cadiew, Briafell, Gwynog, Inathus and Cynfynog. Then the situation in a later Charter takes a quite remarkable turn when Bishop Oudoceus has a quarrel with the Abbot Bivan of Illtyd at Llantwit Major. As usual with clergymen, they were arguing over wealth; the areas of Cynguallan, Arthbodu, Connur,and Pencreig. The King is asked to judge and the executive king is King Arthwyr, who decides in favour of Bishop Oudoceus and awards him these chapel cells. At the Charter ceremony however Arthwyr did not attend, instead he sent King Meurig to act on his behalf and this is so stated. Now what position could King Arthwyr be occupying so that he could delegate this business to so powerful a man as his father Meurig, the senior or paramount king of all South Wales? The answer can only be that King Arthwyr was High King of Britain and that means that he is Arthur. The other witnesses to this charter are all very important men, sub-kings and princes, even the sixth witness after Meurig is a king Gweithgen son of Brochwaet There are in fact seventeen princes witnessing this charter.
-

Bishop Oudoceus also received grants from King Awst (Augustus) of Brecon, a contemporary of King Tewdrig and Meurig, proven by the fact that Tewdwr and Maredydd, the sons of Rhun of Dyfed, a of Tewdrig, individually on seperate occasions murdered Gugoir and Eigystyi the sons of contemporary Awst as recorded in the Liber Landavensis. Oudoceus has to be of this time period. Meurig also made grants in the Ergyng area to Bishop Greceilis, notably the church at Cilpedec. Comparison and association of witnesses shows this grant to be by King Meurig ap Tewdrig father of Arthwyr. He was also present when Gwynwn gave a church to Greceilis at Cwm Meurig also in Ergyng. Both grants witnessed by King Cynfyn and Gwyngwn and also Bonus, Cynfyn's brother and Ner and Aircol sons of Cynfyn and others. Bishop Ufelwy also received a Charter at Llan Sutbui now Llancillo of Llansillow parish in Herefprdshire, near the town of Monmouth, from King Meurig supported by King Cynfyn who was son of King Pebiau Clavorawg. King Cynfyn in turn made grants at Mafurn to Bishop Aidan and at Cum Barruc to Bishop Elwystyl (Arwystyl). His son Gwrgan gave to Bishop Lunapeius supported by Abbot Comereg who was bishop to King Arthwyr later.

One very large grant to Greceilis was that of seven churches, six from Brithgon Hael, son of Dewon, and one from Brythwn and Ilinc. Again King Meurig gives permission and heads the names list. Bishop Greceilis emerges as a direct contemporary to Bishop Oudoceus operating in Hereford Ergyng and East Gwent.
-

The last Charter Grant concerning old King Meurig came at his funeral. This is the Charter of Luihen in Eluail and it concerns King Meurig's sepulchre at the Llandaff Cathedral. So we now have Meurig being buried in the church he built and his grave is therefore in the floor of the ruin of the old cathedral which lies in the Cardiff area. This now means that we can identify the grave of the father of King Arthwyr.
The principal witness is King Morgan, son o tw ho is now absent or injured which is in line with the traditional history of his severe illness thr wounds at the Battle of Camlan. Morgan is now the paramount king, he is accompanied by Briafael son of Liedrig, Gwaednerth son of Gwallonir, Gwyddgen son of Llywarch, Gwyddoc son of Isael and Iwned son of Brochwael. The clergy are represented by Bishop Oudoceus, Abbot Cyngen of Cadoc, Abbot Colfryd of Illtyd, Abbot LIwdhwrf of Docunni, with Gwengad Prince of Penally, Sedoc, Gwor an, Clemens, Cynwen Caten, and finall ost nentably -Cardiff, the title prince urig passed on, a key figure in the story of the heroic age of South Wales. He built the first Llandaff Cathedral, fought the Saxons as a young king and saw his father killed in the fighting. Like most of his contemporaries he was excommunicated for murder, he settled this and supported the church. Hesaw theclergy under Teilo flee for five years to safety eleswhere and survived the great plague. His son King Arthwyr was sick, he ruled again with Morgan son of Agg to be his successor.

It is known that Oudoceus came from Gaul to Wales with Teilo when that cleric returned in 562 after the end of the plague. He was the nephew of Teilo, son of Ananned (Arianwedd), Teilo's sister. The life of St. Samson affirms that Teilo was consecrated bishop in 557 immediately before the great plague and was made Archbishop when he returned which accounts for his limited mention in the Liber
Landavensis. His direct contemporary in Cornwall was King Geraint who received Teilo in 557 A.D. possibility of Arthur being a Cornish ruler none at all.
-

so there is no

106

The possibility is that Bishop Greceilis was active before Oudoceus, certainly Meurig's patronage makes it look that way. Oudoceus was the son of Budic of Britanny, the prince aided by King Tewdrig when he fled from Cornouailles (Britanny) in fact Kerneo (Western Britanny) and arrived in Dyfed with his fleet.
Aircol Lawhir is recorded as ruling Dyfed at that time.

KING ARTMWVR
as the son of King Meurig The king lists of Wales clearly list this succeeded clearly affirm that this is so. There is no donbt that Ki g st the British South Wales; as such he was a very important king a king of century, being head of the royal clans of Celtic Welsh and senior to all the of his time.
,

and the Llandaff records Meurig as the paramount in the early and mid-sixth other well known princes

is of common sense and on that alone, it would be utterly amazing not to consider who lived from around 490 to 570 A.D. to be one and the same person as King from around 490 to 570 A.D. The different dialects in Wales in the North and midArthur, Wales, in Dyfed in the west and in Glamorgan and Gwent we have discussed elsewhere, account for difference in pronunciation and spelling Arthwyr Arthwys Athwyr Arthur and so on.

On the sim
that Kin

first appears in the grant of Cilcinhinn, Conuoy and Llangenei made by King Meurig witnesses ueen Onbrawst to Bishop Oudoceus. His brother Idnerth is also amongst the his grandfather King Tewdrig. The charter is unique as it names a this grant which commemorates to Meurig has to take precedence no woman, Queen Onbrawst; and as a dedication to Tewdrig, his son King Addigryr. The grant was made after 562 as the Bishop is matter what the rank of the grandson, Oudoceus who is stated to have come to Llandaff after the Yellow Pestilence.

The King accompam

There may well have been more than one serious plague in Britain, as the Brecon Manuscripts also record how King Tewdrig sent his daughter Marchel to Ireland to avoid a pestilence, which may in fact have granted been a civil war and not a plague, Old Tewdrig would have been long dead before this charter to Oudoceus and the reason for his mention is because of his connection with the church at Tintern s we where he was killed which was the subject of this grant. Tewdrig lies at Mathern church in r stated earlier. What does emerge from this charter grant is that both Meurig and his so all survived the plague or they could not be associated with Bishop Oudoceus. Id lived until at least 562 and it raises again the question of the accuracy of the statement in

elsh Annals:537 or 539 "Strife at Camlan Arthur and Modred died".

Either the date is wrong or the statement means 'A battle at Camlan between Arthur and Modred who died', Every other scrap of evidence points to Arthur or Arthwyr living well after that date.
between Arthwyr and Oudoceus is important, for the 'Life of Oudoceus' in the Liber Landavensis also connects St. Gildas with this period and with Oudoceus. Apparently Oudoceus had timber timber cut ready and prepared and piled for a building when along came Gildas, and seeing the gift from God'. So he stole the timber and built a boat or raft to he decided that this was a have him get over tothe island of Echni. Gildas is recorded as being the friend of Arthur and now here we Imly and hypocritically stealing Oudoceus's in Gwent at the River Wye, the domain of Kin Andmays, it requires no stretching of the imagination sometim timber. So Gildas is in Arthwyr'skingdom Arthur the friend of Gildas. to place Arthwyr as This connection
'miraculous ,

The Life of Oudoceus in the Liber Landavensis also records that Noe the son of Arthur is dead, for it which had states that King Cadwgan of the land west of Towy (Swansea) restored to the church lands been granted in the time of Noe son of Arthur. This is in accordance with the custom of a new king, possession' and re-granting them. It is also in accord with the reclaiming church lands in of Arthur dying in battle in the Presselli Mountains area when fighting Pembrokeshire tradition of
'peaceful 'sons'

the Trwch Trywth or Vandal invasions. Nfably the story of Budic fleeing to Aircol Lawhir in when the Bishop was a young man in Britan Dyfed with his fleet. It also helps to date Budic who received assistance from Aircol and King Tewdrig, equal importance is the list of as Budic was the uncle of Oudoceus and also brother-in-law to Teilo. Of all of wh Oudoceus's contemporaries r as Charter witnesses with the notable exception of Cadwalder. These include King Meuri r, Idnerth, Gwyddgwen, Cetian, Brochwael, Cynddog, Llywonerth, Cadwallader and all the princes and of the clerics Merchwyn, Elwared, Cynfyn and the Abbots Cadgen of Illtyd, Cyngen of Cadoc and Cedrig of Docunni (Llywonerth may be Llywarch). The Oudoceus 'Life' which is important to t ory, lists facts of the period before the plague

We next come to the grant by King Arthwys to Bishop Comereg which is concerned with the Gwent area east of the Glamorgan sphere of Oudoceus. This charter we discuss elsewhere in detail, but it does in fact their appear to be of the period BEFORE Oudoceus arrived in Wales. The names of the witnesses and obviously other Charters, kings, princes and bishops, prove this, and associations with

107

powerful

being accompanied

by a number

of important

kings, his father

Meurig and his brothers

Idnerth and Frioc are not mentioned. The list of clerics comprises Bishop Comereg (formerly Abbot) and six other Abbots and Princes of the Church.
The most Gospel on irnage of indicating mentioned. important feature in this his back'which mirrors the Virgin Mary on his that both are retired or King alone carried the that text is however the curious statement the Nennius statement that Arthur at the Battle of Badon the back for three days'. St. Dubricious and St. Teilo are mentioned, dead, as is St. Cynfarch the Disciple of Dubricious. Oudoceus is not
'carried 'the

The area of the grant is in eastern Gwent in the Chepstow region, all four manors and the church being traceable and identifiable.
This is important for Arthwyr is indisputably ruling Gwent and Glamorgan and the legends and histories of Arthur speak of him holding court at Caerleon in Gwent. The paramount king of both Glamorgan and Gwent is beyond doubt King son of King Meurig, grandson of King Theoderic, at the very Iddle period of Arthur's supposed rei of the sixth century. This has to be more than coincidence and it reduces the 'Arthur mystery' to a laughable piece of modern journalistic ingjgion and nonsense.
,

Abbot Bivan of Illtyd at Llantwit Major. At the Charter ceremony to resolve this land dispute, the King does not attend but sends his father King Meuri uty. The Charter states clearly 'King Meurig is now senior to his own father. In fact on beha/f of Arthwyr' and this means that Kin Arthwyr is stated to be absent so he has to be out ingdom. Where, we can only guess; up subduing the north of England and Scotl Away in Britanny with the army and fleet, holding the key ingdoms? Over in Britanny re-establishing order? There is area to the sea routes connecting t no clue but it indicates the high ra a King of Britain and also the business of a conqueror. The location of Gwent is interesting and tactically correct, for in the time of Teilo, the Bishop before Oudoceus, a close contemporary of King Meurig was King Iddon, son of Honorious of Caerwent Ynyr Gwent. This King Iddon fought a war with the Saxons and succeeded in defeating them and this is recorded in the Charter of Llan Teliau Cre ; a grant made by King Iddon as thanksgiving for his victory. Logically the younger senior ki ould occupy this danger zone on the borders.
-

Arthwyr is Arthur. In this charter he is cleansing the land after the war, that it clear. The King next appears in the Liber Landavensis by proxy when he gives a judgement between Bishop Oudoceus and

Britain to the Welsh meant Wales, and southern Britain was South Wales. As late as princes of Wales claiming kingship over their fellow princes were Kings of Britain begins 'Be it known to the Kings and Princes of Southern Britain'. meaning S W

Arth
s.

Tith century r's charter

There is one other charter which may concern this King Arthwyr whi afte rter e efinat was made by King Ithael the grandson o Ilowed r Bishop Berthgw n who quit Bishop Oudoceus at f. The translated statement says that King It ael and his son Meutig give for the soul of his so harters of Oudoceus, but th ow Berthgwyn witnessed many of th problem lies in relat f the other witnesses to other charters of g Morgan, son of Allthwyr or King Ithael, his grandson. One Cynwar or Cynwareu appears in five of King Charters to Oudoceus.
's

j I

Morgan, son nd he had a son name eurig, but there is no of a grands here is just te possibility of miscopying down thro the ages and subsequent mistransl This would give the different version of 'King Ithael, ons or misinterpretations. grandson of Meurig for the soul of his (King Meurig's) son Arthwyr', for which the Bishop Berthtwyn got the church of Titauc.
record

Now King Ithael followe

Thik almost concludes the direct references to King Arthywr, who is several times mentioned in the Charter Grants of his son King Morgan, where the King is styled as Morgan son, here is howa ever one other important Charter to examine in the Liber Landavensis. This i ales Dyfed area grant by Noe, son of Arthur, which we will examine in detail.
=
-

The second name after Dubricious is that of Artwystyl who listed in all the charters of Kings Pebiau and Iddon and in Ufelwy who we can also identify as a South Merchwyn and King Meurig, again strongly li in Charters with the Archbishop Teilo.

was first an Abbot and then a Bishop, who is one of King Cyntyn. The fifth name is that of p and who appears in charters from Pebiau, nd Noe. BishopArwysty! is closely connected

The other name in the lists in Noe's Charter also link up with the Charters of these same contemporary kings. leuan appears in Pebiau's charters, Junabui also known as Bishop Lunapeius appears as witness in those of Pebiau, Gwyddai and Cynfyn; then Cynfyn is a witness for Pebiau, Iddon, Meurig and Iddig, as well as Noe. en y
.

Ko

esac hrad

broe*
r

nasmwell aseNS and Iddneu also appears for Erb, Pebiau and

108

The list of clergy witnessing the King Antistays grant include at the head those of Bishop Comereg and Abbot Lluddon. Comereg appears in two of King Gwrgan's grants along with several of Noe's clerical witnesses. Lluddon Abbot of Bolgros appears in the Charters of Gwrgan and one of Iddon, again alongside several of Noe's witnesses. Gwrhydpenni only appears in Arthwys's Charter and this may be Gwr of Rhydypenni.
-

Arthwyr's is Bishop.

Comereg is Abbot in two of the charters

of King Gwrgan, where Noe's Junabui

Lunapeius

Gwrfarwy Abbot of Llaneineon appears only on Arthwys charters, on those of King Gwrgan.

but Bithen of Llanceuid appears

between the clerical witnesses of the Charter grants of the What we have is a complete inter-relationship for sixth century Kings of South Wales. The absence of the names of the kings and princes witnessing Noe son of Arthur is tragic, yet there is more than sufficient evidence in the clerical links to associate Noe with the royal family of South East Wales; with King Pebiau, Erb, Gwrgan the Great, Cynfyn, Iddon and Iddig, Merchwyn, and above all with Meurig and Arthwys.

It all comes back to the different spellings and pronunciations of the names. Noe from Noah is also Nougouy, and Arthur in the mixed Irish/Welsh/Brythonic was Arthwys or Arthrwys in South Wales. Noe or Nougouy in Dyfed is spelled Nowi in Gwent.
written There is also the matter of dialect differences between the mixture of people in Wales. These linguistic in the sixth century by the dual differences are in fact well known and are outstandingly represented Ogham and Latin inscriptions in South West Wales on inscribed memorial stones. In this area there was a heavily mixed population of Goedelii Celtic Welsh and Scots (Irish). In South East Wales there was a mixture of Goedelic Welsh and Goths and a number of Scots (Irish), resulting in three different dialectual areas of Gwent, Glamorgan and Brecon. Up in mid-Wales, Goedelic Celts and the northern Brythonic Celts. Along the whole of North Wales and the mid-west coast were the Brythonic Celts heavily mixed with others of the same race from what is now North of England and Southern Scotland. Now what this amounts to is that not only would names be spoken and pronounced differently in different areas, they would also be written differently and spelled differently. Add to this the fact that manuscripts were re-copied every 150, 200 or 300 years or more as they faded to become almost On top of this almost indecipherable, and the present result of different spellings is understandable. monumental arrangement of distortion is the appalling fact that illiterate novices in monasteries were often to write by being given the task of copying old manuscripts. These youths often had no idea what the words and letters which they copied actually meant and with crumbling, faded, ancient manuscripts before them in the dim lamplight of ancient churches and monasteries, they inevitably introduced errors. Names were joined to nouns, pronouns, verbs and adjectives; some names were spelled three or more different ways in single documents and so on and as re-copying went on down the centuries with language developments and changes generally occurring as well, the result was uncertainty, distortion and some confusion, needing more careful interpretation.
'taught'

This is how a King would be called King Athrwys in Gwent and Arthwys in Glamorgan and Arthur in West Wales and Brecon.
As a parallel to the recognition of Arthur's name when written, the confusion over the name of Horsa the legendary son of the legendary Saxon Hengist is worth examining as it exhibits a close parallel in changes in spelling and pronunciation.

So a cleric writing and copying in West Wales came up with Noe ab Arthur and in East Wales this would be Arthwyr or Arthwys, whilst in Brecon again like West Wales with Irish influence, it would be Arthur, whilst in Dyfed Noah is Noe, in Gwent it was Nowi.

A MANSION FOR A MANSION

The Book of Llandaff is indeed a veritable gold mine of information on life and times in late fifth, the sixth and seventh centuries in South Wales. One outstanding entry in the Book is Charter of a land grant by Noe ab Arthur, for our English friends, Noe the son of Arthur. The first point obviously is that Noe he is in Wales and a Welshman. The the Archbishop in pffice at the time Noe is listed clerics. Regrettablykly the son of Arthur is granting land in Wales to the Church, therefore second point is, as we will see, that we are being told the name of of the grant being made, together with the names of several other as a layman, although there is a great company of men.

Quite apart from Noe ab Arthur being identified as present in South Wales, there is then the prospect Nowi and with a son named Arthur. of identifying Noe with a later King of Gwent using the same name
-

On the social side of the issue we have Noe quite literally making an exchange with the church. Noe is presenting the Church with mansions to be theirs forever in perpetuity and in their turn the Church are going to grant Noe mansions or a kingdom up in heaven again presumably for eternity.

109

Noe, son of Arthur, may well be a son by one of the King's minor wives and not by his chief wife and queen. The spelling Arthur is typical of West Wales, just as Arthwyr or Arthwys is typical of Glamorgan and Gwent. Noe is obviously an important prince and appears to have succeeded Aircol Lawhir as top chieftain of Dyfed. His presence in Dyfed in the west, with Arthwyr in Gwent and Hereford in the east, and Meurig and Morgan holding Glamorgan in the centre is logical. This also conforms with the Mabinogion Tales and the Pembrokeshire traditions of sons of Arthur killed in battle against invaders of the area.

Noe appearsin the Court Pedigrees of Hywel Dda (Howell the Good), who died in 950 A.D. Hywel Dda's wife was named Elen (Helen) and their son traced his descent on her side back to Nougoy map Arthur Noe or Noah son of Arthwyr. Nougoy is Elen's eleventh ancestor so by allowing thirty years per generation and sixty for Elen and Hywel, who died in 950 A.D. we have a total of (11 by 30) + 60= 390 years, which means that Noe Noah would be born around 540 A.D. as an approximation. This certainly puts Noe and Arthur into the correct time period once again.
-

The interest in this Noe lies in the fact that the claim of Arthur and Noe to succeed Aircol Lawhir in Dyfed stems from a claim of descent from Vortigern, probably through the female line. For although Noe followed Aircol Lawhir, the names of Pascent and Catigirn, who are in fact sons of Vortigern, are interposed in this pedigree between Aircol Lawhir and Vorteporix and Arthur. So much for Pedigree

List No. 2.
In Pedigree No. 15 we find Nougoy once more. Here we have 'Griffydd, Tewdws and Caden, three sons of Noe and Sanan daughter of Elizedd (was their mother) King of Powys'.
-

So now we know who Noe married

Sanan and the name of his father-in-law, King Elizedd of Powys. The name Elizedd turns up in Pedigree No. 31, the King of Powys at the correct time.
-

As for Ar well the traditions state that he married Gwenhwyvar Guinevere a very beautiful princess and the marriage took place in the church at Hay-on-Wye in Herefordshire. It would appear that this wedding on the borders of what was later the kingdom of Morganwg close to Brecon and to Powys, is an indication of a marriage with a princess from Powys. This is logical as there are considerable evidences of intermarriage and royal clan relationships with Powys names are common between both South Wales and Powys and the South Wales Kings may have been recognised in Powys. as
-

'senior'

How many other wives Arthur or Arthwyr had is difficult to kings had three, three being a magical number. The succeed and the others would remain princes and noblemen. the son of Gwenhwyvar, or alternatively that all the sons Morgan is the son of a second, younger, wife.

know. Tradition accords him two but most children of the royal or senior wife would The assumption has to be that Morgan was of Gwenhwyvar died in fighting and that

Certainly Noe either died or just did not succeed and various other sons of military age are traditionally held to have died in battle, Gwydre, Llechau and Anir said to be killed by Arthur himself. What is not known is whether these sons, Liechau and Anir are sons of Arthur I or Arthur II.
'traditional'

ARTHUR, KING OF GLAMORGANAND GWENT

110

KING ARTHWYS AND NOE OF THE DYFED AREA

the Grants of King There is considerable value in comparing the Church witnesses to the Charters of and (No. 8 Lanncinmarch, Llandeui, Llan Junabui, Llanguorboc and Mafarn, and Llancalculch Arthwys Noe son of Arthur (No. 10 Pen Alun). Llancerniu) and the grants of

The two sets of witnesses are as follows:King Arthwys Clergy Bishop Comereg of Llan-Mochros
Lluddon Abbot of Bolgros Aelhaiarn Abbot of Llanguoruoc Gwrddogwy Abbot of Llandeni
-------

Noe son of Arthur Clergy

Archbishop Dubricious
Arwystyl (Bishop) Aethaiarn Gwardogwy Gwernabwy

------

Gwemabwy Gwrhydpenni Gwrfarwy

Bithern of Llannceuid

------

Ufelwy(Bishop) leuan Junabui (Bishop Lunapieus) Cynfran

Gworfan Iddneu

Laity
Arthwys the King

Laity Noe (King of Dyfed?)

-

Cyweddiau Gwrwal
Cadwyddan

and an innumerable

company of men

Idwallon King
-

Morgan

son of Arthwys

Now Idwallon was King Idwallon and was killed by King Clydri, then King Morgan interceded on behalf of King Clydri. The bishop involved with King Idwallon was Bishop Arwystyl, and then Bishop Berthgwyn with King Morgan and King Clydri.

Morgan was the son of the Magnificent not orcan Arthwys, Meurig and

nd his successor as King in Glamorgan and Gwent.Thisis the Morgan around 590 A.D. Morgan like killed Urien up in Northumberland him, was the paramount king of the royal clans. re

As King Idwallon is named above Morgan, he was at the time more important
'iddalgan'.

than Morgan, So he has to the cousin of King Arthwys. In later charters we find highly placed princes under King be the uncle or Idnerth son of Idwallon many times and also Cwg son of Ithael, grandson of Arthwys, named Idnerth was a royal family name.

The name above Idwallon is that of Cadwyddan, another King who apparently ruled lands west of the River Towy in West Wales and is referred to as Cadwgan in the Life of St.Oudoceus.
Then we have two other names above Cadwyddan of west Towy who are obviouslyalso powerful kings. is Cyweddiau, obviously well known personalities. In the These are Gwrwal and next to King g of several kings, Ynyr Gwent Honorious of Caerwent, Ruduedel of of Taliesin we find mention poems Vortigern's family and Gwrweddw of Ergyng. So here we find Gwrwal as Gwrweddwthe King of Ergyng (Hereford) (and Gloucester north of the Severn).
-

This leaves only Cyweddiau and this man although obviously a king of some importance, identify but he appears to be Cyndrwyn, father of Cynddylan, King of Powys. probably

is not easy to

In Triad i-12, iii-72 we find the names Cynfor Cadcadwg son of Cynwyd Cynwydion. This Cynwydion is the Cyweddian of this Arthur Charter in the Book of Llandaff.

In the lists of the clergy who witness both charters, we have some very direct correlations. A point to be remembered is that sometimes names occur in either the clerical lists or the laity lists, as we have seen elsewhere, clergy were attached to the courts and lay people also owned churches.

conte

Three very important witnesses appear in both charters. These are the Abbots Aelhaiarn of Llanguoruc, Gwrddogwy of Llandeni and Gwernabwy. Of these Aelhaiarn is listed in grants by King Pebiau, Kings father together contemporaries of T Pebiau a ic and Meurig, the grandfather and father Axthwys. e also appears in the grants of King n, g Gwyddai and King Iddon, other
-

rary

of Tewdrig, Meurig and Arthwys, a

m gran

o King Cynfyn son of King Pebiau.

'

Abbot

Gwrddogwy

is listed in Charters of King Gwrgan

Erb and Pebiau. Gwernabwy appears for Erb, Pebiau, don and Gwrgan. So these three n common witnesses act as links between these related kings. Noe has to be of the same time period as Arthwys and a relative, we believe his son, Noe ap Arthur in Dyfed being Noe ap Arthwys of Glamorgan.
The leading clergyman in Noe's list is the Archbishop Dubricious who returned from South East Wales to Dyfed in West Wales to live on Bardsey Island, so here he is an old man. When younger and active in East Wales he is believed to have crowned King Arthur Arthwys. The Liber Landavensis has charter grants to Dubricious from Kings Erb, Pebiau, Merchwyn and of course this from Noe.
-

Ai`m

andfather,

King Iddon and Kings

THE GRANT OF NDE AB ARTHUR OF PENN ALUN

"Noe ab Arthur fulfilling the command of the Apostle who said, 'Give and it sha// be given to you' and elsewhere it is said 'A bountiful hand
-

shall not be indigent' gave for the exchange of in the first place Penn a heavenly kingdom, Alun with its territory, without any payment to mortal man, besides God, and to Archbishop Dubricious and the Church of Llandaff founded in honour of St. Peter and all his successors and also Llandeilo Fawr on the banks of the Towy, with its two territories where Tei/o the pupil and disciple of St. Dubricious dwelt, and likewise The territory of the Aquilensions on the banks of the River Taff,
-

Noe placed his hand upon the four gospels and committed to the hand of Archbishop Dubricious this e/ms for ever with s// its refuge and all its liberty, in fields and in woods, in water and in pastures and with its dignity under a perpetual curse a// those who from that day forwards seperate the said lands from the Church of Llandaff. Amen.

Of the laity, Noe is the only witness with an innumerable company of men. But theclergy Archbishop Dubricious,Arwystyl,
Ufelwy, leuan, Junabui, Cynfyn, Gworfan, Aelhaarn, Iddneu, Gwardogwy, Gwernabwy. May peace and abundance of things be to those during their lives who wi// confirm the grant, and may their sons become orphans and their wives widows who shall violate that which is

committed to God. Amen"

"The boundary of the territory of the Church of Aquilensians. FoHowing the Gwernidoun to the Taf across the mountain straght to the spring of Nant Eilon, along the brook Ellon to Cehir, from Cehir upwards to Nant Bachladron proceeding along Nant Bach/adron upwards, and across till the source of Nant Duvyn, following Nant Dunyn to the Taf, from the influx of Nant Duvyn following the Taf downwards to the influx of Gwerniduon where it began.

and along it to Dulais, from Dulais to Cuner,

The boundary of the territory of Llandeilo Fawr,FromFfynnon-IdatotheheadofGlasbw// in Towy and to the other end of the Hytir melin, from the Hytir Melin to the Enyrdil

112

'

stone in Dulais bisweillawg. From Dulais biswe//awg to Nant yr Ellin. From Nant yr Eilin to Cruc Cust- from Crue Cust to Crug Corneam, from thence to the source of Isceiviewg- along Isceiviawg forward to the opening direct to Hen A//t. From thence to Cil yr adar to the source of the Tanern straight to Pistill Dewi forwards to Tineuur. From Gweith Tineuur downwards to Leteur Cell on the Towy. v def are in fact whole territories or areas, very large o ab Arthur was a King. There is no-one else of a sign as a witness, only Noe himself is recorded.

from Cuner direct to Nant/wyd from Nant/wyd to Cefn Merch, from Cefn Meirch forwards to Cruc Pedill Bechan. From thence to the hawk

There are no ordinary land grants of tracts of land. This means one thin very large gathering of men either

The size of these land grants is prodigious and well beyond the scope of an ordinary noble or gentleman. This charter is clearly a copy, made after the event in the manner of all these charter documents. The later copyist refers to Archbishop Dubricious as St. Dubricious perfectly naturally as Dubricious was now dead when the copy was being made. Neither could the copyist resist giving scriptural justification for the contract in the preface to the grant. The grant is not as a result of any punitive action by the Church of such charters were. Often the king was excommunicated against the king as a great number or threatened with excommunication for some violent action by himself or his followers and the outcome was invariably the granting of land to the church and the lifting of the ban by the church. Kings seem to have made grants of this nature when they ascended to their thrones. The lands mentioned in the charter of Pen Alun are quite definitely in South Wales, of that there can be no doubt. Three large areas are described, one near Cardiff, one west of Swansea and one in West Wales. Dubricious was a contemporary of King Arthur and he did in fact operate as Archbishop around 500 to 540 A.D. There is no mention of Arthur other than the brief statement that Noe is his son. It would therefore be quite possible that the great king was still alive at the time that Noe made his grant of lands to the church.

MODRED

OR MEDRAWD

King Arthur certainly killed Modred, although it is not certain if Arthur was a victor or also died as a result of the battle. To place Arthur in time it is useful therefore to trace Modred and this is possible. in the Lives of the Saints and various Pedigrees The family of Modred can be traced from mention and old genealogies.

The logical thing to do is to look for Modred in the Book of Llandaff to see if he could be identified with other princes along with kings and princes. So a search for all the lay witnesses of the Llandaff charters
was necessary. The result was surprising for Modred, along with all the other princes of the period, turned up. The surprise lay not in his name being found, but where it was found. The place was a charter of three properties made between Gwylffer and Cynfyn, the sons of Gwrgan the Great and the Bishop Greceilis. This charter was well witnessed and this obviously is vital, for all the names of the other witnesses can be correlated with other charters, Kings and Bishops and so we can get a on the time period. We have the following:Bishop Grecielis King Gwylffer son of Gwrgan Mawr of Gwrgan Mawr Nudd the Reader King Cynfyn son
'fix'
-

Prince Ner Prince Bonus Calancan

sons brother of Gwrgan?

Simon Isciplan Arawn Blaenrydd

Gwrwan Rubunreu
Lilli

Gwynalan
Morhedd (Modred?)

Iddon (King?) Lienbwy Gworen

Cynwain

Coll (Aircoll 'Lawhir'?) and gr t concerns territor

n enn wbe e

the

inaw te
-

MM
r

genehearae

Meurig married their sister Onbrawst, daughter of Gwrgan the Great. We know that where King Meurig's name appears with either of their's he is named first and heads the list and as everyone knew their exact place in the order' of Celtic royalty, that makes King Meurig the Paramount or Head King of South Wales.
'pecking

King Cyntyn is named third after Meurig in the grant of Cwm Meurig in Ergyng made by Gwyngwm to Bishop Greceilis. Bonus, Ner and Aircol also appear as witnesses. Then Lilli appears as sixth witness after King Meurig in the grant of seven churches to Bishop Greceilis by Brithgon Hael (6) and Brythwn and flinc (1).

King Gwrgan, Bonus, Cuchein and Eleon are named in the Charter of grants to Bishop Edilfyw Cynfyn, Bonus, Ner and Aircol are listed well below King Meurig in the Grant of Cilpedec and King in Ergyng made to Bishop Greceilis.
We find Rubunreu (Ruben) listed as Reu in the grant of the village Ispant to Bishop Gwyddlon made by Cuchein the son of Glywi (King Glywis). Here we find the clerical witness Eiddifffred (Bishop Edilfyw) and Cynan many times listed in grants with Bishop Greceilis. The name after Reu is that of Gwrddogwy the Abbot of Llanndeul. This Gwrddogwy is witness in a grants by King Erb, King Pebiau, King Gwrgan King Iddon, King Ar.thwys and Noe son of Arthur. He appears as Abbot under Bishop Lunapeius, Comereg, Gwyddlon and so on.
,

What it means is that by tracing the names we have in the list containing Modred, to other lists we can then extend by association further in these
picture. names other lists to yet further lists and so create a wide The important names in the clerical lists of this grant of Cilpedec in Ergyng are those of Bishop Grecellis and Nudd his reader, followed by Cynwared and Gwyddon (Gwyddion). Bishop Greceilis and Nudd appear at the top of many charters.

of Awst, King of Brecon.

Gwrwan, listed four places above Modred, appears in Brecon Bishop Gwrwan in the Charter of Llanmihangel Tref Ceriau in Brecon when Tewdwr son of Rhun as atoned for his murder of Elgystyl son
-

endless with King Cynfyn appearing with Bishop Ufelwy, Bishop and Bishop Elwystyl and the usual lists of others at Llan Sulbui, Mafurn and Cum Barruc. What Aidan emerges however isthat Bishop Greceiliscan be placed at the later end of the reign of King Meurig the senior king. As Megig quite definitely outlived the Great Plague which lasted for five years from circa 557 to 562 and probably lived until around 575 A.D. we can be reasonably sure that Modred witnessed the Charter of King Gwylffer and King Cyntyn at some time between 562 and 575 A.D. for this is the period when Bishop Greceilis was becoming active. Now either the whole pattern of events is wrong and Greceilis was the senior or chief bishop at an earlier date, or Modred has to be accepted as walking around quite alive at this later period. It is indeed odd that the search for Modred has not been made with greater diligence as he is the only known character or name definately associated with a known event battle in the life of Arthur. Find Modred, the enemy of Arthur, and you find Arthur.
-

In facttheassociationsarealmost

In the lists of the Bonned y Sant (Lives of the Saints) we find Saint Dyfnauc who is described as:"Dyfnauc Saint son of Medrawt (Modred) son of Caurdaf son of Caradauc Ureichuras".

So Modred is the son of Caurdaf and grandson of Caradoc 'Vriechfras' ('Brawny Arm'). Then we have Saint Cataurch who is named as the brother of the Caradoc Vriechfras who is the'sortof Llyr Marini Lear of the Sea.
-

Charters of the Book of Llandaff.

Quite apart from pedigree and genealogy

information,

we have both Llyr and Caradoc mentioned

in the

Llyr turns up early in the Hereford/Gwent area. In the Charter of the Village of Ispant, we have a number of witnesses. Cuchein the son of King Glywi is making the grant supported by Dofngarth. Then Caradoc turns up again in the right time scale as a witness to the Charter of Llan Loudon in Ergyng. This is an important Charter and we are told that King Gwrgan son of Cynfyn, King of Ergyng, is accompanied by his son Morgan and also by Caradoc, Gufrwe, Gwrwthon Gworgol son of Clemwys. The clergy are Bishop Lunapeius, Bethan Prince son of Mabon, Cynog, and of Llandougarth and five Abbots, Comereg (later Bishop)of Mochros, Lluddneu of Bolgros, Aelhaiarn of Llandguorboc, Gworddog of Llandewi, Gwenwar of Llangarthbenni and Gwrwareu his pupil.

This places Caradoc as Caradoc Vreichfras, of slightly older generation a

than Arthur; tradition holds

114

that he was uncle to the king, as evidenced by the fact that he is a senior prince in the time of King Gwrgan who is Arthur's (Arthwys) grandfather. This is reinforced, as in this Charter Comereg is an Abbot; later in the reign of Arthwys he is the Bishop of the area. The identification and location of Llyr, Caradoc and Modred in these Charters and the identification of the kings, princes, nobles, bishops, abbots and clergy who were also listed as witnesses, creates a correctly logical picture of this aspect of the Arthurian Legend. What emerges quite clearly is that some of the dates of the entries in the Welsh Annals which have long been suspect, are in fact at least thirty years too early concerning the Battle of Badon and the Battle of Camlan. Greceilis was Bishop around the period 565 to600 A.D.andthisalone establishes that Modred was alive at this period, probably 565 to 570 A.D. This again allows for a coherent picture of old King Meurig acting as Druid Counsellor to his son King Arthwys at this period 540 to 575 A.D. approximately. King Arthwys was Arthur and was outlived by Meurig who lived to a great age. The enemy of Arthur, his nephew Modred, provides the clue.
-

KING MORGAN
The name of Arthur in Folklore and Tradition is associated with that of Morgan. In fable and fairy tale the personification is that of Morgan le Fay Morgan the Enchantress. This is in fact poetic licence with in fact Morgan, a vengeance; ithas run wild. The heir to King Arthwyr, his eldest son by his chief wif Morgan le Fay and we have Kin r f so we have the Arthur of folk tale and his
-

'sister'

d Gwent and his son King Morgan.

In the akandevensiswefirsthear of Morgan in the Charter grant of King Arthwyr to Bishop Comereg. After Arthwyr are the names of four Kings Cyweddian, Gwrwal, Cadwyddan, Iddwallon and finally Morgan. This could be Morgan ap Arthwyr, but there was in the area at the time Morgan ap Gwrgan ap Cyfyn Kings of Ergyng-Hereford. Certainly it would be normal for Morgan to witness his father's grant, but by custom his name would then be placed second after Arthwyr, so it is probably Morgan of Ergyng here.
-

Next Morgan appears below the names of his grandfather King Meurig and his uncle Prince Frioc where he is styled Morgan son of Arthwyr, in the Charter to Bishop Oudoceus when Meurig ended his own excommunication for murder. Now he must have been young at the time, for in the Cilcinhinn, Conuoy and Llangenei gr us he does not appear, although there are many names. We would in fact by his first wife were killed and folk tales and legends such as the suggest that al Mabinogion rec h of four of these princes, sons of Arthur. Thus Morgan is the son of a second or higher ranking wife. This is possible, for in the grant to setti pute between Bishop Oudoceus and Abbot Bivan, we find King Meurig first on behalf of Kin d then Cynfonog and Gwallonir before Morgeneu. If this is Morgan then Cy wallonir have to be close relatives of King Meurig, to take precedence. Sons of Arthur killed in fighting are traditionally or also other sons Anir, Llechau and d the Mabinogion lists Culfanawyd and thirteen other uncles of Arthur. Possibly Gwallonir is Gwydre-anir and Cynfonog may be Culfanawyd, as a very large number of the Mabinogion names are also found in the Hywel Dda King Lists and the Llandaff Charters.
-,

In several grants of Meurig his grandson Morgan d r,so he may be of age towards the end of King Meurig's life. The indications are that d\y injured, King Meurig murdered King Cynffedw and hung on until Morgan was o Morgan and Morgeneu appear onI settlement of Meurig's excommunication after two years of hen Frioc the brothe r yr's behalf. is present, and at the settlement with Oudoceus and Bivan on Art
'

With Meurig dead Morgan became active first with the Charter of Luidhen in Eluail for King Meurig's sepulchre in Llandaff Old Cathedral. Here King Morgan heads the list of completely identified witnesses and Bishop Oudoceus heads the list of similarly high ranking identifiable clergymen. Then follows the Charter of Guilbiu where the King named simply as 'Morgan son of Arthwyr' and Bishop Oudoceus receives the grant for 'The Soul of Meurig'. The second name is Gwrhytir the heir, very like Gwydre son of Arthur. Matters take a different turn however in a later Charter, for the inevitable struggle has occurred and King Morgan has murdered his Uncle Frioc the brother of Arthwyr. Morgan buys peace with Oudoceus with the grant and is now supreme, probably unchallenged as paramount king of South Wales. An impressive list of close relatives, kings, and princes witness the grants, including King Idwallon witness for Arthwyr, King Gwyddgen and Morgan's brother fthaet
-

Other grants to Oudoceus follow, including that of the village of Llath. One grant demonstrates the King's general power over the Bishops, when the manor of Llanmerguali is in quiet possession' by King Morgan and then formally re-granted to Oudoceus before four kings, three abbots and a prince.
'reclairned

After this Oudoceus no longer appears in the Charters of Morgan and he is replaced by a new Bishop called Berthgwyn. This cleric has only appeared only one of four church witnesses, Oudoceus, twice before, once in a grant of King Meurig where he is Berthgwyn, Gwrfrwy and lago; and Charter for Meurig's soul granted by once in the Guildbi King Morgan, where Berthgwyn is sixth in the church fist. All this means that Berthgwyn cleric and that he probably owed his election was a the new young King Morgan. Bishops young to be Bishop to in South Wales were in fact elected by the Kings.

years of no church services. Other grants folowed at the church of Ystrat Hafren (the Road to the Severn) the village of Conus, the field of Helic and the gift of Rhodri. manor of Cemeis; the

King Morgan was involved in five of the eighteen grants accumulated by Bishop Berthgwyn, and successor King Ithael with no less than and his son seven charters. The first of Morgan's to Berthgwyn grants may charter where the problem of King Gwaednerth have been the Llan-Catgualatyr (Llan Cadwallader) having murdered his brother Meirchion resolved had to be brother probably means loosely and Gwaednerth could be either Morgan's own brother or his son, Gwaednerth was a royal family name. Bishop Oudoceus had one year's penance and three set Gwaednerth
-

'brother-king'

the witness at a great number Charters by Meurig, Morgan and others, is replaced Oudoceus' by Eiffin son of Gwyddgen and there of dozens others. Priests appear and rise of are to become Abbots and the whole royal family is named and re-named. The concentration is on the Bishop of Llandaff in the sole person of Berthgwyn East Glamorgan, at Llaudough and the three Abbots of Llantwit Major liityd, and Llancarfan extend from Ergyng in Herefo Cadoc. The grants West Wales, which demonstrates the n power but locates his spread of the King's in t rea. The remarkable feature of the witness lists is their continuity, which demonst to charters he stability of this South Wales kingdom since before the time of the Romans. which had endured
-

son

What is fascinating in these Charters is the his son Ithael. Names reappear, climbing carry-over of names from King Meurig to Morgan and on to the lists, dropping out to be replaced by King Idwallon witnessed the Great Charter of new recurring names. King Arthwvr in Gwent and now in Morgan's of Idwallon
occurs time and again, King Gwyddgen time Idnerth

'capital'

There is a tradition that King Morgan had his palace at Margam just of Aberavon and Port Talbot. Here he reigned as both King and Bishop if the work of Wittiams east in his 'History of Monmouth' correct. (Appendices p. 66). lolo Williams is cites a list of nine are 1. Cynfig; Morgan ap Adras, King and Bishop; 3. Ystyffan; names as bishops at Margam Abbey; they 4.Cattwg;5. lago; 6. Caswan; 7. Tyfodwg; 8. Cyfelach; and 9. Mabon. This list is supported by the fact that Bishop Cyfeilach is recorded 756 A.D. in the Welsh Chronicles. as being killed in As Morgan ruled around 575 to 625 A.D. this means five bishops between King Morgan and Cyfeilach in 131 years which is probably correct. King Morgan was known Morgan Mwyntawr meaning as the Munificent (Generous) Magnificent. Hisname wastaken for the whole area, formerly the lands of the Silures, the of Rome and the kingdom a Saxon raid in that there were

became known as Morganwg.

or possibly the deadly enemies

The corrupted and mutated record at Margam records Morgan ab Adras, King and Bishop, intending Morgan ap Arthwyr the successor to the legendary conqueror Arthur. There has in fact always been some doubt over the relationship between King Arthur his successor. The Charters and King Morgan say that they were father and son, yet in the Pedigree IX of the Jesus College MSS. 3. (formerly 20) Y.C. viii 85 86, it is recorded 'Morgan Mochteyrn Predein Or 'MorganBoar Prince of Britain son of Glywys', This may be another Morgan and it probablym. Gliws'. is and it may be the origin of the idea that Morgan Mwynfawr was not Arthur's son. This is contrary to all the evidence available by custom and succession and contrary to the evidence in the Book of Llandaff Charters. There was Morgan sea born' Glywys, Morgan son of Arthwyr son of Gwrgan, Morgan son of Arthur and others. The title of the Glamorgan Kings was not to be had by usurpation or violence; it descended by blood and no other way. The confusion probably arises from King Glywys, a contemporary of King Meurig King Morgan's grand father marrying Gwerlyn, sister of King Meurig. If this sister, a named Morgan as appears to be the case, then he was far too early in an aunt of King Arthur, had a son time to be King Morgan Mwynfawr, son and successor of Arthur who died very old in 665 A.D.
-

'the

KING ITHAEL
With King Ithael son of Morgan we leave the period of direct contact with his only link is the Charter grandfather Arthwyr. The grant to Bishop Berthgwyn of the church of Titnuc where as we have explained earlier, the grant may be for the soul of Arthwyr son of Meurig by Ithael.

116

The text which has survived stated 'King Ithael and son Meurig give for the soul of his son Arthwyrs'. Seven of Ithael's sons are known and they are Arthfael, Ffernfael, Rhodri, Meurig, Rhys, Iddon and Ilias. So although King Ithael had a son Meurig, there is no record of Meurig having a son named Arthwyr.
Meurig's son was Tewdewr. T mak
native

is that this Charter is not a Charter of King Ithael son of Morgan but one M the brother of King Morgan. This m e for here therefore is one of Ki g grant for the soul of his father, Kin on of Meurig. phrer ba n ile from torLa l
e

isont

n of so

This other King Ithael son of Arthwys, is the King of the Charter of Elidon and Guocof Churches
ys a So have ano fenv o
nmaStively

St.

a son of

The names of the witnesses are difficult to locate with those of other Ithael charters, and the probable explanation may be th as a sub-king under his brother Morgan when he made this grant for the Meurig. soul of his dead gran n Arthw picture' of the Liber Landavensis What is important is t r Morgan into Ithael's reign the rolls on. The sons of the King are named after him in grants and later his grandsons. Ithael and his kings over other kings, minor kings and sub-kings, whom the English successors rule as paramount would more clearly style dukes, earls, viscounts and barons. The pattern of life was unaltered, the kingdoms remained secure and both insulated and isolated from the other Welsh states. The strong links with Powys remained, most of the names of the king lists of midWales con,tain names which are common to the royal clans or Morganwg and West Wales. Intermarriage between Morganwg, Powys and Dyfed royal persons is evidence of those links. On through the cen same names are used time and again by the royal family of Morganwg. Frioc the brother by Ffernfael; after Ffernfael (often written Fernmael) s represented Arthwyr is used og by o great, great grandsons and later is written Arthfael: Ithael, Meurig, Rhys and Gwrgan re-occur down the centuries with Brochwaels and Hywel replacing Ithael. In the eighth century we find King Cadell son of Arthfael in Morganwg, a minor king but a remembrance of Cadell Durnilac first King of Powys and of Arthur of Siluria and also Arthfael ap Nowi King of Gwent from Arthur son of Noe a direct throwback to King Arthur and his son Noe who made grants to Archbishop Dubricious in Dyfed around 540 to 560 A.D. The evidence in this carryover of names is kingdoms stuck rigidly to their own immense and it has to be understood that royal clans in the g names. Other, lesser, people were not allowed to take or use these names, their families also had their own sets of names which they adhered to.
-

'moving

North Wales with its power centre of Gwynedd, had little to do with South Wales, with the power centre in Morganwg. There were five seperate states within the nation. Morganwg in the South East allied to Powys in the east and Dyfed in the south west; and up in the north lay Gwynedd with its neighbour Ceredigion in the mid west. It was the logical outcome of the very ancient tribal divisions of pre-Roman times reinforced by the division of areas conquered by the sons of Cunedda around 420-500 A.D. and the areas held by the royal clans of the Silures. Briefly, for a few fleeting years, Arthur had conceived the notion of one state in Britain, a state consisting of the many nations in the huge island. He had the military ability to conquer and subdue the other princes, he was in fact the answer to the anguished appeal of Gildas. The concept was beyond the comprehension of his contemporaries who could give loyalty to a king, a prince, a man, but not to a state which was not even a pure nation. So his heirs withdrew to Morganwg and ruled their own tightly knit kingdom and for one thousand years the peoples of Britain warred with each other, until by some happy accident of history in 1485 A.D. jienry Tudor the Welsh prince killed Richard III of England on battlefiektancLtha les had conquered Eng nd. a
named his first son Arthur. But it The Welsh king married the surviving rival English heiress and promptly was to be the second Welsh monarch, Henry VIII, who actually united the two nations and finally removed all threat of civil war in 1536, one thousand years after Arthur.

What we have in fact is a continuous history of South East Wales,from the time of the Romans. There is period in the Arthurian Dark Age, we know of the kings, of their battles, their society and no
'missing'

customs. King Arthur became lost in the twentieth revived and the antics of monks in twelfth century
witness.

century

when interest and literacy expanded

and

Glastonbury were misinterpreted

by

'journalistic'

It was no accident
-

that the first explosion

East Wales Glamorgan and Gwent and Hereford and discovered the legends in the homeland of the King. It was no accident either that the nation of the Silures, who were Christian from around 70 A.D. should conceive of the idea of a united Britain, strong against its enemies across the oceans and seas.
-

of interest in Arthur came when the Normans invaded South

At the time of King Ithael the power of the Morganwg Kings still stretched west into Dyfed. Land grants in the Clodoch area of Hereford demonstrate east up into Hereford and the situation until the coming this and this was to remain of the Normans, and until when in 1536 the Welsh border to the west and declared English Parliament moved the Herefordshire to be part of England. Down through the centuries the Charters continued detailing the leading personalities Arthur in a continuous overlapping of the Kingdom of cascade.

KING ARTHUR AND PRINCE NOWI AND KING MORGAN

The Glamorgan historian Rhys Meyrick writing in the late sixteenth ancient manuscripts, century from old papers and mentions the historical doubt over the relationship his successor King Morgan. He between King Arthur and says, of Glamorgan came first country to be a royal Lordship from one Morgan a Prince who lived at the time of King Arthur, and who was his say he was his cousin'. son as some say it, others
'the

The Book of Llandaff states in several charters that Morgan Arthwys', or the was of Arthur'. This may in fact mean successor to Arthur rather than literally his inheritance it can only son, but with the Welsh laws of mean son g, there is no other way that Morgan throne and possessions. There is however could succeed to the the mysterious Nowi son of Arthur was West Wales traditions of to a least one son of Arthur being killed in fighting consider, for first there and Nowi was recorded in Dyfed invaders in the West, the West. There is also a tradition that Morgan came to Glamorgan from the West and the possibility is that Morgan was in fact the grandson of the mighty Arthur. This son of Nowi ap Arthur and so was the would him, they died before he did. Chronologically fit with the tradition that Arthur left no sons to follow this is correct for Morgan lived is more likely his grandson of on long after Arthur and a son born very late in Arthur's lifetime.
'ap

'son

King Arthur
Prince Nowi of Dyfed King Morgan Prince Gweadnerth The Samson stone at Llantwit Major records a King Ithael and Book of Llandaff and Llancarfan Charters an Artmal as well as Samson, and the indicate an Ithael is no other linking of these son of Arthur Arthwyr ap Meurig. There three names Arthur presence in Glamorgan. This is at any other historical period and so this is another sign of the strong evidence particularly in detail out hunting King Ithael ap Arthur is described on the Thaw halfway between Cardiff and as from the location of this huge Llantwit Major, less than ten miles stone. King Morgan seems Margam. (See Llancarfan Charters) to have located himself further West at
-

King Ithael

Either Morgan, Ithael and Gweadnerth are the sons of Nowi therefore the grandsons of Arthur, else they are the brothers of Nowi. We favour the solution and or that they were Nowi's cannot prove this. sons although we

CHECKING THE LINE OF THE KINGSOF GLAMORGAN

In order that any person with an enquiring mind may easily check the method of tracing the Kings of Glamorgan we have constructed the following table, which can be checked at any major library. We list suitable source documents.
The Cambridge History Ancient Court Pedigrees of Prnce Hywel Dda Lives of Saints

Harlean 4181
VespasianA14

The Brecon MSS

B.M.VespasianA.14

Court Pedigrees PrinceHywe/Dda

of

Names found in
BookofLlandaff

The names in 1584 List of RhysMeurig

the
The lists found in CardiffRecords Llanover MSS

the

How the names should appear

PVelsh English

King No.

1 2

Magnus Maximus Marcellus

+

Mascen

Wiedig Wertheuyr Uendigeit Uther

-

extractions

Mascen W1edig Uther

Magnus Maximus Victor i Arthur I

Victor sons Annhun Eidinet Tutagual Dinacat Senill Neithon Run

2
3 4 5 6 7

3
4 5 6 7 8

Andragathius

Anhun

(Victor)

Annwn Ddu

Annun Negri

Annhun Teudfat

Arthwyr

Thathal Teidtheyrn
Teidfallt Tewdric Marchel

Tathal Teithryn
Teithphal Teudric Marchel

Teuder
Teudfall Teuderic Marchell

List28

List29

Teithfallt
Teudubric Mouric Atwys Morcant ludhail Fernmael Artwys Morcant ludhail Tewdrig Meurig Arthwyr Morgan

Thathal Teitheyrn Teithfallt

Tewdrig

Theodorus
Theodore Theodosius Theoderic Maurice I

Myrig
Advoes Morgan Hyddhael King Arthur cousin of Morgan Einydd Rhys Arthfael Meyric Brochmael

Meurig Arthwyr

9
10 11 12 13 t

Tutagual
Anthec Mermin Anavaunt Tutagual ludhail

(Marchells thedaughter of kingnarnedTheoderic--Tewdric)

the

Arthur li
Morgan1 Howell 1 Rees I Arthur Ill

8 9
10 11 12 13

Morgan
Ithael Rhys Arthfael

Rhys Artmait
Mouric Brocmail

Ithael Rhys + Ffernfael

Arthfael Meurig Brochwael Gwried Arthfael
+

Rys
Arthfael Myrig Brichmael Gyriad

Arthwys

14
15 16

ludhail

(end of list No.4)

Gweirydd
Arthfael Rhys Hywel Morgan Mawr Owain Ithel

Meurig Brochmael Gweirydd

Arthfael

Maurce 11
Bernard I Arviragus II Arthur Rees 11 IV

14
16 16 17 18 19 20

Arvaell
Rs

Rhys
Ithael Hywel Meurig

Howell Owayn Morgan Ythel

+ + +

Morgan Owain
Ithael

Rhys Ithael Owain

Morgan Ithael

Howell Il
Owen I Morgan li Howell lli Vivian i

21
22 23

Cadwgan

Rhys

Gwrgan
lestyn

Gwrgant
lestyn

Gwrgan
lestyn

Gwrgan lestyn

Justin 1

24

15

Gweirydd is Arviragus which may also be Victorinus. Gwrgan is possibly Georgonius so he should be George I not Vivian I.

22

CHAPTER FIVE

ARTHUR'S LINE OF SUCCESSION

The dating of kings of whom little is known has always presented a problem to historians. Various simple methods have been used to marshall the lists of into a framework which will make with simple arithmetic to organise the timing. An example names sense, of this is the use of standard time periods per reign. By this means some guesswork dating can begin, so with a dynasty such as that of the ancient kings of the Hittite Empire where fratricide, patricide and every other type of murder and revolution was common in the royal house, an allowance of twenty years per king was made, i.e. six kings at twenty years each gives one hundred and twenty years. In Wales this type of estimating to find a framework upon which to begin was found to need longer time periods in the Brythonic Celtic kingdoms of the North, Mid and West areas. A time of thirty years and more was needed, account of the fantastic stability of the Welsh royal houses span on and their basically tribal kingdoms. Welsh princes often died in battle with enemies, but intrigue and palace murder was virtually non-existent, the Samurai type warrior code of the ancient Welsh nobility would not allow it. The situation in England was somewhat different, as different dynasties of different races and houses replaced each other and brother murdered or imprisoned brother, uncle murdered nephews and murdered father and feudal cruel kings not tribal son princes, were dethroned. In the 1970's leading mint in England offered sma0 silver ingots for sale in collections of fifty, each ingot representing a the reign of each successive king an event in or queen thousand years of history. The list included Danish kings, the Saxon kings, the Normans,over one the the Plantagenets, the House of York, of Lancaster, the Tudors, theStuarts,the Hanoverians,down to the Windsors. This motley collection of dynasties ing Danes, French,Saxons,Welsh, representScots and Germans and others representing one thousand years of time produced an average reign of twenty years per monarch.

in 1066 in a welter of violence. In 1100 A.D. years (1039-1042) and Harold Godwinson less than a William II Rufus was murdered in the New Forest in 1199 Richard I was killed in seige in and France a both died by arrows. King John murdered Prince Arthur. Then Edward II, who like the heir, William Il Rufus,and Richard i Lionheart, was a homosexual, was murdered in a most appalling fashion at Berkely Castle in Gloucestershire in 1327A.D. A white hot iron was thrust into his bowels by way of his anus so that there were no marks displayed which was shown to the local on the body peasantry. So already we have six violent and suspicious deaths, plus the deaths of two heirs to the throne. In addition Arthur, murdered by King John, Arthur Wiliam to Henry I was drowned in 'The White Ship'. son of
year
-

For those who doubt the statement of murder let recall that of the Danes, Harold Harefoot ruled only three years (1036-1039), Hardicanute ruled three us

Later Richard 11 was overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke who became Henry IV 1399 and Richard II in the Tower of London in 1400 murdered A.D. This was followed by Henry V conquering France and being made heir to the French throne, only to be poisoned in Paris in 1422 A.D. So eight violent deaths of ruling kings. we are now up to The next, Henry VI, suffered bouts of complete insanity and before he was deposed in 1455, the Wars of the Roses had broken out in 1455. The scene was now a war between the House of Lancaster the Red Rose, and the House of York the White Rose, and Parliament declared Edward IV of York King in 1461. The mad Henry VI was finany captured in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London to be murdered. Next came Edward V who king with his brother, was aged 12, this young was murdered in the Tower of London, either by his uncle Richard Ill or Henry Vl! Tudor. So now we have another three murdered kings to add to the list, taking us up to nine very violent sudden deaths in five hundred years.
-

Then after his nephew, the murdered Edward V, who ruled less than Crookback was slaughtered by Henry Tudor a year in 1483, Richard 111the Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth three year reign) in 1485. With this tenth violent death of a king, the slaughter stopped with (after a the accession of the Lancastrian-Welsh Dynasty of the Tudors to the throne of
-

England.

Later, under the Stuart kings, there be more killing when first Charles I Parliament in 1649 and in 1688 Jameswas to was beheaded the 11 was chased from the throne by William if I of Orange. Even in modern times Edward VIII ruled less than a year before being forced to abdicate marriage to an American divorcee in 1936. over his proposed

So we have eleven violent early deaths, mostly murders and two later enforced total out of fifty.

retirements,

quite a

What this all proves is that in violent a monarchy, reigns of around twenty years are the average time span for each king. In non-violent countries with stable internal conditions and complete respect for the title and office of legitimate princes, the time span of reigns will be of a longer period, stretching out to some thirty years.

This type of reasoning is vital as a basis upon which to time plan uncertain facts, for we have with the time scale of the Kings of Glamorgan. to deal The last of these princes was lestyn (in English Justin)

120

who was driven from his lands in 1091 A.D. Now lestyn listed no less than seventeen ancestors, so with himself we have eighteen names in all. These eighteen names are linked father and son in the recitation of the king list but there is no doubt that this is not absolutely so. The list is that of the previous kings in succession, one following the other, to rule over Glamorgan and Morganwg; father to son, brother to brother, or first cousin but always in the immediate family, ork of Rice Meyrick in 1578 A.D. incidentally it is worth kom the Welsh original Rhys Meurig and the sixteenth century obviously had family connections with these ancient princes. We have seen how oral tradition be effectively maintained and it should come as no surprise at all to discover that the lestyn list of can tree' of these kings Rice Meyrick is remarkably accurate. Modern attempts to reconstruct the of Morganwg have clearly demonstrated this.
-

'family

What we have in effect is a list of eighteen names of successive rulers covering a time span of 591 years from 500 A.D. the accession of Arthur as King of the Britons up to 1091 A.D., the time of lestyn's flight from Glamorgan and lestyn began his reign in 1043 A.D.
-

Now itis known that lestyn had at least seven grown sons who remained in Morganwg as landholders and petty lords, so lestyn was by no means a young man. His rival Einion or leuan, wanted one of his daughters in marriage so he probably had the usual brood of children common to Welsh princes. It would not be unreasonable to assume that Iestyn was at least around eighty by 1091, so he would have been born circa 1000.

"r " " if we take the dto .D. to about period of 256 years from See e base line to cover ten reigns. This means each one of these ten kings ruled for an average of throne as our members figure, particularly as they were by reputation, twenty nine and a half years, a very reasonable of a long lived family. We know for example that Arthur himself was king of the Britons from 517 A.D. twenty five years. We have above assumed that Howell or Hywel came to to 542 A.D. a straightforward the throne at the age of 40 years, not an unreasonable estimate. In fact it appears that Arthur ruled from 517 to 570 A.D., a total of 53 years.
""
.". .

Actually, during Hywel's long reign other kings of the family ruled parts of Morganwg as kings of Gwent and kings of Glywysswg. Together with the continued use of common family names in close
their most likely repetition, this caused confusion. In an arrangement of these kings to demonstrate succession and family relationships we have five Ithael's, four Arthwys or Arthmael, five of Meurig, two Brochwels and so on. The problem is made difficult by the Celtic practice of kings ruling an overall area and also a specific part of that area and then making his sons or even grandsons kings of other parts of the overall area.

by the situation over in France under the rule of the Franks and we This is probably best demonstrated this in the Frankish tree of succession. First Clovis made himself king of all the have demonstrated Franks, ruling an area which incorporated most of modern France, parts of Western Germany, this he did in his lifetime from 481 until 511 A.D. which means that King Clovis founder of the Merovingian of King Arthur. Now when King Clovis died in 511 his kingdom was split Dynasty was a contemporary between his four sons in the Celtic fashion. One became King Theoderic I of Metz, 511-534; a second became King Chlodomer of Orleans, 511-524; another became King Childebert of Paris, 511-558 and the fourth became King Loithair of Soissons from 511 until in 558 he also became King of All the Franks The grandson of Lothair I who was Lothair II also became King of All the Franks from 613 to 629, uniting again Neustria, Austrasia, Burgundy and other accumulated areas under his rule. Later still we have a further development which shows the position of King of AII the Franks in a clearer light. There were in the seventh century still three major kingdoms of the Franks in France, Burgundy, Neustria and Austrasia. One King, Lothair III of Neustria was King of his sub-division of Neustria from of AII the Franks from 656 to 660. So Lothair III was King of All the Franks 657 to673,yethewasKing before he was kingof the area of Neustria and then he gave up the title in 660, some thirteen years before of King of AII the Britons before he was King of his death. This mirrors King Arthur's appointment Glamorgan and Morganwg. The next King of AII the Franks was Childeric, King of Austrasia from 662 to 675 and he took the title in 673 to 675. So from 660 to 673 there was no King of AII the Franks. Then Theoderic Ill, a brother of Lothair III and Childeric, became King of All the Franks in 678 to 691, although he ruled Neustria from 673 until 698. The title passed to his son King Clovis III who was King of AII the Franks from 691 to 695 A.D. whilst his father Theoderic III still ruled the sub-division of Neustria from 673 until 698.

So there is evidence to show that in ancient Celtic and Teutonic races not only did all sons get a share of a father's estates, but that it was not uncommon in this shared situation for the title of King of AII the Race or Nation to be so appointed before he actually ruled any specific part of the Nation's territory. This means thatthe position was not one carrying territorial rights, but was almost certainly one designed
for military or administrative purposes only. We return therefore to a situation where our King Arthur was elected King of AII the-IMtonito fulfil a military function in the time of great danger. At the same time his father still ruled Morganwg and in particular Glamorgan and possibly at one time also Gwent, with Arthur being his crown prince and principal heir.

The system appears to have worked as follows; if for example three brothers would split it up:King No. 1 ruling Area A King No. 2 ruling Area B King No. 3 ruling Area C
If King No. 1
-

inherited a kingdom they

the

eldest

died,

then

King No. 2 took

his territory:-

King No. 2 ruling Area A and B King No. 3 ruling Area C

would

Alternatively where there were only three hereditary step up to take the dead brother's place, so:King No.

established

areas, a fourth brother,

if one existed,

4 ruling

King No. 2 ruling King No. 3 ruling What

Area A Area B

Area C
areas as King. This did not title, not one of power or could not command. The of older, wiser counsellors

nearly always happened was that the survivor finished up with all three matter as much as it did in later mediaeval days, as the matter was one of ownership. A Celtic king could counsel, advise and lead by example, but he whole system wasdevised toensurethattribal leadership remained in the hands and leaders and that minors were not able to inherit to the danger of the state.

In later England several children inherited the throne, to the confusion and distress of the state. King John killed Arthur the heir, Henry III was 9 when he succeeded to the throne for a disastrous fifty six year reign, and Edward Ill was only 15 when he began a fifty year term. The next King was Richard II who was ten years old and he finished up a bad reign of twenty two years being murdered. Then Henry VI was nine months old when he became King of England and proved another disaster, several times lapsing into insanity.

Of course Edward V, a boy of twelve, was then murdered by his uncle Richard III and there was no peace in the land. So the Celts sought to avoid such situations in their kingdom pf Morganwg. No matter if the area was known as Siluria or Glywysswg or Glamorgan or whatever, the practice and succession remained the same. In fact the system of giving sons and nephews parts of the whole and making them sub-kings had a stabilising effect.
actually numbered seven and various members of the ruling family were appointed to these titles to suit the situation existing at the time. In other periods the titles might simply lie in abeyance. So there were Kings of Ergyng, of Euwyas, of Glywysswg, of Gower, of Gwent, of Brecon and of Glamorgan, all ruling at the same time with the lead or important title resting with

Sub-kings of Morganwg

Glamorgan.

The reasons for this long explanation of the background to Celtic ideas on kingship, is that there is evidence that our King Arthur was King of All the Britons before he was King of Morganwg. In fact it is not impossible that his father King Meurig either outlived him or came very close to it and so whilst Arthur was King of AII the Britons, he ruled only a part of Morganwg allotted to him by the senior king, his father King Meurig. This should satisfy all those who are curious about the contradictions of the Welsh lines of succession. A man could be king whilst his father or even his grandfather ruled still, also as Kings.
'apparent'

The Welsh saw nothing wrong at all with old Hywel ruling as King of Glamorgan whilst his sons and nephews ruled as sub-kings, Ithel as King of Gwent and Meurig as King of Glywysswg, and Brochwel and Ffernfael as Kings of Gwent. The old concept of one nation with several federal states within it was eminently satisfactory and it is still something not understood in England after 1500 years of passing time. So we return to our central theme, the succession of Arthur, for Nennius wrote in the eighth century that whilst Arthur was leading the Britons in battle was not then King'. So this means that Meurig was still ruling in Glamorgan and Arthur the Crown Prince of Glamorgan was leading the combined armies of
'he

the British Celtic kingdoms in battle.

122

has This is worth looking at, for this statement by Nennius, who was a man from Northern Britain, modern English scholars who have failed completely to understand the caused endless confusion to comprehends is one of one nature of the Welsh nation and its states. The situation that an Englishman with the most outspoken emanation coming in This is a typical German outlook nation, one state. this was the slogan. The present One Leader' One state Germany under Adolf Hitler 'One people the English, some of the Irish, the day United Kingdom consists of one state and three or four nations Scots and the Welsh.
-

within the nation. These The inverse was true of old Wales, there was one nation and four major states the Brythonic Gwynedd, Powys and Ceredigion and the Goedelic Morganwg, with Goedelic Dyfed were another petty state. This principle was taken further with the number of small sub-kingdoms allowed to exist within the state of Morganwg.

Not able to understand this simple situation which is in many ways similar to the modern Helvetian of government, many Confederation of Swiss cantons and a remarkably stable and democratic method English scholars have blundered around looking for a mercenary soldier hired by the Welsh or even a and ludicrous in the light of the Roman soldier sent to help. Both explanations are utterly ridiculous Welsh temperament and the Welsh obsession with ancestry, royal blood Celtic of course and genealogy. The situation of a Roman professional soldier acting as a Celtic war leader or general, is even more when one considers what was happening over in France at Arthur's time. if that is possible ludicrous Rome meant submission and that was unacceptable to the sixth century Celts,
-

Time and again we are told in Gregory of Tours, 'History of the Franks', how kings sent their sons to lead the army and occasionally also Dukes or Counts to do the same thing. With the Franks, as with the of leadership and no foreign or mercenary leaders were British, royal blood was the ultimate yardstick allowed with the sixth century Franks, nor with their neighbours, foes and allies, the Ripaurian Franks, Visigoths, Goths, Lombards and Alemanni. The concept of Arthur as anything other than a British prince of royal blood is a nonsense; it fails to match any of the concepts of Welsh/Celtic leadership, social structure, rights, requirements, status or even capability.

SAXON INVASIONS OF GLAMORGAN

-

AROUND 430-450 A.D.

where the Charters are not incidentally in anything like We have also in the Book of Llandaff It says that when the Kings Teithfalt and Ithael were statement. chronological order one remarkable devastated the area. ruling Glamorgan, meaning the whole of South East Wales, the Saxons attacked and Theoderic There is in fact only one known reference to a Teithfalt and that is as the father of Tewdrig grandfather of Arthwys (Arthur). Now just as Teithfalt and most certainly Theoderic (Tewdrig) are the Angles. Germanic or Gothic names, so also is Ithel or Ithael, for it is simply the same as Icel King of the This The name of Ithael or Icel was given to the Ickneild or Icfield Way, the great Roman highway. father is in effect saying that the Saxons devastated South Wales around 450 in the time of the story
-

and uncle of Theoderic

(Tewdrig).

confusion The point of the story is that the Kings of South Wales restored lands to the church once the of war was finally over. Ithael is credited with restoring the Churches to Bishop and devastation Berthgwyn, the destruction being greatest at the Hereford area (Ergyng). What follows is even more interesting, for even three kings. We discover King Cynfyn Llanguoroe granted by King Arthwys.Then and again Llandinabo or Llan-junabui
-

then we have the restoration of the same lands by granting Magurn, also then granted by King Brithgon is granted by King Gwrfodw and then again by King is granted by King Pebiau and then again granted

two and and also Arthwys by King

Arthwys.

wrecked in wars There are several interesting points in all this, for it appears that when churches were usually caused by foreign invasion, there was a need to restore official land grants. Written evidence was and those who knew of boundaries and rights may well have been massacred. no doubt destroyed Pebiau, King Gwrfodw The fact which is obvious is that Astbays controlled areas previously ruled by King and Kings Cynfyn and Brithgon.Otherwisethe area was broken up after the rule of Arthwys for Gwrfodw, Cynfyn and Brithgon are all of uncertain date and these are minor kings. the senior ranking king of the entire area and as such was a very The clear inference is that AMhwyrwas Britain. powerful man in early sixth century

The record of the Saxon invasion around 450 A.D. fits exactly with the histories of Gildas and Nennius, of the Great Saxon revolt and the wars of Vortigern, Vortimer and Hengist. THE FAMILY TREES OF THE SOUTH WALES PRINCES
The record of these ancient Princes lies not only in the carefully preserved genealogical and ancestor lists, records, carefully but also in the records of the church charters in Glamorgan and Morganwg. These preserved to maintain Church rights, list the Kings and Princes of the area, the donations which they and

The church at Mathern, Martyred Teyrn, which is the Martyred Monarch. Burial place of King Theoderic.

The chancel at Mathern, the tomb of King Theoderic

is under the North Wall on the left.

The commemorative plaque placed above Theoderic's tomb in 1625 by Bishop Morgan.

King

124

others made to the Church and also the witnesses of such treaties; laymen and clerics. So the names of Kings, the Princes, theirkingsmen, the bishops, abbots, clergy and others are known to us. The areas they granted were recorded using the terms and place names of their times and much can still be traced. From all this data, plus the evidence of pedigree lists of kings and princes, the information held in the 'Lives' of saints, history written into the Charters as incidentals and other sources, we can piece together the lines of descent of these princes of South East Wales and see the form of their 'Family Tree'. The for we have to include data from all sources near and far, from the outcome is indeed extraordinary, words of Gildas, the Book of Llandaff, old manuscripts of genealogy and foreign sources, the Vatican Library, Brittany in France, anywhere and everywhere that information can be found. We have to use contemporary material and subsequent later material to work back and define and identify the persons who lived and ruled at the time of Arthur. is The names of those who were the leaders of the great drama of Arthur occur and their relationship is that no scholar of all those many who have clear, as the chart will show. What is extraordinary worked with the detail of the Book of Llandaff has ever recognised what is obvious. There are some exceptions to this, one is the genealogist who drew up the manuscripts used in Williams 1794 History of Monmouthshire; a scholar bard working between 1300 and 1400 A.D. and the other the very learned Robert Owen of the nineteenth century and the compilers of the Cardiff Records. Both of these exceptionally talented men solved the problem of "Arthur". We discovered their works after reaching of our conclusions on the question of Arthur and were more than gratified by this corroboration thinking and fact. The whole case for the identification of Arthur lies in the composite evidence available to us in the form mention of king, prince or ancestor lists, mention in historical records such as the Brecon manuscripts, in written tales e.g. by ancient writers and historians, mention in folklore and stories, identification Mabinogion, identification of other contemporary personalities in similar lists and tales, geographical identifications, saints lives and stories, identification by historians, e.g. Nennius and of course the continuation of old stories and poems in the Roman literature of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Additionally there are the historical Annals and Bruts and very important Church Charters. A number of scholars have patiently worked away at the data contained in the Liber Landavensis to construct the'Family Tree' chart of the Kings of Glamorgan and Gwent. This depends not only upon the names and relationship revealed in the ancient church charters, but also upon the corroborative evidence of dates and linked events which can also be identified. The later the princes, the greater the detail of dates available to us. We know for example that Prince lestyn ap Gwrgan the last ruling prince, came to power in 1043 A.D. and was deposed in 1091 A.D. after a reign of forty eight years. We know that Hywel of Glywysswg, who died in 880 A.D. (886 in the Annals) was aged 124 when he died in Rome three days after arriving there, so his reign would have been very long indeed. In the Celtic manner his sons would have been given lands to rule as kings in their own right and both were outlived by their father, the old king. The remarkable feature of the Welsh kingship in Morganwg is the practice of making princes kings whilst their fathers and even grandfathers lived. This makes reign calculation remarkably accurate, for it would not matter if a King died at 40 or 50, or 60, or 80, or 100, or 120. If Kings married at 25, had sons of 15 by the time they were 40, this marked the sons coming of age as a king; so 26 years is a good period'. Proof of this with the Morganwg kings recorded in this list lies with the reign of Hywel who died around 880 A.D. If he lived to be 124 years old, then he outlived his sons and grandsons and was still king. There can therefore be no guarantee that Owain the great, great grandfather of lestyn was the son of Hywel; he would probably be a grandson or great grandson of the King,
'marker

if Hywel died in 880 A.D. at 124 then he was born in 756 A.D. From 756 A.D. to 490 or 503 A.D. the birthdates we have for Arthur, is 266 years and we have ten kings in that time or ten fathers of sons. The result is that each father would have a son by the time he was 26.6 years old. It begins to make some sense for we have then:-

26 years per King

Arthur born 491 born 516 Arthur 11

30 years per King

491 or 503 521 or 550 551 or 580 581 or 510

Morgan
Ithel

Rhys
Arthfael Meurig Brochwael

born 543 born 569

born 596 born 622 born 649 born 657

Arthur Ill

611 or 640 641 or 670

671 or 700 701 or 730

Gwriad Arthfael

born 702

Arthur IV

731 or 760

125

Rhys
Hywel

born 728
born 755

761 or 790 791 (d.884) 820

There is possibly no way to a final answer on the subject, unless a major computer exercise is done with all the Welsh kings and queen lists concentrating on the later South Wales pedigrees. Even if Hywel had not lived so long and had died at say 80 years of age, the computation is still valid for it merely takes each king's time span to thirty years, a quite normal period for generation calculations. We know for a certain fact that Hywel King of Glywysswg outlived his sons and very probably his grandsons as well, for Charter 24 of the Book of Llandaff describes him as granting to the Church two bondsmen or slaves named Ermint and Cathorog, the sons of Cremic, with all their goods and progeny and all their liberty for ever. No comment is needed on a religious faith which accepted as a gift slaves and all their children perpetuity. It does however knock yet another hole in the Christian myth and fable.
in

Hywel's charter states that his wife, Lleuci (Lucy) is dead, his sons are dead and Owain and Arthfael who are probably his grandsons, are dead. All this indicates the great age of Hywel.

THE ANCESTORS OF IESTYN OF MORGANWG

RHYS MEYRICK LIST OF 1574

The historian Rhys Meyrick lists the ancestors of Prince lestyn (English Justin) of Morganwg,whowas deposed by Robert Fitzhammon in 1091 A.D., as follows:-

Rhys Meyrick
lestyn-Justin Gwrgant
Ythel

Cardiff Records
son of
son of son of son of son of son of son of son of son of son of son of

lestyn Gwrgan
Ithael

son of Gwrgan son of Ithael son of Owain

son of Morgan Mawr son of Rys son of Arthfael

Owayn
Morgan Moynvawz Howell

Owain
Morgan Mawr Hywel

Rs Arvaell Gyriad
Brichvael

Rhys Arthfael
Gweirydd Brochmael Meyric

son of Brochmael
son of Brochmael

Myrig

son of Meyric son of Arthfael

Arthvael
Rys Hyddhael Morgan

son of son of son of son of son of son of

Arthfael
Rhys Einydd Morgan .

son of Rhys son of Einydd son of Morgan

Advoes Myrig vap Tewdrig

cousin of King Arthur (?) King Arthur who ruled before Morgan

So seventeen princes are named in this list, with Justin effectively ending the line in 1090 A.D. Some historians use a rough guide of thirty three years per name, others twenty five per name, to attempt rough dating of such genealogies. Such systems are not accurate, but some rough framework of time can be reconstructed. By taking each of these princes as reigning for thirty three years, we arrive at a total of 561 years. This is interesting, as 561 years back from 1090 brings us to the year 529 A.D. held a by many scholars to be the approximate date of the Battle of Camlan where King Arthur certainly year fought.
-

Rhys Meyrick tells us that Wales was divided into six parts at the time of Maglo Maelgwn of Gwynedd who died around 551 to 562 A.D. He also describes Morgan Moynvawz as being in dispute with HowellDda and of their contemporary, 'King Edgar' of England, acting as arbitrator Edgar reigned from 959 to 975 A.D., so he confuses Edgar with Edward the Elder. In fact Meyrick accurately dates Morgan Moynvawz Morgan Hen 880 to 920 A.D., mentioning King Edgar who in fact was Edward I the Elder who ruled from 899 to 924 A.D.
-

Meyrick doessayalsothatwhen Rhodri the Great died around 843 A.D., his son Cadell ruled Deheubarth and also Morganwg, but we do not have the exact contemporary lord of Morganwg quoted. It would, by our rough reckoning be either Arvaell or Gyriad.

126

Meyrick's list. names of Arthvael and Arvaell in Rhys One interesting feature of the genealogy is the difficulties of changes in translation, dialect and simple with all the These may not exactly be Arthur, but language, there are clear similarities,
of thirty three years per prince, it may help to note For those who may be sceptical over allowing reigns recorded as dying in long lived. Prince Howel ap Rhys is princes were notoriously that the Morganwg date further the Holy See, at the age of 124 years, This pilgrimage to Rome in 880 A.D. whilst on a guide, for if Howel son of Rhys died in 880, then reinforces the accuracy of the royal thirty three year would indeed have been ruling contemporary with and Arvaell by rule of thumb Rhys died around 847 of Rhodri the Great in 843 A.D. Cadell

son

with King Edward the Elder 899-924 A.D.We have seen that Morgan Moynvawz was contemporary confirming a as one of three Celtic princes is also recorded of and his successor and son named Owain 926. The other two princes were Howell the Good, of England in peace treaty with King AthelstaneScotland, in fact in 931 Howell and Owain, together with Morcant of in West Wales, and Constantine of Bishop of Cornwall, all witnessed a land grant South Wales, and Idwal of Cumbria, and Cavan Berkshire by Atheistane. Alfred the Great, 871-899 founder of the Anglo (Menevia). AII this fraternising with the Saxons went back to Asser, the Welsh Bishop of St. David's Saxon English monarchy, who had as his tutot of Alfred the Great. As Alfred finally defeated the kings Athelstane the son of Edward was the grandson for the Welsh and Scots to join these English Vikings and Danes in Britain there was good reason have been a very peaceful and beautiful place Eastern Wales must in their struggle. Further to this, South sought to enter the area and the continual th in which to live for many centuries, for f England fully occupied the Saxon kings. Easian raiding and invasions of the Danes in the Danes became Kings of England. In this Finally when raids gave way to Tnasion and se in fact the last of the Danish Kings and the Anglo context it is worth noting that King Harold was I, the Conqueror. Saxons in all probability welcomed King William and his ruled kingdoms surrounding Glamorgan where Gildas As Gildas named five Celtic Kings who Wales contained probably the source of the 1586 statement that friend King Arthur both lived, this is around 550 A.D. six kingdoms at the time of Maelgwn Gwynedd and Morganwg. Powys, Cenedgion, Anglesey (Mona), Dyfed This is correct, the kingdoms being Gwynedd,
-

of the Thirty Seventh King, with Caradoc, the opponent and The Gwent Royal Genealogies place Arthur as ruled in the interim between approximately 80 A.D. Claudius, as the seventeenth. Twenty Kings and reliable. These Gwent records are the more coherent 520 A.D. by this reckoning, 22 years per reign.

QUEEN MARCHEL

The combination of characters in the stories of King Arthur. Morgan le Fay could be and probably is a this mysterious enchantress who is somefacet of Celtic goddess of deep water, Margan, is one obvious with Morgan the German name for the planet times aunt, sometime sister, of Arthur. This combines Venus the morning star. and Gwent. This life aunt of King Arthwyr, King of Glamorgan The obvious person is however the real stories was in real life the person who just like all the other major characters of the was Queen Marchel,
-

represented

by the storytellers.

by his principal or royal wife. These were his son King Tewdrig of Glamorgan had two children Meurig as the son both stood to inherit shares in the kingdom, with and his daughter Marchel, who getting the maor share six parts of seven. If a prince died women were emancipated. Wales, at fifteen hundred years ago in husband the Few eealise could claim the title and her son could claim the inherited. Her leavin a daughter, then she Vrych The powerful kingdom of Gwynedd, her husband, Mervyn
-

Meurig

property. A queen inherited the Celtic women between 400 B.C. and becoming King. The freedom and respect accorded to Freckled time accorded to women in Western European society at any 1000 A.D. was probably greater than that until 1970 or so. whether civil war or with the Saxons we do In the case of the children of King Tewdrig, there was a war, of King Coromac. caused Tewdrig to send his daughter to freland to the court not know. This'pestilence' protected his line. In stayed to fight the war in South Wales. So old Tewdrig His son Meurig naturally and in due course she had a son named Brychan Ireland Marchel married Anlach the son of King Coromac When Tewdrig died King Meurig ruled South who was entitled to a share in his grandfather's property. kingdom. back with her son Brychan to claim his share in the Wales and Queen Marchel came Garthmarthin which became known as Brechauiniog The result was that Brychan was given the area of seventh of the area of Morganwg. King Meurig had three sons at ma or Brecon (as it is today) about one eldest of these being Arthwyr who least of his own, who were first cousins to Brychan, the his father as the senior or paramount king.

127

the whole story of Marchel and her son Brychan and all his many children, all of it recorded in the Brecon Manuscripts. Many of these children of Brychan became saints and are again traceable and can be dated by association. Again we have proof positive of the accuracy of the Arthurian tales, folklore and record, again in the setting of South East Wales.

So we have King Arthwyr of Glamorgan around 500 to 570 A.D. with his aunt the Queen Marchel, just as we are told there was an Arthur and the sister or aunt, the enchantress Morgan le Fay. We know the names of Arthwyr's brothers, Frioc and Idnerth and of two of his sisters, Anna and Affrela. We know

The story of Marchel is told fully in the Brecon Manuscripts which are in fact the BM Vespasian A.XIV Manuscript and the Harleian 4181 Manuscripts.

MORGAN LE FEY
As can be seen from a history of the ancient Celtic gods, we have a goddess named Margan. This female deity was described as the goddess of the deep, which of course is relevant to the o annwyn', Arthur legend. For the of the deep' named Margan became in later time Morgan le Fey the Lady of the Lake. The le Fey part of the title is a mediaeval addition meaning the fairies' and there fore 'The Enchantress'.
'dwywes

'goddess

'of

can be located in Glamorgan.

The Celtic goddess Margan can by virtue of our tracing the origin of the Cymru, be identified way back in Persia with the goddess Peri Merjan. So we have a basic identity with a water goddess of old who
-

We have seen how the sacred lake of Llyn Fawr at Hirwaun in Glamorgan was a holy place of water deity, with an oaken built shrine standing in the lake. Votive offerings were thrown from a rock into this lake and these included magic Celtic cauldrons and weapons, including ancient swords. Further the great sheer cliffs of the escarpment above Llyn-y-Fan are named Careg Arthur and one story written by a monk clearly places Arthur on this north border of Glamorgan facing Brecon. We now
'the

have the origin of the Morgan

Lady of the

Lake and a vague connection

'the

with Arthur.

The next connection is that Merlin the enchanter is said to have had a sister and her name was Gwenddydd meaning day star'. Now this is really something to deal with, for day star' is the star or planet Venus. Whether or not this Gwenddydd was transposed from Merlin's sister to be Arthur's sister is uncertain, or whether or not Merlin and Arthur were half brothers or cousins, the matter is uncertain. In fact if they were cousins then Gwenddydd's sons would be in Celtic terms Arthur's nephews.

The German term for morning is Morgen and the Saxons were indisputably Germans, so their rendering of the Morgan of the Celts, or of Venus, the day star, may further account for Gwenddydd becoming Morgen and then Morgan.
As we will see, the day star Venus was universally of old a star-planet deity to be greatly feared, a female deity responsible for enormous destruction and devastation. Now strangely the Cymru conceived the Power of Evil as a female (just like Venus) who rode high through the air on a great stallion named March Malaen Horse of Malignancy. The word Malaen comes from Latin, Maligna malignancy so we now have a great and powerful enchantress riding through the air on a magic steed and identified with the morning star, Venus, a baneful, destructive, unfeeling deity.
-

The Italians, who were very much taken with the legend of Arthur in mediaeval times, understandably as their overthrow by the Germanic peoples was incomplete, whilst a nation claiming kinship had successfully resisted that fate, identified Fata Morgana with Mirages, the illusion or appearance which is not there at all. This is the very essence of the art of the Celtic enchantment, illusion and fantasy, dream worlds and the unreal having substance insubstantial. One Father Angelucci saw and described a mirage in the Straits of Messina on 15th August 1643 a vision of what is not (see Swinburne, 'Travels in the
-

two Sicilies).

That Venus was regarded by ancient peoples as the capricious, dangerous, death dealing star, personification of the dread goddess, has been demonstrated time and again by a whole host of historical and antiquarian writers. The most interesting, probably the most convincing, being Dr. Immanual Velikovsky in his 'Worlds in Collision', which describes how ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, Asia, Egypt and elsewhere, knew of only four great visible planets until around 1500 B.C. when Venus is thought to have entered the planetary system of our Sun as a great comet. This monstrous comet, captured by the magnetic pull of the Sun, charged around the planetary system in near collision with both the Earth and Mars on several occasions. The near approach of such a huge, hot body caused earthquake, storm, flood and volcanic activity, boiling the rivers and seas, scorching the land and firing the forests. And in this way Venus became the great heavenly goddess to be feared and propitiated until and long after the great comet settled into a safe orbit and threatened the life of man no more.
-

The Druids, as we have seen, were skilled in astronomy which was indeed but one step removed from

128

astrology and the Cymru and Saxon Tuetons knew all about the great morning star, Venus. day star'. The So we have our Morgan le Fey, the Enchantress, from Merlin's sister Gwenddydd, links are with Margen the German Saxon word for morning and the Celtic goddess of the deep pools,
'the

Margan. Then of course the sacred lake of Llyn Fawr at Hirwaun in Glamorgan, over the mountain top from the Rhondda Valley and the great cliffs at the 'Lake of the Maiden' known as Careg Arthur. Whether or not Arthur made offerings to the Lady of the Lake we cannot know, but this would be quite normal in the mixed traditional tribal magical and Christian beliefs of the fifth, sixth and later of the ancient centuries. As we will see, trances and halucinations were all part of the lore of the
'seers'

Celts.

King Meurig, father of King Arthwyr King Glywys, son of Amlodd Wiedig.

Arthur

II

did in fact have a sister named Gwerlyn who married

HOW NAMES CHANGED

There will of course be a host of sceptics who will deny that between 500 A.D. and 1200 A.D. the written word name ARTHWYR became ARTHWYS, by error in copying by monks and that Arthwyr

is our King Arthur.

Therefore we shall demonstrate how by great scholarship learned men have tracked down this type of error. Let us take a figure appearing in old manuscripts under the name of Eigen of Caer Sallog. Now the interesting fact about Eigen of Caer Sallog is that he or she never ever existed. Better still Caer Sallog has been identified with Salisbury and this is not so. So how does this happen? Well in the Iolo Morganwg (MSS) manuscripts which are generally to be handled carefully, there are many references to a saint named Eigen (alsonamed as Eurgen and Eurgain) who is, we are told, the daughter of Caradog. This Eigen is then married to Sallawc or Sarilawc who turns out to be the Lord of Caer Sallawc (Iolo Morganwg MSS pp. 7, 115, 135, 149, 219). Now on the apparent authority of the Brut y Brenhinedd and the lolo Morganwg MSS, the EnglishWelsh dictionary published by Spurrell in 1918 and edited by J. Bodvan Anwyl, now perpetuates this myth of identifying Caersallog with Salisbury. So what has happened to bring this about?

The trail starts with Geoffrey of Monmouth's 'History of the Kings of Britain' and in the text of the Historia Regum Britanniac (Book IX 12) held at Trinity College, Cambridge MSS No. 1125 an early fourteenth century copy, we have a list of princes present at the election and coronation of King
-

Arthur, which reads:-

(1)

Jugein

ex Legecestria......Galluc Salesberiensis These are two names, Jugein of the Legions Cester or City, and Galluc of Salesberiensis Salisbury. These two occur then in the same order in the Dinestow text of the Brut y Brenhinedd and are as follows: (p.158)
-

(2)

Ewein

o Geer Leon......Guallavc o Salsbri. The text of the Red Book of Hergest lists the same as follows:-

Owein o Gaer Leon......Gwallawc ap Lleenawc o Salsbri. The Red Book Bruts p. 200
-

What seems to have happened is that there must have been an older Welsh version of this which listed the two names consecutively in the following manner:-

(3)

"Eugeln

o gaer

//eon,

guallauc

o salesbri".
'lleon'

Then with a copy being made the word

was left out.

(4)

"Eugein o gaer guallauc o salesbri" But this did not make any sense so the next copyist wrote: "Eugeln o gaer val/aue neu salesbri". In English terms it goes as below:-

(5)

"Eugene of Caerleon, Guallauc of Salisbury".

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"Eugene of city, Guallauc of Salisbury", "Eugene of the city of Vallauc near Salisbury". Caerleon being of course, City of the Legion.
This is what then appeared page 168). in the text of the Cotton MSS Cleopatra B.V. folio 83. v.
-

(editor J.J.

Parry

(6)

"yavein

aral/".

o gaer vallawe neu ssabysburi

o ieith

It is worth noting that we have Jugein as Ewain, Owain, Eugein and Ywein and in modern terms we have Owen, Ewan, Ewen and Eugene and so on. Gwallaue is perfectly correctly placed by Gruffydd ap Arthur in King List No. 9 of the Howell Dda Court Pedigree proves.
Now, however, Jugern of Caerleon

completely disappeared.

is firmly changed to Ywein of Vallauc and Gallus of Salisbury has 'Historia Regum Britanniae' of

In the Jesus College Ms. 8 we have then Acton Grisom's translation Geoffrey of Monmouth p. 453, the same line as the Cotton Mss.

What now appears to have happened is that there must have been a copy retaining the early Eugein or Eugen, but the v of vallawc was somehow written as f. This would give a reading of:-

(7)

Eugen o gaer fallawc salesburi. This was then copied again and with the old f taken as s, we then have another final result:
=

Eigen o gaer sal/awc neu salesburi

This final step resulted from the fact that Caer Sallog was in fact known from the Black Book of Carmarthen as Kaer sallauc (see W.F. Shenes 'Four Ancient Books of Wales, II' p. 23.) There is little or no chance that this Kaer sallauc was Salisbury or anywhere near it. So we have lost one character, Guallavc or Galluc completely, we have re-named Jugein as Eigen and we have no-one from either Caerleon or Salisbury itself.

So how is our Arthwys not Arthwyr or Arthur? It is in fact written Athrais, Athwys, Arthrwys, Arthwys and any way that it looked or sounded to the copier.
Let us take a second well known case and see again how the names change and how the scribal blunders of monks in ancient days, re-copying out faded, probably almost illegible, older manuscripts, give rise to such error. Many families from Dyfed, Pembrokeshire, have

beginning of their line.

-

a name

Pyr-y-Dwyran

as an ancestor near the

In the Pedigrees of Caermarthenshire, Cardiganshire and Pembrokeshire Thomas Phillips, we have Pyr y dwyran Page 42. Then:Pirr Dwyraid (Dwnn //. 48) Pir Dwyrain (Dwnn II. 49)

Sale Castle Mss, Editor Sir

Pyrr y Dwrion brenin holl Ynys Prydain (Pyrr y Dwrion King whole island Britain.
Now in Dwnn I.61 II 48.49.53 i 63, we have a change to:-

the father of Pyr is given as Lliw or Lliwn Hen. Then suddenly in Dwnn

"Y tywyssog du ab Liwn hen tywyssog Prydain" (the Black prince son of Lliwn the old, prince of Britain)

Then in the Dale Castle Mss (loc.cit.) we find none other than Llywarch Hen. Te words meaning Black prince, indicated Danish/Viking origin from Ireland. These Danis invaders. as Black Heathens throughout Celtic lands.
This type of
'spell

'

yssog du' ere known

the name as it sounds to you'

-

practice

was common for centuries.

I
=

Another well known example is from the ancestry of Eidw Wyllt where Theophillus Jones in his 'History of the County of Brecknock 1805' Vol. Il p.557, names 'Abyr d Gian y ddwrain Abys daughter of

130

Gian of the two shares' as being the wife of Sutric, King of Dublin. Actually King Sitric Silkenbeard of Dublin died in 1042. However in Dwnn 1.224 we have 'Aber v Urien brennin Gun a ddwy van o Aber daughter of Urien, King of Gun of two shares of Ireland. So immediately we see that Werddon'
=

Abyr should have been Aber and that Urien was left out and Gian is not a person but a place, actually

Gun.
brennin Nven dwy van o Iwerddon', and now Then in Dwnn li.17, we find Also Werddon Ireland, has become Iwerddon, is now and
'vann' 'van'.
=
-

'v

'ddwy'

'dwy'

has become

Now this goes back again to the Hanes Gruffydd ap Cynan Editor, Arthur Jones, p. 108 'Slani..... verch y vrien brenhin muen, dwy van o ywerdon'. This means, 'Slani......daughter of Brian (Borumha) King of Munster two shares of Ireland'. Now Werddon and lwerdon have become Ywerdon, vrien is Brian, muen is Munster. In passing it is worth noting that Gwyn fardd Dyfed is suggested, even stated, to be descended from Viking invaders of Ireland and through their marriages to ancient Irish native Celtic Kings.
-

The whole point is that words and spellings change, other words are left out or added and people are mistaken for places as these ancient documents were re-copied down through the ages.

HOW NAMES ARE PRESERVED IN SOUTH EAST WALES

The doings of Brychan and his large family in fact provide us with considerable evidence of mid-fifth century South Wales. Brychan was of course of the same generation as King Arthwys, both were grandsons of Tewdrig. King Arthwys was son of King Meurig, son of King Tewdrig, whilst King Brychan was the son of Princess Marchel, daughter of King Tewdrig.

Here we have the classic family feud for succession to the supreme kingship, King Arthwys, son of King Meurig and Queen Onbrawst against his rival Brychan, son of Anlach of Ireland and Princess MarchelL So here we have the seeds of dynastic dispute in South East Wales, with Marchel, the aunt of King . Arthwys cast in the later bardic role of Morgan le Fey.
Brychan can be strongly identified in Glamorgan as Brychan or Brachan. The present village of Pentyrch six miles north of Cardiff was formerly Nant Brachan and St. Brides-Super-Ely was Vallis Brachan. We can find Valle Brachan around 1150 A.D. in Liber Landavensis p. 217 and Vall(is) Brachan 13th century (17th century copy) Cog Cy XIX p. 30. Also there is Nant Brachan around 1150 A.D. in Liber irdounant Brachan' p. 263. Landavensis p. 263 and
'cimer

Near Y-Creigau in the Parish of Pentyrch to F in Welsh practises and the final p. 217.
'a'is

is a spring known as Ffynon Frecha, where the M has mutated fontem Brachan' in Liber Landavensis lost. This spring is
'ad

In the Manor of Clun is Cwm Brecheiniog hamlet. This is or was Combreheynok in 1401-2 A.D. in Cart Glam, IV p. 1405, and Cwm Brechinog (Craig Park) in the Coleman deeds of 1698 A.D. p. 226. Now the name Craig Park survives in the name of a mansion house of Craig-y-parc. What we are doing in fact is locating Brachan's area very closely, the objective being to so also locate Arthwys. We intend to surround the great King with his close relatives. his first cousin Arthur
-

Of the sons of Brychan we can find a memory of Clytguin

Clydwyn surviving at Blaen Clydwyn one Berwyn is remembered and a half miles south from Llangeinor Church. Then Berwin at Ystrad Barwyn (Berwyn) in the parish of Llantwit Ff-ardre corrupted later to Ystrad Barwig or Berwig.
-

Ystrad Barwyn Ystrad Berwick

1570
-

1771-81

Miskin Documents Miskin Documents

in Brecon-

Kynon is found in the River Cynon which rises in Llygad Cynon in the Parish of Penderyn shire and runs to join the Taff at Abercynon, a large valley town. Canan 1253 A.D. 1536-39 A.D.
-

History of Margam Leland p. 19

Kenon River

Cyflifer was placed at Merthyr Cyflifer near Pentyrch, now a lost name
Merthis Cimliuer Merthir Cibliuer Merthir Chebliuer Another c. 1150 c. 1150 c. 11 century is remembered

Merthyr

Martyr.

Liber Landavensis
Liber Landavensis

(13th)
=

DS Cy XIX p. 26

Tydfil.

son, Run

Rhun

at Pont Rhun (Pont

Bridge) three miles south of Merthyr

Then we have Liechev or Llechau, named as a son of Brychan in Bonedd-y-Saint. The General Revue Celtic L. p. 375 identifies him as at Aberliechau, Blaen Llechau and Cefn Llechau in the parish of Llanwonno and at the stream of Llechau, tiny tributary a of Rhondda Fechan near Wattstown in the

Rhondda Valley.

In this way princes who lived between 1400 and 1450 years ago can be located and identified in South East Wales. Possibly this knowledge will help English travellers in Wales to understand why the Welsh determinedly so protect their difficult to pronounce place names, for they are in fact preserving their nations history.

Of the sons of Brychan, mighty King Arthur.

-

Llechau is interesting, for tradition accords a son named Llechau to the

-

Juxta-Neath).

The daughters of Brychan are also identifiable in mid-Glamorgan, the best known being Gladus Gwladus or a Celtic saint surviving as Eglwys Wladus Capel Gwladys (O.S.M.) in the parish of GelBgaer. The stream of Nant Gwladys rises near Pentyrch and or land nearby was known as Gwern Gwladus. A some number of local churches are all dedicated to St. Cadog (or St. Catwg), the son of St. Gwladys, at Gelligaer, atPendenlwyn, atPentyrch, at Llangatwg (Cadoxton-Barry),

Llangatwg Glyn Nedd, (Cadoxton-

Gwawr is identifiable in the stream rising in Blaen Gwawr on the moor of Rhos Gwawr which runs into the river Cynon at Abercynon.
Tudeual
-

Tudful

Glamorgan is dedicated to Tudful.

is of course the saint of Merthyr Tudful and the church of Llysworney

-

in the Vale of

At the mouth of the Ogmore River the name of Kein Cain is preserved at Llangeinor or Llangeinwr. The name development is as follows. Ceinwr Ceinwyr Ceinwyry Cein-Gwyry Cain the Virgin. A memorial stone recording the grant of land for church in a this place by King Arthmael has been found will examine this later. Arthmael and we is another spelling for Arthrwys or Arthwys and there severat kings were named.
= =
=

so

The church of Cain is anciently

recorded:Egleskeynwir early 13th century Margam p. 209 early 13th century Margam p. 137 History of History of

Egleskeinur Also Cefn Machein

-

Ma-Cein

Cefn Machen (O.S.M.)

in Llangeinor parish. of

Cefan Machin colloquially

Keven Mahhai 1213-1216 A.D., History Margam p. 134,

The parade of identification

in Carmarthenshire near and Pistilcatuc, Pistyll Catwg, in C.B.S. p. 82, near Llancarfan in the Vale of Glamorgan, Both these names occur in a Margam Abbey charter of 1151 A.D. where they are boundary points.

goes on, often tortuous, always recognisable, with Golen or Golau at Pistyll-Golau, Pistyll-Golen (O.S.M.) and now a lost Ynys-Olau both on the Clydach close to the north of Llanwonno Church. Golau, adjective, an is here also a name and Pistyll is personal name, In the Liber Landavensis there is Bistill Deui a Llandeilo
'bright'.

Another daughter named Bethon Beiddan possibly has her name preserved at Aberbeidan Beidan, Mynydd Beiddan at Y Bettws Llangynwyd.
-

near

Capel

Baidan also called Bathan c. 1118 A.D. in History of Margam p. 50. Baithan 1205 A.D. History of Margam p. 178. Aber Baydan 1633 Cart Glam VI p. 2212. Ilud we have perhaps at Llanilid and the Latin equivalent of Ilud is Julitta. This was also the name of the Jew who taught Christianity, circa 70 A.D.

The place names identifiable with the family of Brychan goes on extending to the grandchildren. There can be no doubt in anyone's mind that where the names of minor princes and princesses of the royal houses can be so accurately linked to place names which are still identifiable it is in fact ludicrous that the greatest of the paramount kings is himself also identifiable. We not can identify settlements, towns, hills, mountains, rivers and so on with the names of Tewdrig, Meurig, Maelgwn, Rhun, and a host of others and it would be foolish to constantly dismiss similar identities of Arthur.

132

Ynysybwl in Llanwonno parish. This Cynin Cof actually appears as a personal name (Chevedl) in Dalldaf eil Kirnin Cof'. And Culhwch and Olwen, the Mabinogion story as the father of Dalidaf have:we
'a
-

Even Sanant, the grand-daughter of Brychan who married MaelgwnGwynedd is traceable at a stream now Y Ffrwd which runs into the Clydach, south east of Llanwonno, named as Frutsanant in 1147 A.D., History of Margam p. 10. Another, a grandson, Cunin Cof Cynin or Cyning Cof gave his name to Nant Clog Cyning now Llys Nant on Ordnance Survey Maps (O.S.M.), a stream joining the Clydach south of
-

1147 A.D. History Margam p. 10 Kyninge in 1638, Miskin documents.

Nantclokenig around

of

As for Gwrgi or Gurgi, another descendant of Brychan, the Rhondda again supplies place names in Abergorci near the town of Treochy (Treorci). Probably the modern mining vaneys of South Wales are less glamorous places to seek out King Arthur than old castles and abbeys in unspoiled rural settings. Guorci, in the Liber Landavensis are simply alternative forms of The personal name Gorgi G(w)orgi has resisted of consonants also are Gwrci, Gworci and Gorci, where the combination Gwrgi as mutation:-

'rc'

Abergorke

in the

1570

Miskin

Documents.

There is one other investigation of name preservation and alteration which is well worth quoting in the that the ancient manuscripts old Morganwg area. One antiquarian writing in the year 1840 recorded names of Pennon and St. Tylull were in fact within memory translated to St. Dials, in fact it should have been originally St. Tycull not Tylull before mutation to Dials. The site of St. Dials is in Llantarnan between the Brachan and Dulas Brooks. The same writer was an eye witness to the removal of the stones of the ancient chapel of St. Tycull to repair farm buildings in 1840 A.D. Strange that something could last for thirteen hundred years only to vanish a few years before historical and archaeologicalinterest awakened. The same writer tells of an 1840 Public House named incongruously 'Cat's Ash', which had a painted only one mile from Caerleon and in fact sign depicting a cat in an ash tree. This was inLangstoneParish marks the site of the village of.Cathonen or Cathouen named in ancient charters. In fact the writers of around 1800 to 1890 provide a veritable gold mine of data which helps piece together the detail of the past in South East Wales. A great number of the place names of the Charters of Llandaff can be traced in this way and the actual sites of manors and villages identified. This in turn identifies the areas ruled by the kings and princes named.

BEDD-Y-GWYDDEL
Gwyddel in Welsh is Irishman in English. Three miles west of Merthyr Tydfil on the road to Hirwaun up Irishman's grave. on the hill behind the Dynevor Arms Inn, is a place known as Bedd-y-Gwyddel the
-

This isa very strange monument which in modern times is recognisable as a huge cross of raised turf. One this turf cross gazes blankly up to heaven. The cross is seventy feet in length. foot high and twofeetwide,
Just who this Irishman was is not known, but it can only be one of a few persons of sufficient stature to In Arthur's time we know that his aunt Marchel married Anlach, a prince of have such a monument. Ireland and we know that their son Brychan was king of Brecon. There is therefore a possibility that this cross marks the grave of Anlach or Brychan.

Nothing is known of this site other than the local name 'Bedd-y-Gwyddel'. The site is on the border area Glamorgan the territory of Arthur Penuchel. As Arthur was no Irishformerly identified as Penuchel him) Gr and is probably for Anlach. built-by an Iriek-"= it is certainly not named for hims man
-

The area is of interest in looking at this remote time period. There was a Roman military station at and the town of Merthyr Tydfil is named after Tydfil, one of King Brychan's Merthyr Penydarren daughters. This girl was murdered by Saxon or Vandal raiders who arrived when the King and his men this were absent or so the local tradition said. A church was then raised around 500-600 A.D. to honour martyr and so we have Merthyr Tydfil.
-

When in 1829 the parish church of St. Tydfil in the Lower High Street, was rebuilt, the fourteenth century tower being replaced, a stone coffin was unearthed containing a full sized skeleton, an ancient sarcophogus no less. There are in fact three inscribed stones in the church. One built into the west wall of the nave is inscribed with ARTBEN, with a wheel cross. Now the third son of King Brychan was named as ARTHEN just as the High King Meurig, first cousin of Brychan, named his first son ARTHWYR.

A second stone under the tower reads as follows:-

133

ANN/CC/ FIL/US HIS IACIT TESVRI IN HOC TVMVLO This could read as either 'Annicci the son of Tecurus lies in this grave' or 'Annicci's is in this grave'. son lies hereTecurus

So we have Annicci and Tecurus to look for and it is most probable that these names are of the house of Theoderic (Tewdrig), the grandfather of our King Arthwys. The line of these kings ruled the area which was in fact known as Garthmarthan until the time of King Brychan and their descent is as follows:350-398 Annhun Arthur I I 370-420 (-40) Teudfal
=

390-450 410-480 430-510 460-570

(-70)

Teuder Teudfall Tendric Meurig Arthwyr

=

Marchel

490-570

Arthur II

Brychan

The possibility here is that we have indeed the memorial of Annhun named as Annicci, with a mutation of the Italian-Latin sounding or producing Annhun.
'c' 'cc' 'ch'

The third stone is inscribed ETA FILL In the grounds of Cyfartha Castle at Merthyr Tydfil is a stone brought marked GLUVOCA with an ancient cross and Ogham markings. from Fedw Hir, near Aberdare,

THE ORIGINAL CHURCH OF LLANDAFF

Study of the ancient land grants of Llandaff is vital to any proposed search for the graves of Theoderic, Meurig or ithwys and others. The first task would be to identify the actual places indicated by the land grants, for one very good reason. The initial

grants by King Meurig and his family allowed for the foundation of a church in which his family's tombs and graves could be kept. Therefore there would be some fascinating graves from the sixth century at this ancient church site.

The land on which the present Llandaff Cathedral stands was however granted to the church until a later date and therefore it is not the original now of the churchnot site of Meurig's time. The proposition is therefore that the original church stood an another site until the rebuilding of the Church Cathedral took place in 1120 A.D. The church wouTiindoubtedly have taken over the new site and also retained the old one. The old building may well have continued in use, there is no reason to think otherwise, and this means that the resting place of King Meuriand the others of his clan are at the original site of the For this reason, the study of the various genealogies and other documents of Mediaeval times and right down through the ages may be required to firmly identify place names and geographical descriptions. There are in fact a great number of clues existing, not least the actual dimensions of the original church, clearly stated in the Liber Landavensis.
The entry in the Book of Llandaff which describes the states that the new building was on the site of previous, Paul, which is an indication of the truths of the a Legend of Welsh Lies ap Coel establishing a church around 180
-

founding of the church in 446 A.D. actually earlier, church dedicated to St. Peter and St. King Leirwg (Latin, Lucius, son of Coelius) A.D. and of the earlier mission of 58 A.D.
-

Whether or not the philosopher and scholar Morgan known internationally as Pelagius, has anything with this church is not known. The royal to do name, Morgan, with its possible significance in connection with the Glamorgan kings of that name, is not without intriguing possibilities.
We have in fact three successive churches. The first church of King Lleirwg of around 180 A.D., the rebuilding by King Meurig and his father, Tewdrig, circa 446 A.D., and the third building on a new site few miles away on the secluded a west bank of the River Taff in 1120 A.D.

THE BISHOPS OF LLANDAFF IN THE SIXTH CENTURY

Although in later times there was only one Bishop in the diocese of Llandaff, this was not the case in the late fifth and sixth centuries. The large area known as Morganwg spreading from Hereford and Brecon through Gwent and Glamorgan, on west into Carmarthenshire, was in these early times the territory of many bishops. From the surviving records we can trace how some were priests and later bishops, and we can see how they were contemporary with each other. There is also clear mention of the chief bishop (or bishops) in the Book of Llandaff.

134

Certainly in a very large area as this was, with a number of kings of varying importance, it would be illogical to expect to find any other situation. The names of the bishops are listed with those of the kings
granting land, rents and alms to the church. We find King Gwrgan, father of Queen Onbrawst, mother of King Ar4hwys, granting land rents to Bishop Lunapeius at Llanlandy north west of Monmouth in present day Herefordshire, and also at His father, King Cynfyn, and his uncle, Gwyddai, named as sons of King Pebiau Llanbudgualan. Clavorawg, granted land to Bishops Aidan and Elwystyl (Arwystyl) and the same Arwystyi obtained grants from Pebiau.

but the later grants by Noe (Noah) made when Dubricious was old and Archbishop or Metropolitan, were in West Wales. This indicates that they were made when Dubricious retired to Bardsey Island and so dates them to around 530 to 545 A.D. He also got land on the Gower from Gwardog in the time of King Merchwyn.

Dubricious as Bishop received grants from Pebiau, his father Erb and also from King Merchwyn and Noe son of Arthur. The grants from Erb, Pebiau and Merchwyn, are in east Monmouth and Herefordshire,

King Meurig, the father of Arthwys, made grants to establish the church in several areas. In Llansillow Herefordshire he dealt with Bishop Ufelwy. In the Glamorgan area he was King whilst Oudoceus was Bishop. This Oudoceus also received rents from Awst (Augustus), King of Brecon and from King Iddig in Gwent.
-

squabble over land between Major) on behalf of his son,.Kincy-Arthw.ygand

Meurig decided a Oudoceus.

Bishop Oudoceus and Abbot Bevan of Illtyd (Llantwit the next King, Morgan, also was contemporary with

Bishop Teilo was granted rents for the church by princes in Gwent and in West Wales (Pembrokeshire), in treaties with Aircol Lawhir (Agricola Longhand), and King Iddon, son of Ynyr Gwent (Honorious).

What emerges is that those early bishops obtained land grants from the specific areas in which they were personally active. In this way their sphere of influence can be traced by identifying the land named in
the various Charters.

King Arthwys made over lands to Bishop Comereg, formerly the Abbot of Mochros, who quite definitely spent Elme in the Kingdom of Gwent. As Bishop, this Comereg was active at the same time as Bishop Oudoceus. It appears that at one time we have Archbishop Dubricious retired to Bardsey Island in West Wales, whilst Teilo became Archbishop at Caerleon at the same time as Oudoceus was Bishop in the Cardiff area and Comereg was Bishop in Gwent, whilst at St. David's was Bishop Ismael, also Lunapieus and other Bishops, probably Arwystyl and Utelwy were active in Herefordshire and elsewhere. It is a mistake to try to place these names in chronological order as these bishops were largely with each other. There were Abbeys in Glamorgan, Gwent and Herefordshire and even contemporary with these establishments there is no standard practice of rank. In Gwent Abbots ruled over abbey schools and monasteries and Bishops over diocesan areas and often these Abbots became Bishops. In Glamorgan Abbots were promoted from within their abbeys and the Bishops from within their cathedral chapters abbots were not elevated to be bishops.
-

Along with the names of the kings, princes, bishops and abbots, we have dozens of other names of nobles and clerics listed in the Charters. In addition we are told of the reason for land charters being drawn up. King Iddon repulses a Saxon invasion of Ergyng in Teilo's time, (circa 530 to 547 A.D.), at the same period there is constant slaughter in the west in Dyfed, ruled by Agricola Longhand. Lands are re-granted after wars and invasions, grants are made by kings to atone for murders of other kings and princes. An invasion of 'Picts from Scythia' is recorded with a huge fleet. King Meurig murders Cynfeddw, Tewdwr son of Rhun kills Elgystyl, son of Awst, King of Brecon, and King Gwaednerth murders his brother Meirchion. Masses of other historical fact and data are all recorded in the various charters and the lives
of the Bishops. The names of Gwrgi, brother of Peredur, occurs as so many others. There is also the strange name of Cuchein, son of King Glywi, who grants the village of Ispant to a Bishop Gwyddlon and with Gwrgan and Bonus also witnesses, a charter to Bishop Ediffyw, again at the time of Bishop Oudoceus and his successor Grecelis in Glamorgan. The name is reminiscent of the legendary Irish hero, Cuchulein.

In the 'Lives' of the Saints and Bishops contained in the Liber Landavensis we get a mass of historical data on Britain, Britanny and to a lesser extent Gaul. The Life of St. Teilo produces a list of the kings and princes who were contemporaries of Teilo and these include King Tewdrig, son of Teithfallt, King Iddon, son of Ynyr Gwent, Gwrgan Mawr, King Maelgwyn Gwynedd, Aircol (Agricola) Lawhir, King

Cadwgan of West Wales, Tredecil (also of Wales) and Rhun, a king in the Brecon-Powys area (possibly not Rhun, son of Maelgwn Gwynedd). Others in the story are King Geraint of Cornwall and King Gwaeddon who violated the sanctuary of the church and also Budic of Amorica and many others. and this is strange, for Teilo's long life spanned

There is no mention at all of Arthur, none whatsoever,

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the time period from around 480 or 490 (born)to 570 A.D. approximately. Charters were made with Bishop Teilo and King Iddon in the extreme east of Morganwg, now Hereford, and in the far west in Dyfed with the Prince Aircol Lawhir. Teilo did not receive charters from the kings in the central areas of Gwent and Glamorgan, the Kings Tewdrig, Meurig and Arthwys and their kinsmen were not his patrons.
The Life speaks of the Great Plague when Teilo fled to Amorica via Cornwall, and of the mighty invasion with a huge fleet the Twrch Trywth hunt' of King Arthur in the Mabinogion Culhwch and Olwen. This is the Vandal invasion described by Gruffydd ap Arthur and it must have occurred between 534 and 548 A.D. (or most probably around 546-548 A.D.).
'boar
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plague and we do Here we have a problem, for civil war and invasion was referred to as a pestilence not know if Teilo was fleeing from disease or from a great war. Alliteration is the problem for the Welsh expression for Julius Caesar was Yr Agneu Coch, meaning the 'Red Death' for the bloodshed of the
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short swords of the legionaries. Bishop named Greceilis also lived during this period in the second half of the sixth An important century. The Charter grants of Greceilis are of great importance for they pull together the main Modred his personalities of the great Arthurian drama Gwrgan Mawr Meurig Arthwys himself Morgan his son. There is every reason to suppose that Greceilis was contemporary with or preceded Bishop Berthgwn in the Morganwg area.
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'enemy'

THE LISTSOF

THE BISHOPSOF

LLANDAFF

The Bishops of Llandaff provide valuable, even vital, evidence in the creation of a picture of events in South East Wales in the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries. If the Bishops can be sorted out into a coherent order and time scale then the kings also will fit this pattern of chronology as all are named in various charters and we know who was contemporary with whom from them.

One old manuscript

formerly in the possession of one William Giles was copied around 1700 A.D. by Iolo Morganwg from the original. It stated that King Tewdrig was the first king to erect a church at Eg/wys (Escob medd Dyfrau eraill) gyntaf yn Llandaff'. Llandaff and toappointabishop-'Agefawnaeth

lolo Morganwg (whose works have to be treated with great care, for he has been widely accused of forgery) also lists in one manuscript no less than thirteen Bishops of Llandaff before St. Dubricious who claimed to be the first bishop. We have seen elsewhere that Dubricious was not all his Life claimed him to be and he certainly could not have been first Bishop appointed by King Tewdrig. Then Iolo Morganwg lists no less than thirteen bishops who held office before Dubricious. These include 1. Dyfan; 2. Ffagan; 3. E11deyrn;4. Edelffed;5. Cadwr;6. Cynan; 7. Ilan; 8. Llewyr;9. Cyhelyn; 10 Gwythelyn; 11. Ffestydd Elsewhere the Bishop Medwy is listed as number 3. The interesting point is that Godwin's catalogue of the Bishops of London seems to name number 1. Dyfan as Dovinus or Obinus and then names numbers 5,6,7,10 and 11 as Cador, Conan, Hillary, Guitelinus and Fastidius and Godwin refers to Nicholls Paper'.
.

'see

The time period from King Lleirwg (Lucius) around 180 A.D. to the period of Dubricious as Bishop of Llandaff eround 520 A.D., is 340 years and this means that the thirteen Bishops would rule for an average of twenty six years each. This is again a good approximation of time scales. So after these probable early prelates we have the time of Dubricious who may have been number 14 in, succession, as Bishop, and who seems to have launched a new era in the church in South Wales.

ST. DUBRICIOUS

Great grandson of King Erb of Ergyng, grandson of King c. 460 to 525-530. Casnar, grandson of King Pebiau, contemporary of King Tewdrig of Glamorgan. The Bishop was probably with King Meurig of Glamorgan and Gwent, who made the grant of Llandaff to generally contemporary Dubricious. At this time, Merchwyn son of Glewys was king of Gower Glewissy or Glewisswg. Dubricious ruled as Archbishop at Caerleon before resigning.
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ST

A.D. The contemporary of Dubricious Dyfrig c. 490-570 as Bishop of f, possibly around 540 A.D. Teilo fled abroad to Amorica to avoid the Great Plague of the Pestilence which we know from the contemporary history of Gregory of Tours, lasted from 557 to 562 A.D. When Teilo returned to Wales after 562, St. David, the Archbishop of Menevia was dead, David had transferred Dubricious' title from Caerleon to St. David's (Menevia) and now Teilo took the title to Llandaff and sent Ismael to Menevia as a suffragen Bishop.
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EILO

n Yell

Now Teilo and Dubricious clearly overlap each other, the one at Caerleon in Gwent and later in West Wales at Bardsey Island and the other Teilo at Llandaff in Glamorgan. Dubricious, David and Teilo were all alive and active at the same time period, each in a different location. Teito, we know, was with the Kings Tewdrig of Glamorgan, son of Teithfallt, Iddon, son of Ynyr Gwent, contemporary Aircol Lawhir of Dyfed, Rhun and his son Maredydd of Dyfed, Tredecil, Cadwgan of West of Towy and Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd. At the same time there were other bishops active in the South Wales area.
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Bishop of Ergyng, a disciple of Dubricious at the time of King Cynfyn, son of Pebiau. The names of Collwy, Aircon (Aircol), Centwyd and Cintaut appear as witnesses to charters to both Aidan and Dubricious.

AIDAN

Another follower of Dubricious, a Bishop at the time of Cynfyn and Gwyddau sons of Pebiau, Kings of Ergyng. There are several witnesses to Charters to Aidan and Dubricious also listed as witnesses to Charters to Elwystyl Junabai or Lunapeius, Aelhaiarn and Cynfarwy.

ELWYSTYL

Apparently a cousin of Dubricious founder of Llandinabo, probably also known as Junabui. Came to Teilo when Teilo returned from Amorica and was active so at the time of Gwrgan, son of Cynfyn, King of Ergyng, which dates him as of the time of Arthwys and Meurig of Glamorgan.

LUNAPEIUS

ARWYSTYL stationed.

Another disciple of Dubricious, stationed at Henllan whose Ynyr Gwent around 562name appears on the Charter grant of Llanarth made by King Iddon, son of probably 565 A.D. He was Bishop to Iddon who granted him Llangoed in Breconshire where he was

Yet another disciple of Dubricious, a Bishop in Ergyng serving King Gwrfoddwat the time of King Meurig of Glamorgan who gave him the church of Llansillow in Herefordshire. The comparison of witnesses shows that he was contemporary with Bishop Oudoceus of Llandaff.

UFELWY

COMEREG

The former Abbot of Mochros at the time of King Gwrgan King Arthwys, a vital character in our story. This Mochros was although Jones in his History of Breconshire identifies it as near Madley was the birth place of Dubricious, formerly Ynys Any villager of Madley will tell you that Swinemoor is a farm half a mile north between the church and the river, a site corresponding in situation with the famous Abbey school of Dubricious. Comereg was Bishop to Arthwys and there are strong Hereford traditions that Arthur married Guinevere at the church of Hay-on-Wye. The confusion over Mochros may also account for the stories of Arthur in Radnorshire, Mid-Wales.

Mawr who became Bishop at the time of believed to be Maccas in Herefordshire, Boughrood in Radnorshire. Yet Mochros Eurddil and Mochros means Swinemoor.

c. 490-560 A.D.

King Arthur granted

St. Kinemarks near Chepstow

to Comereg with large areas of eastern Gwent.

Over in West Wales in Dyfed, Gwrwan was Bishop at the time of Maredydd, son of Rhun, King of Dyfed. This King is remembered for his murder of Elgystyl, him promptly excommunicated son of the King of Brecon, King Awst, (Augustus), and Bishop Gwrwan for this deed. His possible location was Ystradyw.

GWRWAN

GWYDDLON or GUODLOIU Bishop of the region of Newport in Monmouthshire-Gwent. The son of GIwyws who founded the church of Coed Cerniw, and probably brother of Cuchein, son of Glywi who granted him the village of Ispant.
The major name after Teilo is that of Oudoceus who was OF LLANDAFF in fact the nephew of Teilo, who returned from Amorica with Teilo after the Great Plague was over. Teilo himself was closely related to the royal families of Britanny and rank and status in the Church parelleled that of secular life. The son of a major king or prince was an important Bishop, the son of a minor prince or noble was a lesser Bishop.

OUDOCEUS-BISHOP

So Teilo took the Archbishopric and Oudoceus became Bishop of Llandaff. King Meurig was still afive and power lay in the hands of King Arthwys and his son King Morgan. The situation appears to be one where Oudoceus was the senior Bishop under Teilo and later in his own right with the other bishops
scattered Oudoceus around the kingdoms of South Wales probably attendant upon the courts of the kings. lived on to receive a Charter from King Ithael, son of King Morgan, who began his reign as

junior king to his father as was the custom.

BERTHGWYN-BISHOP OF LLANDAFF Berthgwyn wasmadeBishopinsuccession toOudoceus and appears as a church witness in a number of the Charter grants made to Oudoceus. He became Bishop during the reign of King Morgan, son of Arthwys, and died in the reign of King Ithael, son of Morgan, whose son Ffernwael and the brothers Gwyddoi and Cynfyn were also his benefactors. At this time Clydri and Idwallon were Kings of Ergyng, Gwaednerth was King of Gwent and Clydawg, son of Clydwyn, was King of Euas.
King Clydawg is of course the Martyr King of the Church of Clodoch in Hereford. King Idwallon is

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fifth after King rthwys, in his charter to Bishop Comereg. Kings Gwyddai and Cynfyn made grants to the Bishops Aidan and Elwystyl King Gwaednerth may be the son of Gwallonir, (or more probably the son of King Arthwyr Arthur whose sons were Morgan, Idnerth and Gwaednerth) who all figure many times in these grants of Meurig, Arthwys and Morgan, always as untitled names
-

named as a witness,

below those of the senior-paramount

Kings.

Berthgwyn was Bishop from some time around came the Bishops Trychan and Ediffyw.

570 or 590 until about 610 A.D. After Berthgwyn

BISHOP GRECEILIS This is the Bishop around whom most confusion has been caused. For some reason or other his time has been placed as around 670 to 710 or 720 A.D. Yet comparison with the names of the witnesses of his Charters and grants shows that he could not have possibly lived so late.
to Dubricious
In the grant of Llanmocha we have the extraordinary circumstance of Brythwn and Illinc making a grant yet the riames of the witnesses match those of the witnesses in a grant to Greceilis.

In addition there are other cross references, for instance we have a witness for Grecellis in the Cum Meurig grant in Ergyng named Gwrwan. We know that Gwrwan went to Clodoch with his brother Llybiau and sister Cynwr after the death of King Clydawg and that Gwrwan was from Penuchel in Glamorgan; we know that Gwrwan is later styled as a Bishop receiving a charter himself from Tewdwr son of Rhun, King of Dyfed. From the associations of Rhun with King Tewdrig and King Meurig in early sixth century South Wales and as a contemporary of Teilo and other early kings of South Wales, we have to place Greceilis at an earlier period in the scheme of things. Another name which ties Greceilis back to these earlier characters of the drama is that of Cynwared and Cynan, names contemporary with Gwrddogwy, Abbot of Llandeui in the time of King Arthwy son of Meurig. Cynwared appears in other charters even at the time of Bishop Berthgwyn in the time of King Idwallon, a direct contemporary again of Arthwys. Here Cynwared's name follows that of the Bishop Comereg, the Bishop of A
name, that of Gwrgi of the brothers Gwrgi and Peredur (Sir Perceval), the followers appears as a witness in a Greceilis Charter. The problem is that witnesses from the Charters of Greceilis have spilled over to those of later Bishops and not the reverse. of Arthur Penuchel,

Another remarkable

Greceilis is clearly of the last quarter of the sixth century. There was no clear diocese with a single bishop as in mediaeval and modern times, but several contemporary, overlapping bishops. The danger to understanding the events of the sixth century in South Wales lies in attempting to fit the kings and bishops into a tidy modern type of chronological order and routine. These rulers and prelates overlapped each other and were contemporary with each other in what is to modern eyes quite confused condition, yet which was perfectly logical and understandable to the fifth and sixth a century Welsh, whose whole society was organised around their systems of land holding and inheritance. The fact that Bishop Greceilis received grants from King Gwyliffer and King Cynfyn both sons of Gwrgan the Great, who after all was the grandfather of King Arthwyt, is sufficient to place Greceilis firmly into the sixth century of around 520 to 580 A.D. At these Charters Gwrwan is again a witness
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The Brut d'Angletterre states that there were seven bishops in Wales around 600 A.D. and there are numerous mentions in the Book of Llandaff to the Bishops of Llandaff, and to the Bishop'.
'chief

GELHI WHO GAVE THE BOOK

The name Gelhishould not be dismissed too easily from our consideration, for Gelhi is the pronunciation of the Welsh Gelli. There is on the A. 48 trunk road from Cardiff to Newport, a village named Castleton (Castle town) standing half way between the two Welsh towns. Just about a quarter of mile south af Castleton isafarmnamed Gelli-her which stands close to Blacktown, a village which we willa refer later.
to There is also of the Welsh close to the Bwich means the Welsh township of Gelligaer literally Caer-Gelli, town of Gelli' which is only one place names which include the word Gelli. There is in fact a place named Gelli-Iwyd very pass of Ochr-y-bwich which is the place of Camlan on the A.470 road through the pass. gap pass defile.
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'the

Gelligaer however is a larger district just north of Cardiff which is today represented by a sizeable Urban Council local government district. This large area covers much of the lower Rumney Valley and the surrounding area. Ithasalwaysbeen known by this name Gelligaer which means the caer or fortress of Gelli. Thereare a number of farms around the area carrying the name Gellihaf, Gelliarwelt, Gelligroes and Gellihir. The town of Gelligaer or Caergelli, named after our Gelhi who gave the book to Teilo, is near Senghenydd town which was known as Gelli Franadlog in older times and Senghenydd was so named 1,000 years ago.
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138

Away to the east near Cwmbran in Monmouthshire is Gelli Fawr Farm and further east again, near grove' there are gelli names all over Wales. Llangwn is Nant-y-gelli farm. In fact as gelli means
'a

for The interest in Gelligaer which we believe obviously derives from Caer-Gelhi is straightforward, Arthur's fort or camp was said to be at Gelli-wig. There is a Gelliwig in Cornwall, but not even the greatest military genius who ever trod the earth could defend the kingdoms of the Britons from there. To suggest the place as the main camp of the Britons is a complete nonsense. The only place which could be protected and defended from Gelli-wig in Cornwall is in fact Gelliwig itself. This Cornish site is some 200 miles from the battle zone between the Britons and the Saxons on the east borders of Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset. It is nowhere near the battle areas on the east borders of Hereford and Salop and is even further from the north Wales, west coast and Cambrian kingdoms. In short it is as far as one can get away from the whole of the rest of Britain, the most remote area of the south. We can safely dismiss this Gelliwig as a place of power for the combined army of the Britons. To return to the area of Gelligaer and the town of that name in Glamorgan. There is a high plateau of hill land between the Rhumney Valley and Bargoed over to the Rhondda Valley (Rhondda Fach). Up on this area are the sites of Roman camps and of Roman marching camps, to the north are tumuli and cairns. The most interesting features are both geographical and historical in this area. To get to Gelligaer from the coastal plain and lowlands of Glamorgan, it is necessary to go through a very narrow pass between two mountain masses at Tongwynlain on the northern edge of Cardiff. There are remains of ancient defence forts down in the narrow valley where the River Taff runs through on its way to Cardiff and there are other remains of similar defences up on the mountains. It would therefore be difficult to get up to Senghenydd and Gelligaer by this route if defended. This was the case in later centuries, for six hundred years after Arthur, the Lord of Senghenydd named Ivor Bach Little Ivor built a castle on the site of a more ancient fort at Tongwynlais to defend this pass. This castle was rebuilt by the Marquis of Bute in the ninteenth century and named Castell Coch the Red Castle.
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Even more interesting is the mountain of Caerau at Llantrisant, a very large tumbled top hill, west of Gelligaer and towering over the east and west entrance to the Glamorgan valleys. This hill was, from time immemorial, known as Arthur's Hill and in mediaeval times as Arthur's Butts. Now this is not just
another rock escarpment or tumbled boulder like Arthur's Seat west of Edinburgh, or the great rock at Reynoldstown, Glamorgan, and a hundred other similar places. Up on top of the hill are the remains of a great concentric earthwork fortress similar to the recently excavated site at Cadbury Hill in Somerset.

The great hill of Arthur's Butts is interesting to our search, for it was in fact the site of a recorded battle between the Saxons and the Britons. The Saxons must therefore have come here to attack the hill fort and failed, for the river below is said to have run red with their blood. The dating of this battle has been estimated to have been around 620 A.D., but this is no longer valid for our re-dating of.A-thWyS and his ancestors and descendants alters all previous estimates. The major point is that there was an invasion by Saxons into this heart of Morganwg, probably during the early sixth century. The interest of this site is absorbing, for at the foot of the pass up from Cardiff lies Taffs Wall, probably the smallest spa town anywhere. Here a natural well spring runs at a constant 670. Up on the Garth and Pentyrch mountain above were four or more ancient wells, all supposed to possess curative powers. The Taffs Well spring rises close to the river it enters, the water is almost identical with that of Bath (by analysis) and is of the same fruit green colour and is believed to have a curative effect on muscular rheumatism. There is little doubt that the ancients knew all about it and this may explain Gildas' description Mons Badonicas for Gildas lived in South East Wales, in this very same area.
The Gelligaer hills, thirteen miles north of Cardiff, was in Roman times an important military zone, placed astride the road from Cardiff to Brecon known as Sarn Helen after the wife of Magnus Maximus. Excavations early this century revealed a fort of three and a half acres, of square shape with stone faced ramparts over twenty feet thick, with supporting turret towers. There was a praetorium and barracks and and the socket holes for an annexe with a bath house. The gate house had guard rooms on each side gate hinges still remain. There was an outer ditch of nineteen feet and a fragment of stone found with the name of the Emperor Trajan dates the fort to 105-112 A.D.
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Near Gelligaer is Gaer Castle Twyn Castle now simply a moated mound of obscure origin and across the hill tops are tumuli and cairns. A stone pillar, nine feet high, stands alongside the road Sarn Helen, disappeared, one mile south of Fochriw. The date of this is uncertain and the inscription has almost of this seeming Welsh writing, the most popular being have been attempted several interpretations Defroilhi 'Awake unto thee'; almost certainly incorrect.
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In the late 1930's ecavation near here at Carn Bugail above Besilinog, revealed moorland habitations of the old dark ages. Two sites of halls were uncovered, the larger one being of sixty by thirty feet. The construction was part stone, part timber and appears to match the style of the hall of timber discovered during the 1970's excavation of Cadbury Hall in Somerset, wi1h a row of post holes running down the centre. The appearance of two halls is interesting, for in the Mabinogion tale of the hero, he arrives at Arthur's camp during the evening dinner meal and is directed by the gate keeper that he cannot enter the great hall of the King during the meal, but that he will be served equally well in the subsidiary hall

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set aside for visitors, strangers and foreigners. This may well be a Morganwg custom and as such revealed in this excavation. We believe these halls were probably the Kings Hunting Lodge. On Gelligaer common is the site of Capel Gwladys the mother of St. Cadog St. Catwg where a stone slab with a decorative wheel cross incised upon it, was found in 1906. There is also the ancient sixth century church of St. Catwg, rebuilt in Norman times.
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The object of putting in some detail of this very small portion of the mountains of Glamorgan, is simply to illustrate how little is known by too many who try ro tackle the question of 'Arthur' when they attempt to deal with this Morganwg Glamorgan area. We can see not only evidence of possible habitation of the times, but military strategic considerations and possible natural peculiarities which may have been mistakenly mis-named elsewhere.
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It is our opinion that the hill top fort of Caerau would be well worth a major excavation. Butts applied to the mountain at Llantrisant is surely an appellation of some importance.
'a

The Arthur's

GELLI in Welsh means grove' and doubtless many place names of farms and villages may well derive their naming from nearby groves of trees. This does not necessarily rule out Gelhi from the later Gelligaer or the 'Fort of Gellis' or Gelhi in Glamorgan.

It was after all Gelhi who gave the 'Book of Llandaff', Bishop Teito probably around 500 A.D. to 540 A.D.
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now renamed

the 'Book of St. Chad' to the and

Gethi or Gelli, as a

place

further east in Glamorgan.

name occurs in an almost innummerable profusion all around Pontypridd As a personal name it persisted in use down through the ages.

On Gelligaer Common we have twin-halls just as described at Arthur's residence and the site is central to Penuchel the territory of Arthur II. CONSTANTINE KING ARTHUR

WHO RECEIVED THE CROWN FROM THE WOUNDED

II King Euddav Octavian c. 300 to 367 A.D.
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Cynan Caden
Eurmwr

Conon Cato or Catellus Eumidius? Titian

Caianus? received the crown from King Arthur as the Crowned d. 541 A.D.

Tutwal
Cynfor

King Custennhin Gorneu, Constantine Erbin

Urbinus Gerontius d. 562-3 A.D.

Geraint
I Cyngar (Cnieius) I lestin (Justin) I Cataw (Cato) Self (Cyril?)

King Arthur's choice of Constantine is obvious for not only was he of the Royal Clan but he was also an older man, a contemporary of Arthur's father Meurig and his Grandfather Theoderic. Therefore Arthur would anticipate little difficulty in recovering the crown when his wound healed.

140 als

CHAPTER SIX KING ARTHUR II IN THE "BRUT D'ENGLETERRE"

The statement that King Arthur was crowned as King of Glamorgan written and recorded over a thousand years ago. is not a new one. It was many times

In 1906 Freidrich W. D. Brie working in Marburg, Germany, was studying English, French, and Latin manuscripts, and he produced a two volume work entitled "The Brut". This is a combination of the 'Brut of England' and, or, the 'Chronicles of England' and the French 'Brut D'Engleterre'. Basically he used three manuscripts which were; 1 The MSS Bodelian B.171. (Bod/.), the oldest known copy of the Brut which he could identify. circa 1400 A.D. 2 The MSS Douce 323 (Bod/) an accurate copying of somewhere between 1460 and 1480 A.D. 3 MSS Trinity College Dublin No. 490 written around 1400 to 1420 A,D.
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Other Manuscripts he used were MSS Harley 4690 and MSS Arundel LVIII of the London Royal College
of Arms. He studied 147 ancient manuscripts of 167 he used at first hand, and was a ve complete reliability. These he listed in a publication of 1905. competant holar of

So we have copies made around 1400 of manuscripts written around 1000 to 1200 A.D. which were copies of older manuscripts of probably times around 700 to 800 A.D. or earlier, and Freidrich Brie studied them and published them in 1906.
The work of Freidrich Brie opens with the old British legend of Aeneas fleeing from Troy, the kinsman of the Romans. Then his descendant Brutus leads the people from Asia Minor to Britain. It is when we get through the history to the time of Arthur that our interest is roused, for there in Chapter 79 is a clear statement. "And when King Arthur had feasted his Knights at April after next sowing (of crops) he came again to Britain his own land. And after at VVhitsuntide next sowing he would be crowned King of Glamorgan." quite definite. There is no other mention of King of Glamorgan There it is, a flat bald statement Glamorgan anywhere but here in this ancient group of manuscripts. Here without previous mention in these ancient copies we have "Arthur King of Glamorgan".
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Though the history generally mirrors the work of Gruffydd ap Arthur it differs in many points of detail. The mistake of mixing Arthur I the son of Magnus Maximus with Arthur 11the son of Meurig, grandson of Tewdrig is repeated with the same confusion resulting.
Arthur i appears in King List No. 4 of the Court Pedigrees of Hywel Dda of Dyfed, and is correctly placed as "Arthun son of Magnus Maximus, who killed Gratian King of the Romans". This is correct as named in the chief general of Magnus Maximus in his conquest of Gaul and Spain was this Arthun Lyons, Latin text and records as "Andragathius", and he did kill the Emperor Gratian at Lugdunum the 25 August 383 A.D. on
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Arthur (Andragathius) dominated Europe for five years whilst his grandfather Magnus Maximus ruled as Emperor, and the British armies conquered Gaul, Spain, North Africa and Italy. Finally this epic figure of Welsh history was himself killed fighting the armies of the Emperor Theodosius of Constantinople on the Sarus river at the Battle of Siscia in the end of June 388 A.D. As we can see by comparing the King Lists the Welsh Legends are again perfectly correct. AII we have is a confusion between the two Arthurs. The second Arthur was Arthwyr son of Meurig, grandson of Theoderic of Glamorgan born around 491 A.D. some 103 years after the death of the first Arthur, grandson of Magnus Maximus. We compare the King List No. 4 with King Lists No. 28 and No. 29 elsewhere and we get a perfect match between the Generations to establish the identities of Arthur i and Arthur 11. Arthur 11 being with Neithon and Run of List No. 4 as in the Mabinogion stories, in epic correctly contemporary literature and in their appearances in the Book of Llandaff. All the various sources match and correspond with each other.

si

ARTHUR PENUCHEL
Arthur was not born a king, he was quite naturally a prince of the royal house. If as we have seen from the BM Cottonian MSS Tit. D XXII 1, he was born between 491 A.D. and 503 A.D. then we know from the Saxon and Irish invasions of Glamorgan and Gwent in 492-3 A.D., that his grandfather Maurice, Arthur's father, followed as king. Theoderic was king until that time at least, and Meurig
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The Brecon manuscripts add great volumes of detail to the connections and relationships of named persons. They were written at the time when King Theoderic reigned in South East Wales and Brycham reigned in Brecon. Dynastic marriages are the subject following the war between South Wales and the Saxons and the Irish. In amongst the great welter of names and relationships exhibited in the Brecon manuscripts is one concerning Arthur. We quote in full below: "Drynwin verch Vrachan mam Vryen (mam) Erduduy/ gwyn dor/iud. Owein m(ap) Vryen a Morud verch Vryen. Gwrgi a Pheredur ac Arthur Penuched, a Ton/ut a Hortan a Dyrnell, trydyth gwyn dorliud." So here we have a straightforward unbiased statement on Arthur at a time when his grandfather Theoderic was King and his aunt Marchel Marcella had won victories through Brecon and on down to West Wales. The statement reads: "Drynwin the daughter of Brychan the mother (Drynwin's mother) of Urien her mother Erduduy/ and close kinsmen (godparents) Owain the son of Urien and Morud thedaughter of Urien Gwrgi and Peredur, and Arthur Penuchel, and Tonlut and Hortan and Dyrnel/." For the moment we will just concentrate on the two words Arthur Penuchel. First we believe that the old King Theodoric was alive after his conquest of West Wales Pembroke and Carmarthenshire, that is obvious from the texts. So where is Penuchef for Arthur is now styled Arthur Penuchel meaning that his is Lord of the area of Penuchel.
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This is in accordance with the naming of persons of note throughout the Dark Ages and Mediaevat history. Kings of England gave lands to their sons creating them Royal Dukes, and they gave lands to their adherents and followers making them Dukes and Earls. AII lands were in this sense the gift of the King. This does not mean that Arthur would own all Penuchel directly, as there would be a great number of lesser nobles and freemen owning the various properties; what it did in fact mean was that all the rents and customary tributes and revenues from those lands were now payable to Arthur in PenucheL So the prince Arthur would now have the taxes and revenues of a substantial area to support him, an arrangement something like the present day late twentieth century Duchy of Cornwall supporting Prince Charles, the English,Prince of Wales. Now Penuchel is in central Glamorgan. The western boundary of the area is the River Thaw which runs down through the centre of the Vale of Glamorgan, west of Peterston-super-Ely from West Llanharry through Cowbridge to enter the sea at the Aberthaw Power Station. The eastern boundary appears to have been the River Ebbw, running down from Abertillery through Newbridge on to Abercarn down to Risca, to enter the sea at the west side of the estuary of the River Usk at Newport. This means that Arthur of Penuchel owned, or was lord over, the whole of what is now Eastern Glamorgan from the sea up to the Brecon Beacons. This area includes what is now Cardiff and a substantial part of the Vale of Glamorgan, as well as the coastal strip of Marshfield and Westloog. Most of his territory was the mass of rolling hills and moors of the East Glamorgan mountains and valleys. He would have held this area as local sub-king or prince whilst his grandfather and his father lived, before finally becoming over-king or High King of South East Wales.

As we have indicated elsewhere there is no point in associating great historical figures with outstanding Kings, Queens and others have had whole or prominent natural geological or geographical phenomena. territories, land masses, islands, mountains and rivers named after them on continents and lands where they have never set foot. There is however the reverse of this quite valid assertion, for whereas it is plain stupid to imagine a king so gigantic that he would need the huge mountain-rock escarpment that dominates the city of Edinburgh as a seat or throne, or that a twenty-five ton stone age burial slab lodged in his sandal as a pebble Reynoldstown, Gower it is a different matter when the association is totally inconspicuous and unremarkable.
--

in fact have a estuary of the Penarth. Now So what else

So what do we have in Penuchel which would indicate the possible presence of Arthur?
-

First we do large geographical feature in the great cliff and headland which dominates the West of the River Taff and Ely and the entry to Cardiff Docks. This great jutting headland is named Pen-Arth is clearly Head of Arthur Arthur's head, but as we have said this is not enough. in this area of Arthur Penuchel, for we must seek the ordinary, the almost unnoticed.

The Vale of Glamorgan is studded with small streams, riverlets, tiny valleys and scattered

woods. Some, indeed many of these woods, are small clumps or groves of trees, small indeed compared to the larger

142

woods and forests further north along the Ely river and the higher ground of the Vale. Three or more miles from the coast due North of the River Thaw Estuary is Coed Arthur, here we have a small undistinguished wood, named Arthur's wood. A stand of trees no different from fifty others but always known as Arthur's woods. So we have on the west side of Penuchel Arthur's wood, and if we refer to the ancient land grants of Llancarfan and Llandaff going back to the time of Arthur fifteen hundred years ago, we will see that names in these Welsh areas do not change. Rice Meyrick in the sixteenth century lists all the woods, the bridges, the churches, the towns, the warrens, the rivers and so on of Glamorgan and those names were preserved then as they are now. So Arthur's Wood in the West of Penuchel.

Over to the east of Penuchel where the modern M.4 motorway joins the A.48 road into Cardiff at the roundabout junction No.28 at Tredegar Park West of Newport, is a hill. This hill we will discuss later
when we consider the battle of Badon. On the west side of this hill is a field which is called Maes Arthur Field. There is nothing whatsoever to distinguish this field from any other field yet it has - Arthur's always been called Maes Arthur. So on the east side of Penuchel we have a second innocuous featureless piece of land named for Arthur.

There are then to the north of Cardiff the mass of jumbled, rolling, smooth topped hills of the Blaenau of Glamorgan. Groups and chains of smooth mini-mountains divided by steep valleys with tumbling rivers and streams. These slab like curved mountain masses all look very much alike, almost indistin-

So what is one of these plain and ordinary smooth mountain lumps guishable one from the other. known as Arthur's Butts. It is no different from any of the other hills of the area. On top of this hill is a very large earthwork fortress of the type on Cadbury Hill over in Somerset. This has never been excavated. Down below are a stream running north to south, joining the river running east to west. The stream is known as Rhiw Saeson, the ridge of the Saxons. We now have three quite innocuous, totally unrelated place names for three pieces of land in a relatively small area all within PenucheL Modern cartographers do not identify the hill at Llantrisant as Arthur's Butts, but mediaevals when they drew their maps down through the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries identified the hill without fail. Any old map or copy of an old map of Glamorgan records the feature about an ordinary field, a relatively small wood and one of prominently. There is nothing remarkable several hundred similar hills, and yet all are named for Arthur. We have seen how alongside the main A.48 road there is the site of an ancient settlement with a road still named for it as Pentremeyrick. This Pen-Tre-Me eans Head Town (of) Meurig, and we know King Arthur. The same retention of a name that King Meurig was the father of Arthwys who is portant, to the hill with its fortress at the top. seems to have clung to the field, the wood and most There is good reason to suspect that excavation of that might,be a very profitable historical exercise. If we refer to the Morganiae Archaiographia by Rhys Meurig Rice Meyrick, we find other traces of place names which recall these ancient kings of Glamorgan. Rice Meyrick lists the Dove Houses of Glamorgan in the sixteenth century and includes one named Morgan or at Morgan. He then lists all the fishponds of Glamorgan and includes two named Morgan - King Morgan son and successor to King Arthur II and also one at Mynidd Glewe which is Mynnedd or Mountain Glywys. The forests he lists are clearly without exception named with old names and two in the Ruthin area are named Arthmaylog and Arthgriffy. One wood in the Newcastle Hundred is named Coed Melwas.
-

Among the Warrens of Glamorgan Rice Meyrick names one of Morgan and one of Mynidd Glewe. The commons give better evidence for the lists included Mynidd Bygham - Mynaedd Brychan - King of Brecon, then Hyrwein Vrgan Hirwaun Gwrgan - Gwrgan Mawr the Great, Arthur's grandfather, then Mynnedd Glewe King Glywys, the paternal grandfather of King Gwrgan. There is therefore even on the most cursory inspection of any information on the Glamorgan area, evidence of the Kings who go together to comprise the Dynastic links of Arthur, before and after his time.
-

Then to the north of Penuchel, up towards its boundary

with Brecon is Hirwaun Common, and there on the great high cliff-like escarpment is the sacred take of Llyn-Fawr Rhondda, surrounded by the sheer cliffs of the bowl-like escarpment rising to the tops of the hill above. The cliffs (abovethe sacred lake of the Maiden at Llyn y Fan) are known as Carreg Arthur, or Arthur's Rocks and as we have stated elsewhere the lake lies the shape of the cliffs indicate that this is the place where some great meteorite or stray asteroid plunged through the earth's atmosphere to strike the mountainside at this spot.

So we have Arthur's Head (land) at Penarth to add to Arthur's wood, the field and the hill.

Cliffs or Rocks at Hirwaun and the

of the place names of Glamorgan and we quote them only to refer to the fact that the names go back to Rice Meyrick does in fact include three battle sites involving the name much more ancient times. Saeson or Saxon as we spell it today. Now the generic term which the Welsh still use for the English is Saeson and/or Saesneg, which of course derives from Saxon. This is relevant for the Normans when they came to Wales were called Flemings or the Fren h, and therefore any battle sites termed Saxon must be of an older date Og/

The works of Rice Meyrick and John Leland in the sixteenth century in fact only include a tiny fraction

143

The four battle sites referred to by Meyrick are as follows:Rw Sayson ycha at Llantrisant Rw Sayson issa - at Llantrisant Rydy Saysson at Miskin
-

Reven Saysson at Pendoylan Rw is Rhiw, and Reven is Cefn, and Cefn is the word for ridge.
-

of Rice Meyrick's comments is upon a town which in his time was long since totally decayed, ruined and uninhabited. He calls it Gurganston or Gurganstown. Now Gurgan is Gwrgan and this has to excite our interest. We know that lestyn, the last Lord of Giamorgan was son of Gwrgan, but we also know about Gwrgan the Great and Gwyrtheryn or Gwyrthelin, and as much of Vitalianus or Vortigern. The Great King Vortigern is known to have built or occupied a town in Wales and it has never yet been discovered. The location of this citadel is a much sought after archaeological prize and the site at St. Donats is a mere five miles from the site of Meurig's settlement at Pentremeyrick or Penllyn. At the Meurig site is also Mynydd Brychan, the husband of Meurig's sister Marchet The whole situation of Gwrgan being list of place names which help us to that Arthur place names are scattered and Gwrgan's town were very close at and is now the Atlantic College. grandfather to Arthur and Meurig locate Arthur Penuchel. We know from end to end of Penuchel, and hand. Gwrganstown is in fact the his father contributes to the

One of the most interesting

where Penuchel is, we know we know that Meurig's town site of a succession of castles

The whole of Glamorgan would in fact be under Arthur's control when King Meurig grew old. We know that Arthur fought defensive battles against the Saxons in his own territories and we have four battle place names with the word Saxon. There is in fact a fifth Saxon place named Arthur's as Maes Arthur field - on the west side of the hill above the M.4 motorway A.48 junction and on the east side of the hill is Carreg or Graig Saeson the Rock of the Saxons.
--

We can with some confidence say that Prince Arthur was lord of the Cardiff area stretching up to Hirwaun before he became king of Glamorgan and Gwent. The title Arthur Penuchel would in fact be Arthur Lord or Prince of Penuchel.
A six inch to one mile ordinance survey almost unbelievably Guinevere's field the woods Ysbaddaden was the giant opposed These again suggest strong links with Arthur
-

map in fact reveals further detail west of Cardiff. We have wife of Arthur, and we have another oddity in Ysbaddaden's to Arthur in the Mabinogion Tales of "Culhwch and OIwen".

and this Penuchel

Glamorgan area.

Tradition

does in fact fix Boverton, one mile east of Llantwit Major as the traditional site of the local This is in fact another possible site to identify as "Gurganstown", and was the ancient Roman Bovium.

Glamorgan princes.

THE LOCATION OF PENUCHEL

in order that exact location of the area of Penuchel be proved to be in the area which we have indicated, we can refer to the Llancarfan Charters. As we know the ancient practice was to make several copies of charters of land grants and to distribute them to different churches or chapels associated with the mother church or Abbey. In this way the destruction of one copy did not destroy the record. The charters faded and therefore it was necessary to periodically re-copy them agains so that a legible up to date version of the charters remained. At Llancarfan a monk was set to copy the Life of St. Cadoc the founder of the Abbey and appended to the 'Life' were the list of the charters of land grants to Llancarfan. So the copyist set out to copy the charters, but his heart was not really in the job and he wearied of this task and excused himself, saying that he feared to weary and bore his readers. So the copyist of around 1200 A.D. recorded only fourteen of these cartagraphia charters. So our information the fifth, sixth and seventh century grants to the Llancarfan Abbey is limited on to these fourteen charters. There is in fact a blank passage after the fourteenth charter which may demonstrate that there may have been an intention to continue the copies. The document concludes with the tale of the armies of Maelgwn Gwynedd ravaging Glamorgan and of the confrontation of the monks with King Maelgwn Gwynedd. (British Museum Cottonian Vesp.- A. XIV folio 416-426, folio 424 is an entire blank.)
-

Now these charters are arranged by modern scholars into an order which demonstrates that three (3) were donations in the life time of Cadoc the founder, and two (2) in the time of Abbot Paul. Next there are three (3) charters made during the time of Abbot Conige and the sixth is witnessed by Samson Abbot of Llantwit Major. This means that all the first five are dated before 521 A.D. as Samson was consecrated Abbot at the festival of St. Peter's Chair on the 22nd February 521 by Dubricius. A witness of numbers four and five is named Gnouan a Gnauan was the favourite disciple of St.
-

Cadoc.

The remaining six charters are assigned as three made during the time of Abbot lacob, two in the time of Abbot Sulien and the last one in the time of Abbot Seebohm.

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Our interest is in one of the grants made at the time of Abbot Conigc:
VILLA CONGUORET IN PENCENL (CBS-86) "Theudor son of Mouric gave a sword and a garment to Catoc and his familia that there with they rnight buy land for sustenation of the same. Conigc, Abbot of the Altarof St. Cadocessigned that sword and garrnent to Spois and Rodric in return for the Vill of Conguoret in Penceu/i, who granted it to Cadoc and his church in possession right Its annual by perpetual pension to the said Conige and his familia by the hand of Spois and his sons for ever, is nine modii of beer with bread, flesh and honey. And that the possession should be free and quit of all services and exactions of earthly kings the same Spois son of Gurhitr bestowed three cows

on Guarnemet."

charter does more than locate Penuchel, it tells us something about the donor of the original gift. Maurice and there donor of the sword and armour; or chainmail is Theoderic the son of Mouric indeed such a person in Glamorgan at the time. Mouric was the brother of Budic both of whom from their territories in Britanny before being restored by Marcellus who drove out their enemy, King Theoderic of South East Wales sent the brothers back. Later Budic drove out Mouric and King Theoderic reinstated him again, so Mouric named his son Theoderic after the King. This is the man who is making the gift of a sword and armour to Llancarfan Abbey. His own territories were in Amorica Brittany in Gaul and so he could not give land as was customary. This The was fled and
-

The name Spois lives on as a place name for a farm and a house in the Vale of Glamorgan, named Splott. until a hundred years Splott This is also the name of a large district in the South East of Cardiff The base of the constituency of James Callaghan a recent British Prime Minister. ago open fields.
-

Mouric replaced several murders.

Rhun as King in West Wales when the latter was forced to abdicate his throne after

THE CANTREFSOF

GLAMORGAN
These were:-

Glamorgan or Morganwg consisted of seven cantrefs in the time of Arthur.

1. Cantref Bychan
-

2. 3. 4.
5.

6.
7.

the South East district of Carmarthen. Cantref Gwyr the Gower Peninsula. Cantref CarnwaHiawn (Carmarthenshire) + CydweHi. Centref Penychen Glamorgan. Centrefs Gwannl/wy and Edelygion. Cantref Gwent Iscoed. Ystraduw (South Brecon) Cantrefs Gwent Uchcoed (Wentloog)
-

and Ewyas (Hereford). Wentloog incorrect. may be the coastal areas of the Severn from Cardiff to the Wye, but this is geographically

On the far side of the river Wye east to the great bend of the Severn there were three more Cantrefs. These were the cantrefs of Cynliibiwg.
1. 2. Gwytherynion Maelienydd. Elfael.
-

Gwytheyrn was Vortigern.

3.

All three are now part of Gloucestershire. The natural ancient boundary Severn, but now pushed back west to the Wye and beyond it in Hereford. The area derives its name Cynliibiwg from St. Cynilo of Llanbister, over the years.

of Morganwg being the River

Cyllib being mutated to Cynello

PENUCHEL IS THE MAJOR AREA OF INTEREST.

145

ARTHUR PENUCHEL AND THE SAINTS EUAN THE MURDERER

Celtic saints, no different to other saints in Gaul and elsewhere, had their autobiographies written after their death. These were sometimes done fairly quickly or were delayed for many years when the dead In either case these autobiographies cleric had acquired fame. were added to, amended and grossly They are exaggerated. The 'Lives of Saints' are therefore fraught with danger for the investigator. lies packed with lies and biased in favour of church matters to an incredible if understandable degree did not count if they were in favour of the Church.
-

AII saints who visited Tours met with Martin over a period of three to four hundred years, as did almost every saint who visited Rome also meet with Gregory. As neither Martin nor Gregory lived to be three Today we may smile at those patent or four hundred years old, the inaccuracy needs no detailing. untruths, but in the clirnate of credulous ignorance of the Dark Ages and even Mediaeval times those fakers were believed. St. David for instance is quoted for about five hundred and fifty years old if his Life is to be believed, it means that the name is being used to refer to the monastery rather than the

individual.
Not only were these supernatural in living on so long after thay had in fact been dead, buried and canonised, they also were the most incredible magicians. Time and again they pronounced curses and time and again these unfortunate on kings and princes with whom they quarrelled rulers were either struck blind until they gave in to the priests, or else the earth itself opened up beneath them and they were swallowed up to their necks. Others who refused to accept the church's black magic were treated more harshly, men who refused to believe that a heavy stone altar floated around a few feet from the ground were struck blind and then died within a month. The true nature of the church is revealed in the fact that the almost innumerable quarrels between the church and the kings and princes all centred around the ownership of land and property with the church possessing the upper hand by threatening to excommunicate the prince if he failed to surrender to them.
'spells'
-

"saints"

We will look at this elsewhere but our present task is to examine the relationships of King Arthur with the church and to see how this helps to place him in Penuchel. There are in fact three "Lives" of saints which specifically mention Arthur and all three place the king firmly and squarely in Wales. Two in South East Wales and one in West-Mid Wales. Now the important factor to note is that it can be established that all three of these saints (?) were contemperorary alive and active in Wales at the same time as Arthur so the possibility of an exteded unreal lifetime can be definitely ruled out. What emerges is fascinating when the relationships between King Diarmait, High King of Ireland and Columba are considered at the same period of time.
-

t :

King Arthur and the church were locked into a power struggle for supremacy and as we will see, the King had justice on his side whilst the church had only greed and the subversion of the law as its credentials. it was the church which was to destroy and undermine the strong kingship of the British built up by Theoderic the Great, King Meurig, and finally King Arthur, as surely as it destroyed the High Kingship in Ireland. In both countries the result was to be a disaster, but in Britain the disaster was to turn into

a nightmare catastrophe of defeat.

his victim, and in the case of murder he should compensate the family of his victim. If a slave was killed then the owner should be compensated and there were clearly established values of compensation to be paid in the event of crimes. The Celtic philosophy differed greatly from the primitive Jewish notions foisted onto British people in later years through for a tooth", the system enjoined for an eye" or the aegis of the Church. There was no that it was no use crying over spilt milk and that compensation was a better solution. The widow of a murdered freeman was better off with 200 cows than if the murderer was hanged, so the murderer Payment in cows was an inflation proof method of compensating the bereaved was heavily fined. families and the whole system worked quite well. Rates of exchange were well established, one good horse (war horse) fetched 24 cows, an ordinary horse, six cows, a Saxon woman was valued in a number of cows and so on. Today Britain has the pound sterling, America has the dollar and so on, the Dark Age British used cows.
"eye "tooth

Celtic law held that a criminal should compensate

As might be expected church greed began the struggle. A murder was committed, in fact it was a double murder and compensation had to be paid as was the law. Unfortunately the Abbot Cadoc decided that as murder was a sin or crime against what he termed the law of god, the compensation should go to the church and not to the persons who would normally have received it. Now this was clearly a dangerous precedent as the church was already persuading people to hand over land in return for having their name book of heaven" to guarantee their place in paradise, and was actually exchanging plots written in of land and estates in heaven for those on earth. It would therefore be no long period before the church Not only did the church demand land for forgiving sins, it stipulated which land, owned everything. choosing the best and forcing the poor sinner to buy it to give it to them.
"the

We will examine

this case of murder and see just what the political implications kept in the Llancarfan Charters:-

are, for the record is

146

The

reat King Arthur

Son of King Meurig

-

lived around A.D. 503-575. The thirty-seventh King of Glamorgan and Gwent also King of all Britain of King Meurig and Queen Onbrawst, brother of Idnerth and Frioc, father of King Morgan, Ithael, Son Gwaednerth and Nowi. Nephew of St. Dyfrig, also known as Dubricius cousin to St. Cadoc, uncle of St. Samson and nephew of St. Illtyd. Contemporary of King Maelgwn of Gwynedd who became 'Sir Lancelot' in legend. This Arthur crushed triumphant all invaders. Victorius in twelve great battles over the Saxons, Scots and trish and Picts, in all battles with the Vandals, Frisians, Angles, Jutes and others.
-

A military genius

fearless

--

unconquerable.

147

Charter No. III

LAN HO/TLAN

sons of his "Euan Buurr killed two men, and Aidnerth. sister, named Atgan and they (Illtyd) Cadoc and Eltuth constrained came and Kings came Euan cursed Euan. of Cadoc and Eltuth with him to the presence They said to him, and confessed his crimes. homicide'. Catlan crime of the 'Redeem 'I will give land, Lan Holt/an answered and said pension (rent) is two by name to Cadoc. Its with bread and of si modii of beer vessels according to the wanted flesh and honey Also Merchiaun a debitium. measure of suchwit Conhil to Eltut and three vill to gave a of beer. Consecvessels containing six modii with the lands they rating each several vessel saints in everconferred them on the said received satishaving lasting a/ms. The saints him fourteen faction from Euan enjoined upon of penance." years

Witnesses for the laity Witnesses for the clergy

3. Euan 1. Catlon, 2. Merchiaun,

-

Merchiaun was documentary Now this is an extraordinary and Merchiaun were local sub-kings of mid-Glamorgan. well have been epileptic. both Catton have had fits and may a nobleman for the Mad, who appears to with Cadoc, Illtyd and known as King Merchiaun Merchiaun therefore definitely contemporary established are and King his monastery andremembered Both King Cation associated with liityd at be is known to have liityd). As Cation may Cadfun (Catman). Cadfun half in Merioneth (Elltyd remains of a chapel one and a Llanelltyd monastery near Towynin up Llancarfan where there are the is Llancadle Llan-cadle. at Talcation which ancient name for Llancarfan. Llan Hoitlan may be an
=

3. Hoitlon Virgo, 4. Cadoc, of Caioc 1. Cathig, 2. Catman Sanctus, the farnilia 6. Eutergynn lector. Also 6. Finnian Scottus, and of Eltut are witnesses. villain Euan as It establishes the
record for many reasons.

miles from

the of Llancarfan, and therefore IX, and Cethig in Grant X Book the same Cathig in Grant Cetuig Abbas Docguinni in the Cathig may be Finnian outside Cardiff. He is mentioned as Finnian Scottus is of course Abbot of Llandough just of Llandock. The witness Abbot of 131, that is Cethnig Abbot Llandaff Euderyn who later became of and Eutergynn is favourite disciple of Cadoc,
-

the Irishman, Llandough.

and this was how took the form of food and beer of land to the kings clearly important for in times of war The rents paid by tenantshousehold and his war band of soldiers. This is professional feed the war bands of the king maintained his and supplies to be available to greater need for food land passed to the church then these there was an even bonheddig. If too much soldiers knights and the freemen the king to support the army. would not be available to sub-kings for of whom give land as three lay witnesses two disinterested parties or retainers notice that there are only Importantly we presumably their kinsman. There are no secret deal with the Euan the murderer, who is the matter would appear to be a form of quiet orpaying nothing to the family members, so compensation, law of or other inside the clear subversion of the Celtic church. Then not only is this extrordinary sentence of fourteen years of virtual there is also the such a term dependents of the murdered men, Celtic warrior noble would accept There is only one reason why a in fact terribly frightened monastery. and that would be that he was could within the confines of a monastery terribly afraid of someone whose arm imprisonment be will see he had every reason to of someone. As we he stayed hidden. reach him anywhere unless and Gwent exactly story, again all set in Glamorgan earlier originals or gives us the remainder of the copied from of St. Cadoc The church. This Life was murder and the secret deal with the as did the what happened:and it tells us re-copies around 1100 A.D. general of the British "E/iman son of a great Arthur the //lustrious killed three knights of pursued him everyking of Britain. Arthur shelter him for fear where and no rnan dared with
'taxes'
-

'life'

sanctuary of the King until he found Arthur not at a//. He St. Cadoc who feared Then he was betrayed stayed seven years.

148

to the King and Arthur arrny to the river Usk."

carne with a great

So far we are being told that a man who committed a triple murder is worthy of sympathy and protection It was n fact the King's and not only that, but that the church was prepared to shelter murderers. and other offenders to justice and it was certainly not the task of the church to duty to bring murderers This means that Cadoc and his monastery had hide them for any period, certainly not seven years. motive and as we have seen, they were well paid by the murderer's relatives to keep him out of sight. a great army" as clerical nonsense for the king would normally travel with escort. We can dismiss But it tells us that Cadoc's monastery on the Usk was not too far from Arthur's court in that he went issue was at stake for the church had subverted Actually an important constitutional there personally. the law of the land and compensation was due to injured parties, not to the church.
"the

So King Arthur now demanded

being 100 cows per the that Cadoc should pay compensation dead man. "From ancient times among the British this kind of judgement and price had been laid down by the lawmen of kings and chiefs." Then arbitrators were appointed who found in the King's favour, have made life very difficult for so crafty, greedy old Cadoc had been caught out. Arthur appears to good milk Cadoc to teach him a lesson by demanding cows of a specific red and white breed, possibly animals. The fine was paid. In the "Life" we are told that the cows were driven across the river to the King, from Gwent into Penuchel and that as they reached the bank they all turned into bales of straw or bundles of ferns and the monks. This is just one more that the animals were found back safe in their stalls by the owners who piece of the interminable falsehoods and rubbish miracles churned out by the church editors, Arthur made Cadoc pay up and could never admit one single error or defeat for their organisation. Naturally the church established that the law was the law and that he would not tolerate conspiracy. hated the King for he had seriously affected their rosy financial prospects of unlimited prosperity at everyone else's expense and so they wrote spitefully and viciously of him.
-

'fine'

The interesting part of this "Life" story is that the murderer remained at the monastery for a further agreed by solemn oath before his kinsmen seven years. So he served his full fourteen years as was and the clerics. Cadoc and Illtyd kept their lands but it cost Cadoc some three hundred cows. This is significant for there are few such sentences known and certainly none so exactly stated in time. The y.miracle of turning ievde thnat hanp enrendtaha tr erd writers oLtheb"Lndfe of Caedroc" n' be eho t w What we have learned however is that these events took place in South East Wales and from the involvegain is ment of both Illtyd and Cadoc almost certainly in Penuchel. The further knowledge that we that Eliman or Euan was the son of Ligessauc Longhand and Ligessauc Longhand was associated with Ligessauc Lawhir had lands of Theoderic the Great, Arthur's grandfather. Britanny, a contemporary and may well have been therefore a vassal prince of King Theoderic Amorica in Lesser Britain and King Meurig, for Theoderic claimed overlordship of the area.
-

Euan the murderer may have had very good reason to fear King Arthur, for Arthur had a brother named Idnerth and a cousin or nephew named Arthen, and the murdered men were A-idnerth and Atgan.

ILLTYD THE SOLDIER

examiThe 'Life' of Illtyd is also one which connects with Arthur, but we have to be very careful when We are Illtyd is stated to have journied over from Amorica to seek a military appointment. ning it. told that:-

"Learning of the magnificance of King Arthur, he longed to visit the court of so great a conqueror."
having witnessed the great number of soldiers who were There Illtyd is given a military appointment honours" and later he withdrew from Arthur assembled around Arthur. He is then said to have and took up another soldier's post with a King Poulentius of Giamorgan.
"earned

Now all this is a bit odd as there was no King named Poulentius. The nearest would be King Pebiau of Ergyng in the east of the territory of what was later Morganwg. This old King was grandfather of Cadoc and the pedigrees show him as a relative and also a contemporary of King Theoderic, Arthur's paternal There is also the problem of chronology for the monastic school set up by Illtyd in grandfather. Glamorgan was probably established around 500 A.D. otherwise many of those who attended could not have gone there, nor could the grants made to both Llancarfan and Llandaff have been witnessed from Illtyd's monastic settlement at Llantwit Major. We can accept that Illtyd by representatives served under King Pebiau and therefore under the High King Theoderic, but his monastic ambitions In fact Illtyd's life says that he were in full swing by the time Arthur achieved his notable victories. served on the banks (estuary) of the River Thaw right in the middle of the great defensive encampment of Theoderic, Meurig and Arthur, as we will see. All that we get from this Life is that the centre of power of the High Kings was in Glamorgan.

149

-III

Illtyd simply mentions Arthur, neither for advantage nor to demonstrate the power of the church, the King with his large assembly of soldiers is plainly stated as a fact. It does in fact help to fix Arthur in time and place, for the only places where Illtyd can be placed with certainty are Amorica Brittany and South East Wales. As Illtyd claims to have been on guard on the banks of the river Thaw in Glamorgan when he received a message which he believed was from God, this helps as well for the Thaw is the south western boundary of Penuchel and central to the Arthurian fortress system. Whether Illtyd served in a war band or unit under one of the Celtic sub-kings of Arthur we will never know, but that appears to be impossible on a time scale that would fit. He probably served in a unit of King Penbargoed or under the great King Theoderic. It was a lot more comfortable in a cosy Abbey than sentry duty on a winter's night on the river Thaw.
-

PADARN THE SINGER

Three contemporary saints Cadoc, Illtyd and Padarn, were all recorded in Triadic legend to have made together to Jerusalem. This journey was in the Dark Ages to be of a similar a journey of pilgrimage distinction and merit to the visits made by Mohammedans to Mecca. In fact it conferred even greater merit on the pilgrim. Whether or not the journey was made by these three is something which we will never know, for most saints' stories are inflated to enhance the prestige of the dead cleric and to therefore increase the prestige and status of the church which he founded. As the Vandals were ruling North Africa at the time of these three worthies, and their fleets were ravaging the Mediterranean, it is doubtful but certainly not impossible that the journey was made.
who came from Amorica to Britain seeking his fortune. Padarn was like Illtyd, a landless opportunist Illtyd failed to make fame and fortune as a soldier, so he turned to the real estate business - the church. Padarn however was already a cleric when he arrived in Britain. As we have seen Arthur had trouble with Cadoc, his nephew, and was known to Illtyd his brother-in-law and now he was to have a problem with Padarn, another relative.

The claims for Padarn are that he was a pupil of St. Germanus. This is not impossible but Padarn must therefore have lived to a great age. The likelihood is that he was educated at the scholastic foundation
of Germanus at Auxerre. The overlapping lives of Padarn, Illtyd, and Cadoc helps to place Arthur in time. Padarn might have been an old man when confronted with Arthur Illtyd would have been middle aged and Cadoc a near contemporary.
-

What is remarkable

is the complete and utter difference in the church record of Arthur and that of the people through the Bards, stories and traditions.

Only the Church reviles the King. The answer lies in Ireland where Arthur's contemporary as High King was Diarmait. Twice Diarmait took murderers from the sanctuary and hiding places offered by the church, and executed them. And as a result the Church brought down the High Kingship in Civil War. In Wales the King refused to surrender the State to the Church and he won so the primitive monks hated him.
-

Whilst on the fabulous pilgrimage to Jerusalem with Cadoc and Illtyd, our Padarn proved to be a won-

derful singer in the church. As a reward and recognition for this he was given a beautiful cloak or garment by the clergy in Jerusalem. This beautiful garment was to be the subject of a supposed dispute with the redoubtable Arthur.

The scene of the confrontation

was Llandbadarn Fawr meaning and the 'Life of Padarn' records the affair as follows:"a

'the

great Llan or settlementof Padam'

certain tyrant came from foreign parts. He cast his eyes on bishop Paternus's tunic and greedily (Padarn) demanded Paternus it. answered, 'This tunic is not for wicked men to Arthur left the monaswear, but for priests.' tery raving furiously and came back in a rage trying to take the tunic by force, cursing and swearing and stamping the ground. Paternus said, 'Let the earth swallow him up.' The earth straightaway opened and swallowed Arthur up to the chin. He begged forgiveness and the earth spewed him up and the saint forgave him." Now what on earth are we to make of this piece of utter nonsense. Yet another lie or pack of lies written by clerics to overawe and put fear into ordinary men. Their power lay in their ability to induce fear, disbelieve what they said and you would die or at best be blinded; argue with them or deny them

150

Part of the great system of Dykes built by St. tilytd in the The sea is on the left, the land on reign of King Arthur. right is three-four feet lower. This is a monumental the Arthur authorised it and engineering feat in any age.
Illytd carried it out.

Denis was a St. Dennis' Well and mound in Cardiff. around 460follower of St. Teilo and would date from Dionnysius was 537 A.D. Dennis from his Latin name .Isa n.

The church of Ederyn east of Cardiff. The founder Ederyn who ruled was a son of the infamous King Vortigern Britain from 426-450 A.D., and 460-461 A.D. The tower is typical, no windows, heavily defended. Ederyn was at

Llandaff with St. Teilo around 520 A.D.

anything

and they would condemn you to perpetual hell fire. This was all too terribly Celts described by Julius Caesar as hopelessly superstitious, so what does this story mean.
nificent

real to the

First it confirms that Padarn was like the rest, very fond of earthly comforts and that he had a magbejewelled cloak, a precedent copied by thousands of clerics in stark contrast to the simple robe of Jesus of Nazareth. Padarn and his monastery were therefore very rich. Now when these old monks persuaded folk to grant them land, they invariably inserted clauses into the charter which stated that the land was to be free of all taxation and dues. This meant that they paid no taxes,duesortributes to the king, which was all very cosy for the monks but difficult for the king. The primary targets for invading Saxons, Picts, Scots and so on, were the Abbeys and monasteries because of their accumulation of wealth. monks expected or even demanded that the king, his knights and his freemen would fight, die or be maimed in incredibly savage battles to defend them and their worldly accumulations but they saw no reason why they should contribute anything towards the feeding and maintenance of the armies. Time and again it was proved that their god could not or would not protect them from the marauding barbarian assages, yet they did everything possible to avoid taxation.

These incredible

and church vessels to the floor and refusing to carry out services would not have worked, for Aberystwyth was not Arthur's personal land holding and he could not have cared less when he got home to South East Wales. Quite obviously he threatened Padarn that unless he paid up, then he would strip his beautiful jewelled cloak from his back and sell it to raise funds and this threat was enough to make Abbot get in line and pay his dues. the

So what we have is the confrontation between King Arthur and Padarn at the monastery. If Arthur let Padarn get away with not paying up then the precedent would be set and all the other accumulation of magic working priests would follow Padarn's example. Old Padarn probably tried all the usual repetoire of bluffs with curses and threats of excommunication, the usual trick of casting all the crosses

Naturally Padarn's biographers had to convert the tale to the Abbot's advantage and so we have the old story of the earth opening up yet again. Had the King merely taken liking to Padarn's cloak and a decided to take it, then no power on earth would have prevented him from doing so. Many have sought to read more into the phrase certain tyrant came from foreign parts' than there is. Most of these of Welsh mentality whatsoever, for a king coming from the are Englishmen with no comprehension Cardiff area to Aberystwyth would certainly be from parts'. The intense inter-valley, inter-town rivalries over centuries demonstrates this, it is said that there is only one thing that pleases a Cardiff rugby football club supporter more than a Cardiff victory and that is to hear the Newport were defeated and vice versa (the towns are twelve miles apart). Padarn's monastery was in upper Deheubarth, the western kingdom of the time. Arthur was from Glywysswy later Morganwg so he was from foreign parts. This is in fact a piece of information for it eliminates Deheubarth as the area of Arthur's origin whilst still helping to place him in Wales.
'a 'foreign
-

'inverse'

ARTHUR

ON THE HILL

is again anti-Arthur, spiteful

perversion

To further tie down the location of King Arthur from literary sources we have to return to the 'Life of St. Cadoc' where we have a story concerning Gwynliiw who was in fact the father of Cadoc. This story
which should supr.i:e no-one when it is remembered that Arthur made Cadoc

and obviously false, but it does specify a location of Arthur. The story itself is a complete and a libel as we will see, but it does give fairly precise geographical locations for the events however distorted the account. There are in fact five Arthur stories in the "Life of Cadoc", two connect him directly with Maelgwn Gwynedd. The story begins with the old prince Gwynlliw stealing the King of Brecon's daughter. This is a highly unlikely story in any event, so we start with fiction and as King Brychan of Brecon concluded a large number of dynastic marriages with his sons and daughters, there would be no need for Gwyniliw to kidnap the girl, he would only need to ask. We are not told which of King Brychan's daughters is being abducted, although all twenty four girls are well recorded in the genealogies as are the twelve or sevenBrychan like all Celtic kings had more than one wife. teen sons
-

behave himself with the laws of Wales and fined him three hundred good cows. The tale is deliberately

King Brychan and his soldiers are in hot pursuit of the fleeing Gwynliiw who is described as galloping back to his own territory with the girl on the back of his horse. The old monk who penned this tale could well have written for Erroll Flynn in the Hollywood of the 1940's. "But lo three noble heroes, Arthur and his two knights, Cai and Bedwyr, were sitting on top of a hill playing dice. When they saw the king and the girl Arthur's heart was fire with lust ful/ of evil thoughts he said to his knights: 'I arn on fire with desire for the girl that that
-

warrior is carrying on his horse.'

But they

152

replied:

criminal, 'You must not do anything so help the needy and diswe are supposed toand help these people who tressed. Let us go pressed.' Arthur answered 'A// right, are hard seize if you would prefer to help him than to /and they the girl for me, go and ask whose are fighting on." protectshimand he is

belong to Gwynlliw and so Arthur it is worth some examiThe.story describes how the land proves to 1100 A.D. but safety. This was re-copied around able to get back to his palace in kidnap would hardly be in bestowing their favours so a nation. First Celtic women were very free sit and play dice, on a hill top in South Wales. Secondly if one chooses to that they can see that necessary for any man in winds. Thirdly it is extraordinary Wales it is hardly the place with the constant warrior down in the valley, especially as the animal is going behind

a there is a beautiful girl on a horse extraordinary that if they can see this, could be 19 or 90. It is even more Gwladys. Fourthly, how on at full gallop. The woman who was in any case happily married to words of that they fail to identify Gwynlliw Arthur's feelings, thoughts or words, or the known earth can a monk in a monastery have church made Gwynlliw a Saint. Even more incredible the his companions. of three hundred cows deliberate slander, resulting from the fine The whole thing is a complete, utter word of condemnation of the lust of old Gwynityw for stealing libel however, placed on Cadoc. There is not one of Arthur. Having identified the story as a by getting the girl, only a condemnation of the of this sort would try to make it appear true writing a lie libel is an advantage to us, for any person wicked old sinner of a monk who wrote this The the people involved and the locations correct. tells quite naturally sitting on a hill all for he us that Arthur was and we can infer has therefore done some good after For he specified Brecon and Gwynilyw with two companions. up in North Glamorgan of Aberdare, on the border facing Brecon. So Penuchel north with Gwyniliw that Arthur is on his own territory Penuchel in Glamorgan, and placed correctly in time again we have Arthur located into Vilwyr the soldier.
'thoughts'
-

ARTHUR AND ST. GILDAS

"Life of St. placing Arthur in Glamorgan is clearly stated in the tension A final remarkable piece of evidence for crimes. This obviously caused brother of Gildas Gildas". King Arthur executed Hueit the took place between the two meeting of reconciliation between Arthur and Gildas the Holy Man. So a in the Vale of Glamorgan, at Llancarfan Abbey around 565 A.D. execution and this visit abroad can be dated at Gildas was in Ireland at the time of the of Arthur King of Glamorgan and Gwent. It is Arthwyr as which adds further to the identification and Gildas lived in Glamorgan. stressed that Gildas and Arthur were friends
-

SAINT DAVID

DEWI
-

The most important

Dewi with King Arthur is of course St. David Arthur's of all the saints to have contact the mighty Cuneda Wiedig, David was descended from Sant. Another prince turned bishop, episcopal seat at Caerleon in Gwent. Archbishop in Wales and he had his of Meurig son of of Glamorgan and Gwent was Arthwyr the son Again at this very period the ruler Tewdrig. This is without question. British Bishops of Victory at Caerleon, council of all the In 529 A.D. David convened the great Synod Later David sought permission from legendary court of King Arthur. family's and Abbots. Caerleon was the Caerleon to Menevia in Pembrokeshire to his the seat of the Archbishopric from Arthur to move later after David died Teilo moved the Archthe King allowed him to go, and Llandaff. own land holdings. So his nephew Oudoceus was Bishop at bishopric back to the East to Caerleon whilst The required of Arthur being King of Glamorgan and Gwent. So once again proof if anymore were and a close confidant of David St. Cadoc, who was Arthur's cousin links both of "Life of Cattwg Doeth" as the respective Kings Maelgwn Gwynedd and five stories of Arthur, a life history of South and North Wales.
-gives -

WALTER MAP and THE STORY OF EUAN

Arthur's men was later Ligissauc Longhand murdering three of King This story of Euan the kinsman of Death of King Arthur." In his Map around 1135 in writing "The to be used to good effect by Walter Walter Map sticks strictly to the facts. story
-

is disgraced and sentenced to both The romance story tells how Queen Guinevere her and aided by his brothers Bors and Hector Sir Lancelot. The Queen's lover decides to rescue the battle to free the Queen, Sir Lancelot kills the In from Britanny, from 'Banioc' and 'Gaunes'. never Agravain, Guerrchet and Gaheriet. After this there can three nephews of King Arthur named

burn for her illegal love of

153

be peace between Arthur and Lancelot and Lancelot knows this. King Arthur blocks all the ports of Britain to prevent Lancelot from leaving the country. This is in effect the story of Euan the Murderer and his two kingly relatives with Bors and Hector replacing Merchiaun and Cation. Lancelot retreats to Joyeuse Garde, castle which a cannot be taken by attack and this represents Euan hidden in the religious house of Cadoc which the king cannot attack. After a siege of the castle by the King the Pope acts as arbitrator and the Queen is ordered to return to the King. This again uses the old story of the king winning his legal action against Cadoc and being awarded 300 cows compensation for the death of his kinsman, actually his brother Idnerth and nephew
'true'

Artgan.

rebenion and buried him under a mound in South Herefordshire. point, the fact remains that the author of the work knew that

as the son of Arthur.

This type of basis for the Romance story of "The Death of King Arthur" goes a long way to prove conclusively that Walter Map was indeed the Welsh author, no matter who later copied it and translated it into French. Another clear pointer to the authorship by Walter Map is his identification of Mordred
The King is in fact by local tradition believed to have killed his son Anir for That Mordred was not Anir is not the a son of Arthur was killed for rebelling.

If we are correct in identifying Llyn Fawr at Hirwaun as the lake where the story holds that the sword of Excaliber was thrown, then again Walter Map shows remarkable local south Wales knowledge, as the dying King Arthur to go from the sea shore up a hill to a lake where he is to throw the sword. It sounds very much like a journey from Cardiff up the Rhondda Valley over the mountain to the lake. This then brings ut o B ck Chapel' and at Walter Map i eans th century identifying theila riars Abbey t Cardiff as place of rthur's tomb he ruined undation of this park of the Abbey lies i iff3o stle grou s alongside th Taff in e we have no doubt that Walter Ma as locating Arthur i o So Wales.
'the

this twelfth century foundation stood on the site of an earlier church remains to be seen. It is a fact that the cathedral church of Llandaff was built on a new site in the year 1120 A.D. Exactly where the old church was and what happened to it, is for investigation. The dimensions of the old church were clearly recorded in the Book of a matter Llandaff as being 28 feet long and 18 feet wide, Meyrick recorded that Richard de Clare founded the "Black" Benedictine order alongside Cardiff Castle. This probably was a re-founding of much more ancient monastic community in a 1256 A.D. by the Norman de Clare, for Bishop of Jerusalem a was buried there. in 1578 Rhys

John Leland around 1530 A.D. wrote that Blake Freres House was withowte the Meskin Gate, and by side of this is a litle Building there." Just what this little building was is not remembered. Glastonbury was also a Benedictine order and so were several other monasteries.
"the

ARTHUR THE KING

haIedeemed to be so mysterious and yet so well known, has for too seen as a figure in isolation. This is too obvious a cause of needless confusion and a major block to any appreciation of Arthur and his times. We can illustrate this by comparison number of other great conquerors and of these it is not inappropriate to choose Alexander of Macedonia.
The King who many
'scratch'

long been

stumbling
with any the Great

Alexander did not achieve his conquests from position, he inherited a very strong stable a kingdom as a power base, larger and more formidable than all its immediate neighbours. A powerful military state built up by his grandfather and father equipped with an experienced army and officered by battle hardened and successful generals. This is precisely the position which Arthur also inherited in South Wales when he took command of the armies of the British, a state with a solid kingship and record of military success and accomplishment. a In Macedonia the power of the state had been growing up in the north whilst south in Greece, Athens and her allies were in constant tension and unease, if not war, with Sparta the most powerful Greek state. This was the situation from 400 B.C. to 359 B.C. Then in 359 B.C. the Regent of Macedon named Philip, took the throne from his young child ward to become Philip II. The Arcadian League of States had been formed in 370 B.C. with Thebes as the leading state, to counteract the dominance of Sparta. Athens at first allied to Sparta, but then in 365 B.C. changed sides, and then in 362 B.C. the standing army of Arcadian League was disbanded because there was no money available to pay the soldiers. The League dissolved into smaller grouped alliances and confusion followed with larger states like Sparta, Athens, Elis, Thebes and Macedon now involved claiming ownership of, or overlordship over, smaller cities and states. With Philip 11 established as King in 359 B.C. Macedon was about to grow. Athens by giving up his claim to Amphipolis in return for Athens surrendering He settled a quarrel with Pydna. This freed Philip11 to suppress rebels within Macedonia whilst Athens fought a war with Thebes. This gave Philip II time

154

machine. He conquered B.C. he was ready to try out his military and to reorganise his armies and by 357 Pydna, with Athens still fighting the Thebans over Euboea little Amphipolis and exchanged it for in decline and the allies of Athens were of Sparta was Thrace over the Chersonese. The military state their under the weak rule of Chares had to recognise breaking away in discontent and Athens independence. Ambrosius following the feud between Vortigern and This roughly parallels the situation in Britain small city states and the existence in Britain of large numbers of the Elder from 437 A.D. to 442 A.D. enemies of small kingdoms and city states in Greece and and petty kingdoms. There were large numbers In Greece the Carians from Saxons on the coasts. without as well, just as it was in Britain with the Cos.

seized states of Rhodes and Asia Minor under Mausolus, successor to Hecatomnus, involved and initially he was unsuccessful, losing In the struggles in Greece Philip 11of Macedon became 353 B.C. before he finally defeated Onomarchus general Onomarchus in woke up two battles to the Phoenician united Thessaly to Macedonia and all Greece conquered to and killed him in 352 B.C. Philip 11 then Then in 346 B.C. Philip !! prevented his march to the south. the danger and an alliance surely and then Orenides from the Odysae. Slowly and Phocis and then he took Pydna from Athens and enslaving the inhabitants, seizing razing Olynthus Philip 11 extended his power, destroying and 338 he fought one of several wars with Athens Euboea and conquering areas of Thrace. In 339 to armies professional armies at Amphissa and then crushed the citizen and Thebes and annihilated their League which included all the states he took Thebes and then he formed an Helenic at Chaeronea. Now except Sparta.
affair over which the King himself presided in wartime, This League of Philip !! was a very modern from representation proportional chairman, with the council formed by whilst in peace there was a from the city somehow reminiscent of the election by the British the member states. This is indeed The King they the Celtic West of an over-king or High King. states of Middle Britain and kings of their private Philip's league exacted no tributes from member states, chose in 518 A.D. was Arthur. guaranteed, there were nogarrisonsof occupation, constitutions were left unchanged and their autonomy and the second great Then Philip suggested an Asiatic campaign only a few strategic dispositions. The general Parmenio took the army into Asia Minor Corinth declared war on Persia. Congress at struggles with Persia. in 336 B.C. and the stage was set for the great

assassinated mainly on the instigation of his ex-wife Then in 336 B.C. King Philip II of Macedon was Alexander, aged 20, succeeded his father as Olympias, whom he had recently divorced. The Prince several the Great. He quickly suppressed a revolt of Alexander lil, later to be known as Alexander all know, moved to attack the Persian Empire. The result we Greek states and then in 334 B.C. he powerful military state which stood at the head but the important point is that Alexander inherited a the position of Arthur in Britain also of the League of all the other allied states of Greece. This of was powerful state handed down to him of the army a 800 years later, when he also stood in command Theodosius and his grandfather T great-grandfather by his ancestors and in particular by his of all the other Greek states, Just as Alexander III the Great had the backing and support 'Me4&reat. Britain had the support of the allied kings and city states of so also Arthur
and Theodoric had re-established it. The Vortigern had threatened the supremacy of this kingdom, parallel is inescapable. erected from which Arthur could launch his campaigns and the platform had been simply be realised and understood, for Arthur could not This is a fundamental point which has to unless his ancestral line was notable materialise out of thin air. Nor could he lead anything or anyone and so of the Celtic princes would have recognized him to the point of being exceptional for none him. A very rich man of poor ancestry was regarded as they would not have followed or supported inescapable fact of life in sixth century Celtic inferior to a poor man of notable ancestry. This was an Britain. pathetic nonsense whereby some authors have guessed We emphasise this point to again dismiss the reference form of foreign or mercenary soldier. There is one rather than reasoned that Arthur was some what it says, in the fifteenth century the Prince of to Arthur as "Arthur the Soldier" which means exploration, but

no-one interest in maritime Portugal was known as Henry the Navigator because of his desIn fact a great number of monarchs and rulers had such suggests that he was a merchant seaman. all over the world. One English Mediaevat king was called criptive titles popularly added to their names mediaeval English King Henry the Good Writer he was no common scribe, just a Wales where they could Henry Beauclerc century Ty from'inttrandseventh read and write. who could actualty called the Soldier just as Winiam all read and write and knew Latin and probably Greek). Arthur was almost endless in Britain and France alone with the First was called the Conqueror. The list is in fact John Lackland or Leftsword, Ethelread the Unready, Edward the Confessor, Richard Coeur de Lion, Edward I Longshanks, The Black Prince, Richard Ill Crookback, William Rufus, Robert Curthose their habits, abilities or failings. and so on all named for their hair colour, their height, their deformity or V the Tan, who where Louis X the Quarrelsome was followed by Philip The same applies to France earlier IV the Fair and later we have John the Good Feffow, and in was followed in turn by Charles Henry the Fowler; not to mention Philip lil days there was Charles the Fat, the Bald, Louis the Pious and the Bold or Charles V the Wise.
--

of learning, the are largest of which has 2,000 scholars, studying Greek, Latin, philosophy, physics, astronomy and so on. The race is descended from people who as early as Roman times had the most advanced technology of the age, te ability to build tanks' or aircraft' in the war chariots of the day, and advanced the ships superior in construction to those of the Romans. A land where monks knew Virgil and craftsmen worked metal into intricate and beautiful designs. A country where land ownership was carefully recorded in written deeds, carefully described and properly witnessed, and where music and poetry were greatly prized attainments. A race who could produce in 380 A.D. so great a philosopher and thinker as Pelagius Morgan whose kings understood the strategic and geographical importance not only of Britain but on Northern Europe.
'battle
'fighter

It is a pity that we have to spend time putting right so many of these ludicrous misconceptions which have been given too great an airing in the past. One Eagh writer for television in 1979 actually produced a T.V. series in Britain depicting Arthur as a petty barbarian king the tribesmen to civilised thinking' so the level of ignorance concerning the British of Arthur's time is truly prodigious. Here we have a Celtic king of all Britain ruling an area where there three schools
'converting

'warships'

a somewhere which elevates people those who built in timber. Where timber was abundant and the climate who build or built in stone above cold and wet, only a fool would build in stone or brick. he sun would not dry mud bricks in Britain in any even a ym nd othe who invaded EfrT i during xons, the fifttrarnt sixth mitBFt&rwere at the bettam-ehe
,

Possibly there is

mental blockage

n an common heritage Wales in common.

As have already ther, the Welshof Wales and the English of England have we considerable a from this distant period and the history of the time is that of both England and

The Brecon manuscripts clearly tell that King Theodoric was the ruler of very widespread areas indeed. He is in fact described as "Theuder Mawr", in English that is Theodoric the Great and his territories clearly listed. They describe Theodoric as King of are all Wales and much beyond and this demonstrates that it was Theodoric who built the kingdom that Arthur ruled, Part of this building is described in Theodoric's conquest of Cornwall and his defeat of Guinner and Finbar. Part of it came with his victories
over the Saxons and his marriage of his daughter his son Meurig to the daughter of Gwrgan the Great. He
-

Marchel to an Irish King, and the marriage of even campaigned in the North.

Meurig carried on where Tewdrig Theoderic left off and consolidated his rule over all South Wales. Here therefore, was the platform for Arthur rule from. The genaeologies prove how Arthur combined the Roman imperial and British royal lines into his person and could command allegience.of all parties.

THE FORTRESS
The search for the legendary Camelot of King Arthur has never really been seriously undertaken by The primary reason for this seeming anyone. apathy is that very few people are prepared to concede that it may actuaHy have existed. In other words the great fortress court of ever the King named in the twelfth and thirteenth century French Romantic stories was an invention, a place of fiction rather than fact. This is not unreasonable, for the early Welsh tales tell of "Arthur" holding plenary courts at Caerleon on Usk and later tales mention Cardiff, but there is no mention of Camelot. Arthur I at Caerleon and Arthur 11at Cardiff.
The fact remains that any king needed a home to live in and a base for his armies. The 'Culhwch and Olwen' tales name Arthur's hall as 'Ehangwen' - meaning and spacious" and clearly infer that it was built of timber. This is correctly in the Celtic manner of building a prince's dwelng and the story gives even better information when it states that there were two halls at Arthur's fort. One is the Han of the King and the other is the Hall for strangers, visitors and foreigners. If there is in this quite gratuitous piece of information, and there is any truth no reason to doubt it, then we seek a site with two halls, and we have one at Gelligaer just such a Hunting Lodge,
"wide

if in the manner of Mediaeval Romance writers, we envisage a stone built city or castle with battlement wans and towers, then there for Camelot. We have reduced are still possibilities our search for Arthur to South Wales, to the land of Penuchel, the territories of Vortigern, Theoderic and Meurig. We know that there was the mighty fifty Roman legionary fortress still standing at Caerleon with its acre enormous thirty foot high walls, its bastion towers and great ditches, the most colossal fortress in all Britain. The ruins were such to even excite the Norman King Henry I in the twelfth century when he viewed them. As excavation of this site has been limited there is no way to know if halls were built within the great fortress for Arthur I. The same would hold good for the nearby town of Caerwent which was quite definitely still flourishing argument at the time of Arthur (the name Ynyr Gwent Caerwent, is well recorded), for there were walls over twenty feet high and large bastion Honorius of towers still to be seen on this site of forty four acres. Yet neither fortress, nor the similar 'Saxon Shore' fortress built at Cardiff, quite fit with the descriptions handed down in the folk and bardic tales. We are left looking for a settlement of earth mounds on a hill, with palisades around above the ditches
-

156

and timbered halls set in the centre. The most obvious thing to do is to look at a map and see what obtained it tells us. The answer is remarkable when we add two other factors. One is the recent proof excavation on Cadbury Hill in Somerset that the earthwork fort on the summit of the hill was from Second are the reports of John Leland circa 1536 A.D., and rebuilt and re-used in the sixth century. Rice Meyrick before 1586 on the breeding possibilities of horses in South Wales. John Leland says
-

"From the Kefinneth to Wenceland that is at 2 miles, from Castelle Morlleys to a Place caullid Hirwen Urgan. Where is as in the Lordship of Mischen in the paroch of Aberdayer a great Race and Bredth of Horses 8 miles." So John Leland is telling us that even in his day there was a great breeding and herding of horses in Glamorgan. Not only that, he places the greatest abundance in the parish of Aberdare area King's Lordship'. So maybe we have here a clue in the Lordship of Miskin. Now Miskin means to the horses of Arthur's cavalry army and we have an area known as the King's Lordship. This is echoed by Rice Meyrick who says "The Bro the part before described of the South. In this part was always great breeding of Cattell Horses and Sheep."
'the

Better stil, Rice Meyrick who died circa 1586, tells of how old men told him how in their youth there cattle and horse were no walls and fences or fields in Glamorgan. The whole area was one vast open grazing country, a land of open space, plains, pastures and pleasant meadows, up until around 1500. We have therefore the place of horses for the horse armies of the ancient kings.

So now to the maps to find the fortress, to see where it might be. The result if surprising indeed for From the mouth of the River Ogmore the fortress is there, but it is not quite what was expected. regularly spaced line of earthwork east to Cardiff, there is along the coast of Glamorgan a remarkably These form a coastal ring along the shoreline of the Vale of Glamorgan, a rocky, clifffortifications. lined, dangerous shore with few landing points and treacherous shoals, sandbars and rocks off shore.
Vale there is the site of the ancient earthwork fortification at the river built castle and Ewenny Priory. Next, two and a half miles to the east, where the steep rock promotory juts out from the coast like a spur, there One mile further east and we on the edge of the cliffs at Trwyn-y-Witch. the third earthwork fort on the cliff top above Traeth Bach at Whitmore Stairs. Two and a quarter have miles further on at Nash Point where there is the next access from the high cliffs to the beaches, we have the fourth earthwork fortress below the village of Marcross. One mile from Nash Point is St. Donats with the castle on the cliffs, a Norman building erected on a more ancient site, with yet another small valley cutting down through the cliffs to the beaches. The sixth earthwork fort site is at Castle Ditches, Major. one and three quarter miles from St. Donats just south of Llantwit on the west of the mouth below the later stone at the edge of Dunraven Bay is the second earthwork fort Starting

Then at Summerhouse Point two miles further east along the cliffs, there is earthwork fort number of the River Thaw, seven at Hafod. Two miles from the seventh fort on the cliffs we find the estuary know from the an area totally built over by modern power stations and cement factories, which we 'Life of St. Illtyd' was a heavily defended area. Three miles from the Thaw estuary, which we will the Bulwarks at deem to be point or fort number eight, we have the next shoreline cliff fortress Porth Kerry, our ninth fort in the coastal chain.
-

The next fort stood on the east cliffs of the Whitmore Bay at Barry Island, two miles on from the fort number ten. Moving further east there is fort eleven on Sully Island Bulwarks at Porthkerry Bay. One mile east from Sully Island is Lavernock Point where the coastline swings around across Sully to run due north to Penarth and Cardiff, at this point there are traces of earthworks and Penarth Head
-

is known to have been a lookout station in Roman times, the area now completely

built over.

The whole of the coastline of the Vale of Glamorgan, from the Ogmore River estuary to the joint embanked forts estuary of the Taff and Ely rivers at Cardiff, was protected by a chain of earthwork placed along the cliffs and on the islands of this dangerous and rock-strewn shore. We believe that twelve such forts were scattered along the length of the coast, nine of which are clearly visible today and two others traceable.
This chain of forts froms the coastal defences of the fortress of Arthur. From the estuary of the Taff, There are no more east to the estuary of the Wye at Chepstow, the coastline changes completely. cliffs, not more rock beaches, only long stretches of flat mud banks and mud beaches along a very low lying coastal plain. Here the land is so low that it has been protected from time immemorial by long dykes known as the sea wall. These run from the Taff to the Ebbw and Usk rivers and east from the Usk to Magor Pill.

This flat shallow coastline would be extremely dangerous for sea-going craft, but easily penetrated by shallow draught vessels or ships willing to run into the river estuaries on the flood tide. Some idea of the extreme danger of attempting to land on this coast may be gained from the fact that there are enormous rises and falls of tide along the south east Wales coast. Whereas a tide at say Belfast or Edinburgh may be some nine feet high, here at Barry it is forty to forty-two feet twice a day and thirty-nine feet at Cardiff. The Atlantic literally rushes in between Pembrokeshire and Cornwall, pushing up the ever narrowing Bristol Channel, piling up the waters to these very high tides. It simply is no place at ali to get your navigation or bearings wrong, with the tremendous currents at flow.

157

completely The character of the defences of the land of Theoderic, Meurig, Arthur and Morgan, changes walled, therefore beyond the River Taff east to the Wye. Here in ancient times stood the great stone of Cardiff, built circa 240 A.D., Caerleon built circa 100-120 A.D. and many towered fortresses Caerwent built circa 250 A.D.
penetrated by an enemy The Vale of Glamorgan is however our first area of interest and it could be coming into the estuary of the Taff and Ely rivers and working his way up north west onto the plateau showed. of the Vale behind the coastal defences. We therefore examined the maps again to see what they remarkable, for there were now a line of forts of the same type running along the The answer was again high ground on the west bank of the River Ely.

The first fort probably built and first used around 400 B.C., stands on a hill at Caerau, a district on Unfortunately the Cardiff Council have allowed the building of a Roman the west side of Cardiff.

Catholic Church within the concentric rings of this ancient fort, pure vandalism, it could have been built in a thousand other sites. One mile north east by east of this fort is the site of a Roman vina on the old Ely Racecourse.

The second of these Caers above the Ely is at just west of St. Nicholas three and a quarter miles due the second, a half mile west of the fort on Caerau Hill. The third is one and a half miles due west of Bonvilston. So all three stand in a row running due west above the west banks of the River Ely. north of From this point the river which has run almost due west out of Cardiff, swings to the north and there, just five miles north of our fourth hill fort, stands the massive hill fort of Caerau at Llantrisant.
This is not all, for the defensive ring of forts thrown in a circle around the Vale of Glamorgan, has other There in the middle, almost plumb centre of this entire network of radial very interesting features. is the site of an ancient settlement of the period. The name of this site is Pentre Meyrick at forts, Mynydd Bychan. This meansthat we have together two names which are intimately linked with Arthur.

We believe Meurig

Meyrick,to be his father and Bychan is Brychan, the son of Meurig's siter MarcheL

This is obviously a very important site.

Then there is another site of more than passing interest just north of our third fort on the Ely above Less than a mile north of the fort is Caerwigau and we know that Arthur was reputed to Bonvilston. have a fort at Gelliwig in "Cornwall". Here is Fort Wigau, but there is no earth banked site of a fort. Half a mile north again is Pen Gelli and so we have the Head of Gelli and the Fort of Wigau; and just east of these sites is Ffynon Deilo, the Well of Teilo, the St. Teilo contemporary with Arthur. So we have a name connecting Gelli and Wig right alongside a site connected with St. Teilo and Gelhi gave the book of St. Teilo to Llandaff Cathedral before it was stolen and taken to Lichfield Cathedral. AII three sites are on the confluence of several streams running down the hills to the River Ely below and are Just north of the site is the village of Miskin and Miskin Manor; and Miskin just outside Pendoylan. lordship' and there is a great ruin there. means the
'king's

Three miles south of this interesting site, is the fortress site of Llancarfan, the site of the famous monas11ttyd tery or abbey college. Five miles west of Llancarfan is the other great monastic college site of

at Llantwit Major.

THE DEFENCESOF THE EASTERN PLAINS

At Cardiff the nature of the ground when moving from the west (from the River Thaw area) changes dramatically. There are the lines of hills standing to the north in the form of a great natural barrier and down below, stretching away to the east, is the coastal plain, sometimes five miles wide from shore plain, to hills, sometimes down to a mile. Where Cardiff itself now sprawls was once a great flat, fertile rising slowly up to the hill ridges of Cefn On, an ancient area used for growing corn and cereal crops.

This zone could not be protected

in the same way as the Vale of Glamorgan to the west, for there is here no great barrier of cliffs and rock beaches and so the pattern is different. The Romans had built their cavalry fortress at Cardiff where it still stands as the restored castle, to protect the estuaries of the Taff and the Ely rivers and east to Newport they had built previously their great legionary fortress at Caerleon to guard the approaches of the Usk. These great Roman castles were still standing in Arthur's time but the military situation was different. The Romans had been concerned with the hostile peoples of the land which they were invading and then with sea-borne invaders. The situation in the late fifth and early sixth centuries was one of avoiding being caught by surprise attacks by sea.

Therefore the most important piece of the defensive network of South East Wales is in fact not in Wales at all. It is in Somerset on the other side of the Bristol Channel at Cadbury Hill. The importance of Cadbury Hill to the Welsh defences cannot be overstressed, for here on the hill the large eighteen
acre Iron Age (?) fort was re-activated and rebuilt. Its function was to protect the southern shoreline The threat to South Wales of the Severn estuary and to deny possession of that shore to enemies. would come either from the west across from Ireland, which the forts along the western cliffs would spot, or from the Saxons in the south east of England. The Saxons would be guarded against by the

fortress on Cadbury Hill which would deny them the southern banks of the Severnestuary and Bristol Channel.

THE FORTRESS
River Ebbw

Caerleon

River Usk A

A Caer ent

Enha gwen

Gower
Maes Arthur Castle Mound aerau

Wo ks OWilerick

Caldicot

r
ry Llanrhumney CARDIFF Penylan Ely Castle Ring Powis

PLAINS

Pentre Meurig Ogmore Fort

g
Bonviiston$

et Trehil

Trwyn-y-Witch Fort Traeth Bach For Castell y-Dryw

St. Donats Castle Ditches
>c

Dinas arry Island Fort

Cadbury Hill Fort

g Flat Holm
Sully Island

HIGH CLIFFS

The Thaw The Bulwarks Porthkerry Hafod Fort (Summerhouse Point)

Fort

Steep Holm O
1. The coast of Glamorgan from Ogmore to Cardiff is protected by high cliffs. Whereever landing is possible there is an earth fortress. 2. The Plains from Cardiff to Caerwent are defended by the Three Great Walled Fortresses of Cardiff, Caerleon and Caerwent. 3. All Rivers coming out of the mountains are defended with hill forts on either side of the pass entrance. 4. The key fortress of this system is at Caerau on the hill of "Arthur's Butts". 5. Cadbury was needed to prevent cross channel invasion.

Fortress
<

Hill Fort Sea Defence Fort

This makes absolute sense and logic, for there is an uninterrupted view across the Severn between Cadbury Hill and all the major fortresses on the northern Welsh side, including Cardiff Castle, the Caerau Llantrisant hill fort, Penarth headland, and the forts around Newport and the Usk. The Cadbury bastion could be easily reinforced from across the Channel, the Celtic Welsh being accomplished sailors equipped with their own fleets. The actual hill forts of the area east of the Taff are scattered first around the pass at Tongwynlais to the Valleys, one up on Rhiwbina hill above Cardiff, and then on along to protect the the hills above the plain at Dyffryn Count south of Bassaleg where there are two forts, one on either side of the hills above the pass where the Ebbw river runs down from the valley. The next pass, that of the River Usk, is protected by the Fortress of Caerleon and then there are earthworks along the hills to the east above Llanbedr and Penlaw. Here the hills level out to rolling, undulating landscape and there are ancient fortifications down on the plain at Caldicot just south of Caerwent, which site squarely the road from the east, blocking this entry from the land. Supporting the Caerwent fortress was not only Caldicott, but also the earthwork fort at Wilcrick on the low plain, three miles west of Caerwent at Magor.
'gateway'

King Meurig is said to have strengthened Caldicot Castle so there is evidence again of this defensive system being modernised for use in the sixth century.

on the west of the River Ely deny access to the Vale of Glamorgan and the major stronghold at Caerau Llantrisant blocks the east, the north banks of the Ely and both entrances to the Glamorgan Valleys. Tongwynlais a fort in the pass at Morganstown near the Taff, is supported by earthwork forts, one a mile west at Tyllo Morris and one a mile east up on the Wenallt above Rhiwbina. The two forts at the pass of the Ebbw at Tredegar Park, Newport, are supported by another guarding the entry to the Machen Valley past Basseleg up on the hill west of Rogerstone. The defence therefore secured all the sea coast west of the Ely and Taff and then also the estuary of the Ely, running up behind the line of coastal defence. All entry to the western valleys was blocked at Llantrisant and all three river passes into the hills and the Glamorgan and Gwent Valleys were blocked as they met the plain. Over to the east a curtain of fortifications blocked the entry to the plains east of the Usk and lined the hills. Down on the plains stood the stone walls of Caerwent and Cardiff.

The system east of the Taff concentrates on using forts to block the three passes up into the hills above the plain where the Taff, the Ebbw and the Usk run through to the Severn Sea. Three other forts

The key fortress in all this network is the one at Caerau Llantrisant, for it is the key to the entry to the western valleys and to mid and west Wales, also it is the pivotal bastion to entry to the Valeof Glamorgan the centre of the king's power. No invader was safe on the coastal plains when the defenders held the
line of hill forts. Cadbury Hill was obviously vital to this strategy and signals from it could give the necessary time to warn the garrisons on the Welsh side of the Severn. Any would-be invader was at risk unless he could overcome the forces at Cadbury.

previously remarked on the high levels of technical skill possessed by the Celts as they were the leading shipbuilders and chariot manufacturers of Roman times, equivalent to rriihn tanks, aeroplanes and warships in our times, it should be no surprise that they could develop such a mass network of strategic defence. The Romans were far too free with their use of the word barbarian, in fact they were downright insolent with it. For a race who invented nothing, developed nothing and contributed less, we have to be very careful in what we read into their use of the word barbarian. Our understanding of the term could well fit the unspeakable monsters who regularly went in their thousands to watch the most filthy, disgusting, degrading and murderous spe cles in the Roman arenas and not the more technically inventive, artistic and skilled rac
'the

All these earthworks may well pre-date the Arthurian period, of this we are well aware. The high degree of probability is that the system was in fact re-activated once the Romans left Britain. As we have

However, fortress' is huge and it is well planned. The British knew what the Romans knew, that no-one can hold frontiers of England unless he can control Glamorgan and this is why they made it their target. Certainly the people of South East Wales knew it and they prepared their defences of their native stronghold quite brilliantly. In reviewing these lines of defence we came to the conclusion that there were one or two bits missing, so we made our calculations of where they should be to fit the geographical pattern of the rest of the plan and also we tried to establish where would be. There were no references on any maps, but we investigated the areas just the same by going there. In other words we used the pattern which is known to indicate where what is not known might be, by trying to imagine that we too were trying to make sure that no enemy could enter this area and by also seeing where the control over such
'headquarters'

a system could be exercised.

The whole defensive model of the of Glamorgan and Gwent is best seen on the map which we have provided see Diagram 5 on page 159.
-

'fortress'

160

land, indeed the Normans under Robert Fitzhammon landed at Fontygary Beach in 1090-91 A.D. they invaded. The approach by land was difficult coming from the east through the marshland around Gloucester, on through the very difficult forests and hill country between Gloucester and the Wye at Chepstow, through the Lydney and Newent areas. The River Wye was itself a formidable barrier followed by the dangerous Usk, the Ebbw and the tidal Rumney before Cardiff could to be crossed be reached.
when

The plan is well conceived and executed with a masterly sense of strategy well above the level of purely of the kings are centrally situated and the religious centres tactical military thinking. The of learning are well protected. The area could be attacked from the sea far more easily than from the
'capitals'

Many ancient battles were fought at river fords and indeed there could be no better place to catch an invader than at the fords of the South Wales rivers which are either in deep flood with the enormous tides of the Severn, or great steep-sided ditched banks of grey-black ooze, thick, deep, sticky, dangerous mud. Boys from the Tremorfa and Splott areas of Cardiff would in pre-war times, sometimes swim in the black waters of the Rumney near the shore at Pengarn, sliding down the steep natural chutes of black mud into the blue-black water. The imagination boggles at the thought of anyone trying to cross these rivers wearing armour and carrying arms with defenders waiting at the other side of the steep banks of the river. In our peroration of the defensive forts placed about the river estuaries of the various rivers, we did not mention the Rumney River. This river, some three miles east of Cardiff Castle, was probably also defended by a fort on Penylan Hill just above the area now occupied by the Howardian Grammar School. This has now been built over and no longer exists as such. On the other side of the Rumney river is Rumney Hill and there is an ancient fort site on this hill as well. So the pattern of defending rivers with forts on either side on the hills nearest the shores of the Severn, is in fact consistent. The rivers run down from the hills in the north to the Severn shore which runs due east to west and the pattern is of forts placed on the east and west sides of the rivers.
Whether this fortification system was built in the fourth century B.C. or the sixth century A.D. is not the point. The fact is that the system existed and could well have been reactivated for use until the sixth century or later. Certainly the evidence from Dinas Powis and from Cadbury Hill is that these hill forts were in use during the Arthurian period.

THE BATTLE OF BADON

The battle of Badon Hill, or 'Mons Badonicus' as the writer Nennius called it, was the decisive battle in the long wars between the Britons and their Saxon and Angle enemies. As with every other event of the time of Arthur, there is speculation and uncertainty over the location of the battle site. The battle of Badon is important as a site if the condition of the British is to be understood at the beginning of the sixth century. Many have opted for the theory that Badon was fought on a hill near Bath now in Gloucestershire, the similarity of the two words Badon and Bath being an obvious attraction. This is not unreasonable although we believe it to be wrong, for Badon was not an ordinary fifth or sixth century battle. Badon was a battle which was sought by the Saxons as a make or break effort which would either bring them total victory over the Britons, or which would set them back on their heels for fifty or a hundred years. The frt Sax ns ek sgh of sixth century, is not difficult ma or ba le te Water to defme. d wa f the Brit s. W t inevitabl mu have a so they ere ry vu era e to the ou ap ned ws a seri s of night are rai s by th pro ssional tish ca alry of the ar ba s, atta ing he v lages, destroyi g he cro anhip t mu nh wit the av aug The Britons could choose when an where they would fig t major actions and could raid at will. This prevented the Saxons from taking up further territory, as their numbers grew with further immigration into Britain and through breeding, and the war which was from all accounts a merciless affair, was one which they obviously had to try to finish.
_e

reaso

'

.ma

.n

The only way that this decisive blow could be struck was to launch a major invasion of British territory and to try to destroy their enemy and his centre of power. That meant an invasion of Wales, the Saxons had to march into Morganwg to force the Britons to commit their military strength to decisive defence a of their homes and property. We have seen how the development of the churches and the monastic universities had prospered in Morganwg in what is now the Vale of Glamorgan, and such developments only normally take place around a capital or a royal court in any land. We have seen how the crown prince of Morganwg name Arthwys, (Arthrwys Arthwyr) had been elected King of the - Arthur Britons, a military appointment carrying no land ownership or sovereignty other than whatever he inherited from his father. We have seen how Morganwg was a prosperous well developed and highly populated area, with a number of kings and their war bands. This then was the area which the Saxons had to subdue for victories down in Dumnonia the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire/Hampshire or Dorset downs and plains would not destroy eir enemy,
-on

The effort made by the Saxons for this battle was unprecedented. For the first time they assembled the armies of three kingdoms together, from the Saxons of Kent, from the South Seax (Sussex) from the West Sex (Wessex). King Aelle of Sussex led this exceptionally large army, presumably because he was the oldest king of the three allies, although his kingdom was the smallest. The Kent Saxons came
under King Oese and his son Eormenric and the West Saxons under King Cerdic. The force had to be a large one or it could never penetrate as far as Gloucester and Bath, let alone Glamorgan.

allied army of Saxon infantry set out to destroy the home base of the British army, to the territory where it got its supplies, its remounts for the cavalry and fodder for the horses in coastal plains of Gwent and Marshfield, the flat basin of the Cardiff plain, the Vale of Glamorgan the rolling valleys of Monmouthshire, reaching up to Brecon. This was an incredible venture and Saxon chiefs must have been confident that their very numbers could overwhelm the forces of the British. The Angles, way up in the east and north of Britain, took no part in this campaign, no Irish help seems to have been involved or obtained in the form of an attack in the Cardiff area coming down from Brecon, Irish-Welsh intermarriage had ended that.

So this large

ruin the and the

The Britons obviously had time to prepare for this assault, as they could move much faster on horse and they had the only fleets on the Severn. It is not difficult to imagine the signal fires burning from the tops of the hill forts along through Monmouthshire and Glamorgan and across the Bristol Channel to the hill fort on Cadbury Hill, once it was known that the invading mass had crossed the Severn at Gloucester and was heading west along the north bank. Once the target was known to be Glamorgan and not the Cadbury Hill fortress, horses and men would have been ferried over to reinforce the warriors who were gathering in around the wooden halls of the chiefs.
and children and the cattle and flocks would have been moving up into the hill forts and into the valleys and the walled fortresses of Caerwent, Caerleon, and Cardiff, would have been crammed and crowded. Arthur, War King of the Britons would have arrived from either his great camp on the hill below Pontypridd or from the other fortress over on Cadbury Hill and plans would be made with the Kings and Princes of the Britons sitting in a circle around fire, with their warriors behind them.

The women

The plan appears to have been simple, for the Saxons would find it difficult to take any of the three

major walled fortresses with their thirty foot stone walls. Caerleon covering a massive fifty acres, Caerwent forty-seven acres and Cardiff seven acres. The invaders could lay siege to any one of these citadels provided that they could feed themselves, but they could not advance into the rich farmland beyond Newport without subduing these fortress castles, unless they were prepared to take a great risk. This is where the Britons played a master card, Arthur with his cavalry army swollen by warbands arriving daily from the north and the west, were to remain outside the fortress walls. This is the situation outside the fortresses way that they could intact and loose. It Saxons on the very to ravage and destroy which confronted the Saxon army when it faced with a large cavalry army loose and hill forts and a country empty of food and supplies. There was no possible attack the fortresses and lay a siege whilst the cavalry army of Arthur remained is doubtful if any army has ever got itself into a worse position. Here were the doorstep of the rich fertile heartland of Morganwg, yet they could not scatter with hundreds of Celtic cavalry on the hills.

hill site overlooking the coastal plain possibly between Newport and Cardiff. Without on a prepared doubt these horse soldiers had well stocked saddle bags and plenty of grain and water on their hill, whilst below the huge force of Saxons were hungry and tired with no food available in an alien land. To attack cavalry on a steep sided hill with only an infantry army logically demands a siege where the infantry wait below to force the mounted men down from the hill with hunger. This was impossible for the Saxons who were probably totally without food having been harassed by British scouting parties of the way. Any food in the immediate area would have been quickly consumed by most this very large force and now they dare not split up in small groups to forage as other British scouting parties would soon move to attack them. So the Saxon infantry were forced to climb the hill to attack the British cavalry which they had to destroy. The cavalry now stood in a completely reversed role, for whereas their normal advantage was speed and mobility, now time was their ally. The Saxons dare not let them down from the hill once they found them there, for their only chance was to destroy Arthur now they could attack him. So all around the hill the Saxons stretched their forces, limiting the weight that they could throw against of the slopes and unwilling to let the Britons break out through their ranks. Now they could any part not free large foraging parties without weakening their line and small parties risked certain annihilation. This battle must be almost unique in warfare of any age and it shows the ancient Welsh appreciation of military tactics. These were after all the descendants of the Silures who had fought the armies of Rome to a standstill and who knew better than to just die bravely in a vain show. The Saxons had truly the tiger by the tail', they were only safe whilst they held the beast firmly by the tail but once they let go it was free to turn upon them. Here situation, a large and was an unprecedented highly mobile cavalry army was sitting absolutely still on top of a defended hill and refusing to budge, whilst a very large and comparatively immobile infantry army lay below and around and tried get
'caught

The battle of Badon now took its inevitable course as Arthur with his heavy cavalry took their position

to

162

King Arthur's fortress at Caerau hill near Llantrisant. Triple walls larger than Cadbury hill known until 1600 A.D. as Arthur's Buttes, meaning Arthurs Walls or Castle.

The hill near

Newport known as 'Arthur's fields' in the woods at the top with ancient fortification and the mound of the 'Stone of the Saxons' on the far side, taken from the ancient Caerleon road.

The opposite side of Arthur's fields, the stone of the Saxons is away to the left, obviously an ancient battle

163

The normal accustomed roles of warfare had been reversed by the Welsh and with the at them. reso lution common to the dark haired Goedelic race, they refused to move.
The situation must have amazed the Saxon host, for here was their elusive enemy the cavalry that struck without warning and was gone before they could get near them, standing perfectly still. Most of the Saxon army had probably never got close enough to a British mounted war band to exchange blows and had probably only seen them in scattered groups in distant clouds of dust. This time they had a close-up view of the combined war bands of several British kings. So with Welsh cavalry now playing the infantry role on the hill top and with Saxon infantry now attempting the cavalry role down below, the battle began, with the weary Saxons climbing up steep slopes to try to close with their

enemy.

not get up and the Britons would not come down. Up on the hill top the Britons ate and drank, whilst down below the Saxons starved. Then finally the Saxons were forced to try to retreat back to the east and down from the hill top came the thunderbolt of the cavalry of Arthur, King of AII the Britons. The result must have been similar to the retreat of the French from Moscow under Napoleon, with fast moving cavalry battering the exhausted Saxon infantry. How any of the Saxons succeeded in fording the River Usk and the River Wye, let alone the upper Severn whilst under cavalry attack, is difficult to imagine.

The fight went on for three days, the Saxons could

The result of the battle of Badon or as we have it 'Mons Badonicus' was a catastrophe for Saxon hopes. In this unparalleled disaster they lost all three of their kings, for Aelle, Cerdic and Oesc are all recorded dying at the time of Badon. We are told by Nennius that as on the third day when the Saxons finally decided that they had to retreat, one charge by Arthur and his cavalry resulted in the death of 960 Saxons. The slaughter must have been appalling and how many of the thousands who set out for Morganwg ever got home is nowhere known.

It is of course difficult to estimate the numbers involved in this battle, but they cannot have been small. The Saxon Chronicle lists various battles where thousands died and one, as we have seen, where five thousand Britons were slain. This time there were the armies of three Saxon kingdoms not one and the British forces were sufficiently strong to hold them at bay for three days. It ig difficult to less than thirty thousand men for this their intended final see how the Saxons could have numbered blow at the Britons. In the same way it is again difficult to see how less than six thousand to eight thousand or even more Britons could have held the hill. Doubtless there were men on foot as well as the cavalry but this is not necessarily the case, every Celtic warrior loved horses, it was part of the indigenous folklore, a necessary piece of equipment, a major item of their prose and poetry, constantly figuring in their literature and record. That is the story of Badon, so how do we work it all out. The answer is by logic and by sources, for Nennius tells us that this decisive encounter took place upon a hill. He names it Mons Badonicus and he tells us that it lasted for three days and the Britons Mynnedd Baiden is in won a great victory. fact just North of Tondu in Mid-Glamorgan.
We know also that the three Saxon kingdoms combined for the battle and that their kings led them, so it must have been a final major effort to defeat the Britons. We also know that the Saxons were infantrymen, great in numbers but without cavalry, and that the Britons were horse soldiers. The Welsh hills and mountains for centuries abounded with ponies and the whole literature of this.

tells

We can also use our intelligence to see that there is no chance that a small cavalry force would sit on a hill top in enemy territory surrounded by infantry who could only grow stronger, whilst they and their horses grew weaker. Therefore this defensive action could only have taken place in what must have been British territory. There is very little chance that the British would have risked such an action in Dumnonia around Bath or elsewhere. For Dumnonia was the front line province, under attack and too close to Saxon bases and any ravaging of the province or kingdom could be harassed by the cavalry. Any loss of supplies or crops would be made good by the Celtic kings up in Wales and the north and by their kinsmen in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. Neither would the Saxons have been content to attack Bath and leave the main British power intact and unharmed. We have seen how we can identify Arthur with Arthwys son of Meurig King of \amorganor Morganwg) and how this powerful state could hold as it did ( oman and later Norman and English times, the key to the peaceful border of the lowlands of gland. Saxons knew sou this as well and it is an insult to their intellignece to suggest that th not have struck at

Glamorgan.

Then there is the hill outside Newport on the road to Cardiff. It stands above the new roundabout and intersection of the M.4 motorway and the A.48 main road. On 1-50,000 British Ordinance Survey a 5134' N. by 33' W. Map Sheet no. 171, map reference (on the map line 86 N. 27 W.) we find the hill. On the east slope of the hill there is a stone called, as it has been from time immemorial, Stone of the Saxons', whilst on the west side of the hill is field called again from time beyond memory, a Maes Arthur Arthur's field. The hill is just the right shape and size for the type of encounter which we have described. At the top of the hill there is in fact a small earthwork which may have been part
-

'the

164

another hill, north east of the Saxon stone, of the British battle strategy. Over across the motorway is Iron Age fortification with concentric rings of mounds about half a mile distant and there is another position. In fact one mile south west of our and ditches encircling the top, another available defended and the whole general area is lettered with various more bill is another earthwork at Pen-y-lan Farm, Druidstone) one mile south west of Pen-y-lan Farm. ancient tumuli and so on, with a standing stone (the of Basseleg. On the stopes of our hill two Just to the north of the hill we have described is the village the mouth running from west to east joining the River Ebbw, which runs on to streams bubble out, one south through Marshfield to the Severn. This means of the Usk; the other rising in two places, runs ring up on the slopes of the hill, which would that unless the Saxons could draw a tight, permanent Arthur and his forces would have a water supply. be tactically very difficult if not impossible, then battle as we look at the detait of the area. The whole scene becomes more and more appropriate to the legionary fortress with its thirty Only four miles to the north east lies Caerleon, the fifty acre Romanin 500 A.D. as even in the twelfth still have been a formidable place foot wall when built. This would attack Caerleon with Arthur on the hill, nor The Saxons could not century its ruin was impressive. nine miles south could they move into Glamorgan plain with Cardiff Castle, which they must have seen west, dominating the plateau. of the Marshfield and in the centre of this area Down on the plain south of our hill, lies the flat lands the Cardiff possibly the place of the Black Chapel of Walter Map as an alternative to is Blacktown, the burial place he names for Arthur. Castle Grounds

as

edge of Newport in Gwent than any Badon is more probably our hill just south of Basseleg on the It fits more closely with the logic of the Saxon-British wars. place near Bath. of Arthwys, we have identified as a There is one further point to be made. King Meurig, the father which places him at around 450 to 530 A.D. Cadog, contemporary of St. Dyfrig, St. Illtyd and old St. raid and that means that the Saxons We know that King Tewdrig is said to have been slain in a Saxon Badon hill along with penetrated his Glamorgan kingdom in this period. Whether or not he was on know, but this looks very likely. This additional Aella, Cerdic and Oesc, the Saxon kings, we will never and Cardiff, or even further evidence again points to the Battle of Badon being fought near Newport east in Mid-Glamorgan.

around the ancient Dark Age The news of the outcome of the Battle of Badon must have reverberated of an earthquake. All Eastern Europe and the world of all sixth century Europe like the shock waves Roman provinces Balkans had long fallen before the Gothic (Scythian) and German advance. The great Rome itself had crumbled before them. North of Gaul, Iberia, Illyria, Macedonia, Greece, Italy and Empire, Africa had fallen to the Vandals. All Europe, Italy and North Africa, the whole of the Roman British fords of the western side of Britain, except Brittany (the northern tip of France) and the Cymru had fallen before the tidal wave of the Teutonic advance. Now suddenly the electrifying news that the of their kings combined armies of no less than three Saxon tribal nations had been annihilated and three slaughtered. The name of Arthur must have sped all around Europe with lightening speed and men everywhere their descendants must have wondered at this event in distant Britain. The Saxons were no mean race as determined enemies, have many times proved conclusively. The Romans knew them well as fierce and Apollinaris quoted in Gibbon Chapter XXV savage and bitter foes from Northern Europe. Sidonius with their described the Saxons as cruel pirates, with whom it was a pastime to cleave the blue sea pirates' (see Sidonius Epp. L.VIII.6). Now German conquest calling the Saxons hide bound barks had met with a crushing defeat, the tide of their advance had collided with the warriors of the Silures supported by the other Cymru kingdoms, just as the Romans had also run into the same obstacle some four and a half centuries earlier.
'arch
-

The wild rush and dash of the excitable Celts of Gaul with quick exhaustion might have been common characteristics of the Brythonic Celts of North, Mid and West Wales, but here the Saxons had met with a rnixture, including the taciturn and stubborn dark haired Silures. These men were different, with the difference which is still reflected today in the twentieth century, by their descendants on the with rugby football field where they are noted for their sustained and stubborn ferocity combined unpredictable skill, even genius, of movement. Whilst those in Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland and lands further east, must have wondered at the happening at Badon Hill, the Cymru rejoiced. The plan of a combined confederate army of all their kingdoms had now been seen to work brilliantly. Celtic loyalty which was only given to a royal leader of courage and ability was now firmly vested in Arthur and news of this king commanding all the armies of the Britons must have spread through continental Europe. Clovis, King of the Franks, had left British Amorica alone, so would his successors until after Arthur's death and there alone in the far west and absolutely been Romanised, a part of the Roman Empire had survived, a part which had never truly but civilised none-the-less. There are in fact five hill sites in South Wales which offer themselves as Arthurian battle sites:-

165

1.
2. 3.

Mynydd-y-Milwyr at Llandyfodwg Mountain of Soldiers.

The hill outside Newport Gwent.

the

where The Caerau Hill at Llantrisant Welsh Annals record a Battle with the Saxons in 873 A.D. Rhiw Saeson - the Saxon's ridge is below the hill.
-

4.
5.

Mynydd y Glew
Myn d Baiden

Mountain of the Brave.

-

above

Tondu

(Black-

THE GREAT PLAGUE

middle of the sixth century. This plague moved west across Europe, finally reaching Britain, causing the death of huge numbers of people. What it was is uncertain, but it sounds like some form of cholera or possibly typhoid.

The great plague which was known as the Yellow Death spread across Europe from the east in the

that the plague

'tail

Yellow Death

could not have got to Britain before 557 A.D. probably

later.

This is the terrible plague which killed King Maelgwn Gwynedd and the British record shows his death
end' of the plague in 547 A.D. This date is obviously wrong and Maelgwn instead probably at the died around 562 A.D. for the plague came to Britain after France Gaul and lasted five years this would be from 557 A.D. to 562 A.D. The Book of Llandaff records that the ageing King Meurig of Glamorgan survived this plague which lasted five years.
-

So we have evidence that the British record on Maelgwn may be between ten and most probably fifteen years out. This means that no reliance can be placed on any of the sixth century dates in the British Annals which were in fact probably first compiled in 622 A.D.
The plague is important as a date fixing or event fixing happening, for we know that King Meurig of Glamorgan survived it and was then an old man. We know also that King Maelgwn of Gwynedd died at the end of it and that it lasted for five years. We know that Bishop Teilo of Llandaff fled to Bishop Samson in Brittany because of it and that Bishop Oudoceus replaced him. Other events can around the Great Plague of the Yellow Death. There was a great invasion of Pictish Scythians be with a very large fleet before the plague consistent with the Vandals leaving North Africa and the ancient homeland of the Vandals had been Scythia until the fourth century A.D.
'fixed'
-

Notably when Bishop Oudoceus arrived in Glamorgan after the end of the Great Plague he was welcomed by King Meurig, Queen Onbrawst, and their son King Arthwyr. This means that Arthwyr Arthur of South Wales was alive after the end of the Great Plague and so could not have died at any battle of Camlan in 537 A.D. as stated in the cryptic entry of the Welsh Annals.
-

GERAINT OF CORNWALL
The story of Geraint King of Cornwall is told in "Geraint and Enid" in the Mabinogion and apart from the introduction of much later material concerning the Norman conquest of Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, with the dispossession of lestyn ap Gwrgan and the subsequent resistance of Ivor Bach, it is remarkably accurate in its genealogies. Geraint is made to be the direct contemporary of Arthur who is ruling in Gwent. Arthur is said to spend seven consecutive Easters and five consecutive Christmases there at Caerleon. Now Geraint was recorded as King of Cornwall in 557 A.D. when Teilo arrived there. Later Teilo sent a stone sarcophagus from Gaul for Geraint. Geraint is said to be the son of Erbin, grandson of Constantine. The Welsh records and those of the Book of Llandaff confirm this as correct: Gerain ap Erbin ap Custennhin Gorneu. At. this time King Arthwys son of Meurig son of Tewdrig was definitely ruling Gwent and Caerleon. (Geraint succeeded Erbin as King but was in fact his nephew.)

St. Gildas castigated Custennhin Gornau as one of the five dissolute kings and Custennhin grandfather of Geraint, was before Arthwyr's time, or old when Arthur was young. A large number of other names of this precise period are accurately stated. Howell of Brittany correct; Peredur son of Evrawg correct; Cadwr son of Gwrgan - correct; and so on. Edern son of Nudd, Dyvyr son of Alan (of Dyfed?), Gwyn son of Tringad.
-

166

What is important is that Teilo sent a stone sarcophagus from France to Cornwall for Geraint, who therefore must have died between 558 and 562 A.D.
Geraint is recorded in poetry by the bards as being killed at Portsmouth in a battle with Saxons. This with the record of King Conomarus (King Mark) allying himself to German conis entirely consistent At federates to seize lands of other British princes, so causing war in Britain and also in Brittany. irnahr whitreahnorese cavalrW horses orecd Po smouth, Geraei nvva allie e ye yr' na s ath of Geraint x ra r Now Geraint ap Erbin at Llongborth, describing the event as one where Arthur's men are fighting. ap Custennhin is reported alive in 557 A.D. and so also must Arthur have been alive. Next St. Teilo, who visited Geraint in Cornwall in 557 A.D., the year of the Great Plague, accurately dated by Gregory to Wales as Archbishop in of Tours, then sent a coffin to Cornwall for Geraint before he returned 562 A.D.
-whhe

Now we can get to grips with what was in fact happening, for the poet tells us of Arthur's involvement in the war when Geraint was killed. This in fact correlates with the Glamorgan record of the Book of Llandaff that King Arthwyr (Arthur) was alive after the arrival of Bishop Oudoceus in 562 A.D.

What in fact was happening

was that a king of South Western England was attempting to carve out an empire for himself. He was known as Conomurus a King of Cornwall, which then stretched up through Devon and Somerset. Conomurus was also known as King Mark or Marcus and had his citadel at Castle King Conomurus waged war in both Southern Britain and in Brittany and he did Dore near Fowey. Saxons something reprehensible to the Britons in that he engaged in aHiances with the Germans and Frisians and also with Danes and Norsemen.
-

The war in Brittany was fought after the death of Budic in 556 A.D., the same Budic who was restored to his possessions in Brittany by Theoderic the grandfather of Arthur, many years earlier. THE BATTLE OF SASSY
When around 1135 A.D. Gruffydd ap Arthur wrote his history of the kings of Britain, he could never have envisaged that he would be branded a liar, a fabricator, a faker and inventor, by future generations. Certainly his contemporaries who knew him thought that he was te1\ing the truth, and he was after all a Deacon and later a Bishop.

The reason for Gruffydd being regarded as a faker is interesting.

-

It begins with a man named Polydore 1535) an Italian ecclesiastic a friend of Erasmus who came and sought refuge in Britain, Vergil (1470 making his home in England. He rewarded the British by launching a devastating attack on the work of Gruffydd ap Arthur, turning the history of the British into a collection of myths, legends and folkNow Polydore Vergil was singularly unsuited to the understanding of the ancient history of tales. the British, and whilst enjoying a high reputation was not very clever at all.

The problem of Gruffydd ap Arthur's History was its central hero figure the mighty King Arthur. How live around on earth could there be a great King who fought the Saxons in Britain and therefore had to 470 to 570 A.D. and also be the same king who conquered all Western Europe and killed Gratian the Emperor of Rome. Secondly how could there be a British King Brutus who led people from the preimperial town of Byzantium to Britain around 500 B.C., this conflicted with Roman written history. Well this second part is a long story, but now that modern Twentieth Century scholarship has thoroughly debunked the quite false and fake history of Rome from 725 B.C. to 500 B.C. the Brutus legend of the British appears in a totally new light. rthur was a major problem for Gratian died in 383 A.D. and the Saxon Wars ending in the great don took place around 500 to 520 A.D. and it is out of the question for a King to be nd fi hting at Camlan in 537 A.D. truth seems to have occyrred to no-one, powerful in

Battle o

h'e ne two conquerors. Poor Gruffydd ap Art ur m 135 A.D. failed to real was w Gaul, and the seige of Paris and its capture. He then described described the great invasion of France between Arthur and Gratian which resulted in Gratian's death, and the conquest the great confrontation for he was describing the conquests of of Gaul and Western Europe. He told nothing but the truth Uther the Pendragon, who was the son of Magnus Maximus and Queen Arthur I, the son of Victor Helen. Few seem to appreciate that Magnus as the first cousin of Constantine the Great was somewhere around 70 to 80 years old when he ruled as Emperor of the West from 383 to 388 A.D., and that it Gruffydd was the victories of his grandson and chief general Arthur I which made him Emperor. So ap Arthur writing some 750 years later mixed up Arthur I with Arthur 11 and placed the conquests of Arthur I into the mid-sixth century some 150 years later.
-

deang

Gruffydd made the Battle of Sassy his centrepiece of the move into Europe by the British King. This great battle obviously could not have occurred in the Sixth century, when Clovis had conquered aH

167

Gaul except Britanny for the Franks, and then left his kingdom to his four sons. By Sassy, Gruffydd means Soissons and that is where Arthur I defeated the Romans and their allies in 383 A.D. So the heroes who fought with great Arthur in 383 were now moved forward in history to sometime around 530 to 540 A.D. Arthur I did in fact kill Gratian the Emperor of Rome in 383 A.D. a fact recorded not only in general European history but also in the Court Lists of the Kings of Britain of Prince Hywel Dda of Dyfed around 900 A.D.
The problem facing Gruffydd ap Arthur in 1135 was history in some disorder, and with NO DATES available. This was compounded by the British expansion into France from 383 A.D. onwards. Kings of Britain appear to have held northern coastal France in the time of Julius Caesar, who was in fact invading British territory when he took what is now Brittany and Normandy, so precipitating his wars. In 383 A.D. Magnus Maximus gave these coastal lands to Conan Meridiauc, so establishing a powerful British prince in Britanny and Normandy. This not only secured the channel on both sides so protecting Britain itself, but it gave Conan large territories. This was a good move by Magnus for as there were other heirs to the British throne of King Euddav Octavius, Magnus' own son Victor was heir through his mother Helen who was Euddav's daughter. The chief rival to Victor was Conan Meridiauc who also had a claim through the female lines of the family.
-

Britanny and almost certainly Normandy and Poitiers by these British expansionists in 383 A.D. there This took place around 440 A.D. when a prince recorded as Rhio-tav-wys came a further colonization. sailed to occupy lands around the River Loire in France, now Gascony. The @Atbarien invasions by the Germannic taibes of the Vandals, Visigoths, Franks, Suevi and all the others had in fact literally exterminated the population in large areas of continental Europe, one Gothic sack of Milan resulted in over 300,000 of the population being slaughtered.
-

The British territories of Northern Gaul were firmly held by these British princes on down through the centuries under the Dukes of Britanny well into mediaeval times even as late as 1900 most Breton peasants were only able to speak Breton, understanding no French. However following the seizure of
-

to have been a prince of the upper Thames valley if his name denotes his origin, took with him a sizable force which included an army varying between 12,000 and 20,000 men. This means that the migration was well organized and formidable, and that they possessed large and efficient ships, which in turn says a lot about their level of civilization. These British on the Loire were faced with an invasion by Visigoths in 451 A.D. a great Gothic nation who held all Southern France and also Spain. There was a tremendous battle which the British lost, but they had so battered the Visigoths that the Roman forces moving down from the North were able to defeat them. Then these same Roman Gauls, with their Frankish allies, and with the Visigoths were forced to turn and stand together to face the might of Attila and Blaedla the Kings of the Huns.

So the British were expanding to seize large parts of Gaul, first the north and now Gascony. Then these British of Gascony were forced into the struggle for supremacy. Rhiotavwys who is believed

These earlier migrations into Gaul were followed by more migrations in the Sixth century, principally under the ambitious Conomorus also known as King Mark of Cornwall. This all left Gruf
ithout the aid of dates it is

ith a mass

orical data of the British invasions and Battles in hat he got the story muddled. t suprizi

What appears also to have happened is that the sec g Arthur of Glamorgan also fought a campaign in northern France. King Mark of Cornwall was the cause of the trouble as we will see. This prince who emerges through the mists of time as an evil monster if the legends bear any truth at all. He seems to have anticipated Caesar Borgia by a thousand years, for the old Breton legends tell of his marrying four successive heiresses. These he murdered in turn to marry the next and so to increase his land claims and his excuses for conquest in both Britanny and in greater Britain. Finally he made the mistake of attempting the same murderous policy on a niece of the great King Arthur II, and involved himself in the clan affairs of these South Wales princes. He was already out of his depth so stirring by up the heirs who survived of the other Breton royal houses, and by involving the King of the Franks in the uproar. The detail

Conomorus and his ally Chramn the eldest son of Lothair King of the Franks, were both killed it was a charge by heavy British cavalry which decided the issue. This sounds too like the heavy cavalry of King Arthur II, and a host of Britanny legends record the King as visiting and fighting in the province at the time when Conomorus was active.
--

of all this can be told elsewhere,

but in the decisive battle

fought

in Britanny

where

Possibly it seems incredible that a battle fought in 383 A.D. could become confused with battle fought a in or around 560 A.D. but that is quite clearly what has happened. The result is that poor Gruffydd ap Arthur is still being wrongly labelled a fake.

As we have seen the Arthurian legends include ideas of a conquest in France where Arthur overcomes the combined powers of many nations, the Romans, the Franks and others. Arthur I did take Gaul in 383 A.D., but Arthur 11may also have fought there in 560 A.D.

168

Budic the ruler of Brittany died about 556 A.D. and immediately a three-cornered fight began between Maclavus Maclean, lord of the south, Riwal Howell lord of the north and Conomorus in the west at Carhaix.
-

Maclean was the fourth brother of Canao or Conon of Vannes, who had murdered the other three Maclean around 550 A.D. Conomorus sheltered Maclean actually hiding him as a corpse in a tomb until murderous Conon died, and then he was tonsured as a cleric and became Bishop of Vannes until the became the new ruler.

the Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset Conomorus was a king of the Dumnonian region of Britain He had led the third wave of British emigrants into Brittany sometime between 507 and 530 A.D. areas. and he ruled lands on both sides of the Channel.
-

Castle Dore at Fowey, where the at Villa Banhedos King was also known as Marcus. His name is inscribed on the tombstone of his son Drustanus at the crossroads at Tywardreath near Castle Dore. In legend Conomorus is King Mark of Cornwall, a conIn fact Arthwyr ap Meurig was his contemporary over in South Wales at this temporary of Arthur. time, so the legend is correct.

Paul Aurelian visited the court of Conomorus

Conomorus was not popular with the Church for he had far too many wives, murdering four of them, and was utterly ruthless. He married the sister of Maclean in Brittany and then killed the ruler of eastern

Dumnonia, driving the heir ludual (Idwal) out to the court of King Childebert in Paris around 557 A.D. Next he turned on Riwal or Howell, the ruler of western Dumnonia who died in 558, and so annexed that area as well. He married the widow of Howeit as well and so secured further areas in Achm and Leon and controlled all Brittany except Vannes

Conomorus was not popular with the other Britons. He had many Germanic allies as well as Danes, Northmen and Frisians. Around 558 to 559 Samson of Dol, Paul Aurelian and Bishop Albinus of Angers went to King Childebert to ask for the restoration of ludual in Brittany. Conomorus moved too quickly for them however and accepted the title of Prefect of the King of the Franks.
Then Conomorus made a mistake when he became an ally of Chramn, the grandson of King Childebert with his father Clothair. King Childebert died in 558 A.D. and Clothair succeeded who had quarrelled him as King. Now Conomorus was involved in a war between King Clothair and his son Chramn.

In a battle in 560 Clothair killed both Chramn and Conomorus. This is well recorded in Gregory of Tours' "History of the Franks" and in various saints' "Lives", including that of Samson. The British recorded this as a victory for ludual who was returned to power and this warrants some examination. from Britain, including Frisian 'Saxons' as had brought reinforcements King Mark Conomorus well as Danes and Northmen. ludual also landed in Brittany from the sea and had large forces and
-

numerous

heavy British cavalry which had to come from Britain not Paris.

The German

forces of Conomorus landed in the Bay of Douarnenez at the lie Tristan. Tristan is in British folklore the nephew of King Mark of Cornwall and probably the King's son led the mercenary army. ludual's landing provoked a general uprising against Conomorus and in two battles Conomorus was pushed back into Carhaix. Then the German and other reinforcements entered the struggle, possibly under Tristan, and Conomorus marched to meet the army of Clothair and ludual which lay at Ploueneur Menez, south of Morhaix. The battle lasted for two days with the Germans mauling the infantry of ludual and Clothair until a charge by the British heavy cavalry shattered them, In the rout that followed Conomorus fell from his horse and was trampled to death, the body being taken to Castle Dore for burial. Chramn fled to the ships and then returned to rescue his wife and children, they were all caught and burned to death in a cottage. The German mercenaries were also out of luck, for peasants on the beaches and they were forced to surrender. had burned

their ships where they lay

Clothair died at Tours in December 561 A.D., one year and a day after his son Chramn. British tradition holds that at some time Caradoc Vriechfras of the south Wales royal clan ruled in Brittany around 560. This Caradoc figures in pedigree lists and in the Liber Landavensis. Here in this war may be the genesis of the Arthurian legend of a great war in France against numerous enemies.

Here we have the explanation of KingArthur's involvement in Brittany and in England down to Cornwall in support of Cato and others. The enemy was Conomorus, or Mark of Dumnonia, with his Germanic federates and allies.
two hundred years still inndepeg
i

t a large

e to join William in his invasion and conquest of England. These soldiers were in

ny is then well recorded on until about 640 A.D. when a major period of some a virtual complete blank. Later Counts of Brittany are well known and the area is the time of William the Conqueror of Normandy in 1066 Count Alan of Brittany

169

II

fact kinsmen of the Welsh and their language was the same. This was a massive motivating force in stimulating the old South Wales Arthurian legends. Many of these Brittany knights were sent to the border areas of South Wales, where their language and kinship was common. One family which enjoyed a large future in South Wales was that of Fitz Alan which sprang the future line of the Stuart Kings of Scotland and later England. However back in 560 A.D. someone had to lead the British army with its armoured heavy cavalry when it landed in Brittany to restore ludual to his lands. This could obviously have been King Arthur or our King Arthwys. Three British royal clans had relatives holding each of the three counties of Brittany and so each would support its kinsmen. In this war King Conomorus of Dumnonia in Britain and Brittany had threatened all South Western Britain and Leon, Achm, and Cornouailles, held by relatives of the Kings of South Wales. It is therefore extremely likely that the King would go to put matters right. Geoffrey of Monmouth got the whole thing wrong and hopelessly inflated matters, but there certainly was a war with the British fighting in France in 560 A.D. ing Conomorus (Mark) is recorded as over people who spoke four languages", a clear indication of his Germanic and Norse alliances. Paul Aurelian was in fact summoned to be his bishop in Britain, but refused and went over to Brittany between 540-550 A.D. to found Pol-de-Leon.
"ruling

Con
av ge and i

osed too great a threat to the Kings of the Franks and the British, and by his alliances erman tribes he may well have been instrumental in tipping the balance against the British of the Saxons.

BRITISH PRINCES IN BRITTANY

ROUVAL
"Eternalis
-

HOWELL d.556 Legendary friend of King Arthur

Vedomauus"

X KILLED BY

CANAO d. 556

X KILLED BY CANAO

ROUVAL (RHIWAL) (HOWELL)

CANAO

MACLEAN Fled from Canao survived

.......... -

d.556

King Conomorus of Dumnonia also known King as Comotus

\ I
TUDUAL-ITHAEL

(also known as JONA & JENA)

JUDUAL-ITHAEL restored to his lands by a British army in 560 A.D.

KILLED BY

Mark or Count or Count Conmer was his

ally.

CONOMORUS
d. 556

CANAO is CATO or also CATOTIGIRNUS. There is a Life of a Saint which states that Arthur was in Dumnonia in Brittany with ruled". There is a memorial Cato stone to Bodvoc son of Catotigirnus at Margam.
"who

*King Childebert of the Franks and Prince Ithael Judual helped by a British heavy cavalry army defeated King Conomorus and Chramn son of Childebert, also Maclean.

THE BATTLE OF CAMLAN

The site of the battle of Camlan has preoccupied many people over many a long year. This was the final fateful battle in which Arthur, the Emperor of Britain, is believed to have been killed. The entry in ancient Welsh Annais is far from clear for it records:"....

strife at Camlan. Arthur and Modred fel/."

So there was a battle at Camlan, that s beyond dispute. Now Arthur was there and so was Modred, we do not know if they opposed each other and were both killed, or if they were on the same side. Modred certainly fell, meaning he was killed, but does the entry mean 'Battle of Camlan, between Arthur and Modred, who was killed'? This is not imposiand it opens up the possibility of Arthur dying elsewhere under different circumstances. It may well be that Arthur died at Camlan or that he died later of wounds received at Camlan, but this is not certain.

Then there is the location of the site of this battle, which for some completely

inexplicable reason

170

River Camelford in Cornwall, by guesswork in the sixteenth was arbitrarily fixed at Slaughterford on the Leland to thank for this catastrophe. John century. We hav period was Geraint or Gerennius and his First we know hat the Kmg of Cornwall in the Arthurian That eliminates Arthur Erbin whose father was King Custennyn (Constantine). predecessor was King Morganwg, was inhabited by Goedelic Celts, the likelihood from CornwalL As Cornwall, like Dyfed and The struggle would be of such a struggle is remote as the whole history of the Welsh denies this. Celts and Brythonic Celts. This means between a swarthy dark haired King Agwys between Goedelic Kings of Gwyneddof South Wales and a taller, fair or auburn haired King of North and Mid-Wales. The of more noble and therefore Powys and Ceredigion were Brythonic and they considered themselves Mascen Wiedig (Magnus superior descent than Arthwys of Morganwg. They claimed their descent from of Tacitus, son of Paternus, from King Cunnedda son Maximus) Roman Emperor of the West and the misty times of the second century. There is proof of this son of Eternus, a line going back into and his lineage is disattitude in every written entry in the lands of the Brythonic Celts, where Arthur inferior in blood. paraged and criticised as being
,

and behold' in Wales and The battle between the two Celtic race types would therefore take place such a battle in Wales and the name of the place is Camlan. Every year there is a perfect location for the winding A.470 road from Mallwyd through to Doligellau, heading many thousands of tourists drive slab-sided steep of the Ochr-y-Bwich. Here the valley runs between two great north through the pass together, narrowing the pass. As the valley narrows so also mountains which converge closer and closer Here is the absolutely bottleneck. the floor rises sharply and steeply to a difficult, steep and narrow south, this place to block an invader from penetrating into North Wales from the natural and obvious is also the only way from the south to the fortress of Gwynedd This is the natural Welsh Thermopylae. could not enter the north from South in the north and unless an invader could force this pass, then he
'lo

Wales. have been for so long The situation of Camlan is all so obvious that it is incredible that its location can Survey Maps 1 to 50,000 series, sheet No. 124 is 815-167. mistaken. The map reference on Ordinance which has always been named Camfan since time immemorial. a vital pass Hereis a remote place
---

by one Modred being challenged Arthur, our Arthwys, Pendragon of Britain, King of Glamorgan, was they both were fatally wounded in the battle. in Latin Metrodorus) and it appears that (Medrawd he would certainly be able to find It is recorded a certainty that Medrawd was a nephew of Arthur, as the life story of site identification fairly straightforward, many allies in North Wales. This makes is sufficient to state here that mid-way through his Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd will later show. It Wales and entered the church, extraordinary career, Maelgwn gave up the throne of Gwynedd, North understood, he suddenly resumed his position as King of Gwynedd. then for some reason only dimly Arthur was defeated. The The fact is that Maelgwn returned as King of Gwynedd in 542 A.D. when he decided to abdicate and died must have been the King who replaced Maelgwn when Modred who join the church.
-

vacant. There was no struggle when Maelgwn regained his throne, so it must killed by Arthur in 542 at Camfan fit very well with a King Modred replacing Maelgwn and then being split into its seven small it in a titanic civil war. The power of Morganwg was shattered as once again and Brecheiniog as it of Glamorgan, Gwent, Gower, Ergyng, Ewyas, Glewysswg federated kingdoms kingdom of Gwynedd was in the ascendant with Maelgwn back had always been before. The larger unit Maelgwn of Gwynedd Camlan, King ad king and Arthur incapacitated and in 546 A.D., four years after King of the Britons in place of Arthur. was elected as
united as part of the rest of Wales After this, Morganwg or South East Wales, was never again to be Gryffydd ap 1020 A.D., some 478 years later, when for the first time since Arthur, until the year LLewellyn succeeded in making himself Prince of aff Wales.

have been

This would

of the battle site, a visit to Camlan in the Afon Cerist Valley The valley crooked, winding, glen between two great stab-like mountains. will show them a glen a irregular inclines as the floor of the valley rises is road goes up along the bottom, pitching steeply up The work Camlan means with a modern metalled road. a jumble of steep rock, a difficult pass even is exactly what we have at this pass, the vital link between the North and South glen' and this of Wales.

For those who doubt this explanation

-

'crooked

would seek to stand to oppose This is the ideal spot where a rebellious Medrawd or Mordred in the north Possibly if John Leland could have spoken the advance of Arthur from the south from Morganwg. made his wild and wrong guess over Welsh in 1540 or if he had ever come this way, he would not have a river-ford site in Cornwall. Camlan means No Welsh historian says that Arthur was killed at Camlan - none of them, and a crooked glen. that is what we have south of Dollgellau glen"and not a river-ford, and
-

"crooked

Gwynedd and the Finally "The Life of St. Cadoc" gives clear evidence of a war between Maelgwn raiding Glamorgan. This clearly raises the possibility Glamorgan Kings, with the sons of Maelgwn

171

of Arthur and Modred fighting against Maelgwn at Camlan. The civil war was logically one between South Wales and North Wales. The descendants of Brutus and Magnus Maximus in the South were warring with the descendants of Conan and Cunedda in the North. There is a strange echo of the Battle of Camlan in the Ochr-y-Bwich pass, in the "Song of the Graves" in the Ancient Books of Wales. This tells of the grave of Arthur's faithful companion Bedwyr the Sir Bedevere of the later Romances.
-

"The tomb of the son of Osvran is in Camlan After much slaughter. The tomb of Bedwyr is on the steep of Tryvran" So now we know where "Sir Bedevere" of legend was buried, also we know of his relationship to King Arthur, for Arthur is said to have married Osvran's daughter. Osvran father of Bedwyr and presumably Guinevere was a late fifth, early sixth, century chieftain.
'

THE IDENTITY OF MEDRAWD THE TRAITOR

The information in the Book of Llandaff indicates that Medrawd was a nephew of Arthur being son Caurdaf, ap Caradoc ap Gwrgan Mawr. This may not be the case for the Lives of the Saints tell Medrawd being son of Cowrda ap Caradoc Vreichfras ap Llyr Marini. The evidence also points locating Medrawd up in North Wales around the Lleyn Penninsular. This reinforces the concept a war between North and South Wales. Llyr Marini of of to of

Caradoc Vreichfras

Caw

I
Iddew

(iddawg)

Medrawd

---m. ---

St. Kwyllog

St. Gildas

Huail

Corthi o Gwyn Dyfnoc Brywen Hen

St. Kwyfen
Medrawd revelled against Arthur and was killed at the battle of Camlan. Iddew is Iddawg Corn Prydain or Iddawg the "Churn of Britain" always formenting Huail was executed by Arthur for rebellion and raiding. war.

They appear to have been a Northern problem family.

172

CHAPTER SEVEN THE GENERATIONS OF THE KINGS

historical information, they do For all the difficulties in using the 'Lives of the Saints' for majority of the Celtic Saints offer the only sources of data which we have. The vast cases offer descended from or married into the ancient British nobility, do in fact noble origin and so of the British Kings in the fifth and sixth information on the identity and family structures
in some being of valuable century.

These ancient

had several wives which does complicate the relationships conflicted with their position as between the various historical figures known to us. This in no way patriarchs of the Bible as well as adhe g they were acting in accordance with Hebrew Christians, as to national custom.

Celtic Kings customarily

and their families. We know from the Saint' 'Lives' of two of the wives of King Teithfalit who we have identified as the grandfather the father of Tewdrig Theoderic Teithfallt was
-

This King of Arthur.

The first wife was named Corun

1.

and the immediate family tree is as follows:-

Tietfallt
Thathal Ithael?

Cuneda WIedig (North Wales y Cornwaites)

Keredic

2.

8 other sons Itha'el Hael

3. 4.

Teithfallt

m.-----Corun

(daughter

Tewdrig/Theoderic

marriage. This links the South Wales kings with the Great Cuneda of North Wales by
named Dwyanned and she represents another dipThen there is a second wife of Teithfallt, this time Iomatic dynastic marriage tie. The family tree relationship is as follows:-

Amlodd Wiedig (Brittany)

(Thuder) Teithfallt m. Dwyanned

Theoderic (Tewdrig)

other children

Alternatively Dwyanned is the wife of Theoderic

Theodosius,

Tewdrig,

himself and not his father Teithfatit

--

problems arising from the mulClearly one of the two descents is wrong and this clearly illustrates the first generation tiple marriages of these kings. What we do gain from this is that Cuneda, being of the of rulers, Amlodd Wiedig and Keredic are of the second generation, Teithfallt of post-Roman Celtic fourth generation. the third and Tewdrig Theoderic is of the
-

This rough guide enables us to start putting looks something like the following:Generation 1

these ancient rulers

into an approximate

timescale which

Generation 2 Generation 3 Generation 4

Generation 5

Generation 6

380 to 420 A.D. 420 to 450 A.D. 450 to 480 A.D. 480 to 510 A.D. 510 to 540 A.D. 540 to 570 A.D.

Cuneda Wiedig Amlodd Wiedig, Keredic

Teithfallt, Ithael Tewdrig

Meurig Arthwys

piece of historical Other information supports this, for in the Liber Landavensis we find a gratuitous raided and information which states that in the time of the Kings Teithfallt and Ithael, the Saxons successfully and that devastated into South Wales. The entry further states that they were driven out (Tewdrig). This certainly there were no further raids for thirty years to the time of the king's son and Nennius to have risen fits a time frame or scale where the Saxons are historically stated by Gildas A.D. revolt around 456 A.D. The entry then states that after this rebellion and raiding around 456 in thirty years. So trouble would have erupted again around in the time of Teithfallt there was peace for 486 to 490 A.D. This was the time of the death of Ambrosius Aurelianus. and Jutish This knowledge is important, for it is not until around 500 A.D. that the Saxon, Angle actual invasions in Gaul and Britain. Previous problems had stemmed from Saxon tribes began their is borne out by coastal mercenary settlements erupting and turning inland against the Britons. This
e

173

the 'History of the Franks' by Gregory of Tours, where the Saxons began troubling King Clovis around 500 A.D., invading and siezing coastal areas and isles, establishing themselves on the Loire by 515 A.D. This may well help to establish the period of activity of the British Ambrosius Aurelianus which would in this scale of time have occurred later than generally believed. The fighting would have re-started around 486 A.D. to 500 A.D. along the south coast of England, culminating in the Portsmouth invasion around 500 or 501 A.D. With this established there is another small family relationship This time we have Saint Keidaw and his ancestors:to examine, also recalling Cuneda Wiedig.

- Victor - son of Magnus Maximus Victor the Teyrn Uther the Pendragon Wethwuyr - Wertheuyr Uendigeit the Blessed -

Wethwuyr

- King of the Isle of Britain Anhun

=
-

Wertheuyr

Uendigeit

Enyr Gwent m. Madrun

(Enyr Gwent Keidaw

Arthur I

Ambrosius of Caerwent)

The interesting point here is that we have Wertheuyr, King of the Isle of Britain, in the Third Generation period which is approximately 450 to 480 and would seem therefore to be a man worth investigating. Is Wertheuyr as it seems to be, Uther-teyrn or Uther-theyrn has Wertheuyr been or Victor the King corrupted to Uthyr or Wthyr or Withur, the Roman Victor. The period is in fact that of the last years of Vortigern's reign and he would seem to be the great king listed here. Saint Keidaw, the son of Enyr (Ambrosius) of Gwent in fact set up a well known monastic teaching school in the fortress town of Caerwent, smaller than the establishment of Illtyd, Cadoc and Dubricius, but nonetheless famous for its time.
-

Using the idea of a time scale by generations after Dubricius. His pedigree is as follows:-

one can test the idea on St. Teilo, the Bishop of Llandaff

1.
2. 3. 4. Eusych

Cuneda Wiedig
Keredic Hydwnn Dwnn Ensic (or Ensych or Eussyllt of Enssith or Ensich or Hensych) The method is crude and inexact,

5.

Teilav

Teito

This places Teilo correctly in the first half of the sixth century. but it does provide a sensible framework.

The fact which emerges from this examination of family pedigrees and genealogy by generations, is that the person who throws the history of these South Wales royal families into confusion, is none other than Dubricious the Bishop of Llandaff. We have to place this Dubricious accurately as he plays a major role in the story. His place in the generation table is as follows:1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Nynniaw Teithfallt Tewdrig Meurig Erbin
'

I Yrb - Erb Pepiau

Pebiau

Eurddil (daughter)
Dubricious

This effectively squashes all the nonsene of Dubricious being appointed by St. Germanus in 455 A.D. and puts him into a life time scale of somewhere between 480 A.D. and 570 A.D.

174

who moved from South Wales This fits with the life time of Samson the pupil of St. Illtyd, the Samson family of Samson is recorded as follows:to become Bishop of Dol in Gaul. The 5. 6. 7. King Meurig of Glamorgan I Amwn Ddu m. Anna Arthur
I
I

Affrella m. Umbraefel

Samson Bishop of Dol

500-560 A.D. As Anna is said We can place Samson squarely in the sixth century between the years of Arthur, this places the King in Generation 6. to be the sister
following family descent:This brings us to St. Illtyd who taught Samson and Illtyd is said to have the Amfodd Wiedig Bic nys m. sister of Emrys Llydaw Emyr Llydaw
-

uler o Brittany

5. 6.

(Bicanys m. Rieniguilida)
Ilttyd

Site

King Meurig
"

older than Samson but not necessarily We can place Il tyd as being in between Generations 6 and 7, of King older. Now Amlodd Wiedig is by some believed to be the maternal grandfather very much another matter, what it means is that Arthur's mother if believed Arthur. Whether this is true or not is of Amlodd WIedig (the leader) is placed in to be a sister or half-sister of Rieniguilida the daughter into Generation 6 and so his period has to be 500 to 570 A.D. or Generation 5. This puts Arthur thereabouts.

few dates existing This is possibly where the whole concept of "Arthur" has previously gone wrong. The the King was placed in late Generation 4 or were taken to place the Badon battle at 518 A.D. and so Generation 3 and Generation 5. When he could not be located in these Generations, he was sought in that Arthur was The proven accuracy of the dates in the Cambrian Annals shows even Generation 2. correctly probably correctly placed in 518 A.D. in fighting his battles. The Mabinogion stories cast him Sir Galahad and Rhun, of Maelgwn Gwynedd, and his sons, with Rhuvon Bevr as a contemporary the Saxons at Badon. Arthur is depicted as a young king in these stories, present with his armies to fight being advised by his older, more experienced uncles.
-

Plainly, the search for the great "King Arthur" was going of forward. By moving our time location on to the third otherwise answer to a great many questions which have the two great conquerors, Arthur I who the problem.

back in time instead in the wrong direction quarter of the sixth century A.D. we have the By identifying been dismissed as nonsense. and Arthur II who liberated Britain,we solve
-

1. Gildas does not name Arthur or mention him in his De Excidio written around 533 to 537 A.D. The reason is obvious, for of all the great British leaders mentioned, Arthur is not because Gildas was desperately trying to stop the civil war which ended in 537 A.D. at the Battle of Camlann. Gryffydd ap Arthur is named as fighting in Gaul against Lucius Tiberius, Procurator of Gaul, by 2. is beyond dispute that Falvius Constantinus Tiberius served the Emperors Justinian the Great It Arthur. 11 527-565 and Justin li 565-578 as Commander of the Guard before becoming emperor as Tiberius 578-582. Arthur 1 may well have fought a Roman of that name in 383-388 A.D. known Arthur is said to have killed Hueil the brother of Gildas around 565 A.D. when Gildas is in Ireland. This he could not have done had he himself died in 537 or 542 A.D. to have been

3.

The Mabinogion stories place Arthur alongside a great number of characters known to have lived, 4. As mentioned, Rhuvon Bevr, Rhun, who were themselves Generation 6 and even 7, personalities. Heuil, Owain and so on. Gwrgi, Peredur,

This also brings in the surviving Brecon manuscripts of the families of King Tewrig and King 5. the 4th and Sth. Brychan, which again place Arthur in the 6th Generation with Tewdrig and Meurig in
The Welsh Annals list St. David as being at Caerleon at the Synod of Victory in 539 A.D. This why at Caerleon in Gwent and Glamorgan, where was a church victory over the Pelagian heresy and points to the national the reigning kings in 540 were King Meurig and his son King Arthwys? This entry celebration of victories and if the dates are anywhere near accurate, then they must mean celebchurch rations under Arthwys (Athrwys) King of Glamorgan and Gwent.

6.

175

7. One modern author writes of an entry in the Welsh Annals of Arthur's death in 570 A.D. If this is correct then the significance is enormous, for it can only be Arthwys.
8. A further point of significance is that the Brecon manuscripts make no mention at all of Arthwys (Athrwys) the son of Meurig, but they do include Arthur. It can only be that this is one and the same Welsh' of Gwent and person. It may obviously be a simple matter of dialect and spelling, for the Glamorgan differed from that of the rest of Wales.
'old

Apart from the dubious entries in the Annals which state that there was a battle at Badon Hill in 518 A.D. and that there was also a battle at Camian involving Arthur and Mordred, all the available evidence of any sort indicates that Arthur lived until around 570 A.D. It also strongly indicates that Arthur, and Arthwys son of Meurig and grandson of Tewrig, would have lived from around 491 to 570 A.D. This scenario fits with the fact that it was not until 577 A.D. that the Saxons of what was to become victory, where they captured three British Wessex, made any move westwards in their well recorded cities and killed three British leaders or kings. The Saxon move west took place after the death of Arthwys, when they won their victory at Dereham in 577 A.D. The Saxons never took Morganwg South East Wales. It would seem in fact that the Anglo Saxon records are more accurate, for they record a battle in 509 when a Welsh High King was killed, which would in our time scale be Tewdrig (Theoderic) and also battles are recorded in 519 which would mark the beginning of the period of King Arthwys son of King Meurig.
-

The mass of charter and other entries in the Book of Llandaff does in fact clearly illustrate the hierarchy of the Kings of the Britons. The later English feudal system was organised into kings, then dukes, then earls, then marquesses, the viscounts, barons and knights. The Britons simply had kings, a High King, then kings, sub-kings, minor kings and so on. The Llandaff entries always name the High Kings and their sons first in the numerous lists, other names are entered singularly or occasionally with their fathers. Only examination and comparison shows that many of the names in the lists were in fact also ranked as kings, but were also inferior to the leading or High King. The Higfi King is always named first and is styled and there can be no doubt that Tewdrig, Meurig, Arthwys, Morgan, Ithael and their successors were the senior kings of the area.
'king'

There is a Somerset folk tale of a King Mellwas who stole the wife of a King Arthur. In the Book of Llandaff there is an entry of a charter which deals with a grant by King Ithael, son of King Morgan, grandson of King Arthwys, (our Arthur) which is being made in memory of King Ithael's son Arthwys. This Arthwys is the great grandson of King Arthwys son of Meurig, who we have identified as King Arthur. The grant is made to Bishop Berthgwyn who was Bishop of Llandaff around 590 to 620 A.D. and amongst the list of witnesses is one named Melwas. So we have a Melwas, probably a sub-king with a prince or king named Arthur or he would not have been named, who was contemporary Arthwys. The folk tale may therefore be correct, but it concerns another Arthur, the great grandson of the great conqueror. This demonstrates the extreme accuracy of properly interpreted folk tales.
-

There is in fact no evidence at all that the campaigns of the legendary King Arthur were only fought against the Saxons. The story may well be one of conquest over all the princes of Britain, including the Saxons. This would account for the Camlan entry in the Welsh Annals with Arthur named with Mordred in either 537 or some other date as part of his campaign to gain supremacy. Alternatively, the date is widely wrong and misleading. The generations of several other Saints also bear out the idea of King Arthur being located in Generation 6 at around 500 to 570 A.D.

One of these is Padarn, who is directly concerned with a recorded confrontation with Arthur in historical story and Saints' Lives. Padarn is reported as coming to Britain from Amorica in 516 A.D. He arrived in Morganwg and studied under Illtyd at Llanilltyd Fawr Llantwit Major at the monastery college. Later he went to Cardiganshire and founded a society of one hundred and twenty members in effect a monastic church. Padarn became Bishop and then remained so for twenty one years
-

until around 545 that is. Padarn's descent is as follows:4. 5. Emyr Llydaw Pedrwn (Pedredin)

6.

Padarn

As we can place the generation of Emyr Llydaw,we can place that of Padarn, which is in fact Generation 6, that of Arthur. The dates may obviously be wrong concerning Padarn, who could well be an old man when Arthur was young.
The best evidence from clerical sources may come from two other prominent sixth century bishops.

Teilo the Bishop of Llandaff and Samson the Bishop of Dol in Amorica.

176

We are told in the Life of Bishop Oudoceus that in the time when Aricol Lawhir ruled over Dyfed, Prince Budic of Amorica sailed to Dyfed with his fleet. Budic had been expelled by a usurper and we know from other sources that King Tewdrig the senior king of South Wales, was instrumental in getting
him reinstated. Budic is described as fleeing from Cornouailes (Brittany) or Kerneo (Western Brittany). At this time Tewdrig is old and Budic is young, so they are respectively of Generations 4 and 5. with Tewdrig.

We know that Aircol Lawhir was contemporary

We know from this Life that Bishop Teilo left Llandaff and went to Brittany via Cornwall (where the King was Geraint) in 556 or 557 A.D.
Teilo may have been Budic's brother-in-law, for his father was Eusych or Eusic, and Budic married Annaned daughter of Ensic and Gwenhaf. Teilo had a sister Arianwedd and this does appear to be the same person. Budic's father was a son of Rhuval or Howel, the first of Brittany, an unnamed prince one of five brothers. One brother Canao murdered Rhuval or Howell II and two other brothers, including Budic's father. The surviving fifth brother, named Maclean, fled from Canao.

Budic returned to Brittany another name, Howel.

with his infant son around 546-7 A.D. This son was Thierry,

but he had

In 556 Teilo went to Brittany as stated and found that Rhuval II's son Jona (Jena) had been killed by Count Conumur, one of King Childebert's lieutenants and Judual (Ithael) was held prisoner by Childebert in Paris. Count Conumur is Count Commotus in Gregory of Tours, and was in fact King Conomurus of Dumnonia, also known as Marcus or King Mark of CornwalL

Teilo stayed with Samson the Bishop of Dol, who was in fact a grandson of Meurig or Tewdrig and a first cousin of Morgan ap Arthwys. One of Samson's parents was brother or sister to Arthwys and yve can date Samson accurately, for he signed or subscribed to acts at the Second Council of Paris in
557 A.D. as Bishop of Dol.

The Commotions of Canao's murder of his brothers gave Childebert the chance to interfere in Brittany in 547, so Samson must have arrived around 548 to 550 as Bishop. He is said to have lived to be 68 and his death is variously assessed at between 564 and 593. He was very young when sent to Dol and could have been around 25 to 30, so he would have been born around 520 to 525 and died around 588 to 593.
King Meurig, his grandfather is believed to have lived to around 575 A.D.

Rhuval or Howel of Amorica is reported as being a friend of Arthur. If this is Rhuval or Howel I or 11 who was murdered around 546-7 A.D., this is consistent with Arthwys being Arthur and being active at this period. The older Count Rhuval would have died around 546 and the sons fell to murdering each other over the succession immediately afterwards. Arthur's friend could in fact be another Rhuval Howel, a son of Budic. We can place Teilo as living from 520 c. to 580 A.D. and Samson of Dol
-

as living from 525 to 593 A.D.

The information from the Lives of Saints continues to build up the picture of Arthur by establishing his Generation. There is the well known Life of St. Tugdual, a Welshman from South Wales who moved to Brittany and went east into Gaul. The story of Tugdual and its miracles is not of significance, but his family is. We have seen elsewhere how Arthur fits into the family of King Brychan and Brychan was a grandson of King Tewdrig in Generation 4. In the Life of St. Tugdual we are told from Welsh and Breton sources who his family were and he was related to King Brychan by marriage. St. Tugdual is variously referred to as Tugdual, Tual, Tudal, Tugduval, Tudgual, Tuzal and Tudwal, and an island off the Caernarvonshire coast preserves the name St. Tugdual or Tudwal. Welsh genealogies assert that Tugdual was amongst the first pupils of Illtyd along with his brother Leonor and that when a young man he married Nefydd the daughter of King Brychan and had two sons named Ifor (Ivor) a Celtic Saint, and Cynfor who became father of Constantine Coronog.

The Bretons give his mother as Popaea, sister of Riwal Murmaczon

Rhuval or Howel I died circa 546.

177

The Welsh give his father as Cadfan son of Cynan Meiriadog. So we have:-

3.
4. Popaea -m.--..Cadfan

Cynan Meiriadog sister of Howel I

King Brychan Nefydd Cynfor

5. 6.

Tugdual----m.

Ifor

Constantine Coronog
This does not fit with the Brecon Manuscripts which name Nefydd - Nyuein as the wife of Kenuarch Cul. This is not problem at all, for Tugdual's entry to the church full-time would have allowed Nefydd to re-marry, a very common Celtic situation and for this second marriage we have:so
-

4.

King Meirchiaun

King Brychan

5. 6.

I Kenuarch Cul-Gwrgi
Peredur

m.-I Cruoni

Myuein (Nefydd) Euerdil Estedich m. Elidit

-

Coscoraur Coronag Wiedig

--

We know that Arthur is named as Gwrgi and Peredur in the Brecon Manuscripts in the same generation No. 6. We also know that St. Tugdual can be dated as dying around the year 564 A.D. He built the church at Tre-Pabu in Leon, then Prince Derog of Dumnonia gave him the Traoun (Trecor) Valley, now Treguier, where he built the monastery. Then when the citizens of Lexobia or Coz-Guerded made to appoint him Bishop, Tugdual fled to St. Albinus at Angers between 538 and 550 A.D. King Childebert of Paris intervened and Tugdual became Bishop until his death recorded as in 564.

So we have yet another personage who belongs to Generation 5 and through his relationships, places Arthur into Generation 6. The prospect of Arthur active until around 570 or 575 A.D. looms larger, no matter which of the interwoven family histories of the kings, princes and bishops are examined. The Life of St. Teilo tells of a great raid on Britain by an army from 'Scythia' carried in a huge fleet. These people are recorded as arriving in the time of Teilo, Dewi and Padarn, which must be before the plague of 566 A.D. Here is in fact historical evidence of the Vandal arrival in Britain, probably in 548 A.D., the invasion described in the Mabinogion as the great boar hunt of Trwch Trych in "Culhwch and Olwen". The chieftain named Boia is recorded as being of the Gwyddyl Fffichti, the Painted Picts, as distinct from the Irish. There is no way that Arthur could have died in 537 A.D. at Camlan or anywhere else in the face of these related facts.
We have to look for Arthur 11 in the second and third quarters of the sixth 575. Even the pedigree of David (Dewi) Patron Saint of Wales demonstrates century A.D., from 525 to this. St. David is widely recorded as being the uncle of King Arthur. This probably means that he was older than Arthur and his ancestry illustrates this:-

G.1. G.2. G.3. G.4.

Arthur has to be Arthrwys,

Cuneda Wiedig
Caredig (Keredic)

Sandde

Gynyr of Gaergawch m. Non

\
-

I David
the Paramount
-

mother

King of Glamorgan and Gwent.

ARTHWYR

ILLTYD

SAMSON

The Saints of the first half of the sixth century also help to locate and identify Arthur. There are several who claim close kinship with Arthur including Illtyd, Samson, Cadoc and Dubricious. Samson, whose civilian rank was that of king, was able to claim that he was Arthur's nephew and this through his mother, the daughter of King Meurig. His father was Amwn Ddu of Dyfed, sometimes
His uncle named Umbraifael the brother of Amwn Ddu, who married another

connected with Amorica. daughter of King Meurig.

178

The church Caerworgan, stones.

of St. Illtyd at Llantwit Major, formally containing a number of ancient inscribed

The site of King Owens eight acre buried palace at Caermead. Built around 120 A.D. it became the legendary Camelot.

The cross in the churchyard of St. Illtyd which illustrates what Mediaeval writers describe asa Pyramid.

179

5. 6.
Frioc

Meurig Idnerth Arthwyr

d.Anna -m.-Amwn

Ddu
Brothers

d. Alffreda-m.-Umbraefael 7.

Samson, son of Anna and Amwn

-

"Lightening Rhainfellt Illtyd also links with Arthur by virtue of his mother who was Reinmeth Queen" - an aunt of King Arthur. So the two are cousins as Reinmeth is sister of Emys Llydaw. In common with most Celtic princes Bicanys, the father of Illtyd, had more than one wife and also married Arthwyr's father, Gweryla the daughter of King Tewdrig of Glamorgan and sister of King Meurig and this is the area of Illtyd's close relationship as a first cousin.
-

4. 5. (Emyr Llydaw) brother of Reinmeth

Tewdrig m. Bicanys m. Gweryla Meurig Arthwyr

6.

Illtyd

These saintly connections do more than anything else to prove that Arthwyr of Glamorgan and Gwent was King Arthur. They identify both King Tewdrig and King Meurig as Arthur's father and grandfather. Samson is a grandson of Meurig, Arthur is his uncle and Morgan, Arthwyr's successor, is his cousin. Meurig is an uncle of Illtyd and Tewdrig is his grandfather, with Arthur (Arthwyr) as his first cousin.

St. Cadoc is connected to Arthur through his mother's descent from Brychan, the first cousin of Arthur. Cadog or Their parents Marchel and Meurig were brother and sister, children of Tewdrig. Cadoc is therefore Arthur's nephew or second cousin.
Tewdrig Anlach m. Marchell

Gwrgan Mawr

Meurig-m.-Onbrawst
Arthwyr

l Brychan
Gwynlliw m. Gwladys Cadoc
NOTE: Gwynlliw Vi/wr
-

the soldier, was relative of Gwrgan Mawr

The Life of St. Cadoc contains no less than four clear tales of King Arthur. One states that King Arthur and King Maelgwn of Gwynedd have a treaty in respect of Cadoc's Abbey. As once again King Arthwyr fits the role of King of South Wales to. King Maelgwn's, King of North Wales, it is impossible to see how King Arthwyr son of Meurig is not "King Arthur". Illtyd is an interesting character his mother was probably Gwerlya daughter of King Tewdrig of Glamorgan. His father in this case would be King Glywys and his paternal grandfather Amlodd Wiedig.
royal background Illtyd as a soldier was captain of the guard on the banks of the correct in the Vale of Glamorgan, when he had a vision and heard a voice. river Thaw the ancient Dawen The message Was to the effect that "Is love of a woman preventing you from turning to the Lord?" So he joined the church became a monk (and his wife a nun), and set up his monastery in what became Llanilltud Fawr now corrupted to Llantwit Major.

So with all the

-

4.
5.

Marchel Brychan

King Tewdrig I
Meurig Arthwyr

Amlodd Wiedig I Gwerlyn m. King Glywys

I
'

6.

St. Illtyd
Princess Marchel married

King Meurig married Onbrawst daughter of Gwrgan Mawr. King Coromac of Ireland.

Anlach son of

Princess Gwerlyn married King Glywys son of Amlodd Wiedig of Amorican

Brittany. King of Glamorgan and

This series of marriages made St. Illtyd, a first cousin of both King Arthwyr, Gwent and to King Brychan, King of Brecon.

The roll of honour of the sons of Kings entering the Church in Celtic lands now produced some remarkable scholars. First came Cadog the son of King Gwynilyw and Queen Gwladys, who was a daughter

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ruling the Gower peninsular of King Brychan of Brecon. King Gwynllyw one of the Kings of Morganwg monk. This was the Caradoc to be educated at Caerwent by Tathan the Irish his son Cadog sent adopted by more princes to send their sons to be educated, a custom not normal custom of Welsh with notable exceptions such as barbarous races in Europe and England until over 1000 years later, King Alfred the Great of Wessex.
--

after travelling widely in Celtic Cadog, or Caradoc, decided to join the church and become a monk; and There he lands as a missionary teacher he settled back in his homeland at Llancarfan in Glamorgan. and teaching post some ten miles from the spot where liityd would later founded his own monastery found his university at Llantwit Major.

probably derive from the very The legends of princes and knights flocking to the court of King Arthur Illtyd, the university monasteries of Llanilltud large numbers of young noblemen being sent to Keidiau. Dubricious, and Caerwent Cadoc, Mochros Llancarfan
-

primarily out of the custom of children The confusion over parentage of these Celtic princes arises raised them on some particularly sons, being farmed out to relatives who acted as foster parents and stand before their fathers" a very basis. Sons of Celtic Kings were not allowed form of exchange professional noble child rearing and training chieftains. strange custom indeed. There were in fact
-

"to

--

ST. DUBRICIOUSAND KING ARTHUR

of the eastern port of the Kingdom of South East Dubricious, better known as Dyfrig was a birth;one fabulous where Wales which later became known as Morganwg. There are two stories of his region he is the son by virgin birth of Euryddil the daughter of King Pebiau the King of this eastern where he is named as the son of Pabo Post Prydain a Northern known as the Ergyng district; the other Chieftain who moved south to Wales and lived in Powys and finally died in Anglesea.
'prince'

and notions Either way Dubricious plays a significant part in the Arthur story, and in view of the morals casual of fifth and sixth century Britain he was quite possibly the son of the princess by an unknown or father. Ouite apart from founding his monastic school in Ergyng, now Hereford, Dubricious travelled around establishing other churches. The practice of the times was for a holy man to dwell on a site for forty days and nights and so sanctify it and then to found a church. So Dyfrig was active in several places in Wales and in at least one site in CornwalL Llandaff Our major interest in Dyfrig or Dubricious is that in two entries appended to the Book of he is linked with King Arthur. One entry records that Dubricious crowned Arthur as King of the Britons meaning Wales; and the other that Dubricious receives large land grants from Noe the Son of Arthur.
--

By examining the pedigree of Dubricious we find that his family was linked to the line of senior kings Theoderic, Maurice and Arthur. The of the area from which we get Tewdrig, Meurig and Arthwyr simple Generation Technique shows that Dubricious was a Generation 5 prince as was King Meurig the father of Arthwyr, who is of course a Generation 6 King.
-

This is valuable information

at the age of fifteen. and sixth centuries.

Arthur as Dubricious is recorded as being a Bishop when crowning King Fifteen was the normal age for royal princes to be acknowledged in the fifth
-

1 is a book entitled "A Chronicle of the Church of The British Museum Cottonian MSS.Tit.D XXII Llandaff from Brutus to the year of our Lord 1370", it states as follows:-

OF THE OR/GINAL CONSTRUCTION AND BUILOING OF THE CHURCH OF LLANDAFF.

In the year of the incarnation of our Lord 447, Bishop of Germanus, two venerable persons, Auerre, and Lupus, of the city of Tours, were sent from Gau/ to Britain, to confute and extirpate and the said heresy, which by the disputations preaching of the said persons, was completely done away and destroyed. They gave orders with the assent and consent of Meurig the son of Tewdrig, then King of Glamorgan, to build and construct anew a metropolitan See on the site of that which had been erected in honour of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul.

And after the work was completed, the said King

liberaHy endowed it with divers territories, privileges, and rents, as is fully to be found in the MS. Book of St. Teilo;I and therein the said religious persons consecrated Dubricius, a holy person, and likewise an eminent doctor, to be an Archbishop and the Primate of southern Britain. In the year of the incarnation of our Lord 506, Dubricius, Archbishop of Llandaff, crowned the most celebrated King Arthur, in the city of C-cester, in the 15th year of his age. And after the fame of his liberality and probity was spread abroad to the furthest parts of the world, and he had subdued divers nations by bloody wars, and toil, he caused the Archbishops, Bishops, Kings, Princes, and Leaders subdued by him, to assemble at the City of Legions,2 and there solemnly celebrate the great festival of Whitsuntide; who, being sent for, and having arrived, all were ca//ed who performed obedience to him on account of his honours, and he liberally endowed every one with certain possessions; and so leave having been asked and obtained, all and every one returned home with joy. And Dubricius feeling himself burdened with old age, took leave of the brethren, and resigned the office of Archbishop. In a certain island, situated in the Irish sea, distant from the land about five miles, called in Welsh, Ynys Enl/i, and in English Bardsey, within which twenty thousand

bodies of saints are buried, he led a hermitical life in watching, fasting, and prayer, to the day of his death; and after the course of his life, he was there honourably buried, and at first numbered among the saints. In the year of incarnation of our Lord 612,1 he departed to the Lord. And in the year 1120, he was removed from the island of Bardsey, by Urban, Bishop of Llandaff, to his Church at Llandaff on the 23rd Day of May.

The most immediate problem is the age of Dubricious if this manuscript is correct, for it would indicate that he lived to be 180 or so. This is unlikely but not impossible. One Cottonian Manuscript in the British Museum now Vespasian A.XIV places Dubricious' date of death in 512, whilst Bishop Godwin
placed it in 522. These dates would invalidate the Grant of Noe, son of Arthur, to Dubricious when the old Bishop retired to a life of solitude on Bardsey Island in West Wales. If Arthur was 15 in 506, then his son could hardly make grants to Dubricious before 512 or 522.

The general concensus of opinion is that Dubricious retired around 522 and probably died around 540 or 550. The birth date offered in this document is also wrong for it would place Dubricious as being born somewhere around 430 A.D. whereas a simple Generation estimate would place him around 450 or 460 A.D. to 540 or 550 A.D.
The question of great age should not however be dismissed out of hand. In the church of Llanmaes, one mile north-east of Llantwit Major, the current registers go back to 1583 A.D. (the church itself is ancient). In the Llanmaes registers is the burial of Ivan Yorath on 17 July 1621 at the age of 180 or thereabouts who fought at the battle of Bosworth in 1485 A.D. Old Ivan lived peacefully as a fisherman and yet another old inhabitant was buried at the age of 177. The herald bardsconstantly stress the great ages of Glamorgan Princes down through the centuries. How old they intend to mean we can only guess for there are other instances of ages well over 100 in times which were presumed to be of being nasty, brutish and short". Bishop Herewald of Llandaff died aged 100, the tombstone of Matthew Voss at Llantwit Major records his death in 1534 at 129, at Maudlam Kenfig the tombstone of Elizabeth Francis states she was 110.
"life
-

What we do have is a clear statement that Arthur was crowned king in Cir-Caistor on Christmas Day in 506 A.D. This certainly fits the general scenario of events and is not a statement in any way connected

182

with

Dubricious living on after 540 or 550 A.D. Dubricious would certainly have been active as a Bishop at this period as the charters of grants made to him in the Book of Llandaff clearly indicate.

There are three Kings named in this document, King Tewdrig, his son King Meurig and King Arthur. The oldest, Tewdrig is connected with St. Germanus which is possible, whilst Meurig a direct contemIt is porary and cousin of Dubricious had an eldest son and successor named Arthwyr, or Arthwys. this Arthwyr who would be of the age which is stated 15 years around 506 A.D. when Dubricious crowned Arthur. Actual date probably 517 A.D.
-

As to the birth of Dubricius the Welsh texts state Pabo Post Prydein Pompey the Pillar of Britain, a great warrior against German invaders was finally driven from the North and came to King Cyngen who gave him lands. This Pabo or Papo is probably the father of St. son of Cadell, King of Powys Dubricius a connection with Eurddil rejected by her father King Pebiau. Pabo finished up in Anglesey where he founded the church of Llanbabo. There is a record of 1840 stating that his effigy is on a stone there with:
-

"Hic lacet Pabo Post Prud Corpors--te---prirna." Here lies the body of Pompey the Pillar of Britain-the-First.

THE WELSH TRIADS

One of the best sources of information on King Arthur is the Welsh Triads. These form the most ancient of all the historical records of the nation, and are quite prolific in their mention of the King both directly and indirectly by reference to persons associated with him and his court.

This was the first class of entry, and to them belonged the duty of perpetuating the privileges and customs of the system. Then came the Druids who devoted themselves to the duty of religion. Finally at the top were the Ovates who were able to exercise a power of new or hitherto unknown of foreign knowledge being introduced to the system, and able to act in emergencies. These Ovates studied the Arts and the sciences, and could include non Bards and Druids. These orders were empowered to and preserve every excellency both individual and national, etc. etc." and from400 A.D.to 1700 A.D. this is what they faithfully and honestly did. Not un-naturally they recorded much of what went on during the time of the great Arthur our Arthur ap Meurig. Both the Brut Tysilio and Brut Gruffydd ap Arthur state that Dyfrig Archbishop of Caerleon crowned Arthur in 517 A.D.
-

The most ancient legends illustrate that there were bards and druids amongst the first waves of settlers in Britain and certainly back to around 1000 B.C. Around 400 A.D.the laws of the British were codified by the King Dyvnwal Moelmud. bards before", but now the This codex illustrates that there whole system was organized. There were three levels of the order, the Bards, the Druids, and the Ovates. Bard means one that makes things conspicuous, that is a teacher or philosopher a master of wisdom.
"were
-

"record

Triad

No. 31 tells of the military prowess of Arthur, who inspired the necessary confidence in his friends inducing co-operation, and terror amongst his enemies. "When Arthur, Morgan Mwynfawr, and Rhun the son of Beli, went to war none wo at home, so greatly were they beloved. There there was no treachery or ambush formed was neither war nor battle which they would against them." "The three persons who wo en wherever they went, Arthur, Morgan ac uire
'n

Mwynfawr, and the host of Rhun the son of Bel This clearly

'

bears out the links in the Book of Llandaff, with King Morgan Mwynfawr

succeeding

Arthwyr his father as King of South Wales. Triad No. 23 tells how Arthur the sovereign was greiviously wounded at the battle of Camlan, where he fought his nephew Modred who had seized power whilst Arthur was over in Brittany. This and Triad No. 21 tell how Modred allied with the Saxons to try to defeat Arthur of it the Cymru lost the crown of Lloegyr and the sovereignty of the Isle of Britain."
-"because

These records represent Arthur as a great supporter of the church, many Christian churchmen retired to his territories during his reign, The lists of these clerics show a movement from Lloegyr and Britanny into Wales, retreating from their pagan oppressors. is clearly expressed in Triad No. 64. "The three enthroned tribes of Britain Isle of) one at Caerleon upon Usk where Arthur was supreme King, St. Dewi (David) was archbishop, and Maelgwn Gwynedd was Chief Elder. The second at Celliwic in Cornuailles where Arthur was supreme King, and Bedwini was archbishop, and Caradoc Vreichfras was Chief Elder. The third at Penrhyn Rhionydd in the North where Arthur was supreme King, Cyndeyrn Garthwys was archbishop and Gwrthmwl Wiedig was Chief Elder." This is a remarkable statement as it is traditional history a that Caradoc Vreichfras led a conquest of Britanny, this agrees with his position as Chief Elder ruling Britanny for Arthur, he was additionally the brother of Queen Onbrawst mother of Arthur. Even more illuminating is the statement that Maelgwn Gwynedd acted as Chief Elder in Wales ruling from Caerleon

The system of government

(the

183

in Gwent, this clearly places Maelgwn in the role of the legendary of the twelfth century.

Lancelot of the Romance histories

The Triads tell of the mighty Maelgwn and his death in 547 or 562 A.D. when he died of the yellow plague - Triad 12. This is reinforced by evidence from the Brut Tysilio, the Brut Gruffydd ap Arthur, the Liber Landavensis, and later histories such as Usher and Williams of Aberconwy. Triad No. 7 is clear that there were none of the Lloegrians what is now England who did not become Saxons, joining and integrating with them, all except the men of Cornwall, and Deria and Bernicia Northumberland and Cumberland in the North. This is revealling as the most anti-British of all these were Coritani who previously readily allied with the Romans, and these are the very West country people that the modern confused Englishmen sees as the They were of Arthur". in fact his chief enemies.
-

"people

Other Triads deal with people at Arthur's courts, identifying them as his clear associates and contemporaries. Triad 117 states "The three knights of a righteous discretion at the court of Arthur;- Blas the son of the Prince of Llychlyn, and Cattwg Cadoc son of Gwynilyw Vilwr, and Padrogi Padadrddellt son of the King of india." the triad tells of their virtues in detail. The Book of Llandaff, the Lives of the Saints, and Genaeologies confirm the connection with Cadoc and his father Gwynliiw the Soldier. Again in Triad No. 122 there is further similar detail. Cattwg, Illtyd, and Bwrt are named as three chaste knights of the court of Arthur." citing that they a life of celibacy and devoted themselves to the law of god and the faith of Christ." Just as we know that Cadoc was a cousin of Arthur, so also we find that Illtyd was either his uncle by marrying Gweryla daughter of Tewdrig father of Meurig, or by his marriage to Rieniguilida daughter of Tewdrig or Meurig, he was brother in law to Arthur son of Meurig. The Life of Illtyd states that he was so related and that he spent time as a soldier at Arthur's court before becoming Abbot of Llanilityd Fawr in Glamorgan.
-

"the

"led

At least thirteen churches are known to have been founded by Cadoc in Glamorgan, Monmouthshire and Brecon, again confirming the territory of his cousin Arthwyr ap Meurig ap Tewdrig. Illtyd was appointed by Dyfrig Dubricious who was also of South Wales to take over at Caerworgan, which then later became known as Llanilltyd Fawr. As Dyfrig crowned Arthur the connections grow tighter. Illtyd was of course a nephew of Emyr Llydaw or Ambrosius Aurelianus. Illtyd was known as excellent master of the Britons" and Gildas speaks of him as being the teacher of Maelgwn Gwynedd when castigating Maelgwn.
-

"the

The Triads also name other Saints connected with Arthur in their Lives and Genaeologies. Triad No. 19 lists "The three blessed visitors of the Isle of Britain, Dewi, Padarn and Teilo". These three went to houses of kings, nobles, freemen and the poor preaching the gospels for no reward whatsoever. Dewi was Arthur's archbishop at Caerleon, and he received permission from the King to go down to West Wales where he founded a church in territory owned by Gynyr his father-in-law. This was in Pebidiog now Dewsland in Pembrokeshire, and the church became St. David's. Dewi died in 544 A.D.
---

Triad No. 19 is supported by the statement of three blessed Bards of the Isle of Britain". This is illustrated in Essay on Coelbren y Beirdd p.39. Teilo was a nephew of Dewi, both being descended from Ceredig son of Cuneda, and Padarn was a grandson of Emyr Llydaw.
e evidence builds up, with the Cambrian Biography and Essay on the Welsh Saints giving a list f prince who were contemporary with Arthur. These princes quite clearly place the King into the m die of the ixth century from around 525 A.D. to 575 A.D. They include Urien Rheged the North who is historically dated as being killed as an old man in 596 A.D., a well re r ed abu Ly aren Hen esilu ho wrote the tragic and emotive elegaic poem of Cynddylan, Prince of Powys another who believ killed around 600 A.D. both contemporaries of Arthur, Llywarch from Argoed and Cyn of Powys. Others were Doged Vrenhin (King) a descendant of Cuneda Wiedig, Aneurin and Huail both sons of Caw who came from the North to North Wales, then Iddon son of Ynyr Gwent, Gwenddoleu a Northern chief. AII these can be found in various historical sources, Iddon in the Book of Llandaff, and the Mabinogion, Caw and his sons in the Mabinogion, folklore and Lives of Saints.
-

"the

So the corrob

The links are many and undoubtedly these men were contemporary with an Arthur active from around 525 to 575 A.D. The Triads No. 39 and 46, illustrate this as does Triad 7. They tell of the Saxons, the Angli and the Jutes, of how Ida the Angle came in 547, and died in 560 and was followed by his sons Ada and Ella in Deria and Bernicia. Of how they slew dusky birds of Gwenddoleu," and then Eliffer "Edelfled King of Northern Britain," and also "Gwrgi Garwlwyd who had married a sister of Edelfled". This is further information on Arthur. The Brecon manuscripts list Gwrgi and Peredur as kinsmen of Arthur Penuchel as the godparents of a daughter of King Brychan, so linking him directly with Gwrgi and indirectly with Eliffer. The Bruts describe Eliffer as King around 580 to 586 A.D. Undoubtably Llywarch Hen was very old indeed by 600 A.D. as may have been Cynddylan.
"the
-

Triad No. 72 tells of Urien and Gwenddoleu, it says "The Three bulls conflict of the Isle of Britain Cynvar Cadgadwg the son of Cynwyd Cynwydion Gwenddoleu the son of Ceidiaw, and Urien the son of Cynvarch;that is they would rush upon their enemies like bull, and nobody could repell a
-

184

As contemporaries of Arthur them." These princes can be placed into the mid and late sixth century. confirm his identity as Arthwyr son of Meurig, King of Glamorgan they not only date him, but they also and Gwent who ruled at this period. No. 29 of Maelgwn Gwynedd was a mighty warrior is confirmed in Triad in the That Lancelot person and Mael Hir, and Llyr Lluyddawg, "Lo, these are my three knights of battle, where it is stated Mael Hir is of course Maelgwn Hir otherwise Maelgwn Gwynedd, pillar of Cymru, Caradawg." the Vrenhin his uncle who ruled The King of Gwynedd before Maelgwn was in fact Einion Lancelot.
-

Caernarvon

Gwynedd.
"the
--

attributed to Llywarch Hen a stanza describing a battle In associated poetry we find amongst the elegies strenuous warrior from the woodat Longborth where Geraint ap Erbin of Cornwall was slain, land of Dyvnaint." "At Longborth were slain to Arthur Valiant men, who hewed down with steel; He was the emperor, of the toil of war." the conductor the nephew of Erbin from Britanny As we know that Teilo sent a stone coffin to Geraint Llywarch in this poem. 561 or 562 A.D. we get a further fix on Arthur from his associate in either

Another poem poses a problem for it states as follows: "Woe was to those infatuated men, when occurred the battle of Badon. Arthur was at the head of the

brave; the blades were red with blood. He avenged warriors, warriors on his enemies the blood of who had been the defence of the Northern kings." Antiquities p.254, and have been attributed to These lines are in Usher's Britannium Ecclesiastical battles of Badon, the second 150 years after the first. Taliesin. The problem is that there were two Arthur 11of Glamorgan and Gwent, If that were not enough we have identified the mighty Arthur as and this King also had to fight Arthmael, Arthvael, Arthwyr but there was then Arthur III another welf have Saxons. Arthur III was finally killed in a battle which his army won. He may wars with the This this poem, for by his time the Northern Kings had indeed faNen. fought this battle of Badon in Arthmael ap Rhys ap Ithael ap Morgan ap Arthwyr, he was the Glamorgan King was then known as Certainly he was fighting some 150 years No. 43 king of Gwent as Arthur II was the No. 37 king. of the Round Table legend. after the great Arthur
-

probably mediaeval inventions and should be Other Triads including Arthur in a different light are after all dealing with Arthur the hereditary King of Gwent, the treated with great caution, We are ruler of all the British. So to find Royal House of Britain, the thirty-seventh king of his line, elected mediaeval forgery. Just outside the traditional Triad groupings is a sure sign of an obvious his name involved legends became popular so also did those of Arthur and we find Arthur now as the Robin Hood Three Frivolous Bards, the Three Wicked Uncoverings, the Three Red Ravagers, the in such matters as and the Three Stout Swineherds, These
"triads"

and so on.

Historical Triads, do not fall into the traditional ancient categories of Moral Triads, coded triads, for the swine Philosophical Triads, Religious Triads, and so on. They may of course be allies, or prisoners or staves of Tristan and in the triad of the Three Stout Swineherds may be Saxon there were Saxons serving under King Mark the other swineherds. The historical facts are that mediaeval invention they
-

Either way appear as Conomurus, and therefore also Tristan his nephew. Arthur could not dig attaching to the flood of popularity in the Arthurian Tales. In historic terms London, as one of the Three Wicked Uncoverings. This is Hill in up the Head of Bran from Tower in South Wales, at a time simply untrue as Bran the father of Caractacus was the British King resident simple timber stockade. This is similar to the quite false interpretation when Roman London was surely a in Cornwall, when in fact his camp headquarters that Arthur had a camp called Celliwic now Gelliwig holding Britanny Arthur could prevent any further cross was over in Cornuailles in Britanny. By clearly bear out this historic association. Channel invasions of Greater Britain, and the Breton legends of Arthur and his locations whilst in Britanny. They record the presence

So the Triads faithfully

"there "at

records that record the events of the times of Arthur. Triad 58 (first Series) all celebrated with great Whit-Sunday," three principal festivals Christmas, Easter, and were Celliwig in Cymru, and the three Courts of Arthur, at Caerleon on Usk, in doubt that theat necessity to joy particularly There can be little North." Cornuailles, and at Penryn Rhionydd in the that this gave the rebellious Modred hold Britanny caused Arthur to be there out of Greater Britain, and It also explains the appointment by Arthur of his nephew his chance to seize power in Greater Britain. badly wounded at Camlan himself. Constantine a native of Britanny to take command after he was Britain, along in Triad 21 as one of the three execrated traitors of the Isle of Modred was remembered Cassivelaunus, Vortigern, and the other arch traitor Avarwy nephew of Caswation with Gwytheyrn Cartismandua conHis daughter Aregwedd Voeddawg who betrayed his country to the Romans. the Romans. She was of course divorced Caractacus to tinued the treachery by betraying Caradoc remember the Three Wise from her British husband and married now to a Roman. Other Triads
-

185

Counsellors at the courts of Arthur and so on, all again by their pedigree and contemporaries confirming a mid-sixth century time scale. in some quarters to the citing of the Welsh Triads as evidence. These strange mnemonic summaries of historical material are an essential part of Welsh British history, and they tie together with other sources. The Triads are either accepted where they are genuine or they are not. What we have is a body of material transmitted down the ages and approved by successive generations of a branch of the race of the British, which has in modern times proved to be far more accurate and soundly based than was previously thought. Mediaeval copies of their heroic literature such as the Mabinogion Tales, the Book of Taliesin, the Book of Anuerin, the Red Book of Hergest, and the Black Book of Carmarthen, support in turn the Genaeologies and Annals and Folklore.
-

There will be opposition

Even what appears to be an obvious contradiction turns out not to be so. We mentioned St. Illtyd and his recorded marriages to either Gweryla or a wife named Rieniguilida. This is in fact the same woman. The problem lies with the word Rhiain, which apart from it's appearance in the earliest version surviving of the Boedd y Saint does not occur as a surname. It does however appear in what are called compounds:1. Rieinmelth a wife of Oswy, King of Northumbria, spelled as Rieinmeth in the Harleian 3859 MSS (Rieinmelth in Historia Britonnum). 2. Rieingulid the mother or wife of St. Illtyd, as in the Life of St. Illtyd in the Cottonian MSS Vespasian A.xiv. This has been construed as regina pudica meaning modest queen, a description rather than a name. in the Latin meaning The word would it seems to have become which was commonly used to express This is quite logical, with the lady Gweryla or or even Guilida having the prefix of Riein to her name.
-

'regina'

'queen'

'rhiain'

'maiden'

'virgin'.

What is clear is that the Triads contain a great deal of information about Arthur, his courts, his territories, his contemporaries, and relatives. And all this is faithfully backed up by the Llandaff and Llancarfan Charters. The evidence of Breton history and folklore is also conclusive in supporting the information in the Triads, and it would be difficult to see how folklore tradition and history in Northern France would match and corroborate that of South Wales were it not true. There is in fact only one difference between the Jewish Histories now referred to as the Old Testament of the Bible, and the Welsh Histories, and that is the Jewish histories have always been believed and the Welsh disbelieved. This amazingly in the light of continual instances of exact truth in reporting being discovered to support the Welsh historical record.

So the trail of King Arthur can finally be traced. A confusion of Kings and of battles, In amongst the great Kings of Gwent we find a first Arthur Arthvael the son of Ensyth the 25th King of Gwent, a direct descendant of Bran the 16th King. This Arthvael Arthmael Arthur, lived around 220 to 280 A.D. Next we find the great conquering Arthur as Andragathius the son or Grandson of Magnus Maximus the Emperor of the West, one of the Imperial line, Emperor of Britain, but an undoubted not one of the Gwent kings other than by the marriage of his grandfather and father to daughters of these Gwent kings. This Arthur the Conqueror was three quarters Welsh and one quarter Lloegyr and he lived around 355 to 388 A.D.
-

of Legend, the Liberator of his people, the elected King of AII Britain including Amorican Britanny, the colossus of the Sixth Century. He followed Uther - Victor, the brother of Emrys Wiedig Ambrosius Aurelianus, both descended from the Amorican-Britanny line of Kings as paramount King of all the British. Here the inevitable seed of confusion was sown, for Arthur son of Victor grandson of Magnus Maximus was also a great warrior. Both a Uther, as Arthur the Conqueror was Victor, both dying in 388 A.D. and Arthur the Liberator son of Meurig, son of Uther was elected to follow Uther Victor the Pendragon in 518 A.D.
-

Next we move on over one hundred years to the time of Arthur II of Gwent the 37th King of his line, the son of Meurig, grandson of Theoderic, a king of around 503 to 575 A.D. This was the great Arthur

"followed"

As if this were not enough there was further confusion to follow, as a great-great-grandson of Arthur II was also named Arthur son of Rhys. This King Arthmael Arthvael Arthur also fought Saxon wars, and although victorious was killed in battle, he was in fact listed as the 43rd King of Gwent. The crucial importance of this King lies in the fact that there were two Battles of Badon, and Badon was the great Waterloo or Stalingrad of the British where they anihilated their Saxon enemies. These battles were 150 years after the other, and an Arthur fought at one of them, if not at both. As St. Gildas was born in the year of the first great battle and so named Gildas Badonicus the date is probably before the time of the might Arthur II, and Ambrosius Aurelianus was in all probability the winner. This means that Arthur 111fought and won the second Battle of Badon.
-

Later came another King Arthur IV the son of King Gwriad, who was the 47th King of Gwent. Both these kings fought long wars with the Saxons from around circa 760 to 840 A.D. and defeated them, further adding to the muddle of the folklore. Then later when the Kingdom had begun to break up into smaller entities there was yet another Arthur, this time Arthur son of Nowi both styled as King of Gwent, an Arthur V no less.
--

186

King-Emperor of or Arthur II was the great Without doubt however Arthwyr ap Meurig ap Tewdrig,people the champion of the British. Ioved by his legend and romance, and invincible warrior
-

THE INVENTION OF BRITISH BARBARISM

The search for and barbarism. unfair myth of to our ancestors myths of British primitiveness King Arthur has long been be-devilled by the untrue on-earth the totally insight may be forgiven for wondering how Anyone with sufficient civilisation came into being. In fact the injury done the supposed barbarity and lack of is monstrous. of of America by Columbus, second the invention record The answer lies in three areas, first the discovery classical tearning. The Vikings in their sagas, regard of scholars for printing and third the biased certainly hundred years before Columbus and the Irish the discovery of western lands seven or eight Additionally the eistence ofthe Americas seems sailed there before them. and a Triad relates how as recorded by St. Brendan, possibly through their contact with Ireland to have been known to the Welsh, eleventh century. these great islands across the western seas in the Madoc ap Owain Gwynedd sailed for with 120 men, he returned and then sailed again to Madoc is said to have sailed with ten ships each

Virginia. spread reputation as the book of truth, covered all the known As the Bible, with its ancient mediaeval posed a serious descendants of Noah, the discovery of Indians in the Americas of mankind through the and not Church. Here were people hitherto unknown problem to the religious tycoons of the Catholic living proof that the Bible stories such they were covered by the creation myths of the Bible and as inquisition was at its of deep continuing superstition, the Spanish were false. Now this was an age busy slaughtering thousands of innocents in height and the priesthood of the Catholic Church were of their faith. Therefore these American tribesthe west, fiendish and horrible cruelty all in the name Therefore the somehow, for the Bible could not be wrong. the Biblical pattern men had to be fitted into undoubtedly the descendants of ancient peoples, Welsh inhabitants of the New World of Americas were included, who had sailed the Atlantic to the Americas.
Renaissance period when of the Druids coincided with the beginning of the In Europe the re-discovery imposed by the dead hand of the finally threw off the shac properly s holarship and learning o critical review and mgs be e Church of Rome which cowered afraid that its nvention of the printing press impetus had arrived A tremendous questioned. and widespread dissemination of the works of the great and the revival, translation, editing, distribution orders printed with their constant mention of Celtic religious classical scholars. These texts were records of learning were available to the scholar of the and ideas. Suddenly all the ancient sources and published until 1869. In fact the Berne on Lucan was an exception not sixteenth century becoming available in the later fifteenth century, Caesar Pliny, Tacitus, Caesar and all the others were 1515. Translations began to appear. Sir Henry being printed in Venice in 1511, Tacitus in Rome in 'Annals' in 1598; then Richard Tacitus' in 1591 and his second edition plus the Savile's 'Histories of Pliny's translator general' wrote free versions Holland Greneway's 'Germania' 1598; Philemon in 1609; Clement Edmonds brought out Caesar's 'National History' 1601 and Ammianus Marcellinus 'Commentaries'n 1604 with his own added 'Observations'.
'sholia'
-

'the

of scholars allowed access to old manuscripts, Knowledge previously only available to a very limited circle all the the mass of detail on life in ancient times were all. Amongst was now becoming available to Unfortunately archaeology did not order the Druids. to the Celts and their priest known references of peoples descending from Noah still held sway, the exist at the time and the old Bible primitiveness of Japhet, the son of Noah. This nonsense was to Europeans being descended from Gomer the son until well into the nineteenth century. around the neck of evalutory progress like a giant millstone hang understand their Druids delve into the past of the ancient British and to seek to And so any attempt to saomeahowpaecccobrnm d intbokhese lud crousdandbanchkealthA undesidrablee esthorSmythGSo hnadEurobe aann oda

Garden of Eden.
of unfortunate myths to arise all associated The nonsense that this occasioned was to cause a number ancient Gauls and the British, who were now about to be downprimitivism of the with the supposed desert Herbrew tribes. The ancient nations graded to the low level of the ancestors of the nomadic Cymru were now to be twisted Cimmeroi and the Cimbri and the people calling themselves of the of Saxon and into Hebrew or Cimbric, thought to be the root language into Gomeri and old Welsh idiocy is obvious, yet strangely the untruth of British spoken by Adam and Eve. Today this ludicrous / primitivism which it spawned still prevails. produced in 1498, was outstanding, for Annius Amongst other forgeries the work of Annius of Viterbo, of Berosus, flood. This the true history of the world after the great claimed that it was but also now the detail of the re-population of the.world, an ancient Babylonian, not only set out there appeared King Dryius (Druid) used the Druids as the ancient Kings of the Celtic people. So now and King Sarron. The word King Bardus (bards) King Celte (Celts) and worst of all King Samothes misread and out popped a mythical king, whilst a copyist used by Diogenes Laertius was
'translation' 'semnotheoi'

187

I riously re-working the writings of Diodorus out came King Sarron.

which

Siculous, mistook sarronidas instead of drovidas and

In Britain Gruffydd ap Arthur's twelfth century fiction of British history - a compendium of truth was embellished, distorted, lengthened and muddled still held credibility. The forgery of Annius was backed by Bale and Caius, and John White of Basingstoke combined the two works to produce one massive all-embracing and exciting history of the British past. Around the 1550'sthis wasthe available to readers and it is obviously the source of several of William Shakespeare's plots for his plays. There is of course ample historical precedent for what Gruffydd and Annius did, one only has to read the Bible fiction of Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Seth and the rest on down through the list of Methuselah and the others all living to incredible 300, 500, 700 or 900 years and so on for a lesson in pure bunkum.
-

'information'

Better scholarship followed, but it took two completely different paths for on the Continent of Europe the French (Gauls) and the Germans were de ive their ancestors a respectable and civilised past where nigish re rded the Druids a st mass of the eone else's ancestor ble to accept tha an s a ancestry y in rb couth, uncivilised, savagery, o d to a more developed civilisation they assaulted, th glish w was to downgrade the ns and Druids to primitivism and barbarity. The words ices and so on were of great value to support this view, no matter how false those ancient pieces of Roman propaganda were to prove.
sop

So on the continent in 1514 Justis Bebellius wrote of the philosophy of the ancient Germans and in 1532 Jean le Fevre wrote of the antique philosophies of the Gallic Druids. Others followed, and Picard in 1556 and Forcadel in 1579 wrote not only of the philosophy but of the legal powers and systems of the Druids of old Gaul, illustrating an organised, developed civilisation with its own moralities, ethics, legal codes, civic systems, hierarchy, customs and culture going back to around 1200 B.C. over twelve hundred years before being assaulted and crushed by the Romans. This cannot be overstressed the Romans were not attacking primitive native savage communities in Gaul and Britain, they were attacking other developed nations who had towns and cities, who practised agriculture, herding and who mined ores, who had craftsmen, scholars, priests and musicians, their own legal codes and systems, who were skilled engineers in constructing ships, carts, chariots, earthworks and so on and whose artists produced beautiful jewellery and weapons.
--

of Druid writers gave their ancestors an elevated role. In 1623 Guenebault wrote of a funeral urn found near Dijon which he said contained the ashes of one Chyndonax Druid a who was also Prince of Vacies of the Druids, Celts, of Dijonais. Earlier Francois Meinhard had published a work on the Druidic use of mistletoe as a symbol of their legalistic standing and role in society, in Latin in 1615. In Germany Elias Schedius published 'De dis Germans' in 1648 which was subtitled ReNgion of the Ancient Germans, Gauls, Britons and Vandals' but this time Schedius, like Esaias Pufendorf, was heading in the direction of hard primitivism, human sacrifice in bloody oak groves and head hunting aspects.
'the

So the continental

'school'

In Britain, or perhaps more accurately England, the subject took on a different complexion, again influenced by the ancient myth of unfounded primitivism. Here the impact both intellectually and emotionally of the discovery of primitive man in the New World of the Americas was to condition English thinking on the ancient Britons. The English of the age of Elizabeth I had been suddenly confronted with the age-old unchanged culture of the Irish Gaels in their wars in Ireland and failed to realise that they had encountered the tail end of the Gaelic Iron Age culture. This contact was then heightened by the opening up of contact with the Scottish Highlands and suddenly the English of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were acutely aware of what was to them alien cultures in Britain and Ireland. Much longer, closer contact with the Welsh had in some measure prepared English travellers and scholars for these encounters, but their conclusions were in fact extraordinary.
As we have seen, the discovery of savage and primitive man in the Americas had raised very awkward questions over the origin of these aboriginal people. These were fundamental doctrinal questions, for these savage pagans had to be made to fit the story of the progeny of Noah after the flood. The alternative was to deny these native people full human status, a very difficult proposition and here lay the root of the later criminal justification of black slavery, the invention of the sub-human to fit the Bible fairy tale of Noah re-populating the world.

achievement
'scholar'

The solution was as naive and simple as it was astonishing. The English decided that in these American Indians they were seeing representative descendants of the ancient Britons and therefore they could now see what Ancient Britons were like. This was the easily accepted sixteenth century view by the historians (?) of the time. The whole thing was an utter nonsense, for the records which survived in Britain demonstrated that the advanced Celtic cultures of England and Wales early regarded the Picts, Gaels and Scots as primitive, savage and backward in any case and so there was a wide range of civilised
amongst the quite numerous peoples of ancient Britain.

The next step in this saga of historical nonsense was primarily promoted by William Camden, an English who wielded considerable influence. For now that the British could be likened to the savage

188

had the European Celts, it was decided that they and primitive American cultures and also linked to enervating and beneficial contact of the Roman primitivism by the been elevated from barbarism and imperialism being of course followed by the Saxon This civilising experience of Roman Conquest. happened. which as we explain never Conquest
-

sixteenth accepted and the myth being created of English Roman lies and exaggerations were freely his very free transtook shape. Philemon Holland added to the damage with century supposition now Druids, he could imagine as worst of the old British lation of Pliny and concluded from Pliny all that Clement Edmonds wrote comconcentrating on bloody sacrifices and mumbling orations and prayers. condition of Britain in ancient the mentaries on Caesar's works and completely failed to interpret times. Daniel, with zero proof, evidence or study, now conEven worse was to follow, for in 1612 Samuel of ancient newly discovered American Indians were representative cluded that the tribal wars of the expedition to Virginia in 1585 and Raleigh made an Britain before the Romans arrived. Sir Walter collection of the American Indians of Virginia. When took with him John White who made a brilliant invent the proceeded to use his Virginian Indian sketches to now he returned to Enigand John White Brys' 'America' published in 1590 and then in de likenesses of the ancient British. These were used of Britain" published by John Speed. in the 1611 A.D.
"historie

primitive barbarian ancient Britons. In 1575 Lucas Even the Dutch got into the act of inventing the he landed in stricken naked savages who opposed Julius Caesar when de Here wrote of the poverty British of a mass of written historical commentary describing Britain in 55-54 B.C. All this in the face magnificent armour, golden chariots of mining skills, metalworking skills, shipbuilding, agriculture, kings and s on. It really is too much.

Another

combine the classical from Wiltshire was John Aubrey, who also sought to elo believed contemporaries, the American Indians. He, like most of his records with the discovery of and Avebury Ring were Druids temples. Typical of his erecwithout any foundation that Stonehenge tion of fact on a foundation of fiction is this: "Let us imagine what kind of a countrie this was (marvellous in the time of the ancient Britons is it not, a shady dismal wood, the inhabitants almost as savage as the beasts whose skins were their only raiment." shred of fact or evidence, only Aubrey's imagination. There is not one boggles at his scholarship and then agrees He then discusses the British language and here the mind fought each other. He concludes that the that there were numbers of kings who with Samuel Daniel degrees I saying "They wer two ancient stone circles were Druid temples and finishes up scnoiars' built
-

'irnagine')

up Americans." And so this incredible bunch of suppose less savage than the evidence British and their Welsh descendants, which regardless of the libel and slander of the ancient believed falsehood to this day. Aubrey, like others, and proof to the contrary, has remained as a widely produce what completely different and unrelated sets of circumstances to had drawn together three could not be wrong"? all Bible credible explanation, after felt
"the

gje

he

was a

masqueraded as scholarship, was the creation The results of this speculative guesswork in England which emphasis on imaginary primitive savagery, the creation of the myth of the Druids and also because of its Britain. The Romans and the Greeks were of the much more damaging myth of uncivilised barbarian Empire} which did they used it of every race (except the Egyptian very free with the word barbarian, The word certainly did not have the Greek or copy their dress or table manners. speak Roman
not or could have been driving motor cars, watching

meaning which later ages gave to it. The ancient Britons the Romans would have called them bartelevision and manufacturing nuclear power stations, but couches to eat enormous banquets barians for they did not speak Latin, nor did they wear togas or lie on
served by slaves.

AubidTTrind n pronounced e great imaginary suppositions Malmesbury, who in 1651 published his 'Leviathan' where he named Thomas Hobbes of feare and danger of violent death. And had lived in peoples of the past that the e idea of the ancient British as savage, the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish and shorte." cendants ogheir enemie nted b t aric b pri itive and be ind

concerningiic
"continual
'

edio35n

'primitive'

Indian peoples of North and South America as noble t er schools of t oug t existed which saw the guile or duplicity, the members of a Golden Age of innocence. savages. People of honour, without mould. They the ancient British to be of a different demeanour but of the same This now allowed This view was held happier people, but still primitive and barbarian. were possibly guileless, innocent, 1622 following the line of Pigafetta who sailed by Michael Drayton in his 'Polyolbion' published in 1511 A.D. Much 1511 and Peter Martyr who so described the American Indians in with Magellan in of Peru'of 1617. the same idea was conceived by de la Vega in his 'History

This is really the crux of the matter. The New World had to be made to fit the Bible stories of Noah and his descendants repopulating the world. Therefore the North and South American Indians were from Britain and Ireland. These Indians were primitive, savage and also barbarian therefore the Ancient British must also have been the same.
Possibly no greater calumny has ever been thrust upon civilised and developed race. an unsuspecting It is the supreme irony that the Anglo Saxons who would well have fitted the role of savages, should in the persons of their descendants originate and perpetuate this enormous falsehood. The of the Druids was to mushroom onwards with the re-invention of their dress and ceremonies and the damage was done.
'discovery'

THE DRUIDS AND THE GOLDEN AGE

To the question of why the fascination and interest in the Druids, there is simple a answer. For centuries men have imagined some distant past Golden Age when mankind walked in innocence and simplicity and had the wisdom and understanding not to know of greed or avarice. Somehow the Druids were thought to represent this great past age of tranquillity, men of great wisdom and learning, representing a great loss to mankind. This Garden of Eden type view of the Druids co-existed with a darker view of these same ancient priest figures as the magical practitioners of the occult. There is great need for further study into the facts concerning the Druids, for there does seem to be an age old connection with the seers of holy men of many lands and many peoples. One of the common features of these seers was their ecstatic religion, or simply their practice of going into trances when acting out their religious ceremonies. These seers were common to the peoples of central Russia and Siberia and the Americas, all the way through from the Tungas to the Buriats to the Altaians, the Lapps over to the Eskimos, down through all the Indian tribes of North America, the Blackfeet, Cherokee, Kiowa, Souix, Hurons, Crees and all the one hundred others, on through the empires of South America down to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. The seers of the Welsh also adopted the practice of shamanistic trances as Giraldus Cambrensis recorded as late as 1188 A.D. and the practice was probably that of the Etruscan seers used later by the Romans. The practice of the Scythian shamans using small tents built over fires to inhale the smoke of halucinatory herbs to induce religious trances was clearly described by Herodotus around 480 B.C. If indeed Herodotus was witnessing and reporting a Druidic activity, then we have some better idea of Druid status and functions. So far too much has been written relating to Druids in isolation, with no attempt to fit them into the correct framework of the society of which they are a part. It just is not sensible or possible to look at the religion of the Celts in isolation from their social habits, military organisation, their pots, pans and artefacts, their mining activities, their architecture, towns, farms, engineering, shipbuilding and metalworking. Religion is part of a society developed or invented to fulfill certain psychological needs, an organisation interwoven into the customs and structure of the society. It is not possible to understand Arthur's people unless these myths and fallacies are finally put to rest. How long the Druids practised and what they practised is only vaguely known and one important factor is the sheer scale of the problem. Their activities probably developed from basic glimmerings of village culture from the Neolithic communities of 6000 down through the Celtic to 3000 B.C. communal development of tribal units, nations and hegemony, from 3000 on B.C. to the time of Caesar. The remains of megolithic tombs and temple structures survive along with changing forms in a vast spread from the south Russian Steppe and the Caucasus clear across Eastern, Central and Western Europe. The links are not fully clear or understood, there is the possible universal ancient Mother Goddess followed around 2000 B.C. by the knowledge of wheeled transport with chariot and cart graves from the High Altai to the Hallstadt and La Tene centres on through Europe. Vehicle burial wascommon to these people.

There is also the possibility

of common shamanism known amongst the Scythian and Finno-Ugric peoples, and evident in the Irish. The vivid description of the Munster Druid the Great Mogh Ruith as a wizard and magician using a hornless bull hide and a speckled bird headpiece'for hisshamanistic ritual flight is remarkable in the surviving text of the 'Siege of Drom Damhghaire'.
'white

The use of bull hides or sometimes horse hides, had a wide area of common practice, evidenced by the remains of burials of these animals all through the Celtic spread from Asia to Europe. The practice was known in South Russia from 3000 B.C. on and at La Tene centres. Significantly the Etruscans of Italy had a bull culture of similar type and in this context of their possible British connection there is the remarkable evidence of the Mabinogion stories. Just as the Scythian shaman made a small tent of a hide to cover a fire and then made himself drugged with the smoke of the herbs thrown on that fire and so became halucinated, so also does the hero Rhonabwy experience a strange dream when he sleeps upon an old Ox-hide in a tumbledown wooden hall. There is further shamanist reference to ox hides of the type in the story of King Arthur demanding 200 or 300 cows from Cadoc, all of which must be red and white.
'piebald'

190

This common practice involving the hides or whole carcasses of votive animals links the Celts from Britain to Central Asia and the concepts of the beliefs lingered on long into the Dark Ages of the seventh Rhonabwy' are or even eighth centuries A.D. The story of Arthur and Cadoc and of the 'Dream of probably the last vestiges of an ancient cult which was ages old when Julius Caesar came to Britain. ACTUAL

REPORTS ON THE DRUIDS

The Druids were certainly met by Caesar and quite probably by Posidonius, that we know. Then the general Suetonius Paulinus and his army was ritually and publicly cursed by the Druids at Anglesey when he stood ready to cross the Menai Straits is indisputable and Cicero discussed philosophy with Diviciacus. How Cicero managed to overcome the problem of language to discuss such a subject with the Druid Chieftain is not known, presumably through interpreters. This really is the sum total of first hand reporting on the Druids. Posidonius developed the theme of savages' as did Cicero and Diviciacus was said to have been taken to Rome as was Caractacus. Most of what Posidonius said is lost and only copied fragments of his works remain. What emerges from what Posidonius and Caesar relate, is the practice of teaching by long courses lasting several years, by purely oral practice, to develop novices into the priest class.
'noble

whose purpose included the The concept is one of holy men who were essentially non-combatant, preservation of the national laws and histories and the accumulated knowledge of the people. These men stood at the head of an organisation including the bards, the seers and the diviners. The concept of the learning of vast subjects orally over periods up to twenty years was common from Ireland to india. Indeed the vast majority of Christian bishops, priests and missionaries had no books, no written word to guide or assist them. They relied entirely on their memory of what they had been taught of the Bible and they preached and practised without any form of written reference. What all this amounts to is that far too much has been written of the imaginary Druids, the Druids who were created secondhand from these few surviving first hand reports. Too much emphasis has been placed on black magic, the occult, human sacrifice and bloody rituals, which in turn has allowed the development of the theories of primitivism and barbarism of the Celts. Greeks in sacrificing prisoners of war to their gods in their In contrast, the actions of the wars with the Persians and others is played down and obscured. So also is the blood bath sacrifice of no less than 300 prisoners from Perugia by Emperor Augusgs to the god Julius in Rome in March Britain'. The so-called 40 B.C. no less than fifteen years after Julius Caesar attacked classical scholars have practised and enjoyed a double standard for far too long, blithely ignoring the In 353 B.C. they started savagery of the Athenians and Romans and their deep rooted superstitions. all this, butchering 358 Tarquinii prisoners as human sacrifices to their gods.
'barbarian
-

'civilised'

The Thracians, the Scythians, the Irish, the Picts and probably the Gauls and Britons were shammanistic in their religions. Abaris the Hyperborean who debated with Pythagorus was possibly a northern Celtic or Scythian druid or sage and Anacharsis the Scythian philosopher is in the same mould. In Thrace there was the cult of Zalmoxis fully described by Herodotus around 480 B.C., whereby Celtic belief in not only reincarnation, Zalmoxis was believed to have died and but in resurrection is exhibited. then to have been reincarnated. Not nearly enough has been said of the widespread Celtic belief in reincarnation and of life after death and of their consequent lack of fear of death. It was the Druids of the Celts who conceived of the immortality and indestructibility of the souls of men. This is clearly exhibited by classical writers, by Diodorus quoting Posidonius, by Strabo, by Julius Caesar, by Ammianus quoting Timagenes, and by Lucan, Valerius Maximus and Mela. They believed fully and firmly in immortality.

Not only this, but their beliefs were well known in the great centres of learning in Alexandria in Egypt before the time of Jesus of Nazareth. The probability is that he acquired knowledge of this Celtic philosophy and belief during his stay in Egypt as a youth. Hippolytus discusses the contact with the Druids' ideas and those of the 'Pythagorean faith'. Christian Jewish missionaries approaching Celtic peoples were in fact bringing to them their own already well entrenched and established beliefs, centuries old before the Nazareth saga.
It seems to have been completely forgotten that the Romans passed laws against Druidism in an effort The whole of our histories are obsessed with the edicts against the Christians. During the first century A.D. a whole succession of edicts were directed against Celtic Druidism as repressive measures. We learn from Suetonius that Augustine passed laws forbidding Roman citizens Pliny reports that the second Emperor, Tiberius, had the Senate druidarum'. to practice the of Rome issue a decree against the Gaulish Druids and all kinds of diviners and healers.

to suppress the religion.

'religio

This repression was taken further by Claudius, who in 54 A.D. completely abolished the barbarous and inhuman religion of the Druids of Gaul. This again reported by Suetonius. Strangely the 'Historia Augusta' relates of prophecies being made to the Emperor Diocletian, Alexander Severus and Aurelian

191

by Druids, who were females as were the Anglesey Druids. Tacitus tells of how in 61 A.D. the religion was being stamped out in Britain. The truth lies in Pliny who states of Druidism: why mention all this about a practice which has crossed the Ocean and penetrated the utmost parts of the earth. At the present day (A.D. 37?) Britain is still fascinated by magic and performs its rites with so much ceremony that it almost seems that it was she who imparted the cult to the Persians,"
".....but

The Romans and ancient classical writers clearly

spread over a huge area.
'civilised'

recognised

the links between peoples of Celtic origin

As for the Romans, let us remember that no Roman legion marched without its wooden chicken coops holding the fowls to be sacrificed so that the (usually Etruscan) could tell the possible portents of battle from its guts. As late as 250 B.C. they were still burying men and women alive under the Forum Boariusm and in annual fertility rites naked Roman youths ran through the streets striking at girls with whips freshly cut from the skins of slaughtered dogs and goats, sacrificed in the Lupercal cave. Over at Lake Nemi a priest murderer of the rites of King of the Wood waited for the day when his successor would catch him unawares and murder him. AII this and more without mention of the filth and slaughter of their totally bestial and inhuman arenas.
'seer'

Pliny does however the sacred mistletoe iron knife. Almost in Gaul and Britain however is to equate nation, the Persians,

describe the ritual of the Druids sacrificing two white oxen to their gods, Here is cut with a golden or gilded sickle and other herbs gathered ritually, with an all ancient writers in contact with the Druids, speak of human sacrifice, certainly and there can be no grounds for denying that this was the practice. All this does the Gauls and British with the Greeks, the Romans and almost every other ancient Parthians, Macedonians, all of them*

The only thing the Celtic peoples actually feared was earthquakes, the thought of the ground opening up to swallow them. This became part of Celtic Christian magic, with innumerable saints and bishops practising in the magical rite of causing the earth to open up to swallow kings, princes and others, who in any way dared to oppose their will. It was in fact one of the more common miracles regularly practised by the wizard priests of the early Christian church. Even King Arthur was subjected to the indignity of being swallowed up to his neck when he was adjudged to have offended Padarn, that "Saint" being a regular miracle working wizard.

The expressed fear of earthquake

and of nothing else was common Persia and Russia to Western Europe.

with the Celts and is recorded

from

So why were the Druids so highly honoured and revered, how could their status rival that of kings? The answers may lie in the only available positive identification of Druids. The Irish hero of ancient epics was Conchobar and he was Chieftain of Ulster; his personal Druid was named Cathbad who was in fact his father. Now old Cathbad had formerly been chieftain himself, leading the war band in battle, now he is advisor and Druid to his son. He advises, assists in the ritual of young warriors becoming men and taking arrns, teaches the traditional folk-lore and learning.
The same situation arose when Theoderic King of South Wales, stepped down at some time between 440 and 500 A.D. to allow his son Meurig to rule. The old king did not become a 'Druid' but instead in the Christian context of the times he became a living in retirement in the Wye Valley, or near Margam. When the Saxons invaded old Theoderic rejoined his son King Meurig to fight the war. This pattern was repeated when King Arthwys ruled with Meurig his father adopting the senior role of father/advisor and counsellor. The new religion replaced the old with very little difference, for the idea of souls and immortality was firmly pre-Christian as was the idea of triple or trinity gods. Old kings and royal bishops replaced druids and the bards, seers and diviners carried on as before.
'saint'

The Druids of the Celts could actually intervene to stop a war and halt battles. They were invariably called on to decide on cases of murder, in short they were part priest, part herald, part jurist, in their total function. They were the sages who taught three things, first that the gods should be worshipped, second that no evil should be done, and third that at all times manly behaviour must be maintained. As has been pointed out, these three requirements recorded by Diogenes Laertius are repeated in the twelfth century A.D. text of 'The Colloquy of the Elders'. In this trish tale St. Patrick asks the pagan Celtic chief what had maintained him and his people so in the past and is told "Truth that was in our hearts, strength in our arms, and fulfilment in our tongues". The Romans decided to eliminate the Druids as they represented an organisation which would provide the nucleus for resistance to Roman conquest and domination. They were itinerant jurists, law givers, keepers of custom, political advisors, men who represented the very soul of the nation, in control of its religion and culture. In this role the Druids totally incompatible with Roman ideas

were

of mili-

192

tive in line with their political ambitions. This is how the idea of barbarity

tary or provincial government and whilst they remained the British would resist. Their elimination had nothing to do with secret sacrifices, but was in the Roman view a necessary strategic military objecand primitivism began, with Roman justification for their actions.

THE WEALTH OF THE ANCIENT KINGS No-one in the late twentieth century wonders at the great wealth of the Arab kings and sheikhs of the Persian Gulf. These men rule lands which are wonderfully rich in oil, the life-blood of the modern industrial world and so they are fabulously wealthy.
There was in fact a similar situation in the world of the ancient Britons and it again concerned a scarce commodity. This was the bronze age, a period when the material of the age for weapons, armour, vessels and decoration was bronze and precious copper. Now bronze cannot be made without tin and tin was in very scarce supply. The only people of the Western world who had a lot of it were the British, who had coal, iron, gold and tin.

So the pre-Roman and in fact post Roman, British kings were the possessors of tremendous mineral wealth. Every nation needed bronze and apart from small pockets here and there, the British had virtually all of it. The ancient Phoenicians established a monopoly trading partnership with the Britons and their control of the tin trade was the source of their own wealth and power. So the British became
rich in ancient times.
-460.

Homer describes a Phoenician merchant wearing a gold chain strung with amber -Odyssey XV At Benlii Gawr under the Fairies Hill in Mold, Flintshire, diggers found a skeleton dressed in a corselette studded all over with hundreds of amber beads and filigree work of fine gold based on pure golka beautiful garment, see Robert WiHiams "Eminent Welshmen". The Roman Strabo describes their chiefs as loaded with gold chains, plastered with dyes and gold. They loved ornamentation. Boadicea wore a gold chain or torque, so did all the twenty four sons of Caw, gold chains were the mark of nobility and status. The Mayors of British cities still wear them and Aldermen wear the red robes of nobility and office, as did the Arthurian British. The Triads name Morddal as Gwrgweilgi seaman' who is clearly a foreigner, the man who taught the Cymru to work with stone and lime. This is probably a remembrance of a Phoenician. The houses, halls, churches and castles of Wales were for all the past centuries limed white and later
-

'the

whitewashed.

The major point is that the ancient British were very far removed from being primitive

people. AII the surviving records demonstrate a well ordered, well organised state, with every plot of land measured, surveyed and owned, every man knowing his place, part of a stable social structure.

THE APPEARANCE AND HABITS OF THE BRITISH

It may be just as well to add a few lines on the habits and appearance of the old Welsh; it may be possible to prevent those producers and directors of cinema and television from perpetrating their constant blunders. Most theatrical people become obsessed about hair when they deal with our ancient ancestors, long flowing locks and of course great shaggy beards. Nothing could be more laughable when dealing with Celts and certainly with the Welsh nothing could be further from the truth.
The most detailed description which we have comes from Giraldus Cambrensis writing between 1188 and 1225 A.D. which sums up all the other evidence available and confirms it. The Welsh were clean shaven, the only hair a Celt of Wales would allow on his face was his eyebrows and possibly a moustache. They also shaved all the hair from their bodies and in addition wore their hair of their heads short. basin' type short hair styles. Many of them had what we would today Gerald describes the describe as a crew cut, shaped around eyes and ears.
'pudding

This was either a habit of long tradition or from their association with the Romans who also wore their hair very short and shaved all over. It was a habit associated with cleanliness, for in an age of no soap powder, no washing machines, hardly any amenities of any kind, body line, nits, fleas and hair lice had to be avoided. These were people who slept on great communal beds of rushes in cold, difficult conditions and whose national habit was cleanliness. They were noted for their attention to their teeth, all had perfect strong sets of teeth from long periods of daily scrubbing with hazel shoots and bark followed with rubbing with wood. AII this obviously promoted health, avoiding stomach complaints or disease. Julius Caesar tells exactly the same story as Gerald over one thousand years earlier, of Britons who shaved their entire body except their upper lips. It is just as well to remember what the Roman poet II.L.572':says in his 'Pharsalia "In terror he showed his back to the Britons he'd attacked" referring to Julius Caesar and CassivelaunusCasswallon). (
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We actually get a picture of a lightly clad people wearing few clothes, just a knee length shirt or body garment and a cloak. Generally they went barefoot no matter what the weather, they avoided hot food, only eating cold or tepid food to maintain their health. They ate very little bread, but lived chappatis and it served as on meat, milk and cheese. Bread was used in thin slices very like Indian plate for the other food. A likeness to a tortilla of Mexico. No-one ate in the day, but only in the a evening and no-one complained if by some chance there was little or no food one evening. The result was a particularly healthy and hardy race of warriors who could stay out in the hills for prolonged periods even in the foulest weather. They had no hesitation in running away from a battle when things went wrong. Gerald sums it up:"Although beaten today and shamefully put to flight with much slaughter, tomorrow they march out again no whit dejected by their defeat or their losses. They may not shine in open combat and in fixed formation, but they harass the enemy by their ambushes and night attacks. In a single battle they are easily beaten but they are difficult to conquer in a long war, for they are not troubled by hunger or cold, fighting does not seem to tre them. They do not lose heart when things go wrong and after one defeat they are ready to fight again and to face once more the hazards of war." It is exactly like the wars of the Silures and the Romans in South Wales around 70 A.D. The Romans were rather like the English, expecting the opposition to surrender if they lost a battle, or to stand and The Welsh notion was to be slaughtered in some vague notion of courage when things went wrong. kill his enemy no matter how, when or where they could and no matter how long it took. They literally invented guerilla warfare.

The whole race lived on the minimum necessary effort, being totally disinterested in industry or commerce. They ploughed and sowed and then reaped what they had to, no more. Their delight was in multipart singing and music, primarily the harp and in story telling. Houses were virtually communal,
with no stranger being refused accommodation. work which was necessary.
'heroic'

In short they chose to enjoy

life and to do only the

It was a society where men preferred to die in battle rather than in bed. A study of Welsh history will show that the vast majority were granted this desired end. Murder was the order of the day every day and any day, memories were centuries long. Their addiction to the number three also affected their eating habits, they ate in groups of three, no tables, small groups of three no matter how many They could probably teach the twentieth century world quite a lot, a society were in the house. unafraid of death, demanding nothing, content with very little, valuing freedom above all else. Possibly free' as Gerald describes old Wales. our priorities are wrong today, for our society is certainly not So that is a very brief glimpse of Welsh life style.
'worry

Their laws were clear, everyone understood them, there was no bureaucracy and not only did women have equal rights, their law demanded that proof was required of the accuser, all men were innocent
until proved guilty.

This may help to present a more accurate image of the old British, a nation where all land
'modern'

was clearly marked out and ownership defined, even to the extent of shares in local churches. Where there was legal system and leisure was preferred to work, and where cleanliness and a well defined short hair and shaven bodies and faces were a national habit. Gerald, who was three quarter Norman and one quarter Welsh, describes their attitudes as well as their lifestyle in some detail. He confirms their obsession with ancestry and noble birth even the humblest man being able to recite some seven or eight generations of ancestors (in 1188 that meant going back to around 920 A.D.). Of their attitude to freedom he says:"In Wales no-one begs. Everyone's home is open to all for the Welsh generosity and hospitality are the greatest of all virtues. They very much enjoy When you welcoming others to their homes. travel there is no question of you asking for accommodation or of their offering it you just march into a house and hand over your weapons to the person in charge! They give you water that you may wash your feet and this means that you are a guest." and The traveller could refuse the water, which simply meant that he wanted only some refreshment rest and did not intend to stay overnight.
--

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On warfare he adds:-

"It is remarkable fact that on many occasions and they have fought without any hesitation without any proection at all against men clad complete in armour even unarmed against those bearing weapons and on foot against mounted They are so fierce and agile that they cavalry. often win battles fought against such odds."

.--THF

IM
KING

THE MIGHTY.'CONOWEROR
AVIU AV -O King of Britai Lived c. 285 36 A.D
-

MAGNUS M
MASCE Emp r L R West 388 A.D. Italy

H a
-y

f Euddav

UTH P ra
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OR
of u of 0 yo r I 83
-

M. 388
. .

GER

ORLOISRDONI R I of illes Co les

A
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-8.L D at

388
-

Gaul

84

re

e.

Vi

AR H er
i

RTHUR of

-al.

to

rope reece Defea at Sisic e Sica oslavia River in June 388 o

-

THE IMMEDIATE DESCENTOF KING ARTHUR THE GREAT LIBERATO FOUNDER OF MODERN BRITAIN
THEODERIC-M. KING TEWDRIG King of South Wales 35th Paramount King of Britain 509 A.D. Lived c. 440
-

Buried at Mathern

Gwent

KING MEURIG

MAURICE

M.

QUEEN ONBRAWST
Daughter of Gwrgan Mawr

King of South Wales 36th Paramount King of Britain 570 A.D. Lived c. 480 Buried at Llandaff - Glamorgan
-

KING ARTHWYR KING ARTHUR King of South Wales 37th King of AII Britain, Britanny and the North Lived c. 503 575 A.D. Buried at South Wales.
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CHAPTER EIGHT THE FOLK TALE OF ARTHUR

Arthur's story as we have seen it in children's
strange yet traceable episodes. or folk tales, is intriguing, as it contains a great many

Basically the story is of a young prince who is the rightful king, he is Arthur the son of Uther Pendragon. The old king dies and someone else, an uncle possibly, reigns in Britain. Then in a London churchyard a stone appears and in the stone is embedded a sword. No-one but the rightful king may draw this wonderful sword, although many attempt to take it. So young Arthur takes hold of the sword and he draws it from the sword easily. From this time on the boy Arthur, who now possesses the sword named Britain. His rule is great and good, his enemies he defeats and he draws together circle of warriors, the Knights of Arthur's Round Table.
'magic'

Excalibur, reigns in around him a great

This wonderful harmony of united comradely warriors is broken up by the greatest of Arthur's Knights named Sir Lancelot. This powerful knight, stronger even than the King himself, has a love affair with the Queen Guinevere and the result is war between King Arthur and Lancelot. The Round Table is now dissolved in the great civil war which follows and Arthur, betrayed by his nephews, is severely wounded in a great battle with them. His sister, the fateful enchantress Morgan le Fey, is mother of his rebellious attackers and Arthur is finally taken to a ship by women in black to an island for medical help. These women appear to include Morgan le Fey.

Then the King returns to the mainland and here he instructs his faithful squire to take his magical sword and to throw it into a lake which is over a high hill set in the mountainside. When the squire finally does this, a hand reaches up from the surface of the lake and catches the sword before vanishing below
the surface. This is the essence of the story of King Arthur. The almost incredible thing is that every part of this folk tale is founded on fact. It can easily and very positively be explained once the location of the story is discovered, the place or places where these events are said to have happened. The whole quite marvellous story can in fact be seen to be an extraordinary combination of truths.

THE LOCATION
The location of the Arthurian folk legend is quite definitely the area now known as East Glamorgan, stretching from the Cardiff, Penarth, Barry and Aberthaw coastline to Aberdare, Hirwaun and across to
Glyn Neath. This territory was anciently known as Penuchel and Arthur, in the Brecon Manuscripts, recorded as Arthur Penuchel. was

Cadair Arthur

The area includes the Cardiff plain, the Vale of Glamorgan and the hill country stretching north from Tongwynlais, Llanharran and Llanharry. It includes the Aberdate, Rhondda Fach, Rhondda Fawr, the Rhumney Valleys and over to the west, the Maesteg and Western Valleys on over to Neath, including the coastal areas around Margam and up on over the mountains down to the great open valley between Glamorgan and the Brecon Beacons the Vale of Neath. The highest point of the Black Mountain was
-

Arthur's

Chair.

THE BOY KING

Arthur was in fact elected to be King of All the Britons at the age of fifteen in 518 A.D. This is a parallel to the election of Clovis as King of the Franks also at the age of fifteen in 481 A.D. This event is recorded in the B.M. Cottonian MSSTitus D.XXII 1.
-

The connection with London is that London was at that time the principal Celtic trading and merchant city of Britain. It was always held in the highest esteem by the British and did not fall to the Saxons until a much later date, when it became absorbed into Saxon England rather than overthrown. Magnus Maximus, his son Victor and Arthur I would certainly have held London around 380 A.D.

THE SWORD IN THE STONE

The sword embedded in the stone is of course the representation and manifestation of the God Ares. This god sword Ares we have seen represented all along the Celtic Welsh route from Southern Russia and the Caucasas, through Armenia to Asia Minor. The Scythians worshipped Ares in Russia and the Caucasus as the historian Herodotus described, the Hittites show the sword on rock carvings and show it also embedded into either the rock or the ground. The Scythians (later to be the Goths) piled timbers and brushwood around Ares, a sword embedded into the solid mound of earth.

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As Taifalic Goths are very probably the people who were settled into South Wales by Theodosius around 380 to 400 A.D., there should be no surprise at discovering Ares in South East Wales.
The fact that only the king could draw the sword needs very little explanation, for most ancient people priest. The theory was that a god could be very severely offended appointed their emperororkingaschief if anyone less than the most important man in the land were to make offerings in the role of chief maximus' until 418 A.D., all Roman priest. All Roman Emperors of the east were always the maximus' until the end of the Empire. Early Egyptian pharoahs were Emperors were always also first high priests of their greatest gods and Hittite Kings would even leave their armies when on campaign to go to be present at the most important religious ceremonies.
'pontifex

'pontifex

carrying the image of the Virgin Mary on his back It is for this precise reason that we find Arthur at the Battle of Badon Hill. It is for this same reason that as King Arthwys he carried the Gospels on his back around the boundaries of territories to be given to the Church in South Wales, as recorded in the Llandaff Charters. The King was the top man and he had to lead the way in important religious rites to avoid offence to the god. There can be little doubt that whilst Christianity was accepted, it had to exist all their alongside the older religions and cults for a long, long time. Very few ancient Kings would eggs in one basket' and abandon older gods for the new Christian god exclusively.
'alone' 'put

THE ROUND TABLE

The Celtic custom was to sit in a circle at councils or feasts as described by the Roman historian Xenephon, when Seuthes, the Celtic King in Thrace, entertained the Greek Generals. The proliferation of kings and the obsession with noble birth and ancestry among the British Celts would have made it impossible for one king to sit at the head of a council or table above others. Land ownership or strength meant nothing, only lineage and descent decided priority of place.

The British kings and princes were in fact persuaded to combine together under Arthur to fight the table of circular common enemy, the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and others. Whether there ever was an actual constructed for these allied kings of the Britons to sit around, is possibly something no-one will design
ever discover. Even modern excavation of the correct site may not reveal this. sat in a circle around The basic fact remains that the Celtic nobles conference, when dining or being entertained. the fire in their halls when in

SIR LANCELOT
There has to be some explanation for Lancelot, a Knight of the King, yet more powerful than the king. described elsewhere Lancelot emerges in the person of the strange and menacing character of As we have uncle. King Maelgwn Gwynedd. Arthur was attacked by his nephews and Maelgwn also overthrew his

Two of Maelgwn's sons identified as allies of Arthur in Mabinogion stories, one Rhuvon the Radiant is clearly the Sir Galahad of Romance literature. Camlan, the scene of the great battle, stands in a narrow mountain pass, the route from South to North Wales. The other son of Maelgwn who is mentioned is Rhun, second son of the King who succeeded him.

MORGAN LE FEY
Fey in The enchantress, the sister of Arthur, a strange and enigmatic figure. We can identify Morgan le quite distinctive roles. First the Celtic water goddess of deep water associated with lakes and pools two and secondly m acurious mixture with the black robed women of ancient Druidical cults now thoroughly confused with the nuns of Christian island monasteries.

THE CIVIL WAR

There is ample evidence that Arthur's rule over the British ended in civil war. The war, if between the King and Maelgwn Gwynedd, represents the struggle between Arthur and Lancelot and demonstrates the truth that Arthur was greatly dependant upon the strength of the mighty Maelgwn to hold the British together. The fact that Maelgwn emerged to dominate Britain after Arthur's defeat is a clear pointer that the war was between North and South Wales. Again we will look at this in detail elsewhere.

THE ISLAND
Next we have the island to which Arthur was taken by Morgan le Fey and her women in black. There are between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, two sizeable islands standing in the Bristol Channel. Both were ancient religious sites being used by St. Gildas and St. Cadoc as places to which they retreated in isolation. One nearest Cardiff is now known as the Flat Holm and was anciently called Elchin, used used by St. Cadoc; the other island further out in the Channel is the Steep Holm formerly called Ronoch Flat Holm is difficult to get on to with the enormous channel tides and strong by St. Gildas. The rock currents; it has in fact only one safe beach landing spot. The Steep Holm is a most massive fortress rising sheer out of the sea with precipitous vertical cliffs standing over four hundred feet above the waves and currents. There is only one landing place and this is extremely dangerous. No-one could land on this great Massada-like rock if opposed by even the tiniest force of defenders.

There were ancient nunneries and chapels on these islands and it is to these rock sanctuaries that the ancient storytellers are telling us that Arthur was taken. The King was wounded in the battle, his army was largely destroyed.

THE KING'S RETURN TO THE MAINLAND

There is in the stories a return by the King from the island refuge or sanctuary, to the mainland. This is quite a logical happening, for if the King were wounded m the great slaughter of Camlan, then he would need time to recover. Once Maelgwn had withdrawn to the North and the King was well again, he could return to mainland South Wales.
Arthur,

This would incapacitate

as we will see, was probably the Lame King with the thighs', the Lamed or Fisher King. him and prevent him continuing as the King of Britain.
'pierced

THE SWORD EXCALIBUR When he returned to the mainland the wounded King ordered his squire to take his magical sword and throw it into a lake. This is a purely symbolic action, with the King giving up the sword, the symbol of his kingship over all Britain. This is confirmed by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain, where he states that Arthur abdicated after the Battle of Camlan, giving the Kingship to Constantine of Dumnonia.
The story is telling of an incapacitated, wounded King, no longer able to lead his armies, unable to hold the office of High King any longer. This means that the King lived on after the Battle of Camlan. What Geoffrey of Monmouth has done is to confuse Arthur II, wounded at Camlan, with Arthur I who was fonowed by Constantine around 406 A.D.

THE LAKE
The lake into which Arthur ordered the sword to be thrown is also in his territory of Penuchel. This lake we will describe in detail elsewhere and it lies in North Glamorgan, over the mountain at the top of the Rhondda Valley on the slopes descending to Hirwaun. Into this strange lake ancient peoples threw offerings of cauldrons, knives, sickles and a sword. The sword found in the bed of the lake was not a Celtic fifth century sword, but the remains of ancient Halstaddt culture sword of around 500 to 400 B.C. This fits it well as the very sword of an Ares, for Excalibur was not a battle sword, but a magical weapon, a religious symbol and totem, held in rock a or plunged into the earth or a mound of turf.

Certainly someone threw this ancient sword into the mountain lake in Glamorgan. THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL IDENTITY We have therefore in the territory of Arthur Penuchel, all the necessary geographical features and all the necessary historical remains to fit the Arthurian story completely. The record of the boy chosen king at fifteen years, the probable presence of Taifalic Goths, descendants of people who had as a god a sword plunged into the earth or a wooden block, begin the likeness. The lake into which offerings of metal were thrown exists, a sword was found in it. The water goddess of deep water, Margan, existed and a strange shrine of oak was embedded into the centre of the sacred lake.
The islands with their monks, chapels and nunneries exist, they lie off Cardiff in the turbulence of the route from the shore at Cardiff to the sacred lake above Hirwaun is exactly as described by Walter Map around 1135 A.D.

Severn estuary. The

There was a King of Glamorgan and Gwent named Arthwys. The Mabinogion records a lamed Fisher King, an important crippled monarch. Armoured heavy cavalry existed in South Wales in late and postRoman times. We are therefore dealing with stories based on fact.

ARTHURANDCAVEFOLKLORE
The popular legend of Arthur was and is that he is not dead, but that he sleeps on safe in a cave from where he will one day rise if necessary to rescue his people. The concept of an undying hero, a king for all time past, present and future, is powerful magic. Strong though he may have been in life, Arthur or ghost was to prove infinitely stronger. A hero who his remained undying and undefeated formed rallying point, a focus of hope to an oppressed people and a an unbeatable national symbol. There are at least two well known local folk tales which associate King Arthur with sleeping in caves awaiting a summons to his people's aid. Such tales mean that the inhabitants of the area associated themselves in some way with the great king. Not surprisingly one of these folktales is located in Glamorgan, the other in the Melrose area of Scotland, an area of northern British Clyde and the Forth was British and later English, until actually given power. Scotland south of the to the King of Scotland

Eadred of England in 947 A.D.

by King

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The Sacred Lake of the Silures high in the Glamorgan Hills on the road from the Rhondda Valley to Hirwaun. When the lake was drained the remains of a great oak shrine was found in the centre of the lake, weapons had been thrown in as offerings including a very ancient sword.

down towards Doligellau in a valley beyond lies Camlan 'The Crooked Glen' where King Arthur and Mordred fought. Looking

which we are demonstrating

The Glamorgan story is of the Craig-y-Ddinas Rock of the City or Fortress Cave near Glyn Neath in central Glamorgan. This cave is reputed to be the place where the sleeping Arthur rests down through the ages with his knights. It has therefore an exact known location or area and it is within the territory
-

to be that of Arthur.

cave.

Legend tells of how a Welsh cattle drover met with a wizard who asked him from where he had cut the hazelwood staff he was carrying. The wizard asked the cattle drover to take him to the tree from which he had cut the staff, for the tree would mark the site of a great treasure. So the drover led the wizard to the tree and together they proceeded to dig up the tree by the roots. In the cavity they found the entrance to an underground passage and when they went through the passage, they reached a great

At the entrance to this great cavern there hung a bell and past the bell, along the cave, there lay King Arthur and his warriors, sleeping in rows. Beside the sleeping warriors lay large mounds of gold and silver and the wizard told the cattle drover that he could take as much of the gold and silver as he wished. The wizard warned the man that he must be careful not to touch the bell, for if he did the warriors would wake. They would ask him if it were day and he had to tell them, 'No, sleep on', and they would return to sleep. The cattle drover returned to the cave twice and each time he was greedy and carried gold than he should. As he squeezed out of the cave he touched the bell and the warriors awoke and more 'Is it day?' asked, and he whispered, 'No, sleep on'. On his third visit to the cave the cattle drover again carried too much gold and silver and as he crept past the bell into the passage, he again touched it and it rang. This time the warriors leapt up and asked, 'Is it day?' and in his confusion the drover forgot the correct answer. The warriors seized him and they beat him so badly that he was crippled for life and flung out of the cave. In his crippled state he could never find the cave again.

This old story has grains of ancient truth, for there is the mention of mounds of gold and silver. This ties in with the known facts of the Celtic people depositing their gold and silver in piled heaps which noone dared to touch. A Roman historian tells how in the conquest of Gaul, one Roman general plundered no less than 110,000 lbs. of silver and 100,000 lbs. of gold from one Celtic treasure hoard. Then the Angio Saxon Chronicle relates that the British gathered together all the treasures of Britain and hid
them, and no man saw them again. The mention of a bell is again typically old Celtic, for bells seem tohave had a special fascination for the Welsh. They figure largely in the most ancientof the Saints 'Lives' possessing magical attributes and being treasured by the saints as articles of supreme value. The story from Scotland is in similar vein to the one from Glamorgan and it isset in the Eildon Hills, a mile south of Melrose, Roxburgh. This time the folk figure is not a cattle drover, but a horse dealer named Canonbie Dick. This horse trader was returning home late one night passing the Elidon Hills with a pair of horses which he had not been able to sell. Then a strange man dressed in old fashioned clothes stopped him and asked to buy his horses. Hard bargaining followed and finally the strange man paid Canonbie Dick with ancient gold pieces and Dick suggested a drink to seal the bargain. The man agreed, but he warned Canonbie Dick that if he lost his nerve and became afraid when he saw the place where the man dwelt, he might never return from it. the hills. The stranger led Canonbie Dick into a monstrous cave which was filled with rows of sleeping horses and beside them knights in armour. There the man led the horse dealer to a table and showed him a horn and a sword and made him the offer of choosing either horn or sword, with the promise that he would be King of all Britain if he chose correctly.

So together they went to a mound known as the Lucken Hare, where they entered a concealed door in

Dick chose the horn and tried to blow it to rouse the sleeping host. He was wrong and a great wind whistled around the cave whirling Dick into the air and throwing him out of the cave. A voice told Dick that he had tried to summon the sleeping King Arthur and his men, but that he was wrong to seek help before taking up the sword himself. The fall when he was blown out by the wind injured Canonbie Dick and when next morning shepherds found him, he was able to tell them his story and then he died.
Somehow this tale is a lot more than the Welsh story, although very similar. The tale of drinks to seal bargains isa modern concept, the description of the strangely clothed man and his antique coinage is also an indication that the story setting is modern, as is the concept of a horse dealer. The Welsh tale contains the old Celtic obsession with 'Three' three visits to the cave by the Welsh cattle drover, it contains a wizard and of course the old association with trees Druidic groves, Celtic deities and so on. Significantly it places the great king once more into South Wales.
-

'modern'

ARTHUR

AND THE STONE OF HUEIL

There is confusion over King Arthur primarily because so little is definately stated concerning him. The primary date which is normally useful when dealing with ancient British kings, is the notice of their

200

faithfully death. Those kings who died during the period of the Annals Cambriae being actively kept are recorded. Their predecessors during the period when the Annals were constructed from memory are not so listed. in either AII we know for an absolute fact is that at the Battle of Camlan which reportedly took place Modred was slain. There is no clear statement that Arthur was killed at this 537 or 542 A.D., one Arthur battle, all we know is 'Arthur and Modred slain'. It is that cryptic and unclear 'Strife at Camlan. killed. There and Modred slain'. It could mean Arthur was there and Modred was slain, or that both were not appear that Arthur was killed, it does not it can be no doubt that Arthur was with Modred, but does read that way. Arthur and Modred could have been jointly opposed to Maelgwn. record of the event, Later historians do not say that he was killed at Camlan at all and if they had no they would have been aware of the tradition. Certainly in the twelfth century, Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Of this Welshman from Arthur's ancient kingdom, says that Arthur did not die in the Battle of Camlan. quite definite, for he states that Arthur resigned his leadership of the Britons and handed Geoffrey is The King could hardly resign his position and hand over to someone over the job to Constantine. else if he were himself killed at the battle to end the civil war. This theme of Arthur not being killed at the same the Battle of Camlan is continued by Walter Map, also a Welshman from South Wales, writing at Monmouth, around 1130 to 1135 A.D. True, Walter Map in his Romantic tale has period as Geoffrey of withArthur dying, but he does not seem to die of battle wounds. The King goes home to die alone and band of followers who are now all dead or divided. out his famous Gildas writing some time around 537, does not mention Arthur dying at Camlan, in fact he does not mention Camlan. Gildas in fact bemoans the divisions between the Kings of the Britons and curses them for their evils and blind folly. He is both appealing to and bitterly criticising the kings who he classes as foul and non-Christian and not listing those who deserve praise. What Gildas was doing was launching an impassioned sermon directed at the several British Kings who he saw as the enemies of their own state. His major concern was with their sins and their crimes, rather than their politics. It is with Gildas that we get the clue that all is not as generally assumed after the Battle of Camlan. These by admiring clerics; one written or copied in the eleventh century were two 'Lives' of Gildas written written copied in the twelfth century. The earlier manuscript is entitled 'Vita Gildae and the other or unknown monk named Roys 'Rhys') anctore monacho Ruyensi anonyme' (The Life of Gildas by an and the second, of which two copies survive, records that the author was originally Caradoc of Llancarfan. Both are in the British Museum.
-

Saints' 'Lives' are notoriously

dangerous documents, with many exaggerations and plain distortions. The both stories which we have being very similar. Gildas fairly straightforward, Life of Gildas is however, named Nau, Caw or Cuil, he visits Ireland and he visits Rome. A11 was born in Scotland, his father was Gildas' this is very probably true, for his Irish visit is recorded in the Welsh Annals in 565 A.D. and quite immense, which befits a man who studied at Rome and returned with a great reputation was library of books. He was in fact Gildas the Wise.
The Life of Gildas by Caradoc introduces a clear historical reference, for Gildas is described as being named Hueil, was killed by Arthur. This is a statement over in Ireland and whilst there his brother, which is fully described with Gildas returning to Britain and forgiving Arthur and meeting Arthur at Llancarfan, where the reconciliation took place. Now this is all very well until we realise that the death of Hueit took place when Gildas was in Ireland and that was in 565 A.D. If Arthur killed Hueil in 565, then he Arthur certainly did not die in 537 or 542.
-

We come back to the cryptic 'Strife at Camlan. Arthur and Modred died', which surely translates into 'There was a battle at Camlan involving Arthur and Modred who died'. This means that whilst Arthur Monmouth statement that may well have been wounded, he did not die. This fits with the Geoffrey of the great King resigned and handed matters over to another leader. There is in fact some support for this in a folk tale from Denbigh. This is a strange story of Arthur which shows little respect for the King, but it has two factors of great interest. Arthur is described as lamed and injured, he walks with a limp and Hueil is not killed in battle, he is executed in mid-Wales. What raiding and stealing, boasting that Arthur could not catch appears to have happened is that Hueil came him. He was wrong, for Arthur not only caught him, but also cut off his head. The fact that this Denbigh tale is told at all is remarkable, but its content is more so. The story is briefly as follows.-In the market place of Ruthin in Denbigh, North Wales, there stands a Hueil's large block of limestone. This block of stone is named and is called Maen Hueil, which means of the stone we shall see. The folk tale tells of how in the sixth century stone. The reason for the name all the sons of Caw, a great northern chief settled into North Wales, rebelled against King Arthur. Prince Hueil was the eldest of these sons of Caw and the major nuisance and problem to Arthur. Hueil ruled of the area of Edeirnion in North Wales which of course immediately brings us to the proposition and introduces the perennial battle between North and Arthur fighting to suppress rebellion in Wales South Wales and the idea of Camlan in Wales looms large.

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wounded condition

The folk tale tells of Arthur periodically visiting Caerwys in Flintshire to hold court. When at Caerwys, Arthur would visit a lady friend who lived at Ruthin and when this became known to Hueil he began to pursue the lady himself. Inevitably this led to a battle between the two and in the fight Arthur was
in the knee and lamed. The King agreed to forgive Hueil, so he must have won the battle, on that he never mentioned the King's injury. Caer-Wys is of course Caer-Arthwys.

Later Arthur went to visit his lady friend whilst there was a festival at the village of Ruthin and for some reason the King went disguised as a women. Dancing took place and Hueil, who was present, recognised Arthur by his limp and stated loudly 'Your dancing would be fine if it were not for your clumsy knee'. This the King would not tolerate and he had Hueil immediately taken out of the chief's hall and ordered him to be beheaded on the stone. So even today Hueil's stone stands in the market square of Ruthin town in Denbigh, North Wales. The folk tale remembered down the centuries is of enormous significance for Arthur did indeed kill Hueil who was in fact the son of Caw. The first significance is that rebellion against Arthur came from North Wales and this may help in locating the site of the battle of Camlan. Even more important, the story alleges quite clearly that Arthur King of the Britons, was lamed in a battle in a civil war. This is a quite remarkable statement.

In Celtic Britain a chief would not hold office or continue in office as chief or King, if he were maimed, lamed or disfigured. The idea was similar to the ancient Hebrew concept of priesthood where no-one not perfect in body or appearance could serve in the Temple of their Lord. There is evidence of this in the Irish sagas, particularly with the tale of Nudd of the Silver Hand, a king who lost his hand in battle and who then immediately had to resign, although a dummy silver hand was made for him for cosmetic appearances. If King Arthur were lamed in battle, then he would most certainly have resigned the Kingship of the Britons, this is exactly what Geoffrey of Monmouth and Walter Map believed was the case. Caw was a real live Celtic Prince of Arthur's time. He did have twenty four sons, only one of whom was friendly with Arthur and that was Gildas the Wise, the monk and later saint. Hueil was one of Caw's sons and Arthur did kill him, that the date recorded for Hueit's death is 565 A.D. is vital. No history or Annal ever recorded Arthur's death, there is only the brief entry in the Welsh Annals upon which a construction or extrapolation has been made to infer that the King died at Camlan. What this folk tale does is to tie down the area of rebellion against the King and to indicate clearly that he was wounded in the leg or legs in the fighting.
In the Branwen story, the king is described as Pierced Thighs and is then described as being wounded in the leg with a poisoned spear. So here again we have the story of the King of Britain wounded in the legs and crippled. This again introduces the concept of the Lamed King, the Fisher King, and here we have the name Bran used to substitute for that of Arthur. There is further historical parallel in the story, for in his absence have next we find the men whom Bran left behind in Britain to act as his representatives rebelled against him and seized his crown and control of Britain. This adheres to the Geoffrey of Monmouth story of Arthur being abroad at a war when his nephews rose against him in Britain. It also mirrors the events of the great Boar Hunt in 'Culhwch and Olwen' where the Boars or Vandals cross from Ireland to Britain, leaving Arthur in Ireland where he had gone against them.

The King Bran of the story is badly wounded and will now die and so he commands his men to cut off his head and to take it with them to Britain. This they do and the head lives on as their companion, they return to Harlech and then go south to Gwales in Penvro which may be Grassholm Island in Pembrokeshire, taking King Bran's head with them. At Gwales Bran has warned them never to open the door to the south and this they do not do. So for eighty years they live happily at Gwales with Bran's head.
The idea of a living head may well be closely linked with the head hunting and skull cults of the Celts, but it more than likely means that the King was crippled, even paralysed. The survivors of the expedition spent seven years feasting at Harlech and eighty at Gwales, but then one of them opened the forbidden door to the south to 'Cornwall' and they all remembered their great loss of lands. So they took the head of Bran to London and buried it in the White Hill. The whole 'Branwen daughter of Llyr' is a cryptic mass of allegory which we have not completely unravelled. Yet there is an unmistakeable identity of Bran and Arthur, and Bran is called Pierced Thighs. Later Mediaeval writers called Bran, or Bron, their Fisher King in the stories of the Holy Grail and here again the King is Lame,wounded in both thighs. Wolfram von Eschenback writing Parzival, states that the Fisher King has been sexually incapacitated by a spear or fance thrust. Crestiens of Troyes links the sexual impotence of this lame king to the barren wasteland. The wounding of a king in this way with his army defeated would soon allow for his enemies to turn his lands into barren wastelands without any need for superstition. The stories do however refuge to recover, fit with the ideas of a wounded king, crippled in his legs, taken to an island
y

The possibility of Arthur living on to rule his own private territory and to later seize and kill Hueil from

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the North at Ruthin in Denbigh, may well have very firm foundations indeed. The idea of the king lying stricken and crippled when Gildas wrote his great sermon and appeal to the other kings, is not impossible, for not once does he mention Arthur not once.
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It all fits with the evidence from Glamorgan on King Arthwyr with his father King Meurig playing the part of his Druid Counsellor. It is in fact a quite simple matter to fit the Druid role to that of the sooth saying guide 'Merlin'. In this case Meurig is the 'Merlin' to Arthur, just as Ambrosius the Elder or also. Meurig certainly lived until around Ambrosius Aurelianus played this role of Merlin Counsellor 575 A.D. and the Welsh Annals record that in 570 A.D. 'Merlin became insane'. An old man of 570 maybe 100 years or more going senile.
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'

DOCUMENTARY

EVIDENCE OF THE LAME KING

The Lame King, or as he is sometimes referred to in the ancient stories, The Lame Fisher King, has to be of the Welsh Heroic Period from between 400 to 600 A.D. As we have already an identifiabel character postulated he is most probably Arthur II, King of Glamorgan, a king wounded in battle probably by a poisoned spear or sword. The effect of the poisons used by the old Celtic peoples on their weapons was obviously to kill an opponent, or at least to cause severe illness. This illness took the form of possible paralysis, and often resulted in impotence. The picture istherefore oneof agreatwarriorkinglyingseverely ilt, paralysed and lamed by such a wound.

There does appear to be a manuscript reference to such a king, which could easily pass un-noticed. It is and in the B.M. Vespasian A.14. manuscript which lists a large number of Celtic saints and their parents families. Here Saint No. 43 is St. Tyurydauc the son of Thuder, and this probably means that he s Theoderic, the son of Theodore, or Theodosius. So we are immediately brought to Theoderic the father of King Meurig. In fact this entry of Saint No. 43 is a little difficult to follow as it lists first Tyuyrdauc and then Theyrnauc and then Thuder. This is in fact accurate with the Court Pedigrees of Howell Dda Manuscripts listing the descent of Theoderic the grandfather of King Brychan, which with the Brecon and follow him with Taithfallt and then Theoderic, and name Thuder as grandson of Arthur ! Arthun here the Saints pedigree gives the same three names in the same order. It appears that Dwyanedd the of Amorica is the saints mother and that his sister is named daughter of Amlodd WIedig the Leader Marchell. A brother is named as Hawystyl Gloff which can be literally translated as Augustus Claudius, and here we have the clue.
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Augustus was used by Roman Emperors as a title, the Augustus of the West, the Augustus of the East, which the Victor the Augustus of Gaul and so on. So in effect Augustus here means Emperor, from The other part of this identification is Claudius in Welsh Cloff, now the Welsh word Amheredur sprang. is Welsh for lame. Emperor Claudius I was lame, a cripple in fact. 'Claudius' is Latin for lame, and The designation of Augustus Claudius is not therefore a name but a form of title meaning Emperor (who is) Lame', or the'Lame Emperor'. Here in fact we have the 'Lame King' of the Mabinogion
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'cloff'

'(the)

stories. The folk tale of Denbigh is then in fact very closely corroborated by the historicatrecord Lives: "Cuill (Hueil) the eldest son of Caw, blood brother of Gildas the l/Vise.......... VVasa vigorous warrior and famous soldier who
submitted tono king not even Arthur. He would often come down from Scotland burning and raiding with victory and honour. The King of all Britain hearing what the high minded youth was doing persecuted the admirable young man although the people used to hope and avow that one day he would become king. He killed the young robber and after the murder Arthur went home very pleased to have killed his strongest enemy."

of the Saints

This is yet another piece of incredible religious humbug, well in line with the anti-Arthur attitude of God' state that a of the church which we have identified elsewhere. How on earth can call him young man' or man was pillaging, burning, looting, destroying and killing, and then minded youth' and then on top of all this nonsense attempt to crticise the King who did his appointed job of putting a stop to the devastation. It is all part of the Church campaign against a king who flatly refused to be dominated by clerics and who taxed them like everyone else to maintain his armies and government to defend the peace.
'men 'admirable 'high

However, the point which is relevant is that Arthur is recorded and remembered as killing Hueil. The folk tale in fact indicates that Arthur laid some form of ambush or trap for Hueil, who walked into it, for the King is stated to have gone to Ruthin in disguise which is rather odd a thing to have done. The tale appears to take the shape of a battle with a pursuit and capture, with an execution of the criminal to finish the saga.

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This strange tale of rival kings courting the same woman is in fact not only readily understandable but probably true. Celtic women inherited property and had rights' and so a landholding heiress was an obvious target for Kings with their many wives. Arthur and Hueil were each attempting to enlarge their clan territories.
'equal

THE LAME FISHER

KING

The idea of the King being lame or lamed is much more important than at first appears, for it not only gives the very reason for Arthur having to abandon the throne of Britain and retire to his own territories, it offers the reason for Hueil, son of Caw, being so bold as to raid into South Wales. Hueil clearly had the idea that Arthur was no longer capable of catching him and dealing with him. Further however, it extends our line of thinking into other areas where we find other parallels. The Mabinogion stories contain clear references to the Lame or Lamed King sometimes identified as the Fisher King, an important shadowy personage. In the story of 'Peredur' the hero Peredur has an uncle who is the Fisher King and this Fisher King is lame. This lameness of the Fisher King is clearly demonstrated to be the cause of the strife and warfare in the land in the Peredur son of Evrawg story. Once more we have a basis of fact for the name Peredur is well recorded in the Breconshire King Lists and in other historical documents, linked with Gwrgi, his brother, and also with the name of Arthur Penuchel. Arthur was the uncle of Peredur, yet Peredur had a lame uncle who was the Fisher King. This is in accord with the Ruthin folk tale of the lame King Arthur and there is therefore a reasonable case for identifying the Lame Fisher King with Arthur. The whole Celtic conception of the King being physically perfect is a most ancient cult belief. Even the ancient Egyptians around 2500 B.C. had a periodic ceremony where the Pharaoh had to prove his health, strength and fitness. Either he was fit to rule and to lead the armies, or he was ritually sacrificed and there is evidence of this. In the case of Celtic leaders, they simply retired from their executive office leaving someone else the crown. This theme of the masculinity and fertility of the king has its roots deep in the ancient beliefs of the Celts. Winter was the time of sterility when the earth lay barren, spring and summer were the times of fertility and growth; ill health was linked with the season of winter. The idea that a wounded or incapacitated king brought disaster, strife and devastation to a land just as winter brought incapacity and sterility to the earth.
'heb-sed'

in at least two of the Mabinogion stories where kidof youthful, even infant, hero figures sumbolises the onset of winter. The idea of the lame Fisher King is more real than superstition, for it appears in other Mabinogion stories earlier than Peredur and again connected with Arthur. The story of 'Bronwen daughter of Llyr', is another tale which brings to light a lamed king. napping The story is in fact based on an even earlier tale which is the subject of a poem entitled 'The Booty of Annwynn'. The 'Booty of Annwynn' poem describes an expedition under the famous King Arthur which crossed from Wales to Ireland to seek the famous treasure of the cauldron of rebirth. From this expedition only seven men returned. The Branwen story is based directly on this story where again there is an expedition to Ireland, this time under Bran the mighty King of Britain who must be a replacement for Arthur. The expedition again seeks the magic cauldron of rebirth and again only seven men return from the battles in Ireland. The Branwen story is however detailed and linked to history in many ways, for Branwen, sister of Bran, is of Marchel, the daughter of King Theoderic of South Wales, who did marry the Irish a representative prince Anlac, son of Cormac of Ireland and Brecon. Arthur was a near relative of Branwen Marchel but more likely her nephew than her brother, unless a half brother with the same father but different a mother. Celtic Kings often had several wives. The King Bran of the story is a very mighty warrior indeed, more powerful than any, a veritable giant and in this he identifies with Arthur. The word means raven and raven is the code word for a raider or pirate in the bardic prose, usually applied to men from the north. Here the king on a raid abroad is a raven.
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Some scholars have seen this winter symbolism

'bran'

The family connections are correct if we designate Arthur as the grandson of Theoderic as the Lamed King or Emperor. The entry of this Saint No. 43 is in correct grouping of the South Wales Saints, No. 44 is Keidyau, son of Ambrosius of Caerwent who married Madrun (No. 45 in some manuscripts) the daughter of Uther King of Britain, whose son is Arthun Anhun, Arthur I. Whilst Arthur Il is probably the Lame King, the entry of Saint No. 37 in this manuscript should be examined, for it names a saint as Gwyduarch e Meiuct, the son of Amalarus or Pwyl' meaning 'Prince of Apulia'. This is a very clear identification of Andragathius the grandson and great general of the Emperor Magnus Maximus. As we can identify this prince as Arthur I, we have a very significant entry here.
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'tywyssavc

of Uther (Victor).

Equally important we have a Mabinogion story of Pwyll, son of Anwyn, and just as Julius Caesar was known simply as Yr Agneu Goch The Red Death from his short sword legionaries, so it appears that the Bards told the story of 'Pwyll' meaning the prince of Apulia. This is sensible for they also told the story of 'Bran' which means the Raven, meaning Arthur who in their aliterative code was raven' when he raided abroad. The implication is that Pwyll of the tales is Arthur I, the grandson of Magnus and son
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'a

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It is all a matter of understanding the ideas and the history of the period. The old bards knew what they meant in their stories and so did their audiences. What we in modern times have lacked is the understanding and the clues to the codes that they used. Apulia in the case of this 'Prince of Apulia' is a clear reference to the occupation of Italy by Magnus Maximus and Victor, and Arthur I, for they were at Apulia which they held.
The name of this ancient saint who we connect with Arthur I is as stated Gwyduarch, and this is probably a spelling of the royal name used by several of the royal princes of Glamorgan, which is in fact, Gwaednerth.

What it all amounts to is that the mysterious Lame Fisher King of the Mabinogion Tales fits very well as Arthur or Arthwyr, the son of King Meurig of the Glamorgan and Gwent area. There should be no
surprise at this King being styled 'Emperor' as these kings were descended from Magnus Maximus, and when all three sons of Constantine the Great died without heirs, then Magnus and his descendants were the rightful inheritors of the Empire by right of birth. Amlodd Wiedig and his daughter Dwyannedd fit the exact time scale for Arthur to be of the correct generation as the Lame Emperor around 540 A.D.

THE HISTORY OF BRITAIN IN KING ARTHUR'S TIME

available for the of the lack of information Would-be scholars have for many years complained mysterious years of King Arthur's rule in Britain. They constantly bemoan the lack of data to inform the modern world of events. This is in fact not the case, for we have an absolute welter of facts and informative description of the age. All that is necessary is to see what the facts really are to decipher for they are indeed written into a code. The code has been available to us for many centuries but them somehow no-one has recognised the code exists or solved it.
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and concern King Arthur. These stories are not, definately not, fables or inventions. These are the tales told around the smokey fires of the timbered halls in the dusk of evenings or on cold wet winter nights with the wind gusting around outside. No-one would want to hear a brave, bold recital of wars and dates and of battles won and lost. What was required was a story, something to light the imagination and capture the mind of the listeners and an 'Odyssey' of the and sothe stories were created around known facts until there was a great history of the people. How much of this we still possess is an unanswerable question, but we do possess substantial works which tell us a great deal.

There are the Mabinogion Stories, no less than five which mention

'llliad'

something like the works of Homer in Greece. These prose poems would be sung by the bards in the evenings to the accompanying music of harps and lutes and the possibility is that the mode was penillion singing where the musician plays a melody as a background whilst the singer sings, or rather chants, the words to a totally different time of the same measure or beat. This type of singing is still practised in Wales today.

So we are faced with history written as imaginative poetry

The five poem/prose stories which we have are 'The Dream of Rhonabwy'; the story of 'How Cullhwch won Olwen'; 'Owein' or the story of the 'Countess of the Fountain'; 'Peredur Son of Evrawg'; and 'Geraint and Enid'. Each one of these stories is a history wrapped up into an elaborate prose poem with a great number of hidden references and meanings and these stories are accurate. Peredur of Evrawg is Peredur of York, a real life historical prince who lived around 520 to 580 A.D. when he was killed. He is named clearly with his brother Gwrgi in the Brecon Manuscripts and in the Court Pedigrees of Howell Dda and other King Lists.

Geraint is Geraint, King of Cornwall who was visited by Bishop Teilo in 557, the year of the outbreak of the Great Plague. He was nephew and successor of King Erbin of Cornwall, marrying Enid to succeed, of King Tewdrig the grandand was grandson of Erbin's father, Cystennhin Gorneu a contemporary father of Arthwys Arthur.
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GLAMORGAN King Tewdrig

CORNWALL King Custennhin King Erbin King Geraint

King Meurig
King Arthwyr This King Geraint died between returned to Wales in 562 A.D.

557 and 562 A.D. and Teilo sent a stone sarcophagus

for him. Teilo

Owain may be Owain, son of Urien, a rival of Arthur, and we know that Urien was killed by his cousin
Morcant in 596 A.D. as an old man.

So as Arthur can be roughly established as born circa 491 to 503 A.D. and dying around 570 A.D. these tales are of immense historical importance.

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ARTHUR AND THE MABINOGION

As may be expected, King Arthur is featured in the collection of stories which are known as the Mabinogion. These tales are of somewhat indeterminate age, handed on orally from age to age and finally written down and re-copied until we finally have them today. Ouite apart from the remarkable detail which is entered concerning life in Arthurian times, we also get an indication of locations, and it is locations which we are seeking now.
One story quite definately places Arthur on an island in the Severn. There are not in fact many islands in the Severn and the King is unlikely to have been on some of them. At Cardiff the Severn estuary is over seven miles wide across to the Somerset coast and there are two sizeable islands like giant stepping stones, set out in the channel. One known as the Flat Hohn is some two miles off-shore from Penarth by Cardiff, the other a high, well-nigh inaccessible rock massif rising over three hundred feet out of the sea, over two miles further south is called the Steep Hohn. Both of these relatively inaccessible islands can

be eliminated from the story which we are looking at; not only would they not fit the detail of the story but they are very difficult to approach. Tides at Cardiff are commonly 38 to 39 feet and at Barry 8 miles west, they are 41 to 42 feet, twice a day, so shoreline conditions are indeed extraordinary.

by walking along a narrow rock causeway which is exposed is in fact about three acres and is an undistinguished mass and sand beaches.On the island are remains of what was once see was part of the Vale of Glamorgan defensive system. was found there in 1899.

There are in fact only two islands in the Severn which fit the story and both are in the Penuchel area where we have located Arthur. One is Sully which is a mere six and a half miles from Cardiff, west along the coast. This small island is seperated from the mainland when the tides are in, but it can be reached
when the tides are at ebb. This small island of overgrown grass grounds with tiny rock an earthwork fortification which as we will A hoard of Roman coins, gold and silver,

If there was some half remembered folk tale or a concrete, cogent story told of Arthur sitting with his warriors, or at least some of them, on this island, then it may well be true. The story is not one which brings any credit or high repute to Arthur, in fact just the opposite, so there is no reason which is
apparent for the author to invent the situation of placing Arthur on the island. The second island, again in Penuchel, is at Barry, some eight and a half miles west of Cardiff. Here Barry Island is well known to hundreds of thousands of holiday makers, with its well known beach, its fun fairs and amusements and its large modern holiday camp. But this island was not always as it is today, with a man-made causeway to connect it to mainland Barry with its population of some 50,000 people. In 1880 the population of Barry stood at 85 men, women and children in seventeen houses. John Leland, the English chronicler visited Barry around 1537 and described the island as a solitary place grasse and sum wood'. At the westerly point of the bay were prehistoric burial grounds on Friars Point, and around on Nells Point was an ancient fort. The shrine of St. Barruc stood on the island, the ruined remains of the ancient chapel of the monk Barus (St. Barrock) fair little chapel of St. Barrock where much pilgrimage was usid', as John Leland stated. Near the Barry Island railway station were claimed to be the remains of an ancient abbey of pre-Norman, early Welsh times, hence the name Friars Point.
'goodcorn,
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'a

Both of these islands are quite probably the island upon which Arthur sat playing gwydlbwyll in the Mabinogion story. Yet there is mention of Arthur being splashed by horses and therefore the isle islet is in or at a river and the most likely place for this to be is either at the mouth of the River Ogwr or at Ogmore by Sea, or at the mouth of the River Thaw at Aberthaw.
There are in fact small islets or isles in the River Ogmore just below the ancient earthwork forts and this is the area where an inscribed stone was found. The stone tells of a land grant to a cleric by the King Arthmael, allowing him to build a church on this Llan.

THE DREAM OF RNONABWY D

should be taken first as it is the easiest to explain and also the most relevant to our quest for Arthur. The story opens in the time of King Mareudydd of Powys, the mid-Wales King who ruled Powys and died in 1159. The prince lorwerth, the brother of the King, is causing trouble by launching cattle raids into England and Mareudydd is trying to catch him to stop him before the English king runs out of patience. AII this actually happened. The unfortunate King of Powys was visiting the court of the English King when news of his sons insurrection arrived. King Henry promptly put him on a pension and kept him at court, which accounts for the two kings army from Powys searching for lorwerth to track him down. The search for lowerth is on to catch him before there is a major confrontation between Powys and the King of England. Three of the soldiers assigned to search for lowerth are Rhonabwy, Kynwrig Red Freckles from Mawddwy and Cadwgawn the Stout from Moelvre. The three seek shelter for the night at The Dream of Rhonabwy

the hall of Heilyn the Red, son of Cadwgawn, son of Isson and they of a great timbered hall. The floor is broken and pitted and covered filth and decay is everywhere and an ancient hag of a woman throws comfort is an ancient yellow oxhide. Fleas torment them when they Rhonabwy decides to sleep on the ancient yellow oxhide.

find it an ancient pitch black ruin with slime, urine and cattle dung, chaff on a feeble fire and the only try to sleep after a poor meal and

206

his direction is dreams and his dream takes him to the plain of Argyngwy and Ford of the Cross. This we interpret as crossing the great Rhyd-y-Groes the towards the Severn, to the Vale of Glamorgan. plain where the City of Cardiff now sprawls and heading for the Instantly Rhonabwy
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named Idawg, son of Suddenly Rhonabwy and his two companions are overtaken by a mighty horseman for he formented trouble between Arthur and Medrawd Mynyo Iddwg is known as the Churn of Britain battles, they were on the lines of before the battle of Camlan. Here we learn of the conduct of ancient and the Romans under Grassus long drawn out the struggles of the Greeks and Trojans or the Parthians manoeuvered for advantage, just like the skirmishes and encounters lasting many days whilst each side and his Caesar records in detail in his Commentaries on the 'Gallic Wars' wars and battles which Julius rush at each other to get it over in a few hours or a day. 'Invasion of Britain'. They certainly did not
-

of the ruler of Deorthach. Now we Next the travellers, with Idawg, meet Rhavawn the Radiant, son Gwynedd, who was in later romance literature Sir know that Rhuvawn Brevr was the son of Maelgwn Deorthach before he seized Gwynedd. Galahad. This however tells us that at some time Maelgwn ruled dress and horses Rhonabwy and his companions meet have their multicoloured All the people who code for the various clans as has emerged in present-day described in detail, indicating a tribal colour

Scotland. from the ford, is heard ahead of the dream travellers and there, stretching a mileBishop Bidwini Then a greatcommotion road a great army is gathering. Here they find King Arthur sitting with his all about the small islet below the ford and and attended by a youth, Gwarthegydd, son of Caw. The King is on a of the future when he sees Rhonabwy idawg goes to greet him. Arthur laughs at the weak and puny men privileged war band of Rhuvawn the Radiant arrive all dressed in red, and his two companions. Then the is nowhere else. and camp on the river bank. This has to be at Ogmore, there ford, drenching Arthur and the Bishop, and the Another troop arrives, splashing into the waters of the and Bishop. whacked and he is told to take more care not to splash the King rider has his horse soundly noise, the excitement and tumult as the war bands This is inserted to demonstrate the movement, the demonstrates that not everyone, particularly the arrive at the meeting place under their princes. It also recognise the King, indicating that many are gathering from far distant places. young,
is crowded into too small an area. He says Next a proud, handsome man arrives and says that the army Knife. As we have promised to be at the Battle of Badon by noon to fight Osla Big also that they have knife and of because they used a short sword called a Seax a big seen, the Saxons were so named Britain, Hengist the Saxon leader had a relative infiltration into course in the early days of the Saxon Vriechfras or Caradoc Brawny Arm, son of Llyr named Oesc. The man who speaks to Arthur is Caradawg of the King and he is made to say 'You may choose to go or not of the Sea, the chief advisor and cousin the Celtic-Germanic king and council structure. The King to go, but I will go'. This clearly demonstrates developed in most first among equals, not the concept of monarchy which later simply the
-

was sychophantic European countries with flunkeys bowing and scraping in a royalty. There was a deal more sanity in Arthur's day.
'holy'

orgy of self abasement

before

valley including that of March son of Meirchyawn, Other troopsof warriors continue to arrive at the river with the Mad King Merchiaun before in the who is described as the King of Norway. Now we have met East Glamorgan, which therefore must have and in other writings and his lands lay in Llancarfan charters of Nudd, who is again wrongly described as King of been known as 'Norway'. There is also Edern, son Denmark. Vaddon which is the Fortress of Badon. This The whole gathering of armed men then moves off to Caer been told that the army intends to fight at have already is quite a dramatic piece of information for we to be within ten miles of the assembly Badon at noon and from this we can calculate that Badon has definitely has fortress on the top. This a hill or a mountain then it point. This means that if Badon is a the old circular fort defences at the brings us instantly to several hills; at Llantrisant in Glamorgan with the foot of the hill or to Mynydd-y-Milwyr at Llandyfodwg, or top and the stream Rhiw Saeson at Mynydd Baiden above Tondu. it consisted of a gathering of Celtic Kings So far we have been told where the army assembled and that armed, mail clad, full-time professional band of several hundred and princes, each bringing his war been a substantial number of bonheddig knights. Men are described as running so there must also have battle of Badon is not armed with their long spears, battle axes and swords. The actual freemen information to locate the site. Kei, the friend of Arthur, described but we are given more than adequate which doubtless represents the battles. is described as charging about in a great commotion
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'

fetches the King's sword to prepare him Then Cadwr, Earl of Cornwall or Cornwailes or Cornouailles, Splendid, son of King Pebiau (of battle, which means that another war is imminent and Eiryn the for and mantle. This the household and baggage train, sets Arthur's chair Ergyng), who is in charge of negotiate rather than fight, and the opponent of the King is indicates that the King will now seek to northern of Urien, the great prince of the north. Significantly it was a soon revealed as Owein, the son his Bishop who insolently splashed Arthur (the southern king) and noble, Avaon, son of Taliesin,

.,

207

Bidwini at the ford. The inference from this is clear now, for the men of the north clearly were jealous and antagonistic towards Arthur. So Arthur and Owein, son of Urien, sit down to play gwyddbwyll,
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which is either chess or a game very like it.Thismeans in fact that they entered into negotiations to settle their differences. Whilst they play negotiate a young messenger arrives complaining that Arthur's pages and men are molesting and killing the Ravens, and Owein is greatly agitated and asks Arthur to call them off. The King does not what is now Cumbria, answer but continues playing. The Ravens are in fact the men of the North Northumberland and Southern Scotland. In later ages the Vikings would adopt their flag of a Black Raven as their own battle symbol. So the coded story tells us that Arthur's war bands were attacking northern areas or areas controlled by them.
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Twice more messengers arrive to tell Owein of the harassment and death does nothing when he is asked to restrain his men. So finally Owein tells standard, which means of course to go to war. Now the situation changes tell Arthur that his men are being killed by the Ravens. When the King he gets exactly the same answer that he previously gave to Owein
'ravens'

of his Ravens and twice Arthur

his third messenger to raise the and three messengers arrive to now asks Owein to call off his move'.
'your

The dress and arms of all the six messengers is described in detail of materials and colour trappings and colour of their horses. None of the Northern messengers wear armour, two one a spear. In direct contrast the three Southern messengers all wear heavy helmets and and carry swords and long, heavy spears lances. They are in effect the perfect description
-

carry swords, body armour of Byzantine

as also is the
-

sixth century heavy cavalry.

'chess'

Finally when the slaughter has reached a peak, the King shows signs of losing his temper, crushing the men into the dust on the board. At this Owein gives the order to lower the banner and the conflict ceases, an.indication that Owein will not risk an all-out confrontation with Arthur.
golden

The messengers are named as; for Owein, first Selyv son of Kynan, White Shank of Powys, second Gwgawn Red Sword and third Gwres son of Reheged. For Arthur, Blathon son of Mwrheth, Rhuvawn the Radiant and Hevydd One Cloak. So the poet is naming identifiable sixth century persons.
Then the internal squabbles of the British settled, there comes a delegation of twenty four horsemen from the Saxon, Osla Big Knife, to ask for a truce. So a council meeting is called to discuss this and forty one names are listed, the vast majority of which can be definitely shown to be sixth century contemporaries of Arthur. Most of these men are named with their fathers. A great number of other warriors gather around the council............. Then the whole council seeks the advice of Rhun son of Maelgwn Gwynedd. This is explained to Rhonabwy by his guide and mentor Idawg as 'Rhun Son of Maelgwn Gwynedd a man whose status is such that everyone comes to him for advice'. Maelgwn died in 547 or 562 and Rhun became King, ruling until 586, sohe was probably with Arthur fighting the Saxons and the status of Rhun is correct as he was the most powerful king in Britain once Arthur and Maelgwn, his father, were dead.

Osla Big Knife was granted a six week truce and Arthur moved off to 'Cornwall', the army being told to re-gather at the end of the truce. Probably both sides were glad to get home to their families for a rest and to arrange their affairs.
What we have is the story of the Celtic Britons gathering in South Glamorgan to fight the Saxons. They not only war with the Saxons but also they fight with each other, but eventually settle their squabbles when Arthur shows that he has had enough. The Saxons are obviously defeated and seek a truce which is granted. We know a great deal of the Vale of Glamorgan defensive system and this story of Rhonabwy helps us to try to fix the Battle of Badon Hill with its fort at the top. Both the hill near Llantrisant (The Llan of the Three Saints) north of Cardiff and the hill west of Cardiff at Tredegar Park near Newport, have forts at the top. The Llantrisant hill has the stream Rhiw Saeson Saxon's Ridge at its eastern base, the Newport hill has the Stone of the Saxons, Graig Saeson on its east slopes. There are in addition at least two, probably three, Rhiw Saeson places in the east part of the Vale of Glamorgan, which all seeins to indicate that this is the area where the war was fought.
-

The extraordinary feature of this story is that au the characters are real and correctly contemporary. We Idawg, Nudd, Gwrgan, Merchiaun and others in the can even find Caradoc and sub-king Iddig contemporary charters of the Book of Llandaff Charters witnessed in Arthur's time.
-

MYNYDD-Y-MILWYR MOUNT OF THE SOLDIERS

-

BADON

The idea of Arthur's army assembling at the mouth of the Ogmore River at Ogmore Castle to go to fight the Battle of Badon at noon, thus placing the battle site in Glamorgan, is in fact well supported by geographical fact.

First, there is an island upon which the King could have waited and secondly the area is suitable. Thirdly

208

there is a strange story of a pool related by Geoffrey of Monmouth which he says was told by Arthur as one of several Wonders of Britain. This pool fined up with the tides, although with no sea outlet or connection. If a man stood with his back to the pool he was safe, if he faced it he would be drawn in. In fact the natural moat of Ogmore Castle filled from an underground passage or conduit which is a natural
feature. The water came in at high tide when beach, between half a mile and a mile away. the river rose high and fell away when the tide fell at the

More interesting however, are the folk memories of this place as the assembly point of the armies. There is an ancient trackway leading up from Ogmore Castle and the estuary valley which is called Heol-yroad of theSoldiers'. This goes up across the downs to St. Brides Major crossing Beacon Hill. Milwyr
-'the

This becomes even more interesting, for up at Llandyfodwy (Glynogwr) there is a hill which has in fact mountain), actually it is 974 no distinguishing geographical features at all. It is Mynydd-y-Gaer (Gaer, Soldiers Burial Place. Down feet and on this hill is an ancient encampment called Mynwent-y-Milwyr below on the southern slope of the hill is a place named Wentarw the Mound of the Dead.
-

On the opposite hill is the church of St. Tyfodwg where there is a remarkable stone slab depicting an almost life-size man as a pilgrim with three keys below his chin and two on his left shoulder, with two crosses on his cheeks. Urban, the Bishop of Llandaff, circa 1108-1133 A.D.died after returning from a represented by the three keys. However, the plain fact is that here at third pilgrimage to Rome Llandyfodwg, we have an ancient castle site on a hill, with well remembered grave sites for two sets of soldiers. One burial place at the hill top, the other at the bottom. So this could be a small or local battle.
-

This site above the Cwm Ogwr Fach is worth investigating and is quite likely to be the actual Badon Battle site where Arthur crushed the Saxons in 516 or 518 A.D. It is certainly on a hill, there is an ancient camp site and well remembered soldier and grave associations. Most important, the whole geography fits exactly the Mabinogion story of the Dream of Rhonabwy. In the dream the three soldiers sleep in a broken down ancient timber hall, which we can place at Gelligaer Common, probably Arthur's Hunting Lodge. They then journey down across a plain which is the Cardiff area and the Vale of Glamorgan. Then Arthur is revealed waiting on an island alongside the Severn and there is only one suitable place and that is the estuary of the Ogmore River. Here the British armies are gathering and they then depart to fight the Battle of Badon.

Then we have the fact that there are ancient fortifications believed to be of the Roman era, on this Ogmore Castle site and a pool which can be linked to Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 'History of the Kings of Britain'. Next we find a remembered track route which goes up from this assembly area towards the battle site Heol-y-Milwyr.
-

Soldiers Mountain. Again there is an Six miles away after Heol-y-Milwyr, we find the Mynydd-y-Milwyr ancient hill fortification or camp and there are two mass grave sites. The Battle of Badon was as important in its time as Waterloo or Stalingrad and it is impossible to imagine that some memory of it would not have remained.
-

Not only is the Mabinogion story completely supported by geographic location and named sites, there is in fact more. In the ruins of Ogmore Castle the Office of Works found when they took possession, a fragment of stone cross. This is inscribed on the front:
(SCIENDUM) ES OMB/B(US) QUOD DED (IT) ARTHMAIL AGRUM DO ET GLIGUS ET NERTAT ET FIL/ EPI.
-

'Be it known to all that Arthmail has given this field to God and to Glywys and to Nerlat and to Fili the Bishop'.

Only kings could freely grant land and they normally did so after victories. On the
(IN NOMINE) DI SUM(M)l CRO(S) IB(ES)U GENTI BRANCU/, BRANCIE, FIL/. 'In the name of the most high god, the cross of Jesus for the family of Brancu son of Brancia'.

reverse

of this stone is:

Well Glywys and Nertat are probably local saints Glywys can be identified as either a King or as one of King Byrchan's daughters. Both are mentioned on the inscription of the Conbelinus stone at Merthyr Mawr. This Conebelinus stone we discuss elsewhere.
-

209

There were later kings named Arthmail in Glamorgan and this name spelling appears to be as follows: in Glamorgan
in Gwent in Dyfed in Brecon
-

Arthmael, Artmael, Arthmail, Arthfael, Arthfait and so on. Athwys, Arthwys, Athwyr, Arthwys and so on. Arthur Arthen, Artben.

No matter which way the ancient scribes wrote it down, it is today Arthur.
Finally in 1818 two labourers were digging for limestone at a spot about half a mile above Castle upon Alun near Blackfall Farm in the parish of St. Brides Major. On the route from Ogmore to Mynedd-yMilwyr. They found at Castell-y-Lligaid on Old Castle Down three skeletons. They wore magnificent bronze helmets, two of which had silver filials with wires of gold and silver holding hinged cheek pieces and ear guards. These helmets were decorated with blue enamel between bronze beadings.

These helmets were the richest and finest ever discovered in Britain and there were numerous spearheads and iron daggers, one with a ten inch blade and five inch handle. The find dated between 100 A.D. and 600 A.D.
If these men were killed in battle their arms would have been re-used or taken by their enemies. Now we know that there was a famous murder of three nobles, two of whom were a brother and a nephew of King Arthur. We know that the murderer Euan was hidden by Cadoc at Usk with the connivance of Illtyd and the sequel was Arthur's visit to Usk to claim three hundred cows compensation. We may here have the end of the story. The magnificent Celtic parade helmets were foolishly sent to London to be exhibited before the Society and were never returned. Now that more of Antiquities. Once in London or England they became and more of the mansions of the nobility are being opened to the public, there is an obvious chance that they may be re-discovered.
'lost'

The importance of the helmets stories of the Mabinogion.

is that they confirm the description

of the Arthurian Knights in the

THE STORY OF HOW CULHWCH WON OLWEN

This story of Culhwch and Olwen is the most important of the Mabinogion stories concerning the reign of Arthur. The whole long poem is full of names and wonders with hidden meanings, whole lists of genuine sixth century Arthurian names of real people jostle along with names used to convey meanings and fill the fantasy presentation of the real life story.

All we intend to do is to outline the major historical content of the prose poem.
The story Kelyddon. means pig kills a king shall never imposition axe to see to Goleuddydd, the wife of Kilydd son of the prince of Hismother Goleuddyddfrightened by aberd of pigs, delivers the child near a pig run (Culhwch begins with the birth of Culhwch run) and sickens and dies and seven years later Kilydd re-marries. This time Kilydd simply named Doged and marries his widow. The new wife persuades the prince that young Culhwch be allowed to marry until he wins Olwen, the daughter of Chief Giant Ysbaddaden. This is welcomed by young Culhwch who sets off with his fine horse, his spears, sword and battle his cousin the great King Arthur. Ysbaddaden means 'Sloe tree', a very sour tasting fruit.

Now what has happened is that Culhwch has to enter the church and to drive back the Saxons and the Saxon barbarian colonisation threat Angles from British lands. Chief Giant Ysbaddadon represents to the British and Olwen represents the lost peace of Britain and Culhwch represents the British embracing
the Christian faith. When he arrives at Arthur's court Culhwch swears Arthur's entire band of heroes to the expedition to win OIwen. The whole episode begins to resemble the gathering of the Argonauts by Jason before his expedition to steal the Golden Fleece and here begins the wonderful list of names, some complete fiction, others to set the scene and some real. Here also are gratuitous pieces of solid information Gwlyddyn the carpenter who built Arthur's hall Enhangwen Gwlyddyn the carpenter, Arthur's master builder. So if there was any doubt we know that Arthur and his contemporaries built in wood. There is a marvellous description of the Bishop Bidwini 'Bidwini who blessed food and drink', the clear explanation of the Celtic clerical function.
-

So Culhwch sets off with Kei to guide and guard him and Bedwyr his companion, Kynddilig the Guide, Gwrhyr the Interpreter of Languages, Gwalchmei son of Gwyer the Rider, and Menw son of Teirwedd who casts spells, make up the team. It is indeed a strange Christian hotch potch with spell casters and

210

'

magicians all around the story. After a clear reference to the 24 sons of Urien who were killed fighting the Angles, the heroes go to Giant Ysbaddaden and demand his daughter. Three times Chief Giant Ysbaddaden tries to rather deceitfully injure the heroes with poisoned spears and three times Kei
,

Bedwyr and Culhwch fling them back, injuring him and each time he complains that the injury 'Nowit to Saxon problems of penetrating into the interior of will be harder to walk uphill'. This is a reference Britain from the coastal areas and into the highland areas of Wales and Cumbria and the Scottish border country.
-

Constantine a Significantly Chief Giant Ysbaddaden has located his castle in the land of Custennin family name of the area where the Saxons had driven in to establish small states Dumnonia, the lands of the Coritani, in order that Olwen be handed over to Culhwch the Chief Giant demands no less than thirty nine great means a pagan foreign tribe in the code of the bards and the feats or gifts to be brought, Now of the Giant reveal his identity. requests
'giant'

'

First the Chief Giant Ysbaddaden demands of the heroes that they clear and uproot a great thicket to make it arable farming land to produce crops. The Saxons were of course farmers who took land and cleared the shrub, the undergrowth, woods and forests and drained it for farming. The Celts took land as they found it, open land was used for farming if suitable or for grazing herds, whilst woods and forests were left. So Ysbaddaden is identified as Saxon. Then the Giant demands Amathaon the marvellous ploughman to tow the plough, reinforcing his Saxon farming identity.
-

and next Govannon

the maker of irons,

The fourth demand is for the two oxen of Gwlwlwyd Chestnut Hair a Triad actually speaks of the Chestnut Ox of Gwlwlwyd, Triad No. 45 and the Yellow Pale White and the Spotted Ox also mentioned in the Triad Number 45. The sixth demand is for Nynnaw and Peibyaw which are two horned oxen on into oxen for their sins'. This third pair of.oxen gives us the opposite side of Mynnedd Bannawg, the clue to those three demands for King Nynnio and King Pebiau were Kings of the eastern sectors of South Wales in what is now southern Hereford and eastern Gwent. The Chief Giant Ysbaddaden is asking
-

'turned

for lands

for kingdoms no less.

'oxen'

The Kings Nynnio and Pebiau may well have been orthodox -Christian rulers, certainly the scanty we can also information which we have indicates this. The reason that kingdoms are termed to be ipher, for in several parts of England today there exist on the hillsides great totem eff es cut into to the turf representing giant men and animals. One famous effigy of this type is the whi Etaggcan s le. A hill at Uffington, Oxfordshire. This is no horse but a bull of the Minoan, Hittite huge second well known effigy is that of Cern Abbas in Dorset where a giant man is spiked club, which again bears an uncanny resemblance to the figure of gods shown on Hittite wall Saxons has sought to seize. carvings. So we are in effect being told of areas which the Chief Giant
-

Then the heroes are told to bring for the Chief Giant the produce of the ploughed and cleared land, linseed for fine veils and honey for bragget a heavy alcoholic drink. Honey and so on were common Celtic nd rental payments. Next in demands nine and ten the wonderful cup of LIwyr son of LIwyfon is demanded to drink the bragget and the hamper of Gwyddno Long Shank to eat from. It goes on with eleven, the horn of Gwigawd of Gododdin to pour the bragget into the cup, twelve, the harp of Teirtu, and thirteen, the Birds of Rhiannon to entertain the Giant at his planned feast.
-

What is happening is that the prose poem is telling the listeners that the Saxons seek to seize certain identifiable kingdoms, to clear the trees and shrubland and to farm and plough it. Further the Saxons will seek to deprive the Celts not only of their heritage of land, but of their food, their drink and their entertainments, their pleasures in life. Demand fifteen emphasises this for the Chief Giant now wants the cauldron of Odgar son of Aedd, King of Ireland, to boit his meat. The demands then take a slightly different turn when the Chief Giant asks for the tusk of the Chief Boar Ysgithyrwyn, in order to shave, This will be useless to him unless it is taken from the Boar whilst it is still alive. Only Odgar son of Aedd, King of Ireland, can draw this tusk from the Chief Boar, This has to be explained and it is not too difficult. First Chief Giant Ysbaddaden desires to settle to enjoy all the comforts he has demanded in civilised living, represented by the desire to shave. To do this the raids of the Picts have to be stopped and the Picts relied very heavily on Irish support, supplies and bases, to carry out their raids. So the Irish King is the only one who can draw the tusks of the Boar of the Picts. There is no point in fighting and killing Picts as other pirate raiding parties will stiu come, their support bases will I be any better for it (the tusk} unless it is taken whilst the Boar have to be closed in Irel and is still alive'. It is just another Bardic riddle telling of the political and military situation of the times.
'nor
-

by demand seventeen where the Chief Giant will not entrust the safeThis explanation is reinforced keeping of the tusk of Chief Boar Ysgithyrwyn to anyone except Caw of Scotland who rules a vast area the Lowlands. This means that Caw up in Scotland who we can identify as a real life prince, is the military barrier preventing Pictish invasion down into Central Britain.
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211

Before the Chief Giant Ysbaddaden can be shaved however, the blood of the Black Hog, daughter of the White Hag from the headland of the Valley of Distress, in e Highlpnds of Hell, must be brought. This must be brought still warm from the east to the west in the ottles of Gwydolwyn the Dwarf, with milk from the Bottles of Rhynnon Stiff Beard. This means that th Chief Giant cannot be brought to civilised
living until pagan religious rituals are stamped out amongst hi
.

gether ending the demands of the Saxon new and dramatic turn a invaders for the things which made for a good life in sixth c tury Britain. The material needs have been outlined and the enemy who is common to Saxon and Brit n has been identified as the Pict. Now there comes an even greater task for even if the first twenty de ands are met, there is still a greater foe who renders all the forgoing twenty demands futile and useless To all demands Culhwch answers, 'It will be easy for me to get that, although vou think otherwise', learly meaning that Arthur will achieve the miracles for him.

Then the list of demands takes a

The twenty first demand reveals the major enemy who w Il render all civilised living impossible. This is Twrch Trwyth son of the ruler of Taredd. Twrch is and Trwyth may be Irish for or Welsh ssolute', so we have the 'Boar of Boars'. The greates of all the 'Boars' in other words the most ir,y This Boar is again totally uncivilised ter Iy destructive and powerful of all the savage as and the demand is for the comb and and ars at la etween the ears of the monstrous boar ych. Any reference to comb and shears means the adoption of the Christian faith as these Twrc barbers' tools were used to cut the hair to produce the tonsure of the priests and monks. The fact that comb and shears lie between the ears of the greatest Boar means that the nation or tribe is Christian but not orthodox, in other words Arian Christians.
'boa
'boar'

Spain and then North Africa, destroying Rome and dominating the Mediterranean Sea. In 533 A.D. Belisarius the General of the Eastern Empire sent to Africa by Justinian, defeated the Vandals in two pitched battles and they spent fifteen years from 533 to 548 fighting guerrilla war and preparing their a departure. Their attempts to enter Britain as a new home were thwarted by Arthur until his abdication in 539 and Maelgwn Gwynedd held them out until 547 A.D.
The demands of the Chief Giant Ysbaddaden (the Saxons), now list the fabulous list of heroes who must be assembled to hunt down the Great Boar Twrch Trwych. The whole is presented not as a war, but as a boar hunt with the allied kings and princes of Britain as huntsmen and their warriors as the dogs, their so ups. Wonderful collars, leashes, horsemen, houndsmen, shields, spears, swords, have to be il from specialist owner princes and heroes. And this passage outlines the assembly of ssemble jnclependant Itic chieftains who must agree to serve together and to co-operate if the boar Trwch ch is to hunted.

Twrch Trwych is in fact the Vandal nation, the great pirate nation

of the Germans who over-ran Roman

After each demand the Chi daden is confident that Culhwch cannot succeed in the extra task, believing rightly that epen ces will not follow Culhwch and the missions are beyond him. The audiences in the arm smo r halls of the Celts must have sat hugging themselves with delight listening to the unsuspec ng words of this Chief Giant, who thinks he is dealing with Culhwch, when all the while he is dealingwith the mighty Arthur. Only when all the great demands and stipulations are made does Culhwch reveal to Ysbaddaden that it is Arthur who will accomplish these mighty deeds. The last demand is in fact for the sword of the Giant Wyrnack, who can only be killed with his own sword and therefore will not release it. This is therefore

the first task which Arthur directs to be undertaken, for with Celtic common sense the tasks have to be done in reverse order to make the earlier ones unnecessary, particularly the demands for the land, the ploughs, the food, drink and entertainments of the pleasures of life. The heroes have no intention whatsoever of handing over anything to the Chief Giant Ysbaddaden, therefore only key or vital tasks need to be done to win the victory. Arthur knows this and carefully selects these tasks which will achieve his object and make others redundant.

Modern English and even American have noted that not all the tasks set by the Chief Giant Ysbaddaden were accomplished and seBi as an omission by the bards. This is a naive and childish obsentation for Celtic audiences would know very well that their heroes in the stories would outwit the Chief Giant Ysbaddaden and give him nothing, no lands, no ploughs, no irons, no food, no drink, no entertainment, no cauldron, nothing at alt Ysbaddaden is to be killed, not obeyed and placated.
So the heroes set about solving their problems and they begin with the last, the thirty ninth task, to obtain the sword of the Giant Wyrnach. This we believe represents the necessity to first defeat Saxon armies which threaten the British from the south. They can best be defeated by causing them to gather in numbers and to come against the British where they can be defeated and then slaughtered on their slow retreat on foot to their homes by the British cavalry. This happened, as we have seen, Kei is depicted as actually sharpening the sword of the Giant Wyrnach for him to war'- is the meaning of this
'provokinghim
-

'scholars'

'service'?

The presence

of' Custennin points clearly to the fortress of the of Goreu the pagan enemy represented by the Giant Wyrnach, as being in Southern England. With this Wyrnach destroyed, the

'son

Hills where King Arthur watched the The Glamorgan King of Brecon chasing King Gwyniliw who stole his daughter. Gwyniliw founded the St. Woolos Cathedral in Newport and is said to be buried there. His son was

St. Cadoc.

The view of the Brecon Mountains

would which

which King Arthur He was known as Arthur Penuchel have seen. is the ancient name of Glamorgan, the King of

A. T. Blackett investigating an ancient ruined Monastery deep in the woods. Pursuing the search.

213

Celts wouldnowbefreeto turn their attention to their other enemies. Bedwr and Kei deal with Wyrnach, great Celtic Kings like Arthur did not personally move against their enemies considered beneath them in rank or power.
Next the heroes free Eiddoel son of Ner from the fortress of Glini, to help them in seeking out Mabon son of Modron. This Mabon may mean great son' and Modron may mean great mother' and here for these names infer Jesus of Nazareth and Mary his we have a possibility of religious significance, Mother. The meaning is that no great expedition should set out without the necessary blessing of the church, so Mabon great son' of the Great Mother had to be found. Mabon was in fact a real life of Arthur who appears n the Llandaff Charters. contemporary
'the
'the

'the

Here the story proves itself to be the original version of hundred thousand later tales, where a the heroes seek the aid of the animals, the birds of the air and the fish of the rivers. The Stag of Rhedencre is consulted and the stag directs the searchers to the Owl of Cwm Cawlwyd. In turn the Owl directs the searchers to the Eagle of Gwernabwy who sends them to the Salmon of the Llyn Llyw. The Salmon is able to help and the search is directed towards the fortress at Gloucester. Here Mabon is held a prisoner and this is an explainable event, for around 280 A.D. onward the pagan temple of Nodens was re-established at Lydney where it flourished. So paganism held Christianity in bondage and this is clear from the story. The Salmon tells the searchers: "I swim upstream on every tide until / reach Gloucester, where I found such evil as I had never found before".

So Arthur attacks the evil fortress and Kei and Bedwyr go upstream on the salmon's back to climb into the enclosure, presumably through the rear. This fits, as the temple of Nodens was on the banks of the Severn so the location is correct. We are being told that Arthur destroyed it which is certainly possible, as someone certainly did. The story is very clearly about definite places, events and real people. Mabon was probably at the temple health hotel at Lydney for a non-Christian
'cure'.

Next Arthur directs his heroes to attend to Rhymhi and her two pups in west Wales, at Milford Haven, they are cornered and quelled. These are bandits and thieves being suppressed. Another such clearance of outlaws took place in North Wales when Kei and Bedwyr slaughtered Dillus the warrior outlaw by ambushing him and yet another much larger suppression of violence took place in Northern Cumbria and the Scottish lowlands, with Arthur going in person to enforce the peace between Gwynn and Gwythyr. This is in effect the story of Arthur subjecting Britain to his rule and preventing internal conflict and war. This is part of the tradition of the King and his battles. Finally with Mabon Christ free of paganism, the whole of South Wales, North Wales and the North at peace and with the Saxons of Dumnonian territory (Wyrnach) defeated, Arthur is free to move against the Chief Boar Ysgithyrwyrn the Picts. Arthur destroys the Picts Chief Boar Ysithynvyn (pronounced Us-gith-ur-winn) and returns south.
-

Next Arthur sends a messenger to Odgar son of Aedd, King of Ireland asking him to surrender the cauldron of his steward Diwrnach. The request is that the Irish stop allowing the Picts, Saxons or other Germanic raiders to rest and get provisions in Ireland. Obviously the demand is that the Irish stop harbouring these savage pirates and stand in alliance with the British. The Irish, taking the soft option, refuse to give Arthur cauldron', so Arthur sails for Ireland and seizes the cauldron and the Irish
'the 'now

treasures and slaughters a great number of them bringing the loot back to the house of LIwyd son of Kil Coed at Port Kerddin in Dyfed called Messur y Peir'- measure of the cauldron. The stage is now set for the great war with the Vandals represented by Twrch Trwyth the mighty Boar. The army, we are told, is gathered in France, Normandy and Britanny, from All Britain and the three offshore islands Angelsey, Isle of Wight and Isle of Man and the summer country Basque Spain.
-

with food and first the Irish warriors fight with Twrch Trwyth the Vandals. They badly beaten he destroyed a fifth part of all /reland'. The next day the British fought Twrchare Trwyth with no result except casualties and on the third day Arthur himself arrived to join the battle. After nine days of indecisive fighting only one of the young pigs' who were with Twrch Trwyth was killed. This means that one of the seven Vandal sub-kings was killed. Arthur is made to say, 'He was a king, but because of his sins God turned hirn into a pig'.
-

Twrch Trwyth has attacked Ireland and Arthur, seeing that if Ireland fell Britain would be next, went over to treland with his host of warriors, horses and war dogs. This time the Irish rush to supply Arthur

'and

'seven

The war then takes an unexcepted turn as Arthur sends Gwrthyr Interpreter of Languages to negotiate with Twrch Trwyth. The old boar, or enemy king is Grugyn Silver Bristle who flatly refuses any negotiation. Then threatening the greatest possible damage vandalism the whole herd of pigs crosses over to Britain, in other words the Vandal host withdrew from Ireland and invaded Wales with the whole British army left behind stranded in Ireland. At this stage Arthur has been outmanoeuvred.
-

214

landed at Powth Cleis in The boar Twrch Trwyth and the whole herd of swine the Vandal army landed at Mynyw St. David's in Dyfed and Arthur with his huntsmen and hounds his army Pembrokeshire.
-

The story is now about to tell us in the guise of a great boar hunt, the detailed account of a great war compelled to move with routes, place names, battles and casualty lists naming the dead. Both armies are seek food and supplies, coming together to fight major battles. Arthur's and operate in smaller groups to them. problem was to locate the rapidly moving enemy and to bring them to battle to destroy slaughtered the men and Before Arthur landed at St. David's, the Vandals Twrch Trwyth had already Haven and had moved on to Kynwas Cwrytagyl where cattle of Deu Cleddyv Two Swords Milford Trwyth moved they were killing the cattle and devastating the lands. Refusing a pitched battle, Twrch Mountains of Pembrokeshire and Arthur spread his armies along the banks of the up into the Prescelly
-

River Severn. Reinforcements

arrive from the North

"The three sons of Cleddyv Divw/ch came also, men who had won great renown at the slaying of Chief Boar Ysgithyrwyn (the Picts)".

Prescelly's the Boar The whole story pounds along, dscribed as an enormous boar hunt, for now in the and four great warriors of Arthur's are killed. These are fights Twrch Trwyth stands at bay Gwarthegydd son of Caw, Tarawg of Dumbarton, Rhun son of Beli Aver, and Ysgonan the Generous.
-

Another fight took place the next day when Arthur overtook the fleeing Twrch Trwyth. Again the Boar Glewlwyd Strong Grip, leaving a fourth turns and kills Huandaw, Goyigwr and Penpingyon, followers of others were killed including Gwylyddyn the Carpenter and Master Builder. Llaesgymyn. Many wounded battle. His Arthur, having located and made contact with the enemy, again tried to bring them to obvious, his army was strung out along a frontier to try to prevent the invaders from breaking problem is quickly concentrate his forces to force a out of the mountains and he has to locate them and then battle.
-

The great hunt moves to Pelunyawg and now we can see the strategy of the war developing, even after Vandal fourteen hundred years. Arthur is preventing his enemy from getting back to the coast, the off the Pembrokeshire coast and then moving up the Severn and Arthur was fleet was undoubtedly determined to destroy their army before they could recover their ships. Many Kings would have been him, glad to let them escape, but the British king in line with the logic of his countrymen who followed the strength or desire to return. At Penlunyawg, wanted to maul them so that they would not soon have Madawy son of Taithyon, Gwym son of Tringad son of Nessed and Eiryawn Penlloran are killed in another fight with Twrch Trwyth. and On went the chase, moving next to Aber Tywi which is Swansea, where Cynlas son of Cynon Gwilenhin a King from France (Britanny) are killed. Then the pursuers lost contact with Twrch Trwyth of Nudd is sent out to locate the great enemy as far as the as he moved up to Glynn Ystun. Gwynn son where they were attacked by Grugyn Silver Bristle and LIwydawg the Killer, and only Loughour Valley, attack Grugyn and now moved one man escaped with his life to tell Arthur. The whole Trwyth himself up to arrived to join the struggle. LIwydawg and when the fighting and commotion began Twrch We are told that Twrch Trwyth has not seen Grugyn and LIwydawg since they landed after crossing the Irish Sea.
'hunt'

went at each other life and death'. Here the fight resulted In the struggle at the Mynned Amanw the piglet Twrch Llawin was of the piglets' in the death of a Vandal chieftain or sub-king.'First killed and then Gwys' and Twrch goes or retreats to the Dyddryn Amanw the Aman Valley, where he named Banw and Benwig (pig and sow). lost two more
'they

'one

'piglets'

is left with only Grugyn Silver Bristle and LIwydawg the Killer and he flees to where Arthur managed to catch up with him again. Here there is another Lake Ewin LIwch Ewin with many major battle where Echel Pierced Thigh and Garwyli son of Gwyddawg Gwyr were killed, the three 'Boars' fled to Lake Tawy, where Grugyn Silver Bristle separated and made others. From here for Din Tawy and then Ceredigion. This Boar was pursued by Trachmyr and Eli and others, who cornered him at Garth Grugyn (Garth is a mountain ridge). In the battle at Garth Grugyn, Grugyn Silver Bristle was killed, but the British lost Rhuddvyw Rhys and many more. Now Twrch Trwyth
-

LIwydawg the Killer was chased to Ystrad Yw, where in another battle the British lost Pelissawg the Tall, King of Britanny and two uncles of Arthur named Llygadrudd Emys and Gwrvoddw, before LIwydawg the Killer was destroyed. So one at a time the Vandal army divisions were being destroyed by British forces sent to track them down and slaughter them. the main Vandal army under their King headed south east, passing between the Then Twrch Trwyth Tawy and Ewyas. This we interpret as heading east now through Glamorgan and Gwent Tawy being the River Taff and Ewyas as south Brecon, north Gwent. Arthur now summoned the men of Devon
-

215

and Cornwall to meet him at the mouth of the Havren the Severn so obviously Twrch Trwyth was expected to try to cross somewhere near Gloucester. To prevent Twrch from turning north and going into the Midlands, Arthur sent a force of warriors up into Ewyas to turn him down to the Severn.
-

The situation must still have been one where Arthur could lose the struggle and the opposition still formidable. He now swears to stand and stop Twrch from getting down to Cornwall, so the objective is stin to cut him off from his ships. The battle which raged when Twrch reached the Severn is described as a monstrous battle with a Boar with the horsemen plunging into the river water where they had driven them. The description of the struggle tells us that Goreu ap Custennin, Menw ap Teirwaeds and Mabon ap Modron, got to Twrch first and that this battle took place between Aber Gwy (the river or estuary of the Wye) and Llyn Lliwan (Lake Llangorse?). Arthur and the champions of Britain then arrive to join the fight to prevent Twrch from breaking through to the south. The British forces were probably strung out over a wide area to block the enemy advance so this is again absolutely consistent with the tactics of a war waged in this manner. Next however we have the most remarkable statement ever made in any part of Welsh epic poetry, it is that in itself it proves if nothing else so extraordinary ever will, that this Boar Hunt of Twrch Trwyth was indeed the story of the major war between Arthur's Britain and the Vandals. The statement is as follows:

"Os/a Big Knife drew near"

We are actually being told in Welsh epic poetry that the Saxons were coming to join the fight on the side of the Celtic Welsh against a common enemy. No bard or poet would ever have dared or dreamed of such an invention. It just has to be true. In the struggle at the river the great boar broke through to turn south and Cacamwri was killed in the fight. More important, the Saxon leader identified as Osla Big Knife, was also struck down and drowned. How the supposed hated Saxons were persuaded to join with the British is a question to which there can be only one answer, and that is that the threat to both sides was so prodigious that they had to fight together. That Welsh storytellers should acknowledge the Saxon presence and participation indicates the fundamental truth of the tale. As Twrch Trwyth now headed for Cornwall, Arthur and his forces pursued him, attacking him all the way. Finally the invader took to the sea at Cornwall and left Britain (Wales) and with him went two named for the first time as Aned and Aetheim. Arthur persons now now retired to rest at his camp at Gelli Wig. Mabon son of Modron had seized the magical razor and Kyledyr the Wild the shears from the head of Twrch Trwyth at the battle of the river. So very few of the wonders required to deal with Chief Giant Ysbaddaden remained to be achieved.

Arthur, with Caw of Scotland, set out for the north and after his followers fail, Arthur kills the Black Hag, daughter of the White Hag in the Valley of Distress and Caw collects her blood. When they return Culhwch then goes to Chief Giant Ysbaddaden with Goreu others. They son of Custennin and take the that they have collected and using the blood of the Hag, Caw many shaves Ysbaddaden. The shave is a cruel affair as Caw takes off all the skin and flesh of his face and both his ears. Now his beard shaved Ysbaddaden surrenders Olwen to Culhwch. Goreu seizes the Chief Giant and drags him to a dung heap and there he cuts off his head and places it upon a pole.
'wonders'

to those Britons who are now free of the threat of foreign invasion, must represent slavery and death. This is the original maiden' theme of the lady at the mercy of the cruel giant or the terrible dragon. With the Chief Giant Ysbaddaden dead, only Arthur the King is harmony with Cufhwch (the Church) and now reigns.
'captive

Arthur is credited with the success of the venture and the heroes disperse to their own lands. The surrenderof Olwen to Culhwch, who is in fact the representation of the Christian faith, then follows, all due Arthur. Olwen

Again the remarkable fact is the accuracy of the names of the participants engaged in this great war as can be checked with the name of Arthurian period princes from all the other ancient sources. approach to a invasions mean clearly that came again'. In 537 A.D. Arthur handed power to his nephew Constantine Brut G. ap Arthur. If the Vandals came after 548 then the nation.
'he 'until

We have all along maintained

'non-fiction'

Arthur. This is as it should be, for the Vandal badly wounded at the Battle of Camlan, King he should come again' see Brut Tysilio and the mighty king obviously did return to lead
-

scars on his face, a deadly menacing figure.

Here we can paint a picture, we know that the Welsh-British were clean shaven. We had black hair and like mostSouth Welsh so probably did Arthur II. We know also that know that Arthur i he was powerfully built being called 'The Bear'. Actually Arth-gwyr is Bear-like-man. Following Camlan if he is the great 'Lame King' and 'Pierced Thighs', he probably limped or even dragged one leg along. By in his war to destroy the Vandals he would be heavier with middle age, probably greying in his now hair,
some

216

THE KING OF TAREDD

That the boar hunt is in fact a war is made absolutely clear at the outset of the story.
makes his twenty first demand on Kei, Bedwyr and Culhwch, he mentions When Chief GiantYsbaddaden the great Twrch Trwyth for the first time. All the previous twenty demands are useless to accomplish for of although these twenty will satisfy Ysbaddaden himself, there then comes the supreme danger Trywth. This great menace Twrch Trywth is clearly identified as:Twrch

"Twrch Trywth son of the ruler of Taredd" So Twrch Trywth is a prince, son of a king, just as was Arthur. The next requirement
locate Taredd, the home of Twrch Trywth.

is therefore to

History itself points to the land of the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa and therefore we have tonB Maureta ia, Taredd lies there. The Romans had organised North Africa into a number of provinces, Caesariensis, Byzacena, Numidia, Proconsularis Sitifensis, Cirtan, Num dia Mauretania Tingitania, name of one of these provinces, t n Tripolis, are names which frequently occur. If Tared iklihood owever that the name connects wit Mauretanis Tingitana would be worth looking at. T of Constantinople and at the time of of a city, Emperors were known as Kings of R Tor at Arthur, Frankish Kings were Kings of Orleans, Soissons and Paris. With this in mind we have prepared in Vandal territory. a list of ancient and Dark Age place names in North Africa which were Before switching immediately to North Africa however, it is worth noting that the Vandais had in 456 Taredd is not overrun the Roman province of Tarraconensis in Spain. Whether Tarraconensis is our easy to say. List of places west of Carthage in North Africa OLD NAME Tabraca Ins at Opp Tabudis Tacape Tacatna LOCATION 360 58' N 340 35' N
-

/'

Da

RE-NAMED

80 45' E
70 5' E

Tabarca
Cabes

Tacolosida Tagests Tassacora

Thabudes Thambes Mts.

330 370 340 36 35

10o 2' E O' N 7 32' E O' N 532' E 30' N 7 57' E S' N 00 2' E 3424' N 6 10' E
45' N
-

Tuckash

36 15' N

7 30' E

Thamugadis Thymeaterium
Tibilis Tiganda Tingis Tisurus Toenia

3535' N 34 28' N 360 25' N

36 7' N 35 45' N

640' E 60 35' E
7 28' E 1 25' E 5 50' E

Tegulet

Mehediah

Old Tangier Tosero

Trancellensis Mts.
Titonia Palus Tuburo Tucca Tures

330 45' N 35 15' N 360 20' N 330 40' N

360 28' N 36 25' N 360 48' N

5' E

4 57' E 10 20' E

Pagasa
Zichar Mis.

80 40' E
10o 10' E 90 10' E 10 10' E 80 30' E Toice La Cala

Tunzia
Turris Caesaris

360 53' N 350 38' N

60 40' E

We did in fact easily locate a further twenty four place names beginning with 'T' west of Carthage, which all pre-date the period, so there are very definately a large number of 'T' place names in North
Africa of the late Roman Period. Certainly North Africa which was Vandal territory. there are a great number in the western coastal strip of

So far we have looked at only two of the five books of the Mabinogion which deal with the affairs of King Arthur. The other stories are 'Owein' (or the 'Countess of the Fountain'), 'Peredur Son of Evrawg',

217

and 'Geraint and Enid'. All three of these were contemporaries of Arthur and their names are to be found in the various ancestral lists which survive and these stories also tell of the history of the time. There is in 'Geraint' in particular, a chronological muddle, but the basic truths of the histories are still there to be deciphered.
the Hags of Gloucester and killed them, which is another clear reference to the destruction of paganism. These three books do not however contain the same wealth of historical fact, but they do certainly reinforce the one important central fact that Arthur is constantly located in South East Wales. There is no doubt of this whatsoever. The court of the King is invariably at Caerleon-on-Usk and this can be no accident; constantly the King is found in the same area. What we have outlined so far is the history of the consolidation and defence of Britain, by first dominating the foreign and rebellious nations and then by defeating the massive invasion of the Vandals. These Vandals were defeated by Belisarius in North Africa in 533 A.D. and Arthur sick in 539 A.D. (Geoffrey of Monmouth says 542 A.D.) so this war may have taken place during this period. The companions of Twrch Trywth are named as Aned and Aethelm and this definately points to Pictish and other Germanic alliances with the Vandals. The Aned and Aethelm of the Mabinogion closely match the names of Aedon the Scot (Irish) king of Kintyre, and Aed the son of Ainmere the cousin of the Irish Columba. Another Aed Guaire was punished by King Dairmait and Aedan map Gabran, an associate of Columba is another, whilst Aethelm is an echo of Germanic Aethefith, Aethelbert and Aethelred. The inference is that the Vandals of Africa received Pictish, Scots and Irish support in attacking Britain under Arthur. The histories are quite definitely concealed within the burlesque humour and imagery of the Mabinogion stories. The last three stories, 'Peredur', 'Owein' and 'Geraint', are in fact much later in date and possess infinitely smaller historical content and very little Bardic coding. In fact the story of Geraint in the latter half tells quite clearly of the Norman invasion of South Wales by Robert Ham_moand his twelve knights and of the dispossession of lestyn of Glamorgan. Cardiff and Cardiff Castle are unmistakably described as also is Ivor Bach the Little King who ruled all the hill Blaenau of Glamorgan and attacked and captured the Earl of Gloucester, William, and his entire family. Quite significantly all the Mabinogion stories without exception name other earls, dukes or kings as ruling Cornwall, never Arthur.
-

One notice at the end of 'Peredur and Evrawg' tells how Arthur destroyed

MVW\ORQ
--

'

Proof of the Mabinogion content being historical fact abounds. One story, that of Bronwen, the sister of King Bran the Blessed, has the notice that, 'A square grave was made for Bronwen, daughter of Llyr on the bank of the River Alaw, and there she was buried'. This area was from then on known as the Isle of Bronwen. In 1813 the great carnedd or mound was excavated and square with a flat stone lid. In side the square of stones half calcinated bones of a female. The urn was taken to daughter of a Welsh King should have remained in Wales this is in 'Cambro Briton ii 71 by Sir R.C. Hoare.
-

there in the centre were four flat flagstones in a was an urn of baked clay and in this were the the British Museum obviously the remains of a and should not be in London. An account of all
-

THE TEMPLE OF NODENS AT LYDNEY

This pagan temple site is of immense importance to our unravelling of the bardic-druid code of the story of 'Culhwch and Olwen'. It is in fact one of the outstanding pilgrim sanctuaries of ancient Britain. The shrine of the god Nodens stands on the north side of the Severn estuary in Gloucestershire at Lydney, high up on a prominent spur.
This temple shrine was in fact constructed inside the ditches and banks of an ancient earthwork fortress and so the tale of Arthur attacking it from the sea by scaling the cliffs fits exactly.

The fact that the god of the shrine was Nodens is also highly significant. Nodens was equated by many of his worshippers with the god Silvanus and Silvanus was in fact the god of hunting. This explains the fantastic hunt' of Trwch Twyrth which follows the assault on the temple at Gloucester. In other words the tale of 'Culhwch and Olwen' is very accurate.
'boar 'evil'

In his own guise Nodens was also a water god, who was believed to journey in stately majesty across the waves in a chariot drawn by four sea horses. Again this is significant, for the Severn is one of the very few rivers in the world which has a bore the only other known large river with bore is the Yangtse a Kiyang in China. Once a year this strange phenomenon occurs with clockwork precision, a wall of water builds up on the river and moves upstream in a smooth rolling high, unbreaking wave. This natural wonder, formidable and awe inspiring, begins in the Severn at Lydney where on the flood tide the river waters meeting the sea are about a mile and a half wide. It is from this point that Nodens or the bore rises to move majestically up the Severn.
-

It is indeed strange that this phenomenon

is called the

'bore'

or boar of the Severn.

218

The temple of Nodens has been dated as being post 364 A.D. and must have therefore been in operation during the time of Vortigern and probably still in use in Arthur's time. From dedications discovered at yard on the site it is known that one of the donors was the local Roman commander of the naval repair of this ship building and repair yard is not yet known, but this does in the Severn. The exact location
fact point to the stone built fortress at Cardiff being the headquarters of the Roman naval squadrons of palisade fort to the Severn. The fortress itself was probably converted from a previous earthwork and its present (restored) form at the time of Carausius, who defended Britain with fleets from 284 to 293 A.D. Sailing vessels came up the River Taff to within yards of the castle until modern times, when the course of the river was diverted.

The temple building is not Celtic in style, nor is it Roman or Greek. It is in fact of Eastern design and mosaics, concept. The temple is large with an ambulatory surrounding a central nave, richly laid with buildingsof the complex are however the most interesting, for there is a very large and opulent The other
visitors, complete with a sizeable bath house, which is in fact a hotel for guest house for the prosperous well-to-do visitors able to pay for comfort. Along the cliff tops was a further set of buildings with a long fact a place of healing, the row of open fronted rooms or cells, facing the temple. The temple site was in ancient counterpart of modern Lourdes, where Catholics flock for miracle healing. It does in fact match the layout of well known classical religious sanctuaries of this type. The sick hoped for healing or for dreams to probably be interpreted by the priests of the temple.

So Nodens was the water god of healing who was also identified with hunting and also with the recovery of lost property. As the whole area depended for its safety on the fleet in the channel, the association of
the naval officer
-

praefectus

reliquationis

with the temple dedications

is understandable.

This site and many others prove conclusively that paganism was still flourishing throughout Britain and Gaul from 365 A.D. onwards.

in all its many forms

The Lydney site goes to prove a shipbuilding and naval capacity based presumably on Cardiff, a function which continued under later kings such as Theoderic and Arthur. For our immediate interest it proves the accuracy and validity of the 'Culhwch and Olwen' story as history, with its record of the
attack on the fort in which the temple stood, the fact that the temple was pagan, the fact that it could be attacked from the Severn up the cliffs, the fact that it was a place where visitors stayed or were for long periods. The direct association with the gods of hunting and the word we have in English is further evidence of the accuracy of the tale told by the bards. today, the
'kept' 'bore',

EVIDENCE WHICH ACCURATELY DATES UTHER PENDRAGON OF CARDIFF AS VICTOR SON OF MAGNUS
and quite obvious proof that Uther Pendragon lived around 340 to 388 A.D. There is in fact remarkable of Saint David This comes from examination of the surviving manuscript evidence of the ancestors in Wales during his reign, who lived around 490 to 544 A.D. King Arthur li had three Archbishops Dubricius who crowned him, and retired in 522 A.D., then came St. David first there was St. Dyfrig 576 A.D. until 544 A.D., and finally there was St. Teilo after a lapse of some years around 560 to
-

As we can place St. David in time his family tree shows the period of Uther Pendragon quite clearly, of St. David on his mother's side. as Uther-Victor was the Great-Great-Grandfather Magnus Maximus

m.

Princess Helen

Paternus Tacitus

Uther Pendragon d. 388 Victor Augustus of Gaul

I Arthur King of Greece Anna daughter Ynyr Caergawch

Brychan

| Cuneda Wiedig
m. Ceredic

Eleri daughter

Non (daughter)

m.

Sannde

St. David, Archbishop to King Arthur II of Cardiff

The information is quite clear in the Lives of the Saints which survive in list form.

219

CHAPTER NINE THE VANDAL INVASION OF BRITAIN THE MERCIANS

The story of the History of the Kings of Britain told by Gruffydd ap Arthur ends around 689 A.D. The final chapters tell of how after the reign of Maelgwn and Vortiporius and Ceredic, there came another great invasion of Britain. The enemy either invited in or at least not resisted by the Saxons, were an even more terrible menace to the Angles and Saxons whom the Britons had contained and

controlled into a form of relatively peaceful co-existence within the British island. The British had, as prophesied by Gildas around 540, declined into a number of separated independant principalities and were disunited and unable to cope with this new threat.

The result was pandemonium, with a great renewal of the old wars against a new and powerful enemy. There was only one inevitable result possible, for if the new enemy remained and was victorious someone had to lose their lands. The British city states and kingdoms of Middle England vanished and were swallowed up, overwhelmed by this new barbarian flood. Gruffydd ap Arthur Geoffrey of Monmouth names these new and terrible allies of the Saxons Now in modern terminology one can immediately conjure up a picture of a massive as the Africans. horde of Zulu black warriors, or alternatively a host of Arab soldiers with flowing white kaftans and round shields, armed with curved swords. These are impossible situations, so the question has to be asked who were these 'Africans'?
-

Africa. If they were from Europe then these people may well have been related tribe, a race or nation, to the Vandals who moved through Europe and occupied Spain and were then driven out of Spain by the Visigoths under King Ataulf, the brother-in-law of Alaric in 415. The Vandals fg to North Africa where the Romans recognised their kingdom, in 435.A.D. and the Vandals then captured Carthage in 439 A.D.

The answer lies in the fact that black does not refer to the colour of the skin of these terrible invaders, but to the colour of their hair. So they were like the 'Black' Danes, a people with black hair or at least dark brown hair. Having disposed of that part of the description we are left with the puzzle of

and then going southward

In Africa the Vandals spared nobody and no thing, their progress down through Gaul into Spain in 406 A.D. was repeated. These Vandal peoples, the Asdingi and Silingi,were allied to the Sciri and Alani when they crossed the Rhine and followed the course of the River Mosette and River Aisne. They sacked the cities of Rheims, Amiens, Arras and Tournai, making their name a by-word for destruction
through Aquitaine they crossed into Spain in 409.

Now once arrived in Spain the Vandals founded a kingdom under Gunderic and when the Roman Governor of Africa, Bonifatius, revolted he recruited their help. In answer to this appeal Gaiseric, the brother of Gunderic, moved over across the Straits of Gibralter with 80,000 followers in 429. In 430 the Vandals attacked the city of Hippo where the now reconciled Bonifatius and his army were annihilated in 431 when the city fell. At this time St. Augustine of Hippo perished also in the seige of the city. The Vandal power in Africa grew rapidly and they built a great fleet to pursue their ravages and still spared nothing and no-one, despite a treaty with Rome. A fleet was sent from Constantinopple and another treaty signed and on top of this the Emperor's daughter Eudocia was betrothed to Gaiseric's son Huneric. So the Vandals got Valentinian's daughter and most of the Roman lands, except Carthage.

Then as we have noted, Gaiseric tore up the treaty and took Carthage as his naval base in 439.
This gave Gaiseric his platform for an even greater conquest it easily and then very scientifically and quite systematically, when in 455 he attacked Rome and took he pillaged and ransacked the city.

Over in Africa the Vandals were hated by other peoples and they were in fact the only Aryan race in North Africa. Their power lasted until 548 following continued wars with the Eastern Empire from 533 to 548, when Belisarius defeated them and the Berber population revolted against them. The Eastern Empire of Rome had reasserted its power and with its finest general Belisarius had gained control of the North African kingdom of the Vandals, who were a white skinned Aryan-Caucasian race. The Emperor of the East was Justinian who now finally ruled a realm that encircled the entire Mediterranean apart from Visigothic Spain. In Spain Justinian held the south coast, formerly held by the Vandals and controlled both sides of the Straits of Gibralter. The Visigoths held Spain and the Franks held France (Gaul) both as great kingdoms recognised by the Empire.

220

Roman-Byzantine domination Against this background the Vandals had no option but to either accept Mediterranean area in 550A.D. leave North Africa and the Mediterranean. This was the scene in the or to when over in Britain Arthur had fought at Camlan in 537 or 542 and Maelgwn was to die in 562 or 547. of the There was another cloud on the horizon at this time, for up in Northern Germany another part moving west. The Burgundians were moving up from the Oder Vistula region from Vandal race was around 411 onwards, working their way up along the River Main and along the Rhine. These people entered Gaul under their King Gundicar and were settled inside the Roman frontiers around Lyons, produced a great Vienne, Besancon, Geneva, Autun, Macon, in what became upper Burgundy. They died in 516 who codified their law into the Lex Gundibald. This nation was king, Gundibald, who under the defeated by the sons of Clovis King of the Franks in 532, but their state remained intact control of the Frankish kings until 613. the This means that there was in the northern area of Europe, known as Germania or Germany in This is exactly and precisely for military mercenary hire or conquest. Dark Ages, a nation prepared much the situation outlined by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his 'History of the Kings of Britain'. This maligned and misunderstood historian tells the story clearly of how these people came over to Britain.

In his account Geoffrey tells us how some few years after the death of Maglo, who is Maelgwn Gwynedd, the British leader was named Keredic. However the important point is that the Saxons sent for King Gormund, the king of the Africans, who was busy plundering Ireland. This would be around 555 to
560 A.D. and we can reasonably associate these 'Africans' with the displaced Vandals from North Africa, several likenesses to begin with, first the name of a sun-tanned Aryan race of Caucasian origin. There are Gormund is in the tradition of Gunderic, Gaiseric, Huneric and others, and also compares their king well with Gundibald and Gundicar of the other part of the race in Burgundy.
-

Then we have other factors to consider, for the Vandals were excellent sailors who had built large fleets and for long periods dominated and terrorised the Mediterranean. They were a large nation and their people fleets were equally large and powerful. Gaiseric had crossed the Straits of Gibralter with 80,000 Gunderic still held all Spain with other armies and in 455 Gaiseric, after subduing all North whilst Africa, captured Rome easily. This means that the Vandal fleets were capable of transporting huge
So when Geoffrey of Monmouth tells us that the King of the Africans numbers of their warriors. ravaging Ireland with 160,000 men, he may well be reasonably accurate, numbering the entire was nation,

This huge fleet and army then descended upon Britain with Saxon connivance and we now have from Geoffrey a description which tallies very closely to the description of the Vandal march through Gaul actions in Spain and North Africa. Nothing one hundred and fifty years before and their subsequent spared, everything was ravaged, burned and destroyed. Now the cities of middle Britain and no-one was populations which had resisted and dominated the Saxons were destroyed by the Vandal avalanche. The massacred and their civilisation razed to the ground. Buildings were deliberately destroyed and were
no-one was spared.

The churches came in for special treatment from these Vandal conquerors, who were determinedly linking heathen, just as they had been in North Africa and elsewhere. This is an important point in fastthese people with their places of origin. The few survivors of this monstrous massacre fled to the of Wales and down to Cornwall, thus giving rise to the myth that the Britons were driven out nesses of their lands in what is now England by the Anglo Saxons. The plain truth is that the Angles and the Saxons succeeded in establishing quite substantial coastal kingdoms after being allowed into Britain

succeeded in conquering the Britons. The conquest as federate soldiers and settlers and they never of what we can call middle Britain was accomplished by the Vandals with the Saxons as allies. In the face of the heathen onslaught the Bishops and Abbots of middle England took their books and vestments and even the relics of their Saints and fled from Britain into Amorican Brittany.

Now a new and powerful heathen race settled into Middle Britain worshipping their own heathen gods, determinedly opposed to the faith and the culture of others. This now became the Kingdom of Mercia or the land of the Mercians and whether or not the name derived from some word meaning of Britain, occupying the areas mercenary is not clear. So the Vandals settled into the central area formerly ruled by the Romano-British city states of Leicester, Colchester, Oxford, Warwick, Worcester, Salisbury, Dorchester and other towns. Loegria of old now became Mercia. It is highly significant that up until the time of Alfred the Great the Britons never allied themselves with any Anglo Saxon kingdom for any purpose. The hatred was too strong and too deep, yet in 633 A.D. the Welsh King Cadwallon was quite prepared to make an alliance with Penda King of Mercia, the descendant of the Vandal kings. There could be no forgetting the continual acts of treachery which they had suffered at the hands of the Saxons. The Mercian Vandals had come seeking land, but the
Saxons had broken their oaths in inviting them. The memory of the great betrayal at the peace treaty feast in 452 A.D. with the Saxon massacre of the British leaders would never fade. Not until all the kingdoms of the Mercians, the Angles and the numerous Saxon and Jutish states of the south were finally coalesced together and ruled by the great Norman Kings would the gradual conquest of the last British states be possible.

221

However the important matter is the devastation of the lowland British city states and kingdoms by the nation emigrating into the island from North Africa. It is interesting to contemplate that the people of central England are descended from a race which devastated the whole of Roman Gaul, conquered and held all Spain, moved over to conquer North Africa and Carthage and then finally defeated Rome and looted the city before coming over to settle into Britain. These new invaders who founded their king-

dom of Mercia had their own well organised central state and religious system and they were decisively that they came en masse and not as roving pirates who settled in anti-Christian which demonstrates small numbers and grew in strength.

It was the Mercians who pushed back the Welsh kingdoms from the natural border of the River Severn, creating a buffer zone in what had been part of Welsh Powys as far as Shrewsbury, to prevent Welsh raiding across the river and began the progress which resulted in the loss of the large district of Ergyng to Morganwg in the south. Ergyng was south and west of Hereford.
So once again Gruffydd ap Arthur, the English Geoffrey of Monmouth, is quite correct in the general The legacy of Arthur was a federal British kingdom, stretching from the sense and in the particular. in Scotland down through North Western England, including Wales and the whole of the Midlands Clyde The arrival of the Vandals obliterated of England and the South and West from around Winchester. the whole central area of middle England from the British sphere and greatly weakened the surviving reduced states. Now the Angles in the north and the Saxons in the south could batter away at the British states and slowly push back their borders. The balance of power had been tipped irreversibly against the British, their area and their numbers were now reduced to a level comparable with that of their mortal enemies. It is the arrival of the Vandal Mercians which gives the clue to the historical statements made about the size of Arthur's domination and the truth of the listing of princes of the Britons subject to his control. Geoffrey lists the Earls of Gloucester, Worcester, Salisbury, Warwick, Leicester, Caister (Norwich), Durobernia (Canterbury), Bath, Dorchester and Oxford as being present at King Arthur's coronation. Any map will show that with the exception of Dorchester and Canterbury, these Earldoms listed by Geoffrey of Monmouth cover the area which became Mercia and an of these were Roman city or town Clearly the Angles and Saxons did not control these areas before the arrival of the foundations. Mercians. The grief of the clergy and of their monkish historians over the internal power struggles between the leaders of the Britons, is clear in all the records which have survived, but there is no real guarantee that the Britons could really have resisted the might of the Vandals, allied to the treacherous support of the Saxons and Angles.

There is no mystery as to what happened in Britain after the death of Arthur. We have been told for nearly a thousand years by Geoffrey of Monmouth that the Vandals, beaten by the Europeans from Constantinople, came to raid Ireland and then stayed to found their new kingdom in Britain. These hordes of invaders from another fierce warrior race acted exactly as their ancestors always had and
resisted destroyed everything they found and determinedly any attempt to change their religion or institutions once settled. One reason for their migration out of Africa may have been that the official religion of the Roman Empire was orthodox Christianity and the Vandals would not accept this after their defeat by Belisarius. The arrival of the Vandals explains why the Britons never had any respect for the people they knew as Saxons.

The successors of Arthur may have been maligned by the historians for they faced a far greater power grouping than the split groups of the Saxon and Angle kingdoms. Their only chance of survival lay in
unity and this they did not preserve. It has been too easily and simply accepted that the work of Gruffydd ap Arthur (Geoffrey of Monmouth) writer was a fiction instead of a slightly muddled version of fact, for far too long. A twelfth century in war-torn Britain had massive disadvantages in presenting his case and material. This was the case of Mantheo in Egypt in 280 B.C. and Herodotus in 450 B.C., both were derided and abused for centuries for recording what they knew as the truth. The history of the Cymru Britons is a long and legendary in one and as such has always been regarded with jealousy by Englishmen ignorant of their own past the Mercians. respect to The fundamental difficulty in dealing with "Arthur", his activities, his kingdoms and so on, has always Arthur I, c.360 to 388 A.D. and been the failure to understand that "Arthur" is in fact two kings Arthur II, from c.491 to 570 A.D.
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Significantly there is an ancient document which records the Irish belief that they came from North incidently that the rule of Munster Leinster and Connaught fell to the Vandals of the sixth Africa Ulster remaining the stronghold of the original inhabitants. century
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THE VANDALS WHO BECAME THE MERCIANS

The Vandals were the race or group of nations who finally toppled the Roman Empire of the west. These Germanic tribes gutted the cities of the empire, slaughtered its population, destroyed its economy, plundered its wealth and finally deprived it of food. As they finally were to play a part in the destiny of

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PICTS

DEIRA o York

Chester

MERC

I A

Norwich o

WALES

Warwick

EAST ANGLIA

Cardiff o Glastonbury

London

SURREY KENT

WESSEX

SUSSEX

BRITAIN BY 800 A.D.

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Britain and to be the people who would destroy the Celtic rule over the whole island immediately after the death of Arthur and his Lancelot Maelgwn Gwynedd they are part of our story.
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the Roman Empire before the time of Julius Caesar. Their clan tribal names were then in use, for ancient Roman authors knew of over forty Germanic tribes which later coalesced down to twenty-one and finally to some half a dozen major confederate groupings as the tribes grouped closer and closer together under more stable and powerful leaders. Once the Emperor Theodosius admitted huge numbers of these barbarian leaders into the Empire to fight Magnus Maximus, the fate of the Western Empire was sealed, for previous settlements and recruitments of barbarians had always to an extent been selective, limited and controlled. Now between 383 and 388 A.D. Theodosius had let the Geniyout of the bottle and he would never go back in. In 401 A.D. the huge Vandal confederation under their King Godigisel was joined by the Alani and the whole monster horde poured across into the Roman Empire of the West. They left their lands of Pannonia between the Danube and the Theiss (now modern Hungary) and set off on an orgy of destruction and murder which is probably unparalleled in history. At first their advance was halted when the Romans granted them lands in Noricum and Vindelicia. The west was effectively at that time under the control of Stilicho, the Vandal General and guardian of the boy emperor Honorius and doubtless he had a part in moving the Vandal nations across the frontier into the Empire.

The tribal groupings which eventually became known as the Vandals were approaching the borders of

The Vandals in fact honoured their agreement with Rome, when in 402 A.D. the Vandals and Alans joined with Stilicho and the Roman army to fight against Alaric King of the Goths at Pollentia. Three years later however the situation altered when Radagasius led the combined armies of the Ostrogoths, the Vandals, the Alani and the Quadi into Italy, where they were turned back by the forces of Rome under three generals, Stilicho the Vandal, Sarus the Goth and Uldin the Hun. No further comment is needed on the nature of Roman government or the strength and organisation of its armies. The years of pressure and infiltration,
followed by the irresponsible policies of Theodosius the Great, now brought forth the whirlwind. Huge barbaric German tribes were milling about within the collapsed frontiers of the dying empire. Whilst the frontiers held some form of order and control was possible, but when there was no frontier chaos reigned.

In 406 A.D. the tribes moved again, having been turned out from Italy in 405 A.D. they now headed west into Gaul. The Vandal King Godigisel again led the migration which consisted of the Vandals, the Alani and the Suevi (Quadi) and the whole horde moved up along the Roman road which ran along the empire's frontier. At Main they were even further reinforced when they were joined by the Silingi, another Vandal tribe, who had moved west with the Burgundians over a hundred years before. Rome could do nothing, there was no army available, the death of Theodosius had left the west (in the hands of his child son Honorius) weak and defenceless after destroying Magnus Maximus who might have held the west. The Alanis left the horde to enlist as frontier defence soldiers for the Romans and then having reduced the size of the menace, the Romans persuaded the Franks to attack the Vandals and their allies. In the fighting with the Franks, the Vandal King Godigisel was killed and matters looked very bad for the Vandals. They sent messages to the Alanis however who promptly left their position of frontier guards and attacked the Franks under their king Respendial and routed them. On 31st December 406 A.D. the whole Vandal mass crossed the Rhine at Mawiz and the destruction of Gaul was about to commence. The Vandal advance through Gaul is a story of appalling barbarity and cruelty. City after city, town after town, village after village, was destroyed, Nothing was spared, not the people, their dwellings, nor their animals. First Maniz then Treves, Rheims, Tournai, Terouenre, Arass and Amiens were destroyed and then the hordes turned and went for Paris and Orleans, Tours and other central cities. Then

they turned again and entered Aquitania and Novempopulana to destroy Bordeaux and then down to Toulouse.
Rome had completely subjected Gaul, depriving the people of the means of self defence, making them totally reliant on the professional Roman army. This time there was no Roman army and all Rome could do was try to pit one barbarian group against another. The Vandals now settled into Narbonensis and continued their systematic ravages. The success of the Vandals stimulated other barbarian nations to follow their example and late in 406 the Burgundians had also moved over to the west bank of the Rhine, these Burgundians being another related German Vandalic people. The cities of Worms and Strasbourg fell to the Germanic Alemanii who also joined in the great trek into the west.

Over in Britain these catastrophes were no doubt watched with growing alarm. Once Magnus Maximus was dead in 388 A.D. the British had elected Marcus as his successor, an older man who did not last long. His successor, also elected by the British, was Gratian who was indisputedly of British birth and nationality. Then in 406 A.D. the British elected Constantine as emperor and this new leader immediately invaded Gaul.

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The drama of this situation is almost unbelievable, for if Gaul fell completely to the savages, so would Spain and then would come the turn of a completely isolated Britain with hostile Picts to the north, treacherous Irish to the west and barbarian pirates on the shores of Europe from Norway to Gibraltar. This of course gives the lie to the false assertions of the monks that Britain was weak and defenceless.
given the devious stupidity of Stilicho The outcome was predictable employee' now attacked Constantine and the armies from Britain. the Vandal, for this 'Roman

The situation was lunatic with monster German tribes careering around the lands of the Western Empire burning, pillaging, raping and murdering and all Stilicho could think to do was to attack the British army. As Stilicho three times had Alaric and the Gothic army at his mercy and three times spared him and twice married a daughter to Honorius the emperor, there can be no doubt that he was solely concerned with consolidating his own position in the Empire. Stificho had no concept whatsoever of imperial strategy, or geographical or logistical necessities. Sarus the Goth, one of Stilicho's generals, first defeated Justinian, one of As we have noted elsewhere, Constantine's men from Britain at Valence. Then Sarus by treachery murdered another British leader, before the British Gerontius and the Frank Edobic drove Sarus and Stilicho's forces out of GauL Constantine then took Spain from the Roman relatives and supporters of Honorius when his son Constans won victories. All Britain and Gaul had in fact risen up in arms against the Romans and the Tuetons and in Amorica the British had a natural bridgehead into Europe. repeated the mistake of Magnus Maximus and hesitated to sieze Italy. The problem facing the British was to draw off the menace of these huge German tribes away from Gaul and also therefore from Britain. So the British general Gerontius did the only thing he could do, he opened the passes from Gaul into Spain to the Vandal confederation and the Vandals, the Sueves and the Alans poured south into Spanish lberia.

The tragedy for the west was that Constantine

When Constantine and Constans offered help to Honorius from Britain, Gaul and Spain, the Briton Gerontius (Geraint) fought him. The safety of Britain did not lie in re-establishing Rome. This is where the detail history of the Vandals begins to take shape, for the stage is now set for the
entry of the arch enemy of Rome, the Vandal Gaiseric

(or Generic

but correctly

Gaisarix).

Gaiseric was born around 400 A.D. and was a child when the Vandals moved into Spain. There was nothing to stop their advance and Honorius the Emperor recognised them in order to preserve some form of order. The Asdingi and the Suevi were given one third of Galicia, the Silingi took one third of Baetica and the Alani took one third of Lusitania and Cartheginensis.
Jovinus had used the Alemani, the Burgundians and some of the Alans to fight with the Goths and the Vandals and now with the Visigoths under Ataulf moving away from Italy, the Romans persuaded the Visigoths to drive the Vandals from Spain. This was another piece of complete lunacy for not only would the Visigoths enter Spain in place of the Vandals, but they would also leave fertile southern Gaul open to attract further invaders. Worse still if the Visigoths attacked the Vandals in Northern Spain, then the Vandals would be forced south to North Africa where lay the greatest prize of the Roman Empire of the west, the great grain fields which supplied Rome and Italy. The Romans persuaded the Visigoths under Atauff, the successor of Alaric, to attack the Alans and and in 415 Ataulf died of wounds, Sigevich Vandals left in southern Gaul Aquitania, Secunda became king for a week before being murdered by Wallia, who succeeded as King of the Visigoths. This king Wallia entered into a treaty with the Romans to drive the Vandals out of Spain. The policy of the Romans which reeked of duplicity and treachery, was to earn them the undying hatred of Gaiseric and the Vandals. The Romans had used the Vandals as allies against the Goths, they had granted them lands in Spain and now they were negotiating with the Goths to destroy them.
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The Visigoths defeated

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the Alans in 418 and this had the effect of strengthening the Vandal alliance, for the Alans decided that they would no longer choose their own king, but would accept the Vandal king Reges Vandalorum et Alanorum. In 428 Gunderic died and Gaiseric his son was elected as the Vandal king. In 429 Gaiseric made an historic move and invaded North Africa from Spain, crossing at Julia Traducta (Tarifa) in May of 429. Before going Gaiseric attacked the Sueves at Meirda, giving them a terrible mauling.

The timing of the Vandal invasion of North Africa was excellent, for the whole of the Roman provinces were in complete turmoil. The Imperial governor named Bonifacius, was quarrelling with Rome and the Emperor, the Moors of the hinterland had rebelled against Rome, as had the long oppressed grievously mistreated peasantry who farmed the great grain fields. The provinces were also in the throesofgreat
religious ludicrous nation of Maximus after 418
quarrels

themselves Popes.

with the fanatical and quite mad Augustine Bishop of Hippo, propounding his perfectly orthodox doctrines of predestination, prescribed to bring all men under the domiRome where the Bishops had now finally persuaded the emperors to give up the title, Pontifax Chief High Priest so that they might now adopt it themselves. In this way these Bishops A.D. now began to claim supremacy over all the other clergy of the west. They began to call
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4
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11th February 435 A.D. the Imperial agent named Trigentius, concluded a treaty with Gaiseric, signed at Hippo Regis. The Vandals were recognised as Foederati (federal allies) and given Numidia with Hippo as their capital, but the formal boundary of their territory left undefined.

Into this North African unheaval came Gaiseric with 80,000 of the Vandal people, entering Numidia in 430 where Bonifacius offered stiff resistance to Gaiseric before being defeated. Only three cities held out against the Vandals Hippo Regis (Bona), Cirta (Constantine) and Carthage itself. At Hippo, Augustine died on 28th August 430 A.D. Rome sent reinforcements under Aspar to Carthage, but with Gaiseric ruling the entire country outside the three walled cities, they were forced to negotiate. On
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The treaty left Gaiseric as a completely indenendant King and in Hippo he had a port, and he immediately began to build ships. Soon Vandal fEs appeared all over the western Mediterranean and in 437 Sicily was plundered. At this time Gaiseric declared his opposition to the orthodox church based on Rome and deposed the orthodox clergy in favour of Aryans and Donatists. Two years later on 19th October 439 Gaiseric launched a surprise attack on Carthage and took the city. The Vandals sacked Carthage and the orthodox priests were either banished or sold into slavery. To prevent the Roman Emperor from doing anything about his conquests, Gaiseric fortified the port and immediately built an even more powerful fleet. Then Gaiseric stopped all grain supplies to Italy, forcing Rome to near starvation and to reinforce his blockade he sent his fleet to attack Sardinia and Sicity, which both supplied Rome. The Western Emperor was completely helpless and so he appealed to the Eastern Emperor at Constantinople. The Eastern fleet was ordered to sail for Carthage, but it never came, for the commanders argued and dithered and then the Persians and the Huns attacked the Eastern Empire and the Eastern fleets were withdrawn in 441 A.D.

Once again the Western Emperor sought a peace with Gaiseric and recognised the Vandal King as indeThe Vandals got Tingatium, Mauretania (Straits of Gibralter area), Byzacena and Numidia 6nsularis whilst the Romans were to retain Sitifensis, Cirtan, Numidia Tripolis. The Vandals settled into the districts of Zengitana around Carthage and destroyed the walls and towers
-

of all other towns except Carthage, Hippo Regis and Castle Septa at the Straits of Gibralter. The Vandals now began to date the reignal years of their kings from the 19th October 439 their New Year's Day.

Over in

Rome the Ostrogoths ran Italy and the Empire and Theoderic I the Visigoth, sought an alliance with the Vandal King. The daughter of Theoderic I was married to Huneric and when Gaiseric chose to break arrangements he sent his son's wife back to her father minus her nose and ears. Actually Aetius in Rome was stirring up trouble between the Germanic Kings and was proposing a marriage between Gaiseric's son Huneric and the Emperor's daughter. In this climate Gaiseric allowed the appointment of a bishop to fill the see of Carthage. AII remained friendly until 455 A.D. when the European Valentinian murdered Aetius and then Aetius' generals killed Valentinian on 16th March 455. The new Emperor was Maximus who had in fact been implicated in both murders and who now married the widowed Empress Eudoxia. So Gaiseric now refused to recognise Maximus as the new Emperor and wth the Moors in alliance, the Vandals sailed for Italy where Gaiseric took Rome. Maximus was killed by his own bodyguard on 31st May 455 and Gaiseric entered Rome on the 2nd June 455. The Pope Leo I met Gaiseric at the Porta Portuensis and arranged that there would be no murder,

Instead there was a cold blooded, entirely systematic and carefully planned no fires and no destruction. looting of the city, which took two weeks. The Vandals simply took everything of value which they discovered in the city.

Amongst the mass of loot which the Vandals took from Rome were the temple treasures of Jerusalem which had been taken to Rome after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by Vespasian and his son Titus in 69-70 A.D. The Vandals even stripped the temple roofs in Rome and also that of the
Imperial palaces. Loot was not all that the Vandals removed from Rome, for with them they took many very important The Empress Eudoxia and her daughters Eudoxia and Placida were all taken, along with Gaudentius the son of Aetius and the Bishop Deogratius sold the Church plate of Rome to ransom many others.

captives.

Now the Vandal fleet ruled the Mediterranean and all foreign food supplies were cut off from Rome and the situation in Italy was desperate. Of the five major parts of the Western Empire, the Vandals had destroyed Gaul and Spain, ransacked Italy and occupied North Africa and so far only Britain had escaped Since the Vandal invasion of Gaul in 406 A.D. under King Godigisel to or resisted their attention. 455 A.D. under Gunderic and Gaiseric they had effectively destroyed the Roman Empire.
Whilst all this was going on, in Britain there was a civil war between 437 to 442 and a great war against the Saxons from 442 to 452

Vortigern and Ambrosius from

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In Gaul the situation was if anything worse, with the monstrous invasion led by Attila the Hun following No matter the invasions of the Franks, the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, the Vandals, the Alani and others. Italy, the Empire of the West was matter how many puppet emperors and others were appointed in effectively finished.
ruled the Mediterranean, In 455 when they returned from Rome to North Africa, the Vandals not only with the but took all of North Africa from the Romans. The net year, 456, Gaiseric made a treaty and together they plundered the Roman province of Tarra-conensis in Spain. On the 9th July Sueves 455 the new Emperor of the West, named Avitas, appealed to Constantinople for help, but the Emperor Marcian and his general Aspar in the East did nothing, other than to ask Gaiseric to behave more reasonably. This achieved nothing at all and famine now haunted Italy. The Romans won some small sucMediterranean. t:esses at Agrigentum and another island off Corsica, but the Vandals ruled the western Poor Avitus fled to Gaul where he died in 456 A.D,

southern Italy in 457 a Vandal army including Moors was quite calmly and systematically plundering On the 1st April 457 the new Emperor defeated the Vandal and under Gaiseric's brother-in-law. and Moorish army after which this Emperor Marjorian moved to Gaul and beat both the Burgundians his victories Marjorian broke up the Germanic alliance organised by By Visigoths into submission. the Vandals, including the Sueves, the Visigoths and others. Marjorian had achieved a supremacy and in 460 A.D. he moved south into Spain, moving to Zarayoza to cross over to Spain with a mighty army. Now the and on to Carthagena and made preparations Vandal King asked for peace and Marjorian refused. So Gaiseric laid waste the entire land of Mauretania would find (the Vandals were good at this) and poisoned every drinking well so that the invading army neither water nor food. Then anticipating the English Admiral Drake at Cadiz by 1200 years, Gaiseric attacked the Roman fleet lying at anchor off Elche and seized most of them. This action quite finally of prevented Marjorian from crossing the Strait of Gibralter. The Emperor was left on the southern tip reversed Spain with a massive army and no supplies or fleet. The position was suddenly completely and Marjorian now sued for peace with Gaiseric. After this disastrous failure when victory and in 461 A.D. Ricimer deposed him. finished over the Vandals was in his grasp, Marjorian was

and A new emperor was appointed, Libius Severus and Gaiseric now ended the Treaty with Rome attack Italy and Sicily. The new Eastern Emperor Leo and Rome sent embassies proceeded to again and her daughter Placida in return to Gaiseric who now agreed to release widowed Empress Eudoxia of the Emperor Valentinian. He kept the other daughter Eudoxia as the bride for his for the treasure son Huneric.

He demanded that Olybrius, the brotherNow Gaiseric was able to make his supreme bid for power. in-law of Huneric (his son, now married to Eudoxia the daughter of Valentinian) be made Emperor control of Rome and the West. With Gaiseric and then Huneric in charge of Olybrius, the Vandals would Empire and Ricimer in Rome refused to appoint Olybrius. Once again the Vandal fleets sailed to the devastate Italy and Aegidius up in Gaul agreed to attack Italy from the North. The death of Aegidius in 464 however prevented the proper implementation of this gigantic plan. Finally the Eastern Emperor Leo stirred to action and sent a new emperor to Rome named Anthemius, under the protection of his general Marcellinus who was ordered to go on to North Africa with the ended fleet and the army. Before using this force Leo sent ambassadors to King Gaiseric who promptly all treaties with Byzantium and immediately sent his Vandal fleets east to attack illyris, the Peleponesans and all Greece. Even Alexandria in Egypt was threatened by the Vandals. With his empire under attack, Leo had to act and he assembled a fleet of 1,000 ships and an army of 100,000 men. The army was split into three groups, one to go direct as part of the fleet, with a second force under Basiliscus, the other group to march around the Mediterranean via Egypt under Heraclius.
To meet this threat Gaiseric sent the Vandal fleet to attack Leo's huge fleet whilst it lay anchored off Mercurin (Cape Bon). The Vandals used fire ships and at least half of the great fleet Promontorium at Sicily. Reorganising his now half size fleet, destroyed, whilst the rest scattered to re-assemble was Marcelinus again prepared to sail to attack Carthage and was murdered on the day he chose to sail, in August 468. Heraclius and the generals on land had won some successes, but now, without the support of the fleet, they were in danger and so even Leo the Eastern Emperor was forced to sue for peace with

Gaiseric.

Leo died in 474 A.D. and the Vandals promptly attacked Greece. The new Emperor, Zeno, made peace and the Vandals were left to rule all North Africa, the Balearic Isles, Pithysae, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and all the smaller islets. In Autumn of 476 Gaiseric gave Sicily to Odovaca the Goth, who controlled Italy, keeping only one strategic port named Lilycaeum. Huneric Then in 477 King Gaiseric of the Vandals died. revolunow became King of the Vandals and his father Gaiseric had in fact done something in the annals of Germanic people by eliminatingthe practice of elective kingship and introducing tionary

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hereditary monarchy.

Huneric was appointed by Gaiseric, his father, not by an election of the people

lished a regime of terror and bloodshed. Huneric proceeded to massacre almost his entire family all the friends and nobles of the family, all simply to guarantee the succession to the throne of his own son Hilderic. The bloodshed continued then turned on the Catholics, the King as Hgric was to be supreme in his country, not an Italian po e. On 24th January 484 he used the old Imperial Edicts against them and launched persecution.

King Huneric at first lived in fear and gave in to demands from the East over the treasure of Eudoxia He faced a revolt from the Moors and was forced to fight them and he allowed bishop to be appointed a to the see of Carthage. Then Huneric overcame his fears and gained control of his kingdom and estab-

'

Fortunately for all concerned King Huneric died on the 23rd December 484.
vain, for he was actually succeeded by Gunthamund. The new king threw back the Moors who were still fighting but failed in an attempt to recapture Sicily. His reign was short and he died on the 3rd September 496 to be succeeded by his brother named Thrasamund.

All his murders had been in

The new King Thrasamund the Beautiful enforced the Aryan Christian code in the churches of North Afriba. In the year 500 he married the princess Amalafrida, the sister of Theoderic the Ostrogoth, then at the height of his power. In Britain in the year 518 A.D. Arthur was elected King of all the Britons. Amalafrida arrived in Carthage with a bodyguard of 1,000 noble Goths and 5,000 armed slaves and with the gift of part of Sicily to King Thrasamund of the Vandals. Problems arose both in Europe and North Africa with Gesalach the Visigoth pretender to the throne causing trouble in Europe and the Moors still rebellious in North Africa. The tribes ar und Tripolis succeeded in defeating the Vandal King and became ound 510

A.D.

King Thrasamund had become friendly with the Emperor of the East, Anastasius, and when Justin the Orthodox Emperor succeeded in Byzantium in 518 he continued this dangerous friendship. Under persuasion from Justin, King Thrasamund turned away from his friendship and alliances with the Ostrogoths in Italy and slowly the Romans were again breaking destroy up Germanic alliance in order
the isolated states. to

On the 6th May 523 King Thrasamund died and he was succeeded by Hilderic, the son of Huneric and Eudoxia Gaiseric's grandson. The new King Hilderic was as unlike the ruthless Gaiseric and the bloodthirsty Huneric as could be imaginable. He was aged and utterly effeminate doubtless the Vandals saw this as a result of the Roman blood of his mother. As a King, Hilderic was a complete disaster and he proceeded to organise the ruin of his kingdom.
--

Hilderic completely severed relationships with the Ostrogoths who were dominating southern Europe. He struck up an even closer alliance with the Eastern Emperors, even to the incredible extent of minting coins with the head of Justin upon them and allied himself to the young co-Emperor Justinian who already in fact ruled.

The Ostrogothic Queen of the Vandals opposed these quite lunatic policies of Hilderic and the result was a battle between her escort and bodyguard and the Vandal King's army. The Goths in North Africa were slaughtered and Amalafrida was put into a jaiL In 526 the Ostrogothic King Theoderic prepared a fleet to invade Vandal North Africa which never in fact sailed, for King Theoderic died.
In 526 the Moors had launched a major rebellion and took Mauretania Caesariensis to add to Sitifensis Prommic, Southern Numidia and Mauretania Tingitana which they had seized from Hilderic already. Chief Antalas the head of the tribes of Byzacene fought a battle with the Vandals who were led by Oamer the cousin of Hilderic and severly defeated the Vandal
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army.

From Europe the grandson of Theoderic the Ostrogoth Athalarich and his mother Amalasuntha, wrote letters remonstrating with Hilderic. The Vandal King ignored these protests and pleas, but other Vandal leaders did not. Too late the Vandal nobles got rid of their useless king, deposing Hitderic in favour of Gelimer the great-grandson of Gaiseric, on 19th May 530.
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The position was now too far gone for the Vandals retrieve the situation. The Byzantine Emperor of the East, Justinian, demanded that the hopeless to Hilderic be restored as king. Naturally Gelimer refused and so the train of events which was to bring down the Britain of King Arthur was set into motion. First the Eastern Emperor made peace with the Persian Emperor, Chosroses, in 532 A.D. and in the following year, 533, he sent his general Belisarius against the Vandals. History relates that bishop went to the King proclaiming a that he had had a dream that the Emperor was to liberate North Africa and re-establish the Orthodox church. Whatever the cause Justinian was able to send to North Africa one of the most brilliant generals of any age in Belisarius, and with him went the most powerful weapon in sixth century warfare heavy armoured cavalry. Fortunately for us Belisarius took with him a war correspondent, the writer Procopius. At sea the Vandals, using small fast ships with crews of around 40 men, could not match the
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with swords large fast sailing war galleys of the Imperial fleet, on land they used mounted cavalry armed and spears. In Belisarius brought with him 10,000 heavy infantry under Johannes of Epidarnnus and 5,000 cavalry. addition he had 5,000 heavy cavalry, the super weapon, plus 400 Heruls and 400 Huns. The whole army in 500 transport ships and 92 Byzantine warships, which sailed for North Africa in was transported June of 533 A.D. had First Belisarius met the Vandal army at Tricameron, 26 miles from Carthage and although Tzarzo retreated been recalled from Sardinia with the army, the Vandals under Gelimer were defeated. They 13th September 533 A.D. to Ad Decimium, the tenth milestone west of Carthage and there on the Belisarius again defeated Gelimer. occupied The Romans from the east now took Carthage as the Vandals retreated west. Belisarius now had other ideas the city and would have been excused for thinking the war won. The Vandals however which supplied and began heavy armoured cavalry. Gelimer's first action was to cut the aquaducts late with drinking water, placing the city and Belisarius' army in a very bad position. So in Carthage between the Vandals and the army of the Eastern Empire. Belisarius 533 began a long drawn out struggle until 548 A.D. was recalled by the Emperor Justinian and the guerrilla war went on

Then in 548 A.D. the Vandals did something

children

--

very strange. They packed their army, their women, and possessions on board their ships and they sailed from North Africa. Much of their treasure the had been captured by Belisarius at Hippo in 533, they had to contend with the Imperial army, hostile coastal tribes and the dangerous Moors. Clearly the Vandals had decided to go to live elsewhere pathetically naive view of historians and finally Fisher in his 1935 'History of Europe' sums up the sailed away never to be heard of again. in general that the Vandals

THE VANDAL KINGS

King Godigisel King Gunderic Empress Eudoxia m. Emperor of the West Valentinian
Eudoxia

400406
406428

III

King Gaiseric

428-477
Theoderic

m. King Huneric
477-484

Genzo King Gunthramund

484-496 King Thrasamund 496-523

Gelaris

King Hilderic 523-530

King Gelimer

Ammatas

Tzarzo

530-548?

229

CHAPTER TEN KING ARTHUR AND SIR LANCELOT OTHER NAMES

There is another reason for connecting Maelgwn with Dyfed, again a matter of names. Names were family property in Celtic Wales, especially Royal names, and everyone stuck to their own family
identities. Now first, there was only ever one prince called Maglocunus, and that was indisputably Maelgwn Rhun, and there was a previous Rhun one
-

Gwynedd.
generation

earlier in Dyfed.

Secondly, Maelgwn Gwynedd named his son

in the book of Llandaff

This Rhun is recorded

in connection
-

with

Guofoir, and Tewdwr who killed Elgystyi the son of King Awst
"family

his sons; Mareddydd Augustus Brecon.

-of

who killed

Rhun son of Maelgwn Gwynedd suggests a connection property".

with Rhun of Dyfed, as names were strictly

words:-

Significantly the sixth century Bard Taliesin wrote their

"Be neither blessing nor success to Maelgwn Gwynedd May vengeance overtake him for the wrongs, the treachery And the cruelty he has shewn to the race of Arthur Waste lie his lands short be his life Extensive vengeance be on Maelgwn Gwynedd A strange animal sha// come from the Marsh of Rhienedd Shaggy, long toothed and fire eyed. This shaH do vengeance on Maelgwn Gwynedd." Taliesin is believed to have declaimed this to the King's face and departed unharmed. It shows Maelgwn Gwynedd to have been at war with Arthur in the manner of the Romance stories of Arthur fighting Lancelot, tearing the realm apart.

FOSTER PARENTS AND THE GREAT HOUND OF THE MABINOGION

A strange practice of the old Welsh bedevils and confuses the relationships between characters named in the old tales and manuscripts. They had the idea that it was not good for a son to stand before his father, and this manifested itself in the custom of the royal and noble families placing their sons in the care of foster parents of the lesser nobility, who would rear and educate them. This had the result of giving a youth a father and a foster father, and also brothers of two kinds. His brothers were his own natural brothers, the sons of his foster parents, and other fostered youths in the same household. In fact he might not live with his own brothers as each could be separately fostered, and so brothers who were strangers to each other might in later times war with each other and murder. Whilst we can be reasonably sure that most of the father and son relationships recorded are the natural relationshipsy this is not always definitely the case.
'

I CO

'

So with Maglocunus ap Clutor we can say that there is only one Maglocunus, the hero figure of Maelgwn Gwynedd. The problem lies with Clutor, which is generally thought to mean Clutorius, and which may or may not translate into Cadwallon, who was the recorded father of Maelgwn. Try as we may there is no other Maglocunus Great Hound, to be found in the Arthurian period, only Maelgwn of Gwynedd.
-

possibility arises in the Mabinogion tale of "The Countess of the Fountain" where three heros are with the Emperor Arthur. One is Owein son of Urien, another is Kai son of Kynyr, and the t ird is Kynon son of Clydno. All these are genuine historical characters from the sixth century. Owein and his father Urien were rulers of what is now the far north of England and were rivals of Arthur. Kai or Kei is the well recorded close companion of the King, and Kynyr may be Ynyr Honorius of Caerwent. The third, Kynon is the son of Clydno, and Clydno Elegant Beard ruled Edinburgh and the surrounding district. Now Kynon may be Conon or Conan Chief corrupted, but is more likely to Hound. So we have a second prince named in this peculiar manner, for mean Cunonos meant a leading warrior of the home race. This Kynon son of Clydno is recorded in the epic poem "Yr Goddddin", telling how a commando force of 363 picked warriors fought Battle of at Catraeth and only two survived around 600 A.D. As Kynon was not one of the survivors, he died Catreath around 600 up at Catraeth in West Lothian, so it is not he at Nevern although he may have been named
-

One remote

"hound"

(Great) Hound.

230

The only logical answer has to be that Maglocunus is Maelgwn Gwynedd, who did after all make land grants and charters to the Nevern church.

THE LINE OF SIR LANCELOT

King Euddav --Octavius C non Mieriadauc
Cadvan

MAELGWN, KING OF GWYNEDD

Revolted against Constantine the Great in 312 and ruled Britain from 322 to 367 A.D. Married his daughter Elen to Magnus Maximus King of Brittany

(King Grallon) ?
m. Coel Godebog of York Padern Pesrud
-

Stradwen daughter
,

meaning Red Robe Consul or Vicar General of Britain.

Gwawl

m. Cuneda Wiedig
Einion Yrth

Ederyn
c. 420-480 A.D.

Cadwallon Lawhir
Einion Rh n King of Gwnenedd Maelgwn - Hir

King of Gwynedd

516 to 547 or 562 A.D. Breidau King of the Picts

the King who became "Sir Lancelot" of the Dragon of the island King Maelgwn Hir of Gwynedd the Mediaeval Romance stories, was clearly a rival candidate for the British throne in Wales against his and therefore King Arthur, son of King Meurig also descended from King Euddav contemporary all the other British Kings back to Brutus.
-

With Arthur ruling all South Wales and Maelgwn ruling the North, the concept of a conflict between them is obvious. The location of Camlan just South of Dolgellau is also natural and obvious.

ARTHUR AND MAELGWN GWYNEDD

with the High King Arthur and in It is not impossible that Maelgwn Gwynedd was closely connected some way involved in his civil war. Many scholars have offered the opinion that Maelgwn may have prince'. The two were very definitely been Arthur with the name or title Maelgwn translating as contemporaries, with Arthur fighting the fateful battle of the civil war at Camlan in either 537 or 542
'hound

and Maelgwn dying in either 547 or 562 A.D. Maglocunus or Maelgwn is "Great Hound".

Mabinogion stories name two of the sons of Maelgwn as followers or allies of Arthur. These are Rhun and Rhuavon Brevr, both named in the 'Dream of Rhonabwy' story. This of course points to the quite separate identities of Arthur and Maelgwn.

Gildas castigates Maelgwn fiercely, he accuses Maelgwn of seizing by force the territories of several other kings and trampling them down and also states that Maelgwn slew his uncle to take his crown. that As King Arthur was betrayed by his nephew and fought with him, there is an obvious-possibility Arthur is the uncle whom Maelgwn attacked to seize the throne. Gildas certainly states quite clearly that Maelgwn definitely rebelled against his uncle the king and destroyed him and his army, but he fails to name the uncle. By not naming the uncle Gildas creates the mystery but the lack of the name means that Gildas anticipates that everyone who reads or hears his words will know the name. Therefore
the uncle was a very famous man and Maelgwn's actions had certainly

taken place at the time of King

Arthur. The story is aided by mention in the 'Life'of St. Cadoc of Llancarfan of the armies of Maelgwn, King of

231

Gwynedd, raiding into South Wales and attacking Glamorgan. St. Cadoc is stated to have succeeded in persuading or frightening Maelgwn with divine retribution if he pillaged the lands of the Church. Regardless of the efficiency of this threat the evidence is that North Wales was at war with South Wales before 547 A.D.
There is nothing at all for the church to gain by describing Maelgwn Gwynedd as attacking South East Wales, no merit to be claimed for saints or bishops. This iridicated that the statement is likely to be correct, for exaggerations occur when the heroic stature of the saints are being promoted.

that his loss would be bewailed as the reason for Maelgwn's power. civil power present capable of opposing Maelgwn's forces.

The concept of Maelgwn Gwynedd being the 'Sir Lancelot' of the romantic literature is further advanced by this, for as Lancelot and King Arthur fought a war, so also did Maelgwn attack South East Wales. The picture which emerges is one where Arthur or Arthwys of South East Wales fought with Maelgwn Gwynedd or 'Sir Lancelot' of North Wales. In the twelfth century romance literature this was a war which Arthur could not win. The 'Life' of St. Cadoc concerning this story of Maelgwn's armies raiding south does not mention Arthur and this is strange, for if the King were dead then it would seem obvious
There does not appear to be any

Certainly the war between Maelgwn and Arthur would certainly match the fateful struggle between Arthur and Lancelot. Maelgwn had sufficient troubles with women to suit the Lancelot story if nothing else. He murdered his first wife, then he married a nun and finally he murdered his nephew so that he could marry his widow. In between he found time for homosexuality.
The alternative solution is that Maelgwn as recorded became King of Gwynedd in 516 A.D. He later gave up the throne as recorded, to become a monk at Llancarfan in the kingdom of King Arthwyr, and served "Arthur". Then one of two things happened; possibly Arthur's nephew Modred rebelled and crippled the King, this caused Maelgwn to rouse himself from the monastery and he took back the throne of Gwynedd as recorded. This fits the Lancelot story perfectly.

Arthur.

The alternative is simply that Maelgwn got tired of the monastery, and just took back the Kingdom of Gwynedd and collided with Arthur in doing this highly probable he killed Modred and wounded
---

SIR LANCELOT

MAELGWN HIR OF GWYNEDD

The principal character of the Arthurian epic is of course Sir Lancelot. This is a strange character to deal with for here we have the most powerful warrior of all, a man capable of overthrowing any enemy, yet a man subservient to King Arthur. The old tales depict Lancelot as a man living away from his own lands and serving Arthur, a very strange circumstance in Celtic behaviour. Lancelot, in the twelfth century stories and later, is an invincible warrior, who hails from France as are his powerful brothers and their followers. This idea of making Lancelot and his kinsmen come out from Gaul was undoubtedly so phrased to suit the tastes of the Norman rulers of France, England and Wales. It may well be that Lancelot is meant to be identified with Robert the Consul Lord of Glamorgan, Earl of Gloucester, illegitimate son of Henry I. This powerful man certainly remained faithful to his sister Matilda the Queen and before that to his father, This however is not the character or the race or nationality upon which the Lancelot of the Arthurian legend is based.

The Lancelot of the Arthurian legend is a more ancient person and a far more complex character. The great man was a member of Arthur's round table of Knights and yet he constantly betrayed the King by having an adulterous affair with his wife Guinevere. In other words, he had a problem with women in his life which caused his name to be brought into disrepute. This means that we already know four things about 'Sir Lancelot'. First he is not from Morganwg, Arthur's territory, but he is from allied Celtic state; second he is an impressive and powerful warrior; third, although he could rule in an his own lands, he chose not to; fourth he gets into trouble by interfering with another man's wife.
We also learn other things about Lancelot, for in the Grail Legends he has a son named Galahad. This son of Lancelot is a young man of outstanding personal beauty and deportment and also of the mind. Sir Galahad is in fact the perfect knight. This means that in addition to Guinevere, the mighty Sir Lancelot had his own legitimate wife. So our fifth and sixth pieces of information that Sir LanSIot had a very fine and handsome son and that he had a wife before he met Guinevere. are Then we learn that having broken with Arthur, the disconsolate Lancelot lives in a monastery, seeking the seclusion of the Church. Finally when Arthur is mortally wounded and dies, Lancelot returns to punish the wrongdoers and to bring peace and stability to the war-torn land. So our seventh piece of data is that Lancelot is at some time in his career either retired to a monastery or at least seriously contemplating a religious life. Eighth, we learn that he restores order after Arthur's death and is the strong man who punishes those who would destroy the nation. Lancelot restores unity.

So we have in a short time extracted several of the major

points of Lancelot's career and character.

232

At first sight Lancelot may seem to be an impossible character, a man of the most noble Celtic blood, becoming monastic; tremendously powerprepared willingly to serve another spending time years ful, even unbeatable in battle, mixed up with other men's wives and so being dragged into troubles and yet blessed with a marvellous son and never punished for his sins. Finally, the last point, he dies
---

in a religious establishment.

who was Lancelot? The answer is that he was a character based on none So the question has to be other than Maelgwn of Gwynedd, a king remembered by the bards for the part he played in the drama of the times of Arthur. This will become very obvious when we examine the career and reputation of the great man, for Maelgwn was a great and exceptional man.
-

Longhand Well he was in fact the son or grandson of Cadwallon Lawhir one of the grandsons of the great Cunedda. This makes him one of the most eminent and noble of all the Celtic princes of the Britons. Also it means that Maelgwn was a tall, well built, fair haired Celtic prince whilst Arthur would have been a shorter, stocky, heavily built, dark brown haired, Goedelic Morganwg Celt.

First, who was Maelgwn?

Next we know for a certain fact that Maelgwn was sent to study at the great university settlement of St. Illtyd at Llanilityd Fawr in Glamorgan at the time when Arthur was King of All the Britons. As Arthur got this appointment when he was fifteen it is not at all difficult to see how the young Maelgwn would have been enormously drawn to Arthur, the two may well have been roughly the same age. As with all young Celtic princes in Britain, Maelgwn was well educated and very much exposed to the
All this fits in very well with the religious involvement teachings of the church. Knights in the romantic stories about the Round Table and the Holy Grail. of Arthur and his

Maelgwn came to the throne in Gwynedd as a young man and he did so as a result of some strange This is very closely reminiscent of the tale of the young Arthur becoming King non-violent contest. as a result of his ability to withdraw a sword from its position embedded into a great stone. Maelgwn's contest was with an older relative, probably an uncle, and it took place on a sand beach in North Wales at Dovey Estuary which is still called Maelgwn's Strand. The contest is not remembered but may have involved the two claimants sitting on chairs on a beach and Maelgwn had cleverly had his chair constructed so that it floated. However he won this strange magical/religious contest and was elected King of Gwynedd. AII this has a strange parallel with the Danish Emperor Canute being persuaded to sit on a throne on a beach in England in 1016 A.D., over 400 years later and ordering the tide not to come in. King Canute got wet and angry and failed to emulate the ancient Welsh/British king.

As to Maelgwn's military strength, not only had his grandfather Cunnedda Wledig been a senior military officer of Magnus Maximus the Emperor, or his son Owain, who had with his sons reconquered North Wales and held it, but his father Cadwallon Lawhir was also a mighty warrior. The legends and bards recalled how Cadwallon Lawhir had gone with his army into Angelsey who were seizing the large and prosperous island. Cadwallon met the Irish chief named Serygei at Cerreg-y-Gwyddyl and ordered all his warriors to dismount and tie their horses feet together so that no-one could flee. Then they fought and Cadwallon exterminated the Irish and gained Anglesey. Maelgwn also won renown as a soldier and was called by Gildas 'The Dragon of the Island' and if the record of the Saints and the bards is correct, then he was in fact a more powerful man and king than Arthur. AII this fits exactly with the portrayal of Lancelot in the Arthurian legends, with Lancelot and by virtue of than the King, both personally faithfully following Arthur although more powerful
his followers and kinsmen. the Prince of Morganwg. The King of Gwynedd was acknowledging the elected King of all the Britons,

Next we have the story of problems with women, the wives of officers. In fact just as Lancelot had an illicit affair with Oueen Guinevere in romantic fiction, so also did Maelgwn have such a situation in life. King Maelgwn was attracted to the wife of his nephew and so he committed double murder. First he murdered his wife who was apparently the sister of King Brochwel Ysgithrog, reputedly King of Powys. Brochwel is in fact a royal name which occurs frequently in the royal family of Morganwg. Then
Maelgwn took the next step and proceeded to kill his nephew and so cleared the way to seize the woman he desired.

The idea that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, appears to be well founded in the case of Maelgwn, who emerges out of the shadows of an ancient dim and misty time as an undisciplined and clever man. There is no doubt at all that both Maelgwn and Arthur were on bad terms with the church. Arthur is disparaged and castigated, but Maelgwn is blasted and covered with invective by the saints and clerical historians.

the wife of Arthur.

Here however we have the genesis of the tarnished hero figure of Lancelot and his tragic foveaffair It is not impossible that Maelgwn fought Arthur and seized Arthur's wife.

with

Just as Lancelot was portrayed as sinful in the Grail stories so we have another parallel in the indomitable Maelgwn, who seems to have care for neither authority nor convention. Then Maelgwn turned to

233

homosexuality, preferring young men to women, giving further offence to the church, (he also had an affair with a nun). Nothing seems to have inhibited this prince in doing exactly as he wished regardless of the opinions of others and this points to the fact that his military strength was greater than that of any other leader in Britain. This further emphasises the role of Lancelot in Arthurian legend, for the stories tell how Lancelot and his own forces were too strong for Arthur to defeat. The strange tragic/heroic figure of Lancelot takes another step forward into reality when we learn that at one stage of his career Maelgwn actually gave up his throne to enter the church. Other Celtic princes had done the same, but never one as powerful as the prince of Gwynedd. It is recorded that Maelgwn entered the monastery of St. Illtyd in Llanilityd Fawr- Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan. He had almost certainly been educated at Llanilityd by St. Illtyd or else at the college of St. Cadoc at Llancarfan, ten miles away. The life of the monastery and church did not suit the restless Maelgwn and he abandoned the idea of being a cleric. Just when this episode in his life took place is uncertain, but it was probably when he was a young man. The irrepressible Maelgwn recovered his throne and returned to rule Gwynedd.
-here

Here we have the essence of Lancelot, a prince with vast lands as great as Arthur's, with a more powerful military force than Arthur, yet serving Arthur. This prince chooses not to live in his own lands for reasons never explained in the romance literature and seeks to enter the shelter of the church, but is judged to have sinned. This is without doubt Maelgwn serving with his North Wales army under Arthur King of all the Britons, battering the Saxons in Dummonia and later hammering the rebels, malcontents and invaders in Scotland and the North. Then we have the strange tale of Sir Galahad, the perfect knight, the son of Sir Lancelot. This is the additional and conclusive piece of evidence which we need, for Sir Galahad a young man of perfection of mind and body dies young, the only person fit to succeed in the quest for the Holy Grail. How does this effect Maelgwn Gwynedd, our Sir Lancelot? That is a very straightforward matter. Maelgwn had a son, his eldest son possibly, we do not know for certain, a prince named Rhuvon Bevr. This young man was noted for his handsome, even beautiful, figure and features, the very epitome of the ideal of a young, brave, warrior of the Celts. Rhuvon Bevr translates as 'Romanus the Fair' a real live historic figure, a prince of the Welsh of Gwynedd, Einiaun ap Maelgwn died young, the king's eldest son.
-

Unfortunately Romanus the Fair was killed in battle as a young man, dying the Sir as a youth just Galahad of fable. The fallen warrior was then buried on the edge of the sea shore and lateras bard the and Prince Hywel ab Owan Gwynedd sang of him:"Ton wen orewyn orwhych bedd Gwydda Rhuvon Bevr ben-teyrnedd." "The white foaming wave moistens the grave the barrow of Romanus the Fair, Chief of Princes." Not only do we now have the identity of Sir Lancelot and his son Sir Galahad in Maelgwn Gwynedd and his handsome, much loved son Rhuvon Bevr, we can now look for another person in the legend of Arthur. The stories tell how the father of Sir Lancelot was named King Bann who ruled the land of Manot. So where is Manot to be found but in North Wales. A mountain in Merionethshire still bears the name of Manot, right in the old kingdom of Gwynedd. We know that while Arthur was waging war on the Saxons of the south and the Angles of the north over on the eastern front, other battles were being fought in the west. In North Wales the (grand)father of Maelgwn Gwynedd, named Cadwallon Lawhir, was crushing Irish invasions between 490 and 500 A.D. Whilst Agricola Aircol Lawhir was moving to destroy them in Dyfed in the western tip of Wales. Whilst 'King Bann' held the north, his son Maelgwn Lancelot led an army to support Arthur in the south where the most crucial danger lay.
-

To suit Norman tastes the land of King Bann and his son Lancelot, the unconquerable knight, and the grandson Galahad the perfect knight was transferred to northern France, the Norman homeland.
-

Then of course there is the matter of Arthur's war against rebel kinsmen with the final and fatal battle at Camlan. In romance literature this became a war with Sir Lancelot which replaced Arthur's war with the Franks and Romans in Gaul followed by the return home to the battle at Camlan. This is interesting, as Arthur is stated in the 'History of the Kings of Britain' to have taken his army over to northern France in defence of Amorica part of the confederation of kingdoms of the Britons and won a This could not be written into a twelfth, thirteenth great victory. or fourteenth century romance which would be read in the Norman and the Plantagenet courts. So the British wars in France against the Romans and Franks in which the British claimed victory, during the fourth and sixth centuries, now became altered into a futile war with Arthur and Lancelot (now a Frenchman Norman). The new version eliminated any British victory and substituted a stalemate situation with Arthur not winning and Lancelot capable of defeating him but courteously and kindly not doing so. This must have made the Normans happy indeed.
-

Then when Arthur retired to Britain and in the romance literature he met with rebellion and was slain, or at least very badly wounded, fighting his rebel nephew Modred in an epic and terrible battle at

234

fighting Maelgwn Gwynedd. Camlan. It may well be that Arthur 11and Modred were in fact Then at the end Arthur's Finally Lancelot returns and again restored the Kingdom after
"death".

Lancelot retires to a church or monastery

and there he dies.

relationship with Arthur? First, in the How does this fit into the reality of Maelgwn Gwynedd and his definitely supported Arthur and it of any fighting in Amorica Maelgwn (Lancelot) would have course in Britain leaving Arthur would have remained appears that they won the battles. At worst Maelgwn with other princes. This is not impossible as the Kingdom Gaul alone or to move over to France had. of Gwynedd did not have the strong links with Amorica which Morganwg
--

of Lancelot restoring Then we come to the position of Arthur dying after Camlan and the romance story This has substance, for in 546, four years after Camlan, Maefgwn strife torn kingdoms. order in the present danger from the Gwynedd was elected King of the Britons in succession to Arthur. The ever reflects his status and his Saxons and the Angles still had to be met and the choice of Maelgwn now principal or most senior record. There can be no doubt from this election that he must have been the of Britain, the Dragon of the of Arthur's generals. So now Maelgwn was the War Chief, the Pendragon of the legend is again correct. Island. This means that the basis

Maelgwn Gwynedd did in fact Then the finale of the tale, the death of Lancelot is again correct, as King his throne to enter the church matches die in a church. The fact that during his reign Maelgwn gave up Hector. The whole the story of Lancelot turning over the Kingdom to his brothers Bors, Lionel and
story is a French adaptation of the bardic history of Maelgwn. also known, the mercurial King What of the real life Maelgwn Gwynedd, or Maelgwn Lawhir, as he was predecessor and elected King of the Britons. The evidence points to Maelgwn succeeding his of Gwynedd grandfather, in 517 A.D. King Cadwallon Lawhir who may be his father or his saint and bishop. During his reign Maelgwn set up the bishopric of Bangor and was most kind to Cybi the and also patronised the church of Cybi (pronounced Kibby) and erected the town of Bangor Fawr He Also amongst his known works was the strengthening of Harlech damaged Shrewsbury. rebuilt the war restoration after a period of struggle Castle. AII this points to a definite major effort of rebuilding and stood up to the and strife. Just as Lancelot was berated by an ancient monk in the stories, so Cybi also respected for it. King and was

contest and later giving it up for a period, we His strange story of winning the kingdom by a his murder of his wife, to then murder his nephew and marry the dead man's have mentioned. Also have seen we have discussed. His fair and beautifut son we widow and his sometime homosexuality Sir Galahad was Prince Einion Bevr. Then after his return to his throne, King in battle died our elected King of the Britons to restore order and replace the wounded Arthur. Maelgwn
'magical'
-

was

political and military sense. Apparently Maelgwn was a big man, powerful in the physical as well as the The less than twenty-four bards, maintained to sing his praises and entertain him. His court had no prince's court was twelve. No-one challenged him whilst he ruled normal number for a king or ruling high. Down in Morganwg after Arthur's injury and his reputation as a soldier must therefore have been and there is no record of friction between Arthur of Arthwys our King Meurig reigned, the father first as a student at either Meurig and Maelgwn. The long connection of Maelgwn with Morganwg the Llantwit Major Cadoc's college, then as a general of Arthur's armies and finally as a monk in Illtyd or Lancelot of legend. monastery, mark him down clearly as Sir
--

pestilence which swept Europe Finally there came a great plague, another bout of the periodic yellow Something like a third of the population were slain and Maelgwn, frequency. and Britain with dreaded This did not save Maetgwn, for the in fear for his life, took refuge in a church and locked the door. generally believed and probably cholera, was not carried on a mist or through the air as was plague, through human contact and water. So Maelgwn caught the plague recorded, but was communicated celebrated by his bards as the long sleep of and died. His death came after a deep coma which was means marsh, so he Maelgwn Gwynedd. The church where he died was named Llanrhos and Caernarvonshire. have died of marsh fever or cholera, as we have said. Llanrhos being in
'rhos'

may

What is interesting is that during Maelgwn's reign as king, not only did the Wales. This was now the golden age of Deiniol, at his court, but so also did the church in the North of Seiriol, of Cadfan and others when Celtic religion reached its apogee in Gwynedd. of Bangor, of Cybi, of At Maelgwn's court there was knowledge of Greek and Latin, and at least two Celtic languages were spoken there and a letter found in the mediaeval land of Bohemia from Maelgwn's court demonstrates of learning intelligible Celtic correspondence between the two areas. There was obviously a high level and culture in the Welsh courts at that time.
to him by the The final point to make about this strange and powerful king is that the name givenand L(e)ancelot Now this is in effect the French L'ancelot writers of mediaeval romance was Lancelot. servant'. Maelgwn Hir by accepting the junior position to serve as a general under a less means powerful king named Arthur, was truly the servant of his people. There can be no precedent for this
'the

life of the bards flourish

235

to do the same and was for once guaranteed. This, more than anything else, exhibits the greatness of Maelgwn, for even in mediaeval literature the stories are not in fact about Arthur at all, although woven around him; the stories are unmistakably about Maelgwn or L'ancelot. Always Lancelot is more powerful than Arthur, he is needed by the King as an indispensable support and ally.

most magnanimous acceptance of office to serve his nation by any Celtic prince before or after Maelgwn. Maelgwn could easily have insisted on being chosen leader by virtue of his descent from Cuneda and his larger kingdom with superior military power and by doing so might well have wrecked the British alliance. By his acceptance of Arthur of Morganwg's leadership all the other British princes were forced unity

The bards of Maelgwn's court obviously constructed great man and this pattern must have been repeated North Wales. These then were the stories which 1080 A.D. and so they took them, adapted them to
for us to interpret.

the Normans found after they invaded Wales in their own time and dominions and preserved them

the first poems and recitals this way to please the amongst his sons and successors to the throne of

'

There can be no doubt however that it is this King Maelgwn who bestrides sixth century Britain of the Celtic people like a colossus. His sons were able to enjoy strong kingdoms after him, Rhun who ruled the land of Gwynedd in North Wales being a very powerful king, whilst Bridei created an almost equally strong realm in the North. Rhun took his army out of Wales on an incredible parade through the north of England up to Scotland and slowly back down as far.as the Midlands and then back into Wales. None of the kings of the Scots, the Angles or the Saxons dared to challenge this display of military might by Rhun as he paraded through their territories. It was probably a demonstration by the young king that the death of the great Maelgwn had not altered the balance of power and was intended as a deterrent to any who might consider making trouble. In the Laws of Howell Dda of West Wales ruling around 900 to 950 A.D., Rhun is described as marching up as far as the Firth or Forth near Edinburgh in retaliation for a Scots raid into North Wales. The story tells of how one Elidr Hael, a Scots chief, was killed in Arfon Caernarvon and of subsequent raid a by Scots in revenge. Probably the Scots came by sea down across Morcombe Bay, but Rhun's reaction kind of nonsense by marching his whole army up to Scotland. Doubtless he burned was to stop that everything he could and pulled down the rest, but no-one dared to come out to oppose him. This gives a measure of old Maelgwn's strength.
-

Rhun's army was in fact called still host of Maelgwn' and there can be little doubt that the other kingdoms still remembered all too well what had happened when Arthur and Maelgwn had made war in the north together. Later poets and bards would evaluate princes and heroes, complimenting them if they were or approached, the of Maelgwn'.
'the 'calibre

It was the element of service without the abuse of power which elevated 'Sir Lancelot' in the eyes of the Norman Kings and barons. For was not their Duke William of Normandy infinitely more powerful than the King of France and yet nominally his vassal and so it was with his successors-

kfr immediately Robert the Consul was Regent and Vice Roy of Brita nry 1 the most powerful man in Britain, Lord of Glamorgan, Earl Go to holding Britain. The work was dedicated to Robert the Consul who h Nest and to the second most powerful Norman Lord Walleran, Count of Mellant.
-

mate eldest son of the key lordships other the princess

Rober the Consul made no attempt to seize the crown of England, which he could easily have done. Instead he remained faithful to his half sister Queen Matilda, a mirror of Lancelot.

THE GRAVE OF "SIR LANCELOT"

MAELGWN GWYNEDD

The fact that we can now identify the man who was later portrayed by the poets and bards and finally the Romance chroniclers of the twelfth century as Lancelot, with Maelgwn Gwynedd, takes us well forward with the quest for Arthur. We have identified not only Lancelot, but also his youngest son Rhuvon Bevr Sir Galahad. Now the cairn or burial mound of Rhuvon Bevr up in North Wales has been confused as local in legend with the burial place of Maelgwn. This cairn as we now know is that of his handsome son Rhuvon Bevr 'Romanus the Fair' lying as it does in the shores near the sea. If Lancelot Maelgwn Gwynedd is not buried there, then where is he buried?
-

The answer to this question is straightforward as we shall see. First, popular thinking is that Maelgwn Gwynedd was the great-grandson of the great Cuneda and this is probably The facts are that Cuneda came to North Wales either on the orders of Magnus Maximus in wrong. 383 A.D. or later at some date up to 420 A.D. As Cuneda had nine grown sons there is little likelihood that he was under 45 years old in either 383 or 420 A.D. Now this provides us with some information to work with, for it means that from the date of Cuneda's arrival to the date of Maelgwn's death, we have only four generations of this family, with Maelgwn dying in either 547 or 551 A.D.

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The stone of King Vitalianus at Nevern. Vitalianus is Gwythelin in Welsh and is then Vortimer in English. He ruled all Britain around 450-460 A.D. after his father Gwytheyrn, the infamous Vortigern who allied with Hengist the Saxon. The inscription is on the side in the sunlight.

The Celtic Cross at Nevern close to the window which contains Maglocunus Stone, the stone is used as a windowsill.

the

The Magiocunus Stone dates around 550 A.D. There was only one Maglocunus which means Great Hound and he was King Maelgwn Gwynedd who was "Sir Lancelot".

237

The situation is as follows:383 547 to 383 to 551

=

A.D.
A.D. A.D.
=

= = =

164
168 127
per

420 547 to 420 to 551 A.D. 131 years

33 years

king

years years years

=
= =

41 42 32

years years years

per per per

king
king king

These periods of the reigns of Cuneda, Einnion Girt, Cadwallon Lawhir and Maelgwn Gwynedd are too long to be readily accepted, although many Welsh princes did enjoy very long lives, There is therefore possiblity that there is at least one generation missing in a very strong this king list, for five kings rather than four ruling for a total of either 164, 168, 131 or 127 years is much closer to a normal situation of successive generations. This would mean that reigns would be of either 33 or 34; or 26 or 25 years, which is much more of an acceptable and normal figure. averages of There is evidence fortunately which not only supports this, but tells us who the missing king is. In fact it is possible that the missing man was a son of Cadwallon Lawhir, who was not king himself, but his son Maelgwn took the throne from an uncle, his father's brother. This is very definitely borne out by the legend of the contest on the sea shore at the Dovey estuary where Maelgwn won a contest by sitting in a specially made chair which floated, when his uncle's chair did not. So Maelgwn, a grandson of Cadwallon Lawhir, took the throne from his uncle to become king, whereas his own father was never king. The Dovey Estuary Traeth Mawr is also the scene of a fatal conflict between the King of the South and the King of the North in the Mabinogion Tales.
-

At the church of Nevern down in the close folded hills of Pembrokeshire, is the memorial stone of Maelgwn and on this stone are the names of both Maelgwn and his father. So we now have the name of our 'Sir Lancelot's' father and we also have the burial place of 'Sir Lancelot'.
'missing'

The stone which was Maelgwn's tomb slab is now used as window sill in the church of Nevern, found by the Cambrian Archaeological Association in 1906 in a the walls of a passage leading to the priest's chamber over the chapel.
The tomb stone is 62 inches long and is irregularly shaped, a portion off. The inscription is as follows:LATIN: OGHAM: MAGLOCVNI of the left end has been broken FILI CLVTOR

(miscnt

MAGLOCVVI)

MAGL/CUNAS MAQ/ CLUTAR (I) (this reads right to left)

The meaning of both inscriptions is "(The monument) of Maglocunus (Maelgwn) son of Clutorius." The stone obviously dates from the sixth century A.D. The Ogham inscription is in the Irish branch of the Celtic language called Goedellic, predominant in all South Wales in the fifth century. The word Maqi is the Genetive singular of the Gaelic Mac. The Welsh equivalent of Mac is Mab, or ab, or ap, meaning of'. The letters in the oldest Ogham inscriptions are made as here in strokes or notches on either side of, or across, the edge of a stone. These bi-lingual monuments helped provide the key to the decipherment of Ogham.
'son

Now not only do we know that Maelgwn was buried at Nevern, but we can see that his father's Latinised name was Clutorius. This Clutorius most probably translates into the Welsh Glywys (or less probably Cadwallon). If this is the case then our story is taking a spectacular turn for we know that an ancient King Glywys once founded a kingdom in South Wales called Glywys after himself and then later it became known as Glywyssog (Glywyssig). One of Glywys wives was Gweryn sister of King Meurig.
There is evidence that King Maelgwn made grants to the church at Nevern and so also did King Meurig of Glamorgan whose power obviously stretched from Hereford and the Wye to Wales. What Maelgwn is doing making grants to this church in Pembrokeshire this western corner of and then being buried here is answered by the identity of his father. Either Glywys is the son of Cadwallon Lawhir, who founded a southern kingdom of Glywyssog running around the north and west of Glamorgan, or King Glywys married a daughter of Cadwallon Lawhir and Maelgwn is the son of the marriage (or Clutorius is Cadwallon). The answer probably lies in the maze of Welsh genealogies. with the kings of the south and Maelgwn, both through King Glywys and King Meurig. The possibility is that Maelgwn's is Maelgwn ap Glywys and this was corrupted to Gwynedd for no other ruler is named incorrect name such a way for any particular area of the country, all are named for themselves and the fathers or for some particular personal characteristic. There is therefore a positive possibility that we should refer to this king of the Britons as Maelgwn ap Glywys.

So we have further possible connections

There is yet another stone memorial used as a window sill in the church at Nevern and this has a strange carving upon it, but no inscription. This carving is of cross which represents a weaving pattern of four entwined cords. The slab is 62 inches by 12 inches aand as stated has a carving in light relief upon the surface. There is a peculiar likeness to the shape of a human body with the entwining of these

238

cords, showing the lower legs close together and the thighs wider apart with two loops forming the of eight' forms the abdomen and chest and three triangular loops represent arms folded hips. A
'figure

across the chest and the head. Inside the triangle of the head is a triquetrous ment, giving the impression of eyes and nose of a face.

or three stemmed

orna-

This entire carving is definitely unusual and altogether different from the character and style of normal and totally out of character with the ideas used on Celtic crosses. This carving Celtic ornamentation would also seem to date from the sixth century.

Neither of these two stone of the slabs still unrevealed.

'sills'

has been removed to see if there is any marking on the other sides

Now we come to yet another stone with inscriptions just east of the porch of the church. This is known inscription as the Vitalianus Stone and once more it dates from the fifth or sixth century and has an in both Latin and in Ogham. These are as below:LATIN: VITALIANI EMERETO VITALIANI Vitalianus-Emereto"

OGHAM:
This means "(The monument of of Emereto.

and this poses a problem as to the meaning

Vitalianus First we will deal with Vitalianus, a well known Roman name which has Celtic equivalents. The near name would be Gwythelin in Welsh and this leads us to look at two other equivalents. Victorinus,translates as Gwytherin and Victor translates as Gwyther, Gwythyr, Uther or Wyther. What we have is Vitalianus, what we pose as a pure speculation is that Vitalianus being corrupted to Gwytherin

and then to Gwyther

be taken
necessarily

Uther.

So we came to Emereto and the Latin word Eremita which means

Gwythelin a solitary

hermit' or This has to carefully, for solitary may be applied to anyone of such a disposition and therefore does not What we really have is imply that our Vitalianus or Gwythelin was a religious hermit. the Solitary. The tombstone of the great Vortigern himself. Vortigern is recorded as being in his old age, he was in the area and only Kings or royal bishops had tombstones.

'a

'solitary'.

Next, over on the north wall of the church there is a piece of stone which is used as the corner of the sill of the west corner of the second chancel window. Unfortunately as early as 1860 this stone was in the south wall of the church and was larger and carried three more letters than are now in its present inscription, it was cut when moved and these three letters were lost. At present it reads TVM IM set vertically and just when it actually dates from is not possible to say. most graphically by So there is a story in the stones of the old church at Nevern. This is represented the great cross of Nevern which is one of the most magnificent of all Celtic crosses. Only two others in Wales match this cross which stands thirteen feet high and carries at the top a cross of twenty-four inches diameter. These are at Carew, Pembrokeshire and Maen Achwynfan in Flintshire. This great cross dates from somewhere around 900 A.D. Robert Maurus who lived A.D. 788 to 856 wrote of the crosses on the walls of the Nevern church with lighted tapers illuminating them, which to him recalled the walls of the Heavenly Jerusalem whose very foundations were inscribed with the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. There is still an incised of very cross cut into the wall on the outside of the Glasdir chapel of the church which is obviously great antiquity.

The cutting or marking of crosses on the walls both inside and out, represents a very important part of ancient Celtic church consecration ceremony, so there is very little doubt that this is a consecration cross. THE IMPLICATIONS AT NEVERN
The church was founded at some time in the middle of the sixth century by St. Brynach who is believed to have died on the 7th April 570. This ancient cleric was a contemporary and friend of St. David and royal was reputedly of Irish birth. In common with all other Celtic Bishops and Saints, he came from noble family, having married the daughter of an Irish chieftain who had moved to Brecon (there are or records of Irish princes coming into Wales for pre-arranged marriages with local princesses and vice versa). St. Brynach married the Lady Cymorth and proceeded to found several churches, including his principal edifice at Nevern, then called Nanhyfer. There is a legend of this Brynach that he spent time living on the top of a nearby mountain named Carn Ingli and was looked after by angels during his stay on the peak. From this the name of Mons Angelorum is now believed by some to be derived. In Welsh this would be Carn Engylion the Mount of Angels and this of course has its parallel in Switzerland with the Engelberg. It is possible to see Ireland on a fine, clear day from this peak, so possibly St. Brynach was sometimes homesick.
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239

of river to provide fish. This is important, for the names of the chiefs are believed to include Meurig and Cuhelyn and we know that King Meurig was Arthur's father and that Cuhelyn appears to be Gwythelin of the Vitalianus stone. There is also the fact that Maelgwn Gwynedd as well as these two, gave lands to the church of Nevern and that therefore all three of these important British kings gave land to this church and may be connected with this undisturbed and unexcavated hill fortress. This is no small matter, for King Meurig was a leading king of the Britons and father of the famous Arthur and King Glywys and Gwythelin were also very important. The other Maelgwn we have por= trayed as Sir Lancelot and later King of the Britons. At Nevern there has never been a thorough investigation or excavation.

Having established that the Nevern church is of great antiquity it is necessary to look at its location. Above the church on the hill to the west stands an ancient Celtic fortification. The chiefs kings of the stronghold would have been the men who endowed the church below with its lands andor stretch its

THE IMPORTANCE

OF VITALIANUS

We have looked at the name Vitalianus and its Celtic equivalent which we believe to be Gwythelin. Now this is a name which needs, as we have said, very careful consideration, for Gwythelin can be mistaken or misconstrued as Gwytherin or then Gwyther. This can give us a succession of Gwyther to Gwythur or Wyther or Uther. All this is possible but not realI proveable, Victor however is quite definitely Uther.
There is however an entry by copyists which needs noting in relation to Gruffydd ap Arthur's 'History of the Kings of Britain'. The history is written so that the prophet Merlin never meets with King Arthur and prophesies to another king. It appears correctly in the copy of Jesus College, Oxford manuscript L.XI, where the translation reads:"until

the time should

come foretold by Merddin Emrys before Gwytheyrn" No. 1706 we have:-

Yet in the Cambridge University Library Manuscript

"quod "which

Merlinus Arturo prophetaverat" meaning Merlin prophesied before Arthur."

This is a clear enough reference to the prophecies of Merlin, but the point to be made is that Merlin in the fanciful fairy story of Arthur's birth, is the person who arranges that the 'Uther Pendragon' is able to make love to the beautiful Ygerna, wife of Gorlois of Cornwall North Wales. As Merlin did not prophesy before Arthur, we have to take the Oxford entry as correct and Merlin is prophesying before King Gwytheyrn. This is a useful link for all tradition holds that Merlin came from west Wales and west Wales was governed from Nevern hill fort. The Berne and Harlech manuscripts of Gruffydd ap Arthur's 'History' both have the name of Arthur instead of Gwytheyrn. These later copyists had no earthly idea who Gwytheyrn was and so they put in Arthur instead.
-

the King and placed him correctly in time as of the generation of Arthur's father. Both King Meurig and King Gwythelin were rulers of parts of Wales, but twelfth century copyists would not know this. Gwytheryn as we have said, means Victorinus and Gwythelyn is Vitalianus.

This mix up means that Gruffydd ap Arthur, totally and unfairly misjudged, is again writing the truth. He says that Merlin prophesied before Arthur's father and we know that the Gwythelin of Nevern was almost contemporary with Meurig the father of Arthur. There is no doubt that he knew of Gwythelin

Now Vitalianus we know. We know who he was, when he was and where and what he was. The clue is given in the histories of Nw who plainly teus us of Vitalianus. Nennius Chronographer is writing of the reign of Vortigern, High King of Britain from 425 A.D. to around 460 A.D. and he said:"From the beginning of Vortigern's reign to the battle of Guolph."
quarrel between Vitalianus and Ambrosius are twelve years which is Guoloppurn, that is the

This clear statement is dealing with the outbreak of rebellion and civil war organised by Ambrosius the Elder against Vitalianus son of the High King of Britain. Vortigern as we have stated, means the title High King, it is not a name. The battle of Wallop in Hampshire took place in 437 A.D. between the Welsh Britons under Ambrosius and the Celtic Lowland Britons under the King Vitalianus Vortimer son of Vortigern.
-

Saxon King Hengest in a not unusual dynastic marriage.

In 428 Victorinus Vortigern had recruited Saxons to help guard the eastern and southern shores of Britain against Picts, Irish and German raiders. Later he had married 'Rowena' the daughter of the
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240

Later the King's policy of recruiting Saxon mercenary soldiers to guard the coasts, which he first started in 428 four years after he was elected High King, began to show its dangers. In 442 there was a great Saxon raid which devastated Britain already weak torn by civil war.
Then followed a great ten years war from 442 to 452 A.D. when Vortimer the King's son was victorious and at the end Vortimer, were over the beaten Saxons. During this war Catigern the son of Vortigern, both kiHed. Then came the day of the infamous peace treaty when the Saxons, by treachery, murdered the three hundred elders of the government of Britain. AII Britain fell into chaos. Of all the leaders the Saxons spared only Vortigern who wandered the land shunned by his own people, a fugitive from an, with no-one prepared to offer him mercy by killing him. Vortigern was met by Bishop Germanus on his second mission to Britain in 455-456 who saw him at Caernarvon and then at Gwytheynnion. The King wandered the lands, over to Ireland where is daughter had married the son of the High King; back to Wales where a rock on the Teifi is known as Gwytheryn's Rock, possibly the rejected aged king even sat there.

Where and when he died is unrecorded but there is the stone at Nevern which records Vitalianus Emereto Vitalianus the Solitary.
-

This we believe, is the stone which marks the place of either the outcast and rejected King Vortigern or his son Vortimer. There is a strong tradition that the old king built a stronghold in Wales. Gildas quotes or repeats a fairy tale of Vortigern building a castle in Snowdonia where the walls constantly crumbled and Merlin the magician solves the problem by exhibiting two dragons, one red, one white, fighting in a cave below destroying the foundations. This story repeated by Gruffydd ap Arthur is the Welsh description of a king trying to found a strong kingdom which is impossible because the two different peoples in the kingdom are bent on destroying each other. The white dragon is the Saxon people, the red dragon the Welsh and Merlin is telling Vortigern or Vortimer that a multi-racial society is impossible without destroying the state of Britain.

On the more direct side we have evidence that a druidical school of learning persisted in west Wales Also Merlin by tradition came from Carmarthen some twenty-five until well into the ninth century. miles from Nevern and above the church where we have the Vitalianus stone, we have the ruin of an ancient fortress associated with such powerful kings as King Meurig and Maelgwn Gwynedd. The fortress the on the hill at Nevern may well be that of Vortigern the outcast king who lies buried somewhere in
environs of the church below. is that the stone is that of Vortimer the son of Vortigern. This is The only other possibility solitary', to understand as there is a solid reason for describing the old King Vortigern as the only reason for such a description to be applied to Vortimer is that he may not have been The stone we believe, has to be that of Vortigern otherwise Gwyrtheyrn from Gwyr teyrn,
'the
-

difficult whereas

married. or The

Man-Prince.

Without an excavation at Nevern there is little that can be done further. What we have is a hill fort King Glywys of Glwyssog. Then we have King used by King Meurig of Glamorgan and Clutorius Gwynedd, our Sir Lancelot. On Glywys of Glywyssog as father of Maglocunus who is King Mael nd Geoffrey of Monmouth writes top of this we have a stone to Vitalianus who is King Gwythelin that Merlin the Magician prophesied before a King Gwytheryn or Gwytheln. Merlin was a contemporary of King Meurig so the possibilities now are that Gwytheryn is one and the same as Glywys, which is doubtful, or else his son, which fits. For ancient genealogy states that Glywys was father of Gwynlliw and grandfather of Cadog, so Gwythelin may well fit this family tree. There was also Gwytheryn Vitalianus and his son Gwythelin the Great, known as Vortimer, High King or Emperor of Britain.
-

THE "LIFE

OF ST. BRYNACH"
other noble Celtic Saints, St. Brynach had his 'Life' written at a later date. The docurnent is in the British Museum Library in London. The name of the local land to Brynach for a church is recorded as Clether or Clechre, who was it seems, wife.

In common with most surviving copy of this chieftain who gave the a kinsman of Brynach's

As we know, most grants of land to Celtic churches were not made voluntarily, but as a result of a followed some church demand following excommunication of the prince or noble. Excommunication civil crime or misdemeanour such as murder, rape or other acts of violence, which were really of no concern of the church. None the less our Clether or Clechre must have had permission from his king to make the grant to Brynach, as was the custom. Clether may be the Clutorius father of Maglocunus.

241

from his genealogical line of ancestors for obvious of the history of Maelgwn's succession to the throne.

The same document records that Maelgwn Gwynedd made grants to this church at Nevern. As we have stated, we believe that the facts as known demonstrate that Maelgwn's relationship with Cadwallon Lawhir was that of grandson, not son and that he omitted his uncle, whom he deposed from the throne,
reasons. This is the only way to make any sense The river stream is

The grant of land included a stretch of river bank alongside for fishing purposes. named the Carnan and the Llan of the church is alongside.

The church itself was known as Nanhyfer, never as Llanbrynach or Llan anything else. So we have a Llan or sacred enclosure alongside the River Caman.

THE MISSING STONE

Here we have a mystery. We have seen how when the church at Nevern was restored in 1864, the reconstruction was carried out with complete indifference to the sanctity or value of ancient graves. In fact this indifference amounted to sheer vandalism At least one on the part of those concerned. inscribed stone was cut and defaced as we have seen and items of archaeological value were known to be respected well before 1864.
measured some ten feet long by three feet wide. This massive flat stone was inscribed with a cross and lay at the north end of the chancel, the cross being what is sometimes known as a Greek cross. This stone disappeared and of Maglocunus and Vitalianus were used as mere window sills, it probably met as the gravestones a similar fate.

There was in the chancel of the church, a hugh stone set into the floor, which

The question that arises must of course be, whose stone was this massive slab monument, for it far outsizes the stone of the great Maglocunus King of the Britons. There must have been some use or purpose in lifting this great slab of stone, possibly the lunatic who did so intended to make several
more window sills from it. A search of the areas reconstructed important of all the Nevern stones. in 1864 should reveal its whereabouts, it may well be the most

The fact that this one area, despite old indifference and despoilation, has such a collection of stones with no archaelogical work carried out, does lead to some speculation as to the possibilities which lie in an investigation of the hill fortress above and the church itself.

THE IDENTITY OF RHUVON BREVR

ROMANUS THE FAIR

army, and and in the

This character is featured in the Mabinogion tales as the commander of Arthur's personal therefore he is a soldier and close relative of the King. He also appears in ancient poetry, Early Welsh Triads, as well as in some oblique references in the Lives of the Saints.

This is the Prince who died young in battle, and the poets recorded his burial in a mound grave close to the sea shore. Some scholars incline to the opinion that he was the son of Maelgwn Gwynedd, whilst others believe that Maelgwn had a son named Einion who died Certainly Rhuvon Brevr figures young. in Romance stories as the very handsome and perfect "Sir Galahad", and so there is a tendency towards thinking of him being the son of Maelgwn who can be identified as "L'Ancelot". It seems however that Maelgwn had an uncle named Einion the King, and that this Einion ap Ewein Danwyn was the uncle who he drove out to seize his throne. This is the evidence of the Lives of the Saints and the Triads, where Rhun is son of Einion, who is son of Ewein Danwyn ap Einion Yrth ap Cuneda Wiedig. Other references to Rhuvon Brevr can be found which name him as son of Dewrath Wiedig in Series lil of the Triads No. 23, etc. In the Series I and II he is quite definitely the son of Morgan Mwynfawr the successor to Arthur in Glamorgan. This appears in Series I Triads No. 18 and 89, Series 11 No. 9, and Series Ill Triads No. 115 and 123. This makes sense for Morgan was either the son of Arthur, or the son of Adras ap Morgan ap Gwrgan Mawr, who was Arthur's cousin. This explains that Rhuvon Brevr was either Arthur's grandson or the son of his chosen Heir and Nephew King Morgan, and as such could be expected to lead Arthur's army. His name is spelled variously as can be expected Rhyhawd, Rhyhawt, Raawt, Rhuawn and so on.
-

There can be little doubt that he became "Sir Galahad" the Perfect Knight.

242

CHAPTER ELEVEN THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE SIXTH CENTURY CAVALRY, ARTHUR AND BELISARIUS
There and strategic in all records that the Britons had a distinct military which their other invading savages, by virtue of their use of cavalry advantage over the Saxons and possessed by Arthur and hs generals needs some did not possess. This military advantage opponents is considerable indication

careful evaluation in order to assess its nature and usefulness.

of the Hittites through to Alexander the Great and on The early cavalry of many nations from the time the Saxons, had only the advantage down to the fifth century to the time of the British struggle with positions of attack and then to It was quite common for cavalry to move rapidly into of mobility. Commentaries on his Gallic Wars, we are told many times of the dismount and fight on foot. In Caesar's the Roman horses in their cavalry of the Gauls engaging the Roman cavalry and dismounting to stab from fighting on foot. bellies and to gain advantage neither the Romans nor the Gauts used stirrups and Now the plain and simple reason for this was that could use and the way in which they could use them, was this meant that the type of weapons they of the medaeval knights, for severely limited. No cavalry man could use a spear as a lance in the manner shield or body of a foe, then he himself would be unhorsed and thrown should his lance be driven into the had no leverage with his legs for a heavy thrusting stroke, to the ground. Without stirrups, a horseman used with downward grip the horse with his knees to retain his posture. So swords were being forced to held over arm for stabbing purposes. slashing motions and spears were enemy's battle line, to attack him in the The cavalry of these wars was used to get around the end of an threaten danger or attack. Most of all cavalry was used rear or to move suddenly to a new position to retreating enemy. Cavalrymen were not heavily armoured, frontal attack for the pursuit of a fleeing or units, as they could not deal with spear and sword armed infantry. which happened in the time of Julius Having stated all this, we have to look at something remarkable Roman princes, the in 53 B.C. out on the Syria-Asia borders. There were at that time three great Caesar Pompeius (Pompey) and Gaius Julius Caesar. Whilst Triumvirate of Marcus Licinius Crassus, Gneaus Germany, Pompey dealt mainly Caesar was mainly occupied in Gaul and Britain with incursions into in Asia, (Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia area) and Crassus went out to Asia. Now out with Spain and Illyria who employed only cavalry. Marcus Licinius Crassus was forced to fight with the Parthians which include a life story of Crassus. Plutarch the Roman historian tells us what happened in his 'Lives' Consul had not in fact done anything to cause a war with the Romans, but Crassus, now The Parthians glory in war and the plunder of treasure which success might of Rome, appears to have sought both against Tigranes King of Armenia and bring. He intended to make the successful campaigns of Lucullus the Mithradates King of Pontus, to appear as small campaigns by defeating that of Pompey against great Parthian Empire. Rome for this war and Nothing went right for Crassus, for Aetuis the Tribune tried to stop him leaving city gates. Then he lost several ships sailing from Rome to Asia Minor, laid curses upon him at the cryptically warned him of the where he called on King Deiotarus the King of the Gauls of Gallatia, who with Parthia. danger of war crossed the Euphrates. Only the city In Syria however, Crassus had no trouble and he built a bridge and plundered, and under its prince Apollonius opposed him. This city was taken by assault, of Zenodotia after subduing Mesopotamia, he retired into Syria instead of the inhabitants sold as slaves. Then

occured when both Crassus occupying Babylon and Seleucia. That winter his son arrived and a bad omen goddess). The Parthian King, using the and his son fell on leaving the temple of Venus (Juno or Nature Orodes) sent to Crassus advising him not to start a war common throne name of Arsaces (own name the future. which he could neither finish nor win and telling him to stay out of Parthian provinces in which replied that he would give his answer in Seleucia, well into the Parthian kingdom, upon Crassus and ambassadors laughed at him and Vagises the oldest of them held out his open palm the Parthian before he ever saw Seleucia. This situation was told Crassus that he would see hair growing there and his obviously one where Crassus wanted a war to grab everything he could lay his hands upon piratical greed seems to have impaired his sense of judgement. Euphrates by the Parthians. Next, several of the Roman garrisons were forced from the towns beyond the whose bowmen attacked numbers These survivors brought ominous news of mounted armies of huge infantry and cavalry to pieces. These and retreated without any close combat, shooting the Roman and were very difficult to attack and the situation tooked Parthian soldiers wore good metal armour
increasingly omminus.

Crassus was undeterred

however and when Artavasdes King of Armenia came with 6000 horsemen,

243

offering to bring 10,000 more plus 30,000 infantry, he literally refused the aid. King Artavasdes advised Crassus toenter Parthia from the north by moving through the mountains of Armenia and on no account to go anywhere near the plains, where cavalry could operate. By this route the armies would be in Artavasdes' own country and well supplied on the route. Crassus was contemptuous of the offer to march through the chain of mountains where the Parthian cavalry could not operate and King Artavasdes withdrew and so the 16,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry of Armenia were not available.

So Crassus in 54 B.C., along with seven legions and 4,000 cavalry, marched across the Euphrates again. Time and again his scouts reported the tracks of cavalry but no sign of them. Crassus intended to march along the river banks to Seleucia, but an Arabian chieftain who had served with Pompey now arrived and this man, Ariamnes, persuaded Crassus that the Parthian King Orodes was preparing to flee to the Caucasus of Russia and that two generals, Surena and Sillaces, were out on the plains to delay the Roman advance before this retrept.
Crassus was being lied to, for in fact King Orodes had taken half his army to attack Artavasdes in Armenia in vengeance for his offer to help the Romans, whilst Surena took the other half to attack Crassus. This general Surena in fact stood next in rank to the Parthian king, his own personal vassals and slaves amounted to no less than 10,000 cavalry. Then ambassadors arrived again from King Artavasdes telling Crassus that Orodes was invading Armenia with a great army and inviting him to combine with the Armenians to combat Orodes. This gives an indication of Parthian strength as Artavasdes seems to think that some 80,000 Romans and Armenians were needed to try to drive off half their army. Crassus was by now in a dream world, for he sent a verbal message saying that he was not able toconsider Armenia but would come and punish the King (Orodes) later. He had been persuaded by the Arabian Ariamnes to march away from the river and was out in the middle of a vast arid, sandy plain.

alarmed, for they looked neither very numerous nor formidable. What in fact happened was that their general, Surena, had ordered the advance guard to spread out and screen the rest of the army from sight and the whole army to cover their armour with coats and skins to avoid it glinting in the sunlight.

Then ominously the remnant of a scouting party came flying back to the camp after being surprised and cut to pieces by Parthian cavalry. Crassus still had no idea of the size of the opposing army or its whereabouts but as no cavalry forces in history could stand up to trained, disciplined infantry legions, he did not worry over this. So at the River Balissus the Romans paused whilst they digested the facts that the Parthians were moving towards them. When the Parthians were sighted the Romans were certainly not

When the Parthian army got close to the Romans, they began to beat upon their very numerous drums and tambourines, creating a terrible noise they did not use trumpets and cornets. They then threw off their skins and cloaks to reveal their very large, heavily armoured army, all covered with steel and brass. Very significantly for our story, their General Surena had his face painted with war paint, so, as we will see, did the Silures of South Wales and many other Celtic European tribes.
-

The battle resolved itself into a situation where the Romans stood in a great square, with the cavalry at the corners, whilst the lighter Parthian bowmen circled around on their horses, shooting them down with arrows. When Crassus ordered out his auxiliary light armed troops and Gaulish cavalry in front of the legions, they too were shot to pieces, although the Gauls dismounted and got in amongst the heavy armoured Parthian cavalry who used lances (or pikes), stabbing their horses bellies and trying to drag them from their horses by seizing their lances. The Romans were being shot to pieces where they stood, until Publius Crassus (the son) made an advance with his cavalry and infantry against the Parthians, who promptly withdrew ahead of him. The further the body of Romans advanced, the further the Parthians withdrew, until they isolated young Publius Crassus and his men and surrounded them and destroyed them. So 1,300 cavalry, 500 archers and infantry were annihilated in this phase of the battle. When the Romans tried to get close to the Parthians, their enemy's heavy cavalry had long lances which prevented the short Roman javelins from striking home. Crassus tried to march to his son's assistance and the Parthian drums beat out again and they advanced towards old Crassus with his son's head stuck on a spear. So the battle began again and this time the Parthian mounted archers attacked the Roman flanks, driving the mass of men closer together whilst the heavy cavalry charged the Roman front with lances. Now this is the important phase of the battle, for the Parthians MUST have had saddles equipped with stirrups. The passage from Plutarch reads:"Some indeed (Romans) to avoid a more painful death from the arrows, advanced with the resolution of despair, but did much execution. A// the advantage which they had was that they were speedily di,9catched by the large wounds they received from the enemy's strong pikes, which they pushed with such violence that they often pierced through two men at once". This means that a charging armoured warrior had the means to retain his seat on his horse and to withstand the shock of such a blow with his heavy lance, it has to mean stirrups and saddles being used by

244

heavy cavalry in such a manner as to resemble

the charging actions of mediaeval armoured knights.

That day the Romans suffered heavy losses and that night they tried silently to withdraw. Crassus managed to escape to Carrae whilst other quite large bodies of Roman troops became isolated and were the next day destroyed by the Parthians. Four thousand wounded left in the camp were killed. He did not get The following night Crassus fled from Carrae to try to reach the safety of the mountains. there and very few of his army struggled to safety. Some 20,000 were killed and over 10,000 taken had triumphed. prisoner. The mobile cavalry archers and the heavily armoured lance bearing
'knight'

Whilst Marcus Crassus was being defeated in Asia, Julius Caesar was in Gaul and about to get a similar lesson from the Britons when he invaded Britain in 55-54 B.C. Caesar faced exactly the same type of advance and retreat tactics from the hordes of British cavalry and chariots. It is indeed strange that the
Britons and the Parthians were employing almost identical tactics of avoiding hand to hand combat and striking from horseback and in the case of the Britons also from chariots.

In Caesar's Commentaries, he tells us about this very same method of fighting with the Britons, avoiding board tactics. Caesar's Commentaries, a pitched battle which allowed the Romans to plan their chess Wars, Book V, Section XV:Gallic "The horse and charioteers of the enemy (the British) contended vigorous/y in a skirmish wth our cavalry on the march; yet so that our men were conquerors in all parts and drove them to their woods and hi//s, But having slain a great many they pursued too eagerly and lost some (?) of their men. But then the enemy after some time had elapsed when our men were off their guard and occupied in the fortification of the camp, rushed out of the woods and making an attack on those who were placed on duty before the camp, fought in a determined manner and two cohorts being sent to Caesar to their relief and these severally the first of two legions. And when they had taken up their positions at a very small distance from each other, as our men were disconcerted by the unusual mode of battle the enemy broke through the middle of them most courageously and retreated thence to safety".

This is a fascinating statement of a battle, for here we have the strategy of the British evolving against the Romans. Of all the peoples opposed to Rome, very few other than the Parthians and the Britons realised that to defeat the Romans it was necessary to prevent their generals planning set piece battles on chosen gound. The British forced the Romans to fight unexpectedly and to feed their troops into a battle piecemeal as they arrived at the scene, with no opportunity for planning and tactics. This is in fact an account of the defeat of two Roman legions under Julius Caesar, who could not in the political climate of Rome at the time ever admit a defeat if he wished to survive. It is in fact more than that for it is a clear account of the tactics later used by the Silures of South East Wales to defeat the Roman legions. The account goes on Caesar's Commentaried Book V, Section XVI:-

"In the whole of this method of fighting since the engagement took place under the eyes of
-

all before the camp it was perceived that our men (Romans) on account of the weight of their arms insomuch as they could neither pursue the enemy when retreating, nor dare quit their standards, were very /ittle suited to this kind of enemy. But that the horse also fought with great danger because they (the British) generally retreated even by design and when they had drawn off our men a short distance from the legions, leaped from their chariots and fought on foot in unequal (and to them, advantageous) battle".

So Caesar was being outfought and outmanoeuvred in exactly the same way as Marcus Crassus was being

245

outfought in Mesopotamia. The attitude of the British King, Cassivellaunus, was remarkable, for he dismissed and sent home the great bulk of his forces and left himself with only 4,000 chariots to deal with Caesar, the size of the total British army can only be guessed at, but it must have been enormous. We are told:"To this was added that they never fought in c/ose order, but in srnall parties and at great distances, and had detachrnents placed (in different areas) and then one relieved the other and the vigorous and fresh succeeded the

wearied". On his first venture into Britain in 55 B.C. Julius Caesar had brought two legions and 800 cavalry which failed to get ashore. So he had some 13,000 men and he was very lucky to get away with his life, the British being very different opponents to continental German and Gallic tribes. They learned quickly not to engage in pitched battles in that first campaign and already used their surprise tactics.

When one of Caesar's two legions was out cutting corn to eat, they failed to realise that the British had cut all the other corn in the area, leaving only that near large dense woods. When they were busy stealing the corn crop, they were attacked as they were scattered all over the grain fields. Caesar with his second legion succeeded in rescuing the first, or what was left of it.

The British method of fighting is well described:"Their mode of fighting with their chariots is this. They drive about in al/ directions and throw their weapons and generally break the ranks of their enemy with the very dread of their horses and the noise of their wheels and when they have worked themselves in between the troops of horse, they leap from their chariots and engage on foot. The charioteers in the meantime withdraw some little distance from the batt/e and so place themselves with the chariots that if their masters are overpowered by thenumbersof the enemy they may have a ready retreat to their own troops. Thus they display in battle the speed of horse together with the firmness of infantry". The Commentaries make it clear that British Charioteers were commonly capable of running along the chariot poles between the pairs of horses whilst the chariot was still moving at speed, to either dismount or by leaping and running to get backon board. It must have been a remarkable sight.

Julius Caesar came to Britain in 55 B.C. with 13,000 men and 80 ships, but he came back in 54 B.C. with 33,000 legionaries, 30,000 auxiliaries, 2,000 cavalry and no less than 800 ships and still achieved very little. Such a force would have crushed any Germanic or Gallic nation at the time.
The point however, is that in the dry, arid, great plains of Asia and amid the green fields, the woods and plentiful streams of Britain, very similar tactics were used and the Parthians without a doubt must have had saddles and stirrups. Once the Arsacid Parthian dynasty fell, it was succeeded by the Sassenid Persian dynasty, people with whom the Welsh Celtic peoples anciently believed that they were of common kinship. The tradition of magnificent horsemanship and powerful cavalry tactics went on and one wall carving of the Persian King Shapur I, 240-271 A.D., exists where he is represented with three Roman emperors in postures of complete subjection to him. Shapur I is mounted on his horse, beneath him Valerianus lies dead, he holds the emperor Gordian III by the wrist in submission, whilst the third, Philip the Arab kneels before him begging terms. Actually Shapur I did not have things all his own way, but he did wreak havoc with the Romans using brilliant cavalry tactics. For those who are interested, Papah was a vassal king of the Parthian Empire ruling in Fars (Persia itself). His son Ardashir I (Artaxerxes or Artashair) revolted against Artabanus the last of the Parthian kings and defeated him at Hormuz in 226 A.D. killing Artabanus in the battle at Hormuz i D.

the Sassanian dynasty began and the Empire of the neo-Persians replaced1hatof died in 240 A.D. and Shapur I succeeded him.

Ar

Three hundred years before however, the Parthians had conquered as far as Palestine, sending Herod the Great fleeing for his life into Egypt in 37 B.C. and becoming in the persons of their three leaders, the Crown Prince, the General and the King's Butler, (Chief Minister), the Three Wise Men or Magi of Christian legends.

246

enveloping the Later these horsemen of the plains of Asia were to play a significant role in the events when in the sixth century A.D. they were the main death throes of the Roman Empire of the west, armoured striking force used to defeat the Germanic nations in Africa, Spain and Italy. These heavily the same type of soldiers exactly who defeated the over-ambitious Marcus Crassus on the cavalry were dry plains east of the Euphrates in 54 and 53 B.C. The Byzantine general Belisarius is important to our type of cavalry tactics in use at exactly the same of Arthur was an outstanding general contemporary weapon was a highly trained, heavily armoured body of story time of the heavy because he illustrates quite brilliantly the as our King Arthur was operating. This eastern Emperor Justinian and his main cavalry.
~

the Persian After Justin I, 518527 A.D. and Justinian his successor had fought lon wars with aowed the h made peac of the Parthian kings, Justinian and Chosroes II, the P an successors
Emperor to turn his attention to the recovery of the Western Em ire of cor army under Belisarius to accomplish this and with Belisarius went a who duly recorded the subsequent campaign.
'

He sent a leet and an nam d Procopias

Now quite a lot is known of the Byzantine heavy cavalry of around recruited were the highest paid soldiers in the world and they were horse soldiers used 12 foot lances and rode upon a saddled horse, heavy personnel armour and a great cloak which served to protect addition to heavy slashing swords these horsemen used powerful

480 to 550 A.D. and onwards. They from Central Asia Parthia. These equipped with stirrups. They wore them from rain and as a blanket. In bows and carried round shields and which destroyed Crassus over wore metal helmets. In short they fit the description of the Parthian army 500 years earlier, especially as they are recorded as being magnificent horsemen who also used their cloaks to conceal their armour. The descendants of the Parthians were recruited into the Imperial Byzantine Army and were contemporary with Arthur.
-

These units of massed heavy cavalry were the principal weapon used by Belisarius in his victories over the German nations. He crushed the Vandals in North Africa, the Ostrogoths in Italy and the Visigoths in Spain, to temporarily recover most of the Empire of the west and freed Rome, invariably Belisarius his own, but his professional warriors, was forced to fight with opponents who had larger armies than in particular the armoured lance bearing knights, defeated them all.
The question which arises is one of the manner of British victories against the Saxons, achieved by not? The Arthur from around 500 A.D. to 518 A.D. Did his heavy cavalry have saddles and stirrups, or early centuries before Arthur, answer we must guess, but we have solid evidence of Welsh pilgrims in the travelling to all parts of the east, including Jerusalem, Palestine, Egypt, Byzantium and Rome..Invariably these pilgrims were from the British upper class with royal connections and it is almost inconceivable that have been delivered back to Britain. some report of the heavy cavalry of the Eastern Empire would not The whole point is that a man in heavy armour would find it difficult to stay on a horse without a saddle. Secondly, without stirrups he could not strike a heavy blow with his weapons and could easily be dragged down from his horse. Cavalry without a saddle and then without stirrups were always at the until the horse soldiers got saddles with mercy of mass infantry as innumerable records show. Not did they have any chance to defeat armed men on foot. Then once so equipped they could deal stirrups tremendous blows and use long heavy spears at speed which infantry would find difficult to manage. The odds must lie in favour of the British having knowledge of and using saddles in the sixth century, just as the Byzantines were also using them. There is no proof, but there is no reason to believe that Arthur's forces were any differently equipped to those of Belisarius. In fact a direct comparison between the type of arms used by the Imperial Cavalry of Byzantium and that of Arthur's cavalry is possible by comparing the Byzantine descriptions of their heavy cavalry and the clear description of British cavalry arms detailed .in the Mabinogion stories. We find in fact an parallel with both armies using heavy horses and body armour, with helmets. Both use extraordinary long heavy spears or lances, both use swords and battle axes, both favour long heavy cloaks. Both armies ride in regiments or troops which are distinguished and identified by colour and designs painted on their shields in Byzantium and by exactly similar colour code patterns in Britain, the Britons favouring the red cloaks of the Romans. colour Complete descriptions of Arthurian heavy cavalry arms and in 'The Dream of Rhonabwy' and in 'Culhwch and Olwen'. Add to this the fact tium Maelgwn Gwynedd and actually mentions him in his writi kings in nineteenth century of letters between Maelgwn and B ar correspondant' o take shape for Procopius was the official
'regimental'

identification

that Procopius knew of and the finding in the alkans, and the picture
historian to Belissarius
/

are given

Africa.
-

Two other points to note are that the Romans used heavy cavalry clad in chain mail known as cataphracts, and there was a second class of armoured cavalry in which the horse was also armoured these were the clibanarii. These horse soldiers were presumably copies of Persian military units carrying and shields and wearing armour and metal helmets. They were in existence from around 250 A.D.

spears

247

and they were the principal means of ensuring the survival of the Eastern Empire at Constantinople for over a thousand years afterwards. The notion of heavily armoured, spear carrying knights in South Wales under the British King Arthur in 500 to 570 A.D. is by no means impossible, it is in fact highly probable.

onwards

THE KNIGHTS
The stories of King Arthur and his Knights became opular in Western Europe following the seizure of the territories of lestyn ap Gwrgan in area in 1091 A.D. As we explained earlier, only lestyn's estates were taken as their share or payment for assisting Euan (Einion) in his struggle with

lestyn.

Following this contract between Normans and Welsh, the legends of the Glamorgan area were spread to France. So we have a location for the area from which the Arthurian stories were taken- Glamorgan, the area of Penuchel. The Arthurian

misconception is that the French court writers now clothed Arthur and his contemporaries in the manner of mediaeval knights. This mistaken theory is based on the idea that mediaeval knights began to carry heraldic devices on their shields around 1200 to 1250 A.D. and that this marked the birth of the custom. A second notion, again incorrect, is that the practice of the nobility in crowning their helmets with strange and fearsome crests of animal heads and so on, also began around 1200 A.D.
For some odd reason it is assu ng Arthur and his men could not possibly have worn such fantastic headgear, nor could ed distinctive heraldic emblems ve on their banners or shields. In short it was not done E land and so therefore it is assumed that it could not have itional piece of rubbish and show that the knights of King en done in Wales. Let us dem Arthur in fact looked exactly as they were described in the ancient tales of the Mabinogion and that the mediaeval nobility copied them.
which

stories were immensly

popular

in Britanny

and in Normandy

and the popular

modern

This is all part of the task of smashing the unfounded were invented around 1500 to 1700 A.D.

and slanderous

theories

of British Barbarism

The evidence exists in plenty. First, as we have noted earlier, the Celts conquered Rome as early as 389 B.C. and were busy smashing Greece and Macedon in 278 B.C. In their later wars with the Romans the Roman writers described them, so we can understand what they looked like. The feared heavy cavalry of the Cymru faced Marius iri 101 B.C. and Plutarch tells us that they were to behold', their helmets were covered with the grinning jaws of wild beasts and great birds' wings. So Plutarch is describing heavily armoured Celtic knights, with great metal helmets, surmounted by the type of model beasts' heads which became popular in Europe after 1200 A.D. So if the Celtic ancestors of Arthur and his kinsmen had been so armed and armoured in 101 B.C. what is so strange about the Arthurian knights being similarly armed in 550 A.D?
'fearsome

inlaid with gold and coral and covered with white or red enamel. Then in Britain the Triads record that Cassivellaunus was one of three British kings with golden chariots. AII this fits well with the discovery of the two Celtic helmets at Ogmore in Glamorgan, magnificently decorated and coloured with gold and blue enamel. There are also the items of cavalry harness from Glamorgan boards which also fit these descriptions. The Iberian Celtic Chief Salondicus (Alawn dig angry music) had a silver spear, and Culhwch in the Mabinogion stories is said to have had a similar spear.
-

On this theme of magnificent armour, as early as 1200 to 750 B.C. Homer recorded that Rhys the King of the Thracian Celts rode in a war chariot adorned with gold and silver and wore gold armour. (Illiad LX. lines 43&441). Later another Celtic King named Brituitus of Auvergne in Southern Gaul, fought in a silver chariot and wore coloured armour (Florius 111.2.). The coloured armour would have been armour

The British heavy cavalry is described in the 'Life' of St. Tugdual, shock weapon. They a powerful obviously existed and had their counterparts in their own ancestors and in the heavy cavalry of the Parthians and the later knights of Belisarius in 533 A.D. What has to be accepted is that these fierce war kings of Arthur's Britain were exactly as described in the old sixth to eighth century Mabinogion stories. They also used distinctive heraldic devices. The prince of the Cardiff area from 1043 to 1091 A.D. was as we know, lestyn ap Gwrgan and he had an heraldic device forhis shield of three chevrons a sergeant's stripes. This still forms part of the city's coat of arms, and lestyn of Wales had such a symbol almost two hundred years before the idea caught on in England.
-

Certainly it was customary with the regiments of the Byzantine empire contemporary with the Welsh of Arthur's age, to wear distinctive identification colours and designs on shields and armour. Even the Greeks and Parthians of earlier ages did this, so it is quite understandable that the British Celtic races were also practising the same habits.

248 .

The Sixth Century Warriorwith Horse

12 Foot Spear Shield Axe

Sword
Bow

BJ

to is that the Mabinogion stories of Wales describe in detail the dress and appearance of the Welsh horse warriors or knights of the sixth century and the available evdence supports much of this description, which cannot in fact be mediaeval invention.
What it amounts To illustrate this, let us look at the period of Gryffydd ap Llewellyn, who was much better known in his time than the ineffectual Harold Godwinson, killed by William the Conqueror at Hastings. King Gryffydd, son of Llewellyn, was the first under one rule since Arthur around 550 A.D. outstanding soldier who fought many battles when he was assassinated by murderers paid by native prince of the Welsh to unite all the various princes Like Arthur, five hundred years before, Gryffydd was an and never lost one. He ruled from 1044 to 1063 A.D. Harold Godwinson and his brother Tostig.

in England was Edward the Confessor, a king who feared Gryffydd and here of Norman involvement in England. Gryffydd became King of Powys and in 1039 A.D. he also became King of Gwynedd and as top king he had the task of defending the borders against English raids. In 1039 he defeated Leofric of Mercia at Rhyd-y-Groes on the Severn, with great slaughter. The Welsh 'Brut y Tywysogion' records this and the English Chronicle states 'They are too strong while Gryffydd is King over them'.
we have the beginning

Gryffydd's contemporary

King Gryffydd had one ambition only, to unite the five small Welsh Kingdoms into one. He was ruthless and merciless and any man standing in his way was lucky to be quickly imprisoned. This ruthlessness or cruel streak was conciously recognised by the King himself, he said, 'Do not talk of killing, I am only blunting the horns of the progeny of Wales to prevent them from injuring the ewe'. Gryffydd ap Llewellyn of North Wales was now on a collision course with Gryffydd ap Rhydderch of the south, King of Gwerit (his ancestral family home), Morganwg (his power base) and Deheubarth uth west) and a co-king Hywel ap Edwain of Deheubarth. They struggled from 1039 to 1044 and then a year's respite.
England, but these Welsh kings were strong enough to repulse invasions by the Vikings. In 1045 A.D. one hundred and forty of the Northern Kings' personal retinue were massacred in Deheubarth and the war was on again. Various pacts were made with the Scandinavians who ruled England and the old north/south split persisted.

At thik time the Danes had

Then in 1052 something different happened when the Saxon English hired the Norman army to fight for them. At Llanllieni (Leominster) Gryffydd ap Llewellyn of the north met the Saxon and Norman armies and defeated them. Next Gryffydd made an alliance with Aelfgar, Earl of the Mercians to again attack the combined Norman and Saxon armies in Hereford and Gloucestershire. Again the Normans and Saxons were utterly defeated and the town burned to the ground.
This now caused great alarm to Harold Godwinson the minister' and to the King, Edward the Confessor. A great army was gathered from all over England and the Norman army hired again, in 1055 Gryffydd ap Rhydderch of the South had been killed and now Gryffydd ap Llewellyn ruled all Wales. So in 1055 the combined Norman-Saxon army invaded Wales in force, crossing Offa's Dyke in the Hereford area, only to be met by the Welsh King who completely crushed them. What we have is proof that there was a strong military nation in Wales with five federal states, a nation organised on lines something like that of Switzerland with its cantons. This state was capable of defeating the combined English and Norman armies consistently, which is not the achievement of long haired, badly clothed and armed mountain tribesmen, but that of a well organised, highly developed nation. As late as 1285 A.D. when the Welsh prince Llewellyn was continuing the struggle against the Norman kings this war he had bodies of heavily anned horsemen'. the record shows that
'.....in 'chief

However the answer to King Gryffydd of Wales in 1063 A.D. was discovered by Harold Godwinson and his brother Tostig when they paid to have Gryffydd murdered. This practice of treachery and
assissinations was repeated down the centuries by anxious English Kings and slowly the Welsh state was ground down and eventually impoverished over the centuries. Harold's murder of Gryffydd defeat by William, Duke of military weakness of England nation which is conquered in

did him no good at all, for three years later in 1066 he was killed in his Normandy. The hiring of the Norman armies in 1052-55 had shown the and had attracted the attention of the Norman Duke. It is indeed a strange one battle, as happened at Hastings in 1066.

of proof and evidence that Arthur's knights of the What we have in effect is a long continuation Mabinogion stories were exactly as they were described in the sixth and seventh centuries. In no way were they mediaeval inventions.

CASTLES
Wales has been described as the 'Land of Castles' and the whole country is in fact dotted with them. This is a natural consequence of the nation's history and many of the larger castles are attributed to the Norman kings who ruled England for centuries. In fact this is not accurate, for whilst the Norman kings

250

certainly built castles, they also very largely took existing structures
remodelled them.

and added to or rebuilt or

There are plentiful references in Welsh records of castles in Wales well before the Normans arrived, well back into the eighth century and before. Two structures of this early period are of interest to our story. One is Caernarfon Castle, the other Cardiff Castle and both have an unusual feature they have octagonal shaped towers.
-

The Normans built round or square towers, not octagonal. Also the Normans could not have built their castles from a scratch position in the short time which they did. So what about octagonal towers? First, there is the remarkable octagonal tower built by the Romans at York as part of the city's defence and then there is the Roman tower lighthouse of Dover castle, again octagonal. So octagonal towers are a Roman type construction.

Caernarfon is a name derived from the Roman Segontium, which becomes Caer Segont or Seiont and in the Castle of Constantius the emperor. The castle was the residence of Welsh terms Caer-kysteint Constantius and later in 750 A.D. it was the court of King Rhodri Mawr (Roderick the Great). In fact the Welsh for Constantinople is Caer-kysteint. So we have an enormous castle with Roman style eightsided towers exactly like other Roman eight-sided towers and identical to the eight-sided towers that Norman design at all. were built along the walls of Constantinople by Constantine. This is not
-

Next we have Cardiff Castle, built sometime around 250 to 280 A.D. and used as a Saxon Shore fort as We know that there was a one of the bases for the fleets of Carausius the Roman Admiral-Emperor. Roman naval base with shipbuilding and repair facilities on the Severn and it has to be Cardiff. The Saxon Shore castles housed soldiers and marines and their harbours protected the fleets. This Roman castle with its curtain walls and towers is undoubtedly Roman. Inside the seven acre fortress is a great mound surrounded by a moat and at the top of the mound is a great tower. This has often been described loosely as a fine 'Norman keep', but this again can not be true. This great tower is again twelve sided, almost exactly like those of Constantinople and Caernarfon. It has an additional identical built on top of the main tower, exactly like Caernarvon. feature with a small lookout tower octagonal
-

Again the record states that lestyn ap Gwrgan, the local prince, occupied the castle before the Normans arrived and the tower is known as lestyn's Tower. There are similar towers at the great castle at Woebly in Glamorgan, 35 miles from Cardiff. What it means is that this was a land of knights and castles in the period known as the Dark Ages and once again there is truth emerging to support the Arthurian legend. To read school book type histories Arthur's Wales could neither build castles nor one would get the indelible impression that the people of ships and could not breed horses or manufacture armour or arms. Who benefits from this falsehood?

There are in fact many references in the histories about castles and repair of castles, hundreds of years before the Norman invasions of Wales. Norman castles were generally rebuildings of older fortresses.

MAGNETIC MILLS
Among the many innovations and inventions listed in the Welsh Triads, are some which are momentus in theirsignificance.One,the invention of the improved deep plough and coulter is that of the Amorican, St. tiltyd, who founded the Llantwit Major monastery around 510 A.D.
Another invention may be of even greater significance than the plough which transformed agricultural economy is that of a mill. This was the work of Coel who was a grandson of Caractacus, probably around 100 A.D. This prince had a mill made with a wheel made partly of iron. This remarkably early mill with wheels probably pre-dates any other.

The significance of Welsh milling by mechanical means is greater than first appears, for the power for the mill was supplied by magnets. One of these curious mills was seen (and recorded by Dr. John Davies) in 1574 A.D. in Edeyrnion in North Wales in a ruined state. The wheels were partly of iron and it had
previously worked by magnetic action. The record is in Owen Pugh's dictionary for milling around 100 A.D. under Breuan. Apparently Prince Coel solved the energy crisis

These two inventions were crucial to the development of western civilisation. Again they serve to represent the Wales of King Arthur in its proper light.
Part of British tribute on imports from Gaul in Strabo's time was glass vessels, so at the beginr:ing of the Christian epoch they were blowing glass in Britain and exporting, not importing.

251

THE SWORD GOD OF YAZILIKA

The mighty Hittite Empire which for long periods dominated the Eastern Mediterranean during the second millenium B.C., had as its homeland present day Turkey. Comparisons of custom, legend and tradition illustrate the very strong possibility of the ancestors of the Cymru the Welsh having been part of the ancient Hittite confederation. The Welsh Triads and Irish traditional history both confirm this.
-

The Hittites and their confederate allies were the of a foreign hill country', who conquered and ruled Egypt from 1687 to 1551 B.C. when Moses broke away with the Hebrews and Egypt recovered its independance. The Hittite Empire lasted from around 1800 B.C. to 1200 B.C., twice expanding to an enormous extent before collapsing in a great war with the Greeks remembered in Homer's illiad as the seige of Troy. Early in its history the Hittite hierarchy appears to have become Hurrian dominated and the gods of the Hurrian Pantheon were adopted. These included a central ruling trinity of the Great Sun God, his consort The Queen of Heaven and the Mighty Weather God. There was also related to the Weather God, the War God.

'chiefs

Close to the massive rock sanctuary called 1842, Charles Texier on the rocks. Rows

strange inscribed hieroglyphs. Hamath in 1870 and William inscribed basalt blocks from carvings at Ivriz. Interest and language was finally revealed.

fortress of Boghazkoy which was the capital of the Hittite Empire, was a strange rock'. As early as 1839 and Yazilika. The word is Turkish for and William Hamilton visited the ancient site and described what they saw carved of figures of kings and gods had been carved into the surface of the rocks with
'yazilika' 'inscribed

Two American travellers, Johnson and Jessup, found inscribed stones at Wright found others in 1876. A.H. Joyce was the first to ascribe the AIIeppo and Hama(th) to the Hittites and E.J. Davis found great rock discovery multiplied over the years and the Hittite culture, writing and

Of all the various discoveries there is one which is a fascinating enigma and that is the Sword God carving at Yazilika. In common with the Celtic nations, the Hittites revered the god which they called Protective Genius' or 'Providence', whose sacred animal was the stag and who had as a totem the hare and the falcon. They also revered the same Sword God.
'the

No ancient Briton or Irishman would kill or eat a hare, nor would they touch the magical falcon or eagle and as we have seen with the death of King Tewdrig, stags played a mystical part in the myths of death rituals of warriors. The same beliefs were common to the nations of Southern Russia and the Caucasus, the Scythians and their neighbours, Many models of stags have been found in Hittite tombs dating back to the third millenium B.C. So in ancient Hatti of the Hittites from 2000 to 1200 B.C. and later, the 'Providence' god had sacred animals in the here, the falcon and above all the stag. Then the Scythians visited by Herodotus around 550 B.C. had the same totem animals and over in Britain in Julius Caesar's time, the British had also these same totem animal ideas. Also they all had in common the cult of the sword god. The first clues we have of this god representation come from the surviving texts of ancient Egypt, written when the Hittites dominated Egypt from 1687 to 1551 B.C.

Here the texts speak of the strange gods of the conquerors, cutting off the limbs of captives are presumably prisoners of war. This strange custom is not explained at this point.

who

Then at Yazilika alongside the rows of marching figures of gods and kings, there is the massive carving of the Hittite Sword God or War God. This carving is believed to have been done at the behest of King Tudhaliyas who may be Tudhaliyas IV. The first King Tudhaliyas I founded the Empire around 1800B.C., another Tudhaliyas li ruled around 1460-1440 B.C., founding the second Empire. Tudhaliyas III came in 1400 to 1380 B.C. and then Tudhaliyas IV ruled from 1265 to 1235 B.C.

The Sword God is actually shown as the handle or pommel of the sword with the hilt and then with only a short stubby part of the blade. The carving suggests a sword thrust into the ground, or into some pile or block of wood. Similar representations are shown on a number of Hittite seals which also depict hands and legs which presumably are rituat amputations at religious ceremonies. These are illustrated in Diagram
The Sword God of Yazilika is represented with the handle made up of four lions. Two face down the hilt, one on each side, and above them two more crouch, one facing left, the other right. Above these four lions is a human head with the tall conical hat typical of the Hittite gods. A similar hilt was found on an axe discovered at Ras Shamra, but without the human head. More recent texts describe underworld deities as represented by swords.

Up in the Steppes of Southern Russia across the Black Sea, the steppe peoples and those of the High Altai, also worshipped a sword god. When Herodotus visited them around 550 B.C. he described the ritual of the god.

252

WEAPONS
Spear
Javelin

Shield
Mace

Sword SI shot

THE SIXTH CENTURY WARRIOR ON FOOT

253

The Sword God of the Scythians was named Ares the God of War and this was the only god to have a physical manifestation in the form of a sword. Herodotus describes the sword as an ancient one which is thrust into a pile of wood. Every year the people gathered a great pile of brushwood and set the ancient sword into the top of it. At ceremonies a prisoner was selected and his throat was cut and his blood collected in a bowl. Then the blood was poured over the sword. The right arms of other prisoners were cut off, thrown high into the air and left to lie where they fell. Here is an explanation for the strange mutilations which shocked and horrified the Egyptians of around 1600 B.C. The ritual of Ares the Sword God demanded the blood of a human sacrifice and the dismembered limbs of prisoners of war. The Sword God of Yazilika is undoubtedly the Hittite 'Ares'. Dismembered right arms were in fact excavated at a Hittite fortress site in Egypt. Moving on through time, we find that not only did the Celtic peoples of Britain share the veneration of the eagle, hare and stag with the Scythians and the Hittites, but they also worshipped Ares as their War God. This is an astonishing linkage through time, but it becomes remarkable when as late as 550 A.D. the Sword God Ares is linked with the warrior King Arthur. King Arthur became king when he drew a sword from a stone in which it was embedded so the legend states. This sword was therefore only visible as a hilt and part of the blade, just like the sword carved at Yazilika. The sword was magical, its bearer could not lose a battle, which in effect means that a warrior cannot lose when the War God Ares himself is assisting him.

When Arthur nears his end, the sword is thrown

into a sacred lake where a hand of a water goddess rises from below the surface to take it. So Ares is returned to the Underworld. The remains of a sword found in the sacred lake at Hirwaun are those of an ancient sword, probably of the Halstadt type and this fits the Ares-Arthur legend.

So we have a War God revered among the Hittites and worshipped during the occupation of Egypt. This same Sword God-War God is found carved with the other gods and kings on the rocks of the sanctuary recess of Yazilika two miles from the ancient Hittite capital of Boghazkoy. Other Hittite carvings and
seals from Malyatta and elsewhere, depict severed hands, feet and the hilts of swords.
we find Herodotus describing in detail the Sword God Ares in the Russian Steppes being worshipped in the same way by the Scythians around"550 B.C. The outstanding feature of Scythian culture being their total unwillingness to ever change any of their customs. Then the same Ares is found in Gaul and Britain at the time of the Roman invasions and five hundred years later the legendary hero King Arthur,

Then

draws the Sword God Ares from the stone.

sword symbol.

The sword was widely used to symbolise the Cross by Christian knights and soldiers, who held it by the blade, hilt upwards, when taking oaths. There is no way of estimating how powerful this related symbolism of a cross being identified with the hilt of a sword thrust into the ground must have been in Dark Age Gaul and Britain. The cross and Jesus of Nazareth were probably closely identified with Ares and his

THE ROUND TABLE

The well established facts are these, that Celtic Kings and Princes sat in a circle when in conference or when dining or being entertained. It was the logical means of allowing everyone to see and speak to everyone else and on winter nights to sit equally close to the fire.
The name Suethes originated in Scythia. In the centuries from 300 were Celtic Kingdoms in Thrace and the Balkans. These kingdoms Thrace for long ages before, probably back before the seige of Troy are recorded by Homer as allies of the Trojans, the descendants of B.C. to well after 500 A.D. there seem to have had their roots in in 1200 B.C. when these peoples the Hittites. Many Kings named

Suethes appear in Thrace.

The Scythian connection with sitting in a circle is demonstrated in excavations of ancient 800 to 400 B.C. burials in the High Altai of Russia and the areas north of t re Black Sea, where the remains clearly indicate that those attending funeral feasts sat and ate in circles. ; In Thrace the Greek historian Xenephon gave a detailed description of feast where the Celtic King a Suethes gave a feast for the Greek Generals. Everyone sat in a circle, the chieftains in front with their armed warriors behind. The King distributed the food which was mainly pieces of meat and bread on long sticks familiar to us as kebabs. They all drank a great deal of beer and Suethes and his chiefs seemed comparatively unaffected by the alcohol regular drinkers no doubt.
-

The servants handed round horns of wine and the various guests pledged each other in fact all very like the Hir-las Horn of Welsh history and tradition. Lastly music with horns and trumpets and military vaulting or dancing and finally in came the fools or buffoons.
-

The prince-bard

Owain Cyveiliawg wrote of the Hir-las Horn of mead and amusement by fools lingered

254

kept the custom. 'My Archbishop of Canterbury in the seventeenth century Chamberlain's Letters). on long in England the Archbishop Abbot, 3. John see (Anabasis L vii c Lord of Canterbury's Fool'round Table feast to a Greek philosopher. The table was So we owe our description of a Celtic Round according and distinction, first the chiefs to personal rank just like Arthur's all the guests were arranged fances. their
-

'ambacti'

at the table and behind them their

retainers

bearing

spears

Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd, We get more information

fight
-

in the context

of King Sueth

'

s in correspolld nc

ast

it

is

remember

ith Celtic Kingdoms in the Balkans.

that even in the mid-sixth century

A.D.

L.IV.c.13). He describes how from Posidonius (Posidonius apud Athenaeum and boiled meats served on silver or earthenware platters. guests were served with bread and also roast and mead, and after the meal there was a sham Attendants brought copious quantities of wine, beer
military dancing which in fact grew terribly earnest.
-

c.23 and centuries later Dafydd ab leuan Ddu Tacitus describes Celtic diet and culinary art Germania good song. The Laws of Howell Dda refer tells how Welsh festivity was marked by a flood of liquers and probably Gwirawd yr Ebestyl a draught in honour of the Apostles. This to a ceremonial cup or horn John'. of
-

mirrors the South Glamorgan custom of drinking wine

'for

the tove

St.

Kyndellw wrote 'Owain's liquor, how incessantly it goes around'.

Arthur's mentioned by Venautius Fortunatus in the sixth centur, The actual musical instruments are and the Celtic or British chrotta, or Gaul. They were the period lib.7 carm.8, writing in rousing m Arthur and his chief crwth, a guitar. Remarkable is it not to picture off as they drank and played the guitar in turn. singing their heads
'barbarian'harp
-

inst ment The Saxon musical instrument was in fact the bagpipes, an

UTHER AND ARTHUR

'problem' 'riddle'

mg Arthur is so simple a As we have stated earlier the understandable that many have failed to see the plain and obvious.

that it is in fact almost

1066 A.D. there have been no less than four kings To illustrate this we can see that in England since named named Henry, eight named Edward and even three named William, six named George, eight Welsh have been noted for therefore the Richard and so on. What is interesting is that the British and well over two thousand years and more. So why on using the same names within the same families for Arthur? earth should it seem strange that there was more than one King Arthur I between 350 and 388 A.D. known An examination of the Kings of Glamorgan starting with Arthun and Annhun in ancient manuscripts variously as Andragathius by the Romans and mis-spelled as complete confusion of this first less than five similarly named kings. As we have seen the leads on to no 491 to 570 A.D. resulted in the 'Arthur' legend. king with Arthur II who lived around
-

Sare River in Yugoslavia in 388 We know that Arthur I Andragathius died in battle at Sisica on the I who virtually certain that this Arthur was the son of one Victor A.D. in the last days of June. Now it is in Welsh Uther, and so Arthur as grandof the West. Victor is quite was the son of Magnus Maximus, Emperor indeed the son of Uther Pendragon of Wales. We can demonstrate son of Magnus Maximus was be connected with Cardiff quite forcibly. The legend of and Arthur can easily that these kings Uther did kill Gratian at Lyons on 25th August Arthur killing the emperor of Rome is perfectly correct for he him in battle at Paris. 383 A.D., after defeating
-

and Italy, resulted in his grandfather These victories of Arthur I who conquered Gaul, Switzerland, Spain conquering the whole of West. In fact the mighty Arthur I came very close to becoming Emperor of the recruited said the Emperor of the East Theodosius Exactly as the Welsh historians the Roman him Huns, Vandals, Herules, Gepids, defeat almost every race in Asia, the East, Africa and elsewhere to388 A.D. Sisica in June anyone. So finally Arthur fell on the Sare at Mattory also failed to realise that he was The King, is described by Mallory around 1400 A.D., when King Arthur's. dealing with two into Hault Almayn'. 'King Arthur after grete batay//e acheved ageynst the Rornans entered entered Switzerland from Gaul which he had So he tells us that Arthur I won mighty battles and and beseiged a city which held out conquered. Mallory then tells us that Arthur I entered Tuscany called Sir Milan. Then we get something unusual for Mallory says that Arthur against him, probably him Sir Gawain my (the Kings') nephew, Sir Cleges,Sir knight and bade him take with Florence with you all the beasts you can Cleremond and the Captain of Cardiff (Cardef), with others and bring riches, gold and knights succeed and take huge numbers of beasts, great treasures and get'. Well these X. silver and retum to KingArthur Ibid, Chapter
-

'world'.

'a

255

The names of the knights are interesting for we can identify Sir Cleges with Cardiff, as well as the Captain of Cardef and we can also find a place name identified with Florence in the Book of Llandaff, where a Pembrokeshire estate is so named.
So we have Arthur I who is probably the son of Victor Uther and grandson of Magnus Maximus who died in 388 A.D. quite distinct from Arthur II who was definitely the son of King Meurig and grandson of King Tewdrig of Glamorgan and who lived from 491 to 570 A.D.
-

The vital fact is that these kings can be connected with Cardiff. First we have Victor, son of Magnus Maximus who is popularly remembered as Uther Pendragon. There is in the Edinburgh Advocates Library avery quaint old manuscript poem which is entitled 'Sir Cleges'. This poem, which was published by Henry Weber, 'Metrical Romances' Volume I in 1810, is evidence. The poem clearly establishes Uther Pendragon at Cardiff. What has happened is that Sir Cleges through his own improvidence and boundless hospitality has made himself poor. Then a miracle occurs and a cherry tree blossoms at Christmas. The wife of Sir Cleges urges him to take these blossoms to the King Uther Pendragon, who is resident at Cardiff. "Ye shil/ to Cardyffe to the Kynge And yeve to him to present And seche a yefte ye may have there That better we may fare all this year / tell you were ment Sir Cleges graunted soe thereto Tomorown to Cardiffe will / go After your entent".
-

So we have Sir Cleges going to Cardiff to see Uther Pendragon, and the same Sir Cleges being given an assignment by Arthur I, the son of Uther Victor Pendragon, in Mallory.
-

To take this further we have in Mallory the story of Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot returning to Caerleon and the resulting breakup of the Round Table. Lancelot with 100 knights sworn never to leave him well or woe', departed and at Cardyf and sailed to Benwyk' see Book XX Chapter XVIII.
'for 'shypped
-

In the pursuit of Lancelot, King Arthur and Sir Gawain a grete host redy for to the nombre of thre score thousand and all thynge was made redy for the shypping to passe over the see and so they shypped at Cardyf and there Kynge Arthur made Sir Modred cheyf ruler of alle Englond and he put and soo the Kynge passed the see'. So we have 'King Arthur' Queen Guinevere under his governance and Sir Lancelot both taking ship out of Cardiff. Here Mallory is confusing the first two King Arthur's completely.
-

'met

Actually all this makes sense as the fortress and sea port of Cradiff was founded by the Romans probably by the Emperor Carausius around 280 on the earlier site of the 'Emperor' Didius Clodius, who was declared as Emperor by the troops in Britain in 168 A.D. and was killed in Gaul fighting L. Septimus Severus in 197 A.D. There was a belief that Cardiff was named for either Aulus Didius the general of the Emperor Claudius who fought the Silures of South Wales in 67 A.D. or this later Didius Clodius of 168 A.D. The name deriving from Caer Didius Caer Didi, and being mutated to Caerdydd the proper Welsh spelling Cardiff being English. There appears to have been a fortress on the site from around 70 A.D.
-

All this makes sense for the fortress and sea port of Cardiff was far better than Caerleon which was several miles up the narrow River Usk, and where ships would be under missile attack from the banks for several miles stones, arrows, spears, fire missiles and so on. Cardiff withits mere direct access to the sea was much better suited as a naval base.
-

great lover

In another portion of Morte D'Arthur, Mallory speaks of Sir Lanyel Sire Lanyel of Cardyf that was a see Book XIX Chapter XI.
-

Then we get another statement of Cardiff in Wharton's ancient poem of 'Ywain and Gwain'. It goes like this:

'History

of English Poetry',

in an extract of an

"King Arthur he made a fest And sooth to say upon the At Kerdyf that is in Wales" This episode relates to'the is also quoted in the in the enchanted knights of the Round Table in Cardiff in Wales'.
'adventure

Whitsun

day

forest by Sir Colgrevance', which he

a town'

On top of all this there is the Mabinogion story of 'Geraint and Enid' which is so accurate in its description of the geography and the topography that the writer must have had a very good knowledge of the area. In this story an armed knight insults Queen Guinevere and Geraint follows him along the River Usk at Caerleon and then they proceed along a fair and lofty and even ridge of ground to at
'arrive 'which
-

is now called Cardiff'. There

'at

the extremity of the town they saw a fortress and a

256

castle', even the most cursory glance at an old map of Cardiff will show that this is a very accurate description of the old town and city. The track that Geraint followed was the old British and Roman way along the long hill ridge from Newport to Cardiff. The present M. 4 Motorway runs along the south side of this long, fair and even ridge.
Near the town of Cardiff, Geraint finds an ancient hall, where the Earl Yniwl and Enid his daughter are dwelling. This again is remarkably accurate for it can easily be seen and identified with the ancient mound and moated fortification which later in mediaeval times became known as Roath Court. This Manor house stood 1 miles due east of Cardiff Castle, in fact the 'Great House' Ty-Mawr, at Roath was allowed to be demolished by the Cardiff Corporation some twenty years ago to build modern houses. The Ty-Mawr had stood since around 1500 on the ancient site. The modern Roath Court building is in appropriate in fact for the area was named as fact a Funeral Parlour grave of the black dog', in Welsh. This same name was given to a field in Llanishen at North Cardiff, and Roath Court was called Roath Dogfield. In fact Dark Age Welsh warriors were called so who the Black Dog was we will probably never know.
-

'the

'hounds'

who was Victor the son of Mangus Maximus, resident at So far we have stories of Uther Pendragon Arthun) Cardiff sometime around360to383 A.D., and also a mixture of Arthur I his son (Andragathius and Arthur II. All used it as a port and army assembly point. On top of this we have the 'Geraint' story of Cardiff defended by Ederyn son of Nudd, and we can find the name Nudd down through the ages in the Book of Llandaff and in the old Mabinogion. We also have two other ancient names connected with the ancient town in Sir Lanyel and Sir Cleges.
-

Cardiff is described as the chief town of Glamorgan in the old Llanover Manuscripts and as the seat of the chief lord of the area. These are manuscripts which have to be carefully handled as Iolo Morganwg had a reputation for forging what he lacked in detail to complete his story. This may also be unfounded nineteenth century scepticsm.

CARDIFF AND THE ROUND TABLE

Quite apart from the mention by Mallory in the fifteenth century of the Round Table being situated at
Cardiff in his Morte D'Arthur strange gathering. there is another possibility of deciphering the meaning of 1his ancient and

of the castle. This We have described the great twelve-sided tower standing in the north west corner massive bastion high on its great moated mound of earth was known as testyn's Tower. This means that before. Several it existed before the Norman invasions of 1090 A.D. What we do not know is how long references tell of castles on many South and North Wales sites well before the Normans, so ancient many are very ancient. Roman The Cardiff tower bears a strong resemblance to the Roman octagonal tower at York and to the the Dover Castle. What repair was done over the centuries we do not know, but lighthouse tower at around 400 A.D. we do not know. original tower must have stood since
-

of a twelve sided tower is that it is almost round. This is important for the Llanover manuscripts of Gwent claim that Cardiff was the seat of the chief lord of South Wales and this means royalties', and the manuscripts go on to state that King Morgan the King. This king enjoyed the which who succeeded King Arthur was his cousin. This compares with the Book of Llandaff entries Morgan as successor and son of King Arthwyr Arthur. name

The peculiarity

'high

the laws and held a great court every month which sat for three days. Now King Morgan regularised religious and made himself a bishop as well as king clearly he was not going to be Morgan was very dominated or to have trouble with the church. Being a bishop did not stop him from murdering his uncle Frioc, the brother of Arthur. However his courts consisted of twelve chief Iords of the kingdom together with twelve each of their freemen, called bonheddig.
-

156 If this is correct then we have a very early Parliament of 'Lords and Commons'. Now a gathering of tower place to meet and the obvious place which suggests itself is the great plus the king needs a of Cardiff. The Llanover MSS states that the court mirrored the gathering of the twelve apostles with its twelve by twelve groupings. Any matter at all could be raised at the courts, which appear as the forethree days each lord departed to his own runner of all modern courts, juries and parliaments. After stronghold where he held his own court with his twelve men.
'round'

Significantly when he seized Cardiff in 1090, Robert Fitzhamon the Norman maintained the courts and he also worked with twelve knights, each of whom held their own courts. So we can see where it all began.

THE ROUND TABLE AT CAERLEON

identifies the Any discussion on Arthur's Round Table has to take note of the very old tradition which ruins of the Roman amphitheatre at Caerleon as the site of the round table. In the time of both Arthur

Mascen), around 360 to 388 A.D. and of son of Victor, son of Magnus Maximus, (Arthun ap Uther ap

257

ruins were impressive a town of prodigious size. As late as the time of King Henry 11 of England the enough to excite the King when he visited the site. In 1188 Gerald du Barry wrote a description of city was handsomely built of masonry, with courses of bricks, by the Romans. Many Caerleon traces of its former splendour may yet be seen; immense palaces formerly ornamented with gilded roofs in imitation of the Roman style of Magnificence. A town of prodigious size, remarkable for its hot baths, relics of temples and theatres al/ enclosed within fine walls, parts of which remain standing. You will find on all sides, both outside and within the circuit of the walls subterraneous passages buildings and aqueducts and what / think worthy of notice, stoves so contrived and wonderful with art to transmit the heat insensibly through narrow tubes passing up the sides of the walls'.
'that
-

Arthur son of Meurig, son of Tewdrig (Arthwys ap Meurig ap Tewdrig), of around 503 to 570 A.D., the Roman legionary fortressat Caerleon would have been still standing virtually intact. This super castle was thirty foot walls and towers set along its lengths. It was by British standards 540 yards by 450yards,with

The question which is raised by the Welsh traditions is whether or not King Arthur used Caerleon as his fortress still existing on capital as the legends relate. Certainly there would have been a very substantial the site during the period of both the legendary conquerors. It was built from around 75 A.D. as the headquarters of the Second Augustan Legion, and apparently abandoned at the end of the third century. The interesting point must be the amphitheatre which was built around 100 A.D. and which had a capacity of around 6,000. This meant that there was a building which was large enough and suitable for the whole legion to be assembled to be addressed by the commanding officer. This may well have been the practice of one of the great Arthur's using the amphitheatre as an assembly place. Roman buildings when were remarkably well built and survive down the ages. They were generally ruined by local people literally dismantled them to re-use the stones and bricks so there would have been a substantial circular building capable of holding many hundreds of men available at the time of Arthur. e Mabinogion tales state that his personal force numbered three thousand, which may or may not be rtainly all sources such as the life of St. Illtyd and so on say that they were a very large a number, the idea of Arthur holding an assembly at the Caerleon amphitheatre is not greatly
'quarrying', .

im

a m

ttheatre measures 184 feet by 136 feet, being oval in shape. Around this area is set the mins of the earthen banks of tiered seats which rose to about 28 feet above the arena floor. The inner wall containing these banks was 12 feet high and the outer wall has been calculated to have been 32 feet high. It certainly would have been an obvious and suitable place for the British King to hold his great councils. Arthur was after all the King of Glamorgan and Gwent where this arena lies. It also offers a more credible explanation than Cardiff. rn

THE MARRIAGES OF IESTYN AP GWRGAN

The fact that women could always inherit gave them a very important position in the Welsh scheme of things. The fatal quarrel between lestyn ap Gwrgan of Glamorgan and Einion ap Collwyn of Dyfed arose as a result of lestyn's refusal to give Einion a daughter or granddaughter to marry. The marriages of
lestyn

Northern neighbour, and of Hereford and Dyfed, his Eastern neighbour. Hywel Dda Prince of Wales Prince of Dyfed
Edwin Rhun

ap Gwrgan show how matters

were arranged,

with lestyn marrying

princesses

of Powys, his

Owain Prince of Dyfed

-

Gloddryd

Convyn King of Powys

--

---

(daughter-)
Angharad
--

Elysdarn Clodrydd Earl of Hereford

M
---

Bleddyn King of Powys

M Denis

lestyn ap Gwrgan Lord of Morganwg

ginion ap Collwyn had sought to marry into lestyn's family to strengthen his own dynastic ties. The quarrel with lestyn led to the conflict with Einion and Robert Fitzhamon which led to the fall of 'Arthur's' kingdom. Einion had 1000 armed men and his confederate Ceidrych ap Gwaithfoed had 3000, whilst Robert Fitzhamon had 3000. None of the Glamorgan Princes supported lestyn, yet his son Rhydderch was too powerful to be dispossessed by Fitzhamon. In fact Einion Prince of Dyfed married Nest, daughter of lestyn.
From this we get some idea of Arthur's strength in bygone times for as ruler of all South Wales his total army would number anything up to 20,000 or more. In these ancient times slaves and bondsmen were and in Wales only 20% felt into this class, and in England some 75% or more very strictly non-combatant, were slaves or serfs so the Welsh were by comparison more powerful. The idea of serfdom and slavery

ws to remain basic to English society down through the ages and has a great deal to do with the present

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The oratory shrine of St. Gildas on the beach where his body was washed near Rhuys in Britanny. ashore in a small boat
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The ampitheatre

at Caerleon. A local tradition identified it as King Arthurs Round Table. Long before it was excavated to reveal an ampitheatre it held 6,000 people.

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structure

of society in the country

Welsh, Scots and Irish.

they never ever achieved the concepts of freedom common to the

As the records prove, the fall of Britain in the late sixth century resulted from an accident of nature and not from any conquest. It is interesting also to speculate on the true identity of the famous Nest who hostage and mistress of Henry I and figures so very prominently in the affairs between Wales and was the Normans.

KING "PENBARGOED" OF GLAMORGAN

There are at least three very peculiar references to King of Glamorgan named a quite non-g Penbargoed around the time of King Arthur II who we know as Arthwyr son of Meurig grandson of Tewdrig. The first reference is in the 'Life of St. Illtyd' who we know was a brother-in-law to Arthur. Another similar reference occurs in the 'Life of St. Clitauc' in the Cottonian MSS Vespasian A.XIV, where it is spelled Pennargaut, and the third reference is in the Charters of the Book of Llandaff where in the grant of Lybiaw and of Gwrwan he is styled as Penbargawd, the King of Glamorgan. All are contemporary with King Arthwyr.
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So how do we get a mystery or non-existent king? The answer lies in the titles used in old Britain as we can see. First a clan chief was called a Pencendyl, the chief of the clan. This man had to have the means the will to lead and support his clansmen, otherwise he and was not fit for his duty.
Next above Pencendyl clan chiefs Triads and legend ten that Arthur becoming the Emperor.
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were local primary chiefs known as Penhynaiv, or Chief of Elders. was the Penhynaiv at Penrhyn Rhionydd in North Wales before

Set above these levels was the rank of Chief not king known as Cawr in Wales, Priodawr in the North of Britain, and as Gwledig in the area of Loegria. Then on top of the whole as structure was the Penteyrnedd or Emperor'. So we have titles beginning with 'Pen' meaning to consider. The probability is that this Penbargawd or Penarguat or Penbargoed is in fact a title this is indeed a virtual certainty. Almost inevitably the title is that of Emperor.
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'the

'head'

What we have in effect is the 'Emperor, the King of Glamorgan' which is written Pennargaut or Penbargawd the King of Glamorgan. This fits with the descent of the Glamorgan Kings as from the Imperial line of the House of Constantine the Great through Magnus Maximus, and with the election of Arthur as King of all the British. This means that when St. liltyd as a soldier took command under Penbargoed a King of Glamorgan, he was taking a post under Arthur II King of Glamorgan, and Emperor of Britain. This took him to the Thaw River in Glamorgan and as both references place the Penbargawd in Hereford and in Glamorgan itself, the matter serves to reinforce the identity of the mystic and enigmatic Arthur as King Arthwyr King of Glamorgan and Gwent.

THE POWER OF THE GLAMORGAN KINGS

The power of the Glamorgan Kings ruling South Wales, continuing the line of Arthur dominated Wales for centuries. Their power was far greater than the majority of historians generally appreciate. In the year 843 A.D. King Mervyn Ffrych ruler of the Isle of Man, became also the King of Gwynedd in North Wales. His wife was Esyllt Isolde the daughter of King Kynan Tindaethwy, and there
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were Kynan. A stone in the Isle of Man records that King Mervyn's father was named Gwriad. Strangely no one seems to have noticed that the King of Glamorgan and South Wales around 760 to 840 A.D. was in fact King Gwriad. The sixth paramount King after Arthur II Arthwyr. e King Mervyn proceeded to name his son Rhodri Roderick a name used by the Royal clan of Glamorgan. In due course Rhodri became King Rhodri in 877 and was styled Rhodri Mawr the Great King of all Wales. He in turn named his son Anarawd, the same calling given by many sources to as Arthur I, the son of Victor Uther the Pendragon. In fact Anarawd was also a great warrior just like his father King Rhodri Mawr. no sons to succeed
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There can be little doubt that the marriage of Mervyn and Esyllt was a carefully arranged political diplomatic piece of manipulation and the line of the Kings of the South spread to cover all Wales again. At the time the Welsh succeeded in a long bloody series of wars against the Danes the Vikings whilst England was largely conquered by them. There was in fact good reason to ensure a united country to face this greater threat from outside. Most Welsh historians have been totally oriented towards the North and West of the courrtry and have so failed to see the obvious in the South East.
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The names of Gwriad, Mervyn, Rhodri and Anarawd are clues in themselves. They identify with the Glamorgan Kings. Rhodri Mawr ruled from Caernarvon and his great castle, which was restored and modernised by King Edward 11of England still stands there, a stupendous edifice of power.

2`0

CHAPTER TWELVE THE END OF ARTHUR'S KINGDOM

THE COLLISION WITH THE NORMANS
Rhys Meyrick tells a concise story of the Norman entry into Morganwg and his history of events is in fact a typical example of the dangerous simplification of the chronicle of events. Meyrick's story contains aH the correct cast of characters, but although the outcome of events in Morganwg is as he describes it, it didn't quite happen that way. There is evidence that the Normans were pushing into South Wales along the Monmouthshire/Gwent coast before the battles between Rhys ap Tewdur and lestyn ap Gwrgan of Morganwg. This appears to have been part of a deliberate campaign by the English King William 11 Rufus to subjugate as much of Wales as possible. There is evidence of fighting in Gwent as far as the Rhymney as early as 1068-1070 A.D. when the Normans were forcing their way into Welsh territory. The Norman army was led by the King's general Robert Fitzhammon when the seizure of Glamorgan came, as the King was at the time ilL Records in the Doomsday Book show that the Normans held lands east of the River Usk in Wales as early as 1086 A.D., five years before lestyn was driven out. The 'Brut y Tywysogion' believed to be written by Caradoc of Llancarfan, records the rebuilding of Cardiff as beginning in 1080 and the Annals of Margam state that no this work commenced in 1081 under the suspices and direction of King William I, the Conqueror less than ten years before the conquest of Glamorgan described by Rhys Meyrick as taking place in 1091 A.D.
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The picture that emerges is one where the princes of South Wales had long recognised the superior r back as Alfred the Great of Wessex and had allied themselves to those power of Kings in Englan each others throats' and King Saxons had not been continually kings. The Welsh and th ting the extent of the Saxon/Welsh connection and attempting to illiam I was probably did. No assume overlordship in Wales, which the Saxon kings may have wished to exercise, but never
'at

doubt King Harold I would have attempted a Welsh conquest had he survived and consolidated his kingdom. An attack to project English rule further into South Wales was planned by Edward the Confessor, but was interrupted by Danish attacks on the north of England. Afterwards Harold's plans were disrupted by first Norwegian invasions and then the Norman landings at Hastings. It is fairly certain that the Danish Kings exerted influence in South Wales, certainly they appear to have seized Chepstow and Monmouth. As early as 912 A.D. when Cimeillauc the Bishop of Llandaff was kidnapped by Danish ransom was paid by King Edward the Elder of Saxon England. Edward the Elder, 899-924 forty pounds weight in silver to restore the Welsh born Cimeilliauc who died in 927 A.D. Book of Llan Dav records that King Cadwgan ap Meurig ruled in Glamorgan as a subject I, the Conqueror.

raiders, his A.D., paid In fact the of William

In fact in the reign of King Meurig two names occur as witnesses to documents, as recorded in the Book of Llan Dav; these are lestyn and Gwrgan. As King Meurig was contemporary with William i of England and held Glamorgan at that time, it is not impossible that Gwrgan and lestyn were his sons, or his son and grandson. Historians have found it difficult to establish the link between Cadwgan ap Meurig who may well be King Meurig and lestyn ap Gwrgan. Certainly Gwrgan himself seems never to have ruled Glamorgan or Morganwg. One possibility is that upon the death of Meurig the prince of the Vale of Glamorgan lestyn (Yes-Tin) attempted tobe free of the successor to Meurig. This successor to Meurig would be none other than leuan (Yi-ann) or Einion, known as Einion ap Collwyn by the Normans who brought Robert Fitzhammon and the Norman army into Glamorgan. This makes sense, for the Welsh Prince Rhys ap Tudor would have been very anxious to stop English expansion and to restore Morganwg to the Welsh sphere of influence, whereas William II Rufus would certainly send military aid to the son leuan. The further logic of this is that of his father's vassal and the man who was now his follower when the forces of Morganwg Welsh and the Normans defeated the Welsh of Rhys ap Tudor, lestyn attempted i of leuan and therefore the crown of England. For this Robert Fitzhammon deprived him of his lands, which explains why all other Welsh lords in Morganwg were left in possession of their territories and many of lestyn's sons held lands undisturbed in Glamorgan.
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in recognised ruler of all Britain, attending his court, participating King Athelstane as paramount witnessing his acts, donations and grants, and allowing his pre-eminence. This however is in stark contrast to the reaction to the Normans by the British Celtic races, for the Saxon Kings never sought to interfere the first in Celtic lands or to seize them or live in them. These Danish Kings of England established of all the states and nations of Britain, the first hegemony since the mighty Arthur. federation

Hywell Dda (Howell the Good), Prince of South Wales, d. 950 A.D., certainly recognised the Danish Kings of England before the Norman Conquest and generally this line stemming from Canute, whom the English loved, gave good and wise rule. As we will see elsewhere, almost every Celtic chieftain and prince

Leaving aside the story told by Rhys Meyrick, it is important to see just what did happen in Morganwg.

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First a powerful prince, Gryffydd ap Rhydderch, the King of Deheubarth, who ruled from 1044 A.D., had made himself undisputed master of Wales, starting as ruler of Deheubarth and overlord of Morganwg and Gwent. He had defeated Powys and Gwynedd after first seizing Ceredigion. His predecessors as leading Welsh princes, had been Llewellyn apSeisyll who claimed the throne of King Maredudd (Meredith) ap Owain ap Hywel Dda after that king died in 1003, conquering his way to the top. Both Llewellyn ap Seisyll and his son Gruffydd ap Llewellyn, who ruled from 1039 to 1063, were generally too strong for
the Danes and the English. Much energy was spent however, dealing with Viking raiders and fighting with Hywel ap Edwin (d. 1044) and then Gruffydd ap Rhydderch, the Princes of Deheubarth and the south.

of King Meurig of Glamorgan who blinded him. This demonstrates the continuing good relationships built up with the Saxon house of Wessex, that a Welsh prince would take the name of the English King. The Welsh civil wars in fact exhausted the country. The North did not wish to be ruled by the South and the South equally refused to be dominated by a prince of the North. The old sores stemming from the great battle of Camlan between Arthur of the south and Modred and the north, refused to heal. In 1063 A.D. Earl Harold and his brother Tostig invaded Wales and spent three years devastating the country. Doubtless this was a preliminary to Harold's coming seizure of the English crown and if Gryffydd ap Llewellyn had lived, then Harold and Tostig could not have invaded. It is difficult to see how Gryffydd would have taken Edward the Confessor's crown, but Harold Godwinson probably thought to neutralising the Welsh before any power struggle came in England. As things turned out he was pretty foolish, for the soft line of the Saxon Kings with the Welsh princes, particularly with South Wales, would undoubtedly have brought their armies to his aid at Hastings against William the Duke of Normandy. He might have had to pay them, but they would have been there, instead Harold stood alone and he died and the Welsh were pleased.

Here in fact lay the seeds of Rhys Meyrick's story that Rhys Tudor wanted to steal the wife of lestyn ap Gwrgan. What is significant is that there was a king of Gwent named Edwin, unfortunately he fell foul

army with him. What he really wanted was recognition as sovereign, and here lay the seeds of future disaster. Welsh princes had recognised English kings as Bretawalda senior king or prince on the island, not as their feudal overlord and William could not and did not wish to understand this.
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The Normansduly arrived on the Welsh borders and the fighting began. Before this, however, William the Conqueror came to Wales immediately after his conquest and coronations, on what he announced was a pilgrimage to St. David's Menevia. This journey was a peculiar pilgrimage for William brought his whole
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1068 The Annales Cambrae record in 1068 that 'Maredydd son of Owen, was killed by Caradoc son of Gryffydd and the French on the banks of the River Rhymney'. A river passing through the eastern suburbs of Cardiff. The Brut-y-Tywysogion places this in 1070 which is thought to be correct. In both Annales and the Brut there is the 1091 entry 'One year one thousandandninety was the year of Christ when Rhys son King of South Wales, was killed by the French who inhabited Brecheiniog. And then fell the the Britons. Then Cadwgen son of Bleddyn despoiled Dyfed on the second day of May. And two months after that in the calends of July the French came into Dyfed and Ceredigion, have still retained and fortified the castles and seized upon all the lands of the Britons'. of Tewdwr

kingdom of
then about which they

'The French devastated Gower, Cydwelli and the Vale of Tewi'. 'And the Britons of Brecheiniog, Gwent and Gwen//wg resisted the domination of the French and then the French directed an army against Gwent, but empty without having gained anything they retreated and in returning back they were slain by the Britons at a place called Celli Carnant', 1157 The following year Morgan son of Owain Gwynedd was killed through treachery by the men of Ivor son of Meurig and along with him also slain the best poet who was named Gwrgant son of Rhys. Then lorwerth son of Owain the brother of Morgan governed the land of Caerleon and all the territory of Owain'.
1094

1093

It is really incredible that here are these princes in 1157 A.D. using all the same names of their ancestors from 450 A.D., Meurig, Ivor, Ithael, Rhys, lorwerth, Morgan, Gwrgant and so on.
This ja repeated in other entries: 'Then the Lord Rhys son of Gryffydd prepared to go to the Court of the King at Gloucester.........,he took with him all the princes of the South who had been in opposition to the king ..........Cadwallon son of Madog his cousin, Einou G/ud of Elvael, his son in law by his daughter Einon son of Rhys of Gwerthrynion (Vortigern) his other son in law Morgan son of Caradoc son of lestyn by his sister Gwladus of Glamorgan Gruffydd son of Ivor son of Meurig of Senghenydd his nephew by his sister Nest lorwerth son of Owain of Caerleon Seisyll son of Dyvnall of Gwent Uchcoed, who was then married to Gwledus sister of Lord Rhys.'
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We include these lists to show two things clearly. First the names of these princes are exactly those of their ancestors over seven hundred years of recorded history and a further one thousand of legend. Secondly, they were a royal clan as we have explained was the case in the time of Arthur and they were still intricately intermarried. Further, these princes of South East Wales still held their lands in opposition

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8:
Map of CARDIFF 1610 A.D.
s

263
40

to King John one hundred and nine years after the Norman conquest of England and eighty four years after the Normans seized Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.
They never really lost at all, although the Normans held towns and castles and coastal strips of land. In 1485 A.D. when Henry Tudor returned to Wales, another Lord Rhys still dominated South Wales. This Lord Arglwydd in Welsh had made a promise, sworn on relics in a church, to Richard III of England that Henry Tudor should only pass through to England over his body, so when Henry Tudor met the Lord Rhys there was an anxious situation as the two small Welsh armies confronted each other. As usual there was a typically Welsh solution to the dilemma of Rhys's oath, he rode his horse into the river and sat on it underneath a bridge whilst Henry Tudor rode over the bridge with his followers. This satisfied the conditions of the oath and Lord Rhys was now free to join Henry to fight the hunchback King of
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England.

The home territory of Arthur was Penuchel; later from Senghenydd in Penuchel, held in 1175 son of Meurig, there was a prince strong enough to seize Cardiff Castle and the Norman Glamorgan, Earl of Gloucester. Somehow it is appropriate that Penuchel did not fall and appropriate that the Cardiff area should be the site of Meurig and Arthwyr's Cathedral, which melting pot for the fusion of the Welsh with the Normans and indirectly the English.

by Ivor Lord of equally was the

English Saxon Kings had acted as Chairmen at meetings of the Kings of Gwent and Glamorgan to elect Bishops of Llandaff, they had ransomed kidnapped Bishops from Vikings and Danes. Now the nobility of the Normans intermarried with the Welsh and the Arthurian concept of one great state amongst the nations of the island of Britain was launched right smack in the centre of the territory of the legendary
Conqueror. Nothing could be more appropriate to the end of any story and there is truth in the saying that is stranger than fiction'. Far from being the central character of a glorious historical failure, the great warrior king emerges as the forerunner of a magnificent success. His nation survived, remained secure and
'truth

independant and finally triumphed.

Most leaders have no power once they die. To Arthur was granted a unique status that powerful though he was when alive, he was infinitely more powerful as a living ghost. For centuries his people firmly believed that he would indeed return if the nation needed him. He symbolised in his name what it meant to be part of the nation, one of the kinsmen not alone for Cymru means kinsmen. This is what enabled this part of Britain to survive as the only area of the Roman Empire to resist the barbarian invasions, it had never been a province of Rome, but a client kingdom and as such was equipped for survival when all the rest collapsed. It possessed its own sense of nationhood, its own hereditary leadership, social organisation and culture and above all it was herding nation not farming a a people and it was warlike.
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All manner of questions remain to be answered. Why did William the Conqueror seek to rebuild Cardiff in 1080 to 1081? What was there before to be rebuilt7 Did the older Dark Age city occupy the same area as the new town of 1081? If it did, were its towers and walls of the age of Meurig and Arthwyr and even Roman origin? If therewas a walled town adjoining the Roman Castle at Cardiff, was this indeed Camelot, a city with walls and towers and a great castle with abbeys and churches which indeed it had? Certainly the city of Cardiff with its castle, the church of St. Mary, the Cathedral of Meurig, and a town which was probably walled and moated in the period between 450 and 1080 pre-Norman is the only site which properly offers itself as the legendary Camelot. A city which could also be approached from the sea again fits the city of legend. Somewhere in the area was a Roman naval repair yard,and this would have been a defended site with access to the sea. Again Cardiff as a walled town with its Saxon Shore Castle offers itself as the only sensible site for this activity.
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Arthur was a real person, so were his family and kinsmen. We can identify both him and them. The names of many listed in the Mabinogion Tales occur also in the Brecon manuscripts, in the pedigree lists of ancient kings, in the Court Lists of Hywel Dda and in the ancient Charters of the Cathedral of Llandaff. Place names of ancient chapels, sain1s and princes exist and can be traced, tombstones exist, maybe of Carausius the Menapian Emperor of Britain, Maelgwn Gwynedd Lancelot, Vortigern King of Britain and so on. The cathedral site of Meurig and Tewdrig, ancestors of Arthur, exists, the site of Meurig's hall exists at Pentre Meurig; Caerleon exists. The whole story is no fable and neither therefore is Camelot a fable or invention.
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flight, as were the automobile inventors. There is in fact not one shred of evidence to prove that the city of Camelot did not exist and in the absence of proof to the contrary, it is correct to look for it. In the light of the other proofs obtained and demonstrated, the city of Cardiff in the shelter of the Roman designed castle with its many towers, is the only possible site.

Nothing can be discovered unless men believe in it. Howard Carter proved that after years of digging for Tutankhamun; Schliemann proved it in his faith in the truth of the liliad to rediscover Troy. Even men of science have the same experience, the Wright brothers and their contemporaries were mocked over

The great adventure of the search for the mighty Arthur is not over, quite the reverse, it has not yet

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Shore' fortresses really begun. Carausius the Emperor of 287-293 A.D. was an Admiral, using 'Saxon soldiers to operate his fleet. Cardiff is the only Saxon Shore fortress in the west manned by marines and installations outside the Castle and would therefore have been a major Roman naval base with larger of only three itself. Local tradition associated Arthur with the area and there would have been one Wales on the site. substantial Dark Age towns in
in fact. The other towns The Welsh Annals record the Saxon's burning the city in the seventh century, Caerwent in Gwent and Caermarthen in the West, and not enough is known of postwere of course

Roman Caermarthen.

THE MEDIAEVAL STORIESOF

KING ARTHUR

results of the writing of As we shall see the Arthurian legends achieved world fame and popularity as the laborations upon the basic Arthurian stories embodied all French mediaeval Arthurian romances. The odes of chivalry of the early mediaeval middle ages the folk lore of the mythical and n with in France by Fren Principally we have a collection of rose, stories written mances, ree major works are called the Prose Lancelot, comprisin definite religious bearing. The Arthur' are indeed hich are 'Lancelot', 'The Quest for the Holy Grail' and 'The Death of King Arthur's literary works for any age and along with other associated tales they established massive nravel is why the legends of an ancient British timelessness and epic heroic fame. What is necessary to Norman Kings of King should so capture the imagination, not only of Frenchmen, but also that of the England.
,
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of Monmouth, or The interest in Arthur began when Gruffydd ap Arthur, known in English as Geoffrey Monemutensis, wrote 'The History of the Kings of Britain' in 1135 A.D. completing Latinised as Goufridus the history of the work in 1136 A.D. There had previously been a notorious lack of written data on notcertain, but much Britain and Gruffydd of Monmouth was to fill the gap. When Gruffydd was born is Welsh Chronicles as is known of his later years, when from 1126 to the date of his death, recorded in the who in 1151 1155 A.D., he had much to do in and around the city of Oxford. Gruffydd was a clergyman ordained a A.D. became Bishop elect of St. Asaph in Wales, now in the county of Flintshire. He was priest at Westminster in February 1162 and a week later consecrated at Lambeth by the Archbishop Thewbald. In 1153 he was a witness and signatory to the treaty of Westminster between King Stephen Henry II King of England, who succeeded King Stephen in 1154 A.D. Here and Henry Fitz-Empress signed himself as Goffrido de St. Asaph episcopo whereas his death was recorded in the Gruffydd the Welsh Chronicles in 1155 as 'Geffri Bishop of Llandaff'. The treaty of Westminster resulted from male heir bloody war which followed the death of Henry I of England in 1135 A.D. The King left no first husband Henry and his daughter, Matilda, married Geoffrey of Anjou named Plantagenet, after her of V, Emperor of Germany (Holy Roman Empire) died. Matilda the Empress disputed the throne England with Stephen the son of Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror, and the Westminster compromise assured her son Henry as Stephen's successor.
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demonstrated the However Gruffydd's 'History of the Kings of Britain' had immediate effect, for it between the British, in particular those remaining in Wales, and the peoples of Northern ancient kinship exercise for the France, particularly the Bretons of Brittany. This was an immediate valuable propaganda needed affinity kings and their followers, who included many Bretons, as it provided a much Norman

least part of the between the conquerors of much of Britain (Saxon England) and the inhabitants of at with affairs near in the shape of Wales and Cornwall. Gryffydd must have been closely associated country and built Beaumont the area of the court of England. Henry I (1100-1135 A.D.) often visited Oxford by Palace just outside the North Gate. In 1142 A.D. Empress Matilda was beseiged in Oxford Castle river and fled through King Stephen, from where she escaped in the dead of winter across ice upon the council at Oxford in 1136 A.D. snow to Abingdon. Earlier King Stephen had held his great
dedicated the Now what is important in the History of the Kings of Britain is that Gryffydd ap Arthur other than Robert, Earl of Gloucester Lord of Glamorgan, the eldest son illegitimate, work to none secondly to one Walleran of Mellant and Alexander of a bastard of Henry I King of England and also of Gloucester, known as Robert the Consul, is important to out story as we Lincoln. Now Robert Earl of Robert de will see. The other two persons are Walleran, Count of Mellent 1104-1166 (the son
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Earl of Leicester, who may Beaumont, Count of Mellent (Meulan) who was the twin brother of Robert, holdings in Gwent Morganwg and Alexander is the Bishop of Lincoln. have had land
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the Consul as the person Now just why Gryffydd or Geoffrey of Monmouth should have chosen Robert A.D., dedicated his work, is more than interesting, for he was a remarkable man. In 1066 to whom he mings and Frenchof Normans, Bre s, William Duke of Normandy brought over an assorted army of not without considerable luck in defeatin and killi King Harold men to England and succeeded is f ithful followers an King William I of England, styled the Conque England. William now became and his family nd adhe ts, but contrary were rewarded. Naturally William I seized the lands of Harold alf the lands of popular lore the Normans in fact only took as their personal holdings to some ten years up to Various uprisings and areas of stubborn resistance occupied William England. 1076, mainly in the east and north of .England.
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Tudor the Now in 1089 A.D. the princes in Wales were developing a war between themselves, as Rhys ap

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Prince of South Wales sought to dominate lestyn the Prince of Morganwg. Rhys ap Tudor was hereditary ruler of Deheubarth Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire and appears also to have gained the allegiance of the princes of Mid-Wales and North Wales, whilst Prince lestyn was lord of Glamorganshire, most if not all of Breconshire, Morganwg which comprised modern Monmouthshire, parts of Hereford and Gloucestershire north of the Severn. In other words the ancient division of the
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two completely different ethnic races of Wales again revealing itself. South Eastern Wales Morganwg the ancient land of the swarthy, stocky, dark haired Silures was pitted against West Wales, Mid-Wales and North Wales, the lands of the fair, auburn haired Celtic peoples.
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lestyn, whose personal land holdings were in the plains and Vale of South Glamorgan, decided that he needed help to deal with Prince Rhys ap Tudor and so he sent one of the lesser princes of Morganwg to Gloucester, The man who went to Gloucester was leuan (or Eynon) from the area now known as Gwent (also said to be of Dyfed), a descendant of the ancient lines of princes and kings. The mission of leuan was to recruit a mercenary army of Normans to assist Prince lestyn against Prince Rhys. Well for William 11 Rufus, son of the Conqueror now ruled leuan was very successful in his recruitment, England and had no objection to fomenting trouble in Wales, where one strong prince might prove a menace to his own safety.
Back came leuan to Morganwg with an impressive array of military talent led by none other than Robert Hamon (or Fitzhammon) a close relative of William I the Conqueror, descended also from Rollo the First Duke of Normandy by Robert the second son, whereas William I was descended from Duke William Longsword, Rollo's eldest son. Not only were the Norman Kings holding couris at Gloucester, but Robert Fitzhammon was now Earl of Gloucester. With the Eari came twelve leading Norman barons who were Sir William de Londres (London), Sir Richard de Granville, Sir Pagan de Turberville, Sir Robert of Saint Quintia, Sir Richard Seward, Sir Gilbert Humfrevylle, Sir Rannould do Sully, Sir Roger Berkrolls, Sir Peter le Soore, Sir John Fflemynge, Sir Oliver Saint John and Sir William I'Esterlinge (Stradling); and of course all their squires, men at arms, archers and others. So Prince lestyn raised his own army in Morganwg and the combined force set out to meet the army of Rhys ap Tudor, The result was first an indecisive engagement up near the Glamorgan and Brecon borders near Hirwaun Gwrgan at a place called 'Ton Rees' (from the English turfe, meaning field the field of Rees). Prince south to Brin y Beddau (the hill of the Graves) and there lestyn and Robert Fitzhammon retreated fought another pitched battle with Rhys ap Tudor. This time they triumphed and in the following pursuit Prince Rhys was killed and his head cut off and subsequently brought to lestyn and Fitzhammon. The place or hill where this occured being thus named Pen Rhys in the Rhondda Valley.
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What happened next was that lestyn, safe in his castles of Cardiff and Dinas Powis, paid off the Norman mercenaries at the Golden Mile still so called at Bridgend. Then the Norman forces set off back by sea to Gloucester, still a powerful military body, whilst the Morganwg army dispersed to their homes. At this point leuan, who seems to have been promised the daughter of lestyn as a wife, demanded that lestyn keep his word, but Prince lestyn refused. Without delay leuan recruited Robert Fitzhammon and the Normans against the unprepared lestyn and without warning the Normans seized hold of the lowland pastoral area known as the Vale of Glamorgan. Old lestyn was stunned by this sudden reversal and although still in possession of the great castle at Cardiff, he decided to flee and gathering his treasures and household possessions he took ship from Cardiff to Bristol.
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Now it is importantto understand the Morganwg/Welsh organisation as background. There were a number of princely families in 'Glamorgan' and 'Monmouthshire' as we will see. One of these was allowed precedence as a form of paramount chieftaincy, but not as an overlord ruler. lestyn seems to have been moving in the direction of attempting to dominate the confederacy which had existed in Morganwg Siluria for over a millenium and the other princes were disaffected. The area seized by Robert Fitzhammon and his followers was lowland Glamorgan from the Cardiff area west to Neath, actually about one seventh of Glamorgan. They did not even appropriate the whole of this area, giving substantial holdings to several of lestyn's sons. Madog son of lestyn held substantial land west and north of the Vale of Glamorgan and also between the Taff and Ely rivers at Cardiff; Caradog, eldest son of lestyn, held the Lordship of Avan; Rhys, another son, held 'Llanylid' and possibly Ruthyn; and Ruthian held lands called Keben Ruttllan and other areas.
-

7
'

None of the lands of the other princes of Morganwg were touched and Welshmen, mainly sons of lestyn, held substantial areas of lestyn's former lands. Nonetheless, Robert Fitzhammon now told King William I Rufus that he had conquered Morganwg and the King, who was absolutely delighted, sent him Robert Fitzhammon was now styled Prince of Glamorgan, Earl of men anT supplies. Furthermore Corboille, Baron of Thorningy and Granville, Lord of Gloucester, Bristowe (Bristol), Tewkesbury and Cardiff, Conqueror of Wales, near kinsman of the King, General of the Army in France. All this was very flattering to Robert, but he had made exactly the same mistake as the Romans had done one thousand years before. He had won a battle and had seized strongholds on a coastal strip, but unlike Hastings in 1066 where William of Normandy had won a battle and so conquered England, he had not even conquered Glamorgan in Morganwg, let alone Wales. So the war began with the Welsh raiding the Normans in their forts and keeps and the Normans trying to mount expeditions into the hills of

Glamorgan and several times being disastrously defeated.

266

The Carn-y-Bugail on Gelligaer Common, close to the site of the twin sixth century drinking halls lodge of the King. or hunting Bugait is great hound.

The outer wan of the Castle of Ap Gwrgan who ruled lestyn G

The interior of lestyn's abandoned castle, totally hidden in woods on

a steep hill. Probably
"

used around

700-1091 A.D.

267

Very rapidly however, changes began, as intermarriage between the leading Glamorgan and Norman families became the practice. The smouldering situation outlived Robert Fitzhammon 'Prince of Glamorgan' but it had a strange by-product, for the folk lore, the stories and legends of Glamorgan and

Cardiff now became known to the Norman adventurers. As they sat around the evening fires they listened to the ancient tales of long remembered kings and heroes who had fought mighty wars, with not only the barbarian Saxon hordes, but who had fought and humbled the armies of mighty Rome. Even better, the Welsh bards told them that the peoples of Northern France, in particular Brittany, were kinfolk co-heirs and inheritors of this great tradition. So the Normans, with their Fleming and Breton adherants, also could share in this great past.
-

by all the Welsh, fired the Norman imagination. This was Arthur, grandson of Theoderic, Prince of Tintern in Gwent. Just as William the Conqueror had defeated the Angles and Saxons, so five hundred years before Arthur had waged a relentless war to free the British from the ancestors of these same Anglo Saxons. Arthur had brought order out of chaos by the force of his arms, time and again victorious in battles, a hero warrior, the saviour of his people. Now Robert Fitzhammon, the Norman sat in the same Roman castle at Cardiff, where legends had placed Arthur, the wheel had turned the full circle and 'British' kinsmen from Northern France had re-established the old order. This new found heritage and justification for the Normans did not however stop the wars in Glamorgan, until Robert Fitzhammon died, leaving only a daughter, Mabita. This lady, heiress to vast estates, was married to Robert the Consul, eldest son of King Henry I of England, 1100-1135 A.D. Robert the Consul inherited all Fitzhammon'svastestates by marriage and on the death of Henry I, although he could not succeed to the throne as he was a bastard son of the king, was probably the most powerful lord in the Norman empire. Robert Consul was also now Prince of Glamorgan and he achieved the remarkable feat of making peace with the Welsh princes of Morganwg and establishing order and a way of coexistance. Whether or not all the Welsh believed that this illegitimate son of the king had a Welsh or Breton mother is not clear. Nonetheless Robert Consul was acknowledged and was heir to the traditions of Arthur. The belief was that his mother was Nest the Welsh princess, daughter of lestyn. When Henry I died in 1135 A.D. his heir was Matilda his daughter who was opposed by Stephen of Blois. Robert the Consul had held Duke Robert of Normandy, eldest son of William the Conqueror, prisoner in Cardiff Castle for twenty seven years so that Henry I could rule as King. Now he had to try to settle the dispute between Matilda and Stephen. It remains a mystery why he did not seize the throne himself, he was probably strong enough and alone of all the Normans he could have obtained considerable Welsh aid for through Nest, daughter of lestyn, he was descended of Arthur. lord that Gryffydd Geoffrey of Monmouth dedicated his of the Kings of Britain' completed just after the death of Henry I. It may be that Gryffydd thought that Robert the Consul would see himself in the same position as Arthur and would restore order in the dispute between Matilda and Stephen and take the throne. What actually happened was that the bitter struggle devastated England for eighteen years, until the Treaty of Westminster in 1153 A.D. The book was dedicated to Robert the Consul however, and he was the most powerful man in Britain
-

The stories spread like wildfire through the Norman courts and halls, for an assumed kinship with the British gave justification and right to their conquest. In particular one hero not generally highly regarded

'History

However it was to this very powerful

at that time.

The second dedication of the 'History of the Kings of Britain'to of the work to Robert Fitzhammon.

Walleran gives the clue to the dedication

This ishow itoccurs.When in 1091 Robert Fitzhammon seized the lowlands of Glamorgan, this conquest was followed by the invasion and seizure of the Gower Peninsula in the year 1100 by Robert (Beaumont) de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick. The Henry de Newburgh invasion probably came by sea across the Bristol Channel as probably did that of Fitzhammon and after bloody battles around Cefn Bryn, Gower was seized. This peninsula, some eighteen miles long and around five miles across, offering an area of eighty square miles, became an indggendant..Lordship of the Earl of Warwick. Anciently it had been part of the Kingdom of Glywyswg (Gloo-wus-soog) before the formation of the Kingdom of Morganwg and had remained part of Morganwg. The pattern in Gower was the same as the pattern in Glamorgan with Norman and Welsh lordships being established one alongside the other, some of lestyn at Gwrgan's heirs holding lands.

Henry Earl of Warwick, Lord of Gower, died in 1123 and his son Roger became Earl and Lord. This Roger de Newburgh died in 1153 and was in turn followed by his son William, the third Eari. When William died in 1184 he left no heirs and so his brother Waleran became Earl of Warwick, Lord of Gower
and held it until he died in 1203 to be succeeded in turn by his son Henry. Now this Earl Waleran is too late in time to be the Waleran Count of Mellannt to whom the book of Gryffydd ap Arthur was dedicated, therefore Waleran the twin brother of Roger the second Earl must be the person named. This Waleran held land in Gower and Glamorgan and probably administered the Gower peninsula for and on behalf of his brother, who remained mostly in England. Therefore the History of the Kings of England

was directed and dedicated to the two most powerful lords in Glamorgan, in their capacity as lords in

268

Newburgh Glamorgan. Not only was Robert the Consul immensely powerful, but the Warwick or de family were also the holders of vast estates and lands. Each of these lords also had hs own private army.
assumed the If in some way Gruffydd ap Arthur was implying that either or both these lords had of the long dead Arthur, then he was most certainly locating the mantle of leadership and responsibility Robert the legendary king in South East Wales. It was often and probably very correctly claimed that Henry I of England and Nest the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr (Tudor) or Consul was the son of of alternatively, Nest the daughter of lestyn, a child conceived when Nest was a hostage in the custody and forbearance either William 11 Rufus or Henry I. In fact Robert the Consul showed remarkable tact Indeed relationwhen dealing with the Glamorgan Welsh and was, almost unbelievably, accepted by them. in 1175 to 1176, some twenty nine years after the death ships with the English Kings were so good that Welsh princes went to of Robert the Consul and despite upheavals in South Wales, a number of South King Henry II at Gloucester. These included Morgan ap Caradoc ap lestyn, Rhys and were received by ap Griffith, Griffith ap Ivor Bach and others. Glamorgan died This is not to say that the area was peaceful. Whenever either the King or the Lord of other issues wars were fought in the area. Nonetheless the dedication there was an uprising and on many of his book to Robert the Consul and Waleran of Melaunt definately ties this action to a Glamorgan far and away the connection. As King Arthur occupies no less than six chapters of the 'History' and is major figure this is significant. "The fame of the legendary King Arthur spread and within fifty years of the writing of the History of the ancient super Kings of Britain, the monks of Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset were claiming that ths in the last hero was buried at their Abbey. We shall see why this spurious claim was made elsewhere, but Henry II, the most powerful king in Europe, was ordering these monks to disinter a year of his reign body to prove their claim in 1189. of literature, as The result of the work of Gryffydd ap Arthur was even more dramatic in the sphere principal seat of Arthurian romances related works were produced in great quantity in France, still the and Plantagenet Kings of England. It is worth noting that Richard I, the Lionheart, spent the Normans
'knight

romantic only nine months of a ten year reign (1198-1199) in England and although highly regarded in throne. Richard i literature was probably the most useless and disastrous king ever to mount the English errant', the chivalrous epitome of the is important as he was nothing more nor less than a no statesman. no legislator, no administrator, of the Round Table, a crusader romantic knights
-

written. One work, Against this background the outstanding French Mediaeval Arthurian Romances were book, 'Le Mort du Roi Artu' (The Death of King Arthur), was signed at the beginning the outstanding from 1140 and end by one Walter Map, a Welshman at the court of King Henry II; Walter Map living around c.1209 A.D. Much research has indicated however, that this copy may well have been written to Champagne in France. This area was controlled by Henry II and his court was held in 1230-1235 in good argument France and it is not impossible that Walter Map wrote an early original text. There is a Black Chapel, not of for Walter writing the book, as he places Arthur's burial place by the sea at the greedy monks or he was writing before 1185 A.D. course in Glastonbury, so he was either ignoring these geographical knowledge of Britain is sketchy, detail in Glamorgan in this work is fine Whilst some of the knowledge and very accurate, indicating a Welsh hand. It would appear that a Welshman with intimate and that this was later written in better French and the translator/ of the Cardiff area wrote a story editor still acknowledged his title to the original story.

Following Gryffydd ap Arthur's work of 1135-1136, his History was translated into French by a man in 1155. The result was that within thirty years, that is by 1185 A.D. named Wace a Norman poet burned down in 1184) the vast mass of the Tristan romance, the lays of Marie de (Glastonbury Abbey France and the romances of Chereton de Troyes were all written, as was Walter Map's work.
-

The Comte de Graal was written by Chretian de Troyes in 1190 and a French knight named Robert de grail Boron, writing around 1200, produced the first work which linked Joseph of Arimathea, a holy miraculous lance. Most of the ingredients of the Grail stories are Welsh and Irish legend and vessel and a fable, content and origin, and the underlying story is clearly derived from Celtic myth. Whether Walter Map, Archdeacon of Oxford, author of 'De Nugis Curialium', wrote the versions now extant is doubtful, but someone with a combined Christian, Welsh geographical and Celtic folklore background must have myth written the original. No Frenchman would have possessed or understood the knowledge of Celtic research, and legend to have composed the stories. It is not a matter of literary style, dating or language it is definitely a matter of Welsh/Celtic content which would be exclusive and peculiar to someone of Welsh upbringing and culture. The Quest for the Holy Grail contains the Lancelot Cycle and this work 'Perceval' of Chertian de Troyes. seems undoubtedly to have influenced the
The Kings of England, particularly Henry II, held vast areas of land in France and the majority of them the King of France, was considerably weaker than they spent most of their time there. Their legitimacy in the flowing legends of Charlemagne. First Emperor of the (revived)Holy were and had Roman Empire, de facto King of Western Europe. Now the fame of Arthur and the transfer of his mythical mantle of fame and glory to the new kings of Britain totally eclipsed the more mundane feats
'overlord'

of Charlemagne. There is plentiful evidence that the Saxons ignored the Welsh bards and minstrels and

269

l
their tales and folklore, but the Normans and Plantagenets were a different breed, quick to see the lustre and fame which could be transferred to themselves by an intelligent literary propaganda campaign. Certainly Henry II would have seen this and the talented and civilised court of Eleanor of Aquitaine would have possessed the scholarship to develop the literary flood.
In the twelfth century Eilhart von Oberg and Thomas d'Angleterre added stories, mainly on the 'Tristan and Yseult' theme. The oldest of the stories on this particular theme is Beroul's 'Romance of Tristan', another French author of the twelfth century. All the known stories of Tristan and Yseult are believed, not surprisingly, to stem from one basic original work. In fact there is no difference between the story of Tristan and Yseult and that of Lancelot and Guinevere. In both cases a brave, noble and skilful knight, goes to the court of a king and finishes up as the lover of the King's queen. In both cases there is idea to burn the queen at the stake, in both cases the lovers flee and both stories discovery, anattemptor end in remorse, spiritual reformation and tragedy for the lovers. Lancelot steals Guinevere, the wife of King Arthur and Tristan steals Yseult, the wife of King Mark of Cornwall. Both knight heroes fight magnificently at great tournaments and there are numerous other similarities, but basically the themes are identical. The great themes of Arthurian romance steamroller on down into the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with the production of great English epic poetry, including the magnificent 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight', written at the time of the remarkable Geoffrey Chaucer. This work contains strange beheading ritualistic contests which have been traced back to the eighth/ninth century Irish epic tale of 'Bricrend utilised in 'Le Livre de Caradog', a late twelfth century French work. As we have seen the cult of the head or skull, and head hunting are a much, much older Celtic practice.
,

The main core of this romantic tradition lay in the early twelfth or thirteenth century works of 'Lancelot', 'The Quest for the Holy Grail' and 'The Death of King Arthur'. Now this literature draws very heavily on old Celtic tales and ideas which are somehow transposed into a Christian context. Now this is important, for the content of the stories being absolutely peculiar to a specific culture and body of folklore will clearly identify the place of origin of the writers. Other authors may, within a relatively short space of time, have translated or polished or improved the style of the works, but unique content will still give the clue to its origin. What is remarkable is that one of the later works of this mass of Arthurian romantic literature probably gives a clear clue to the direction of the religious trends in these works. The story of Sir Gawain and the though written in the fourteenth century in English, Now the Church at reen Knight is fun t s quite efinately pposed to the Grail stories and associated tales, for they were quite nately sed on c legends and stories which were in the eyes of the Church he root story for all these tales being that by the Welsh poet Blegeris which finatel a non-Christian poem. The stories involve magic, dream lands, Celtic cult objects and demo ures. The story of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' is as follows:

"later

Part 1
In the midst of thecelebrationsof the New Year at the Court of King Arthur, an enormous knight on a huge charger interrupts the festivities. This strange knight is totally clad in green, his hair and beard are bright green and also his horse. Everything is total shining green. This monstrous knight carries a huge axe and he chaHenges Arthur and a// his knights to a strange combat. I/Vhoever takes up the challenge may strike the Green Knight with one blow of the ae, then the challenger must stand for the return blow one year and one day from that day. The challenge is accepted by Sir Gawain, the King's

nephew, who takes the great axe and with one blow cuts off the head of the Green Knight. The strange knight does not fall, but stands and then swiftly goes and retrieves its head and remounts the great green horse and rides out of the hall.

Part 2 With the approach of the next Christmas, Sir Gawain leaves the court of King Arthur to ride out to seek the Green Chapel where he must meet the Green Knight. Then on Christmas Eve he reaches a castle where the Lord invites him to stay over Christmas and the New Year, as the Green Chapel is close at hand. This Gawain accepts and his host then advises that he should rest in the castle whilst he (the host) goes out hunting. The Lady of the Castle will entertain Gawain whilst his host is absent andet the end of the day each will exchange with the other whatever he had gained during the day. Part 3 On three successive days the Lord of the Castle goes off to hunt deer, then boar, then fox. During his absence the Lord's wife three times attempts to persuade Sir Gawain to make love to her unsuccessfully, gaining only a kiss which Sir Gawain returns to her husband when he comes home from the hunt and receives the animals taken in the hunt as agreed. On the third day however the Lady of the castle presented Sir Gawain with her girdle, telling him that this will protect his life and this gird/e Sir
-

Gawain conceals from the Lord of the castle. He fears that his possession understood and he also needs it, believing it may help save his life.

of the girdle will be mis-

Sir Gewein is then taken to the Green Chapel by a guide. This turns out to be an ancient mound or

270

girdle from the Green Knight. Sir Gawain is saddened by his fault and feels shame, yet when he returns Table. to Arthur's court he is judged to have brought honour to the fellowship of the Round

aims a barrow, an ancient cavern, overgrown and tumbled a pagan place. Twice the great Green Knight blow at Sir Gawain with a huge ae, but each time he stops the blow and then with a third stroke he merely nicks his neck, causing blood to flow. The first two blows were stopped because Gawain resisted the seduction of the Green Knight's wife he is, it turns out, Lord of the Castle and named Bertilak. The third stroke is stopped for the same reason, but blood is drawn because Sir Gawain concealed the
-

The story is therefore one of the conflict between the ancient pagan fertility and nature cults of the Celtic peoples and the Christian Church of Rome. Even the supposedly Christian knight, Sir Gawain, is superstitious to the point of believing that the green girdle of the Lady of the castle is a magic talisman which will protect his life. The origin of the story lies in common themes of older literature, for in the eighth century Irish poem of 'Fled Bricrend' (meaningBricrius' Feast) there is the tale of a beheading
Imomain which translated game in which the great hero Cuchulain accepts the challenge of Uath mac with a Terror, son of Great Fear. The hero Cuchulain strikes off the head of Uath mac Imomain means single blow, but then has to stand still for Uath mac Imomain's blow when he returns the next day. Three times Uath mac Imomain aims a great blow but does not strike Cuchulain and then Uath mac Imomain declares his adversary a champion. The Irish word(s) Bachlach means savage churl' and some scholars offer the opinion that Sir Bertilak the Green Knight is derived from this word.
-

'a

In 'Le Livre de Caradoc' a later twelfth century French romance, the beheading challenge appears again with King Arthur and his court again heavily involved. In fact the whole of the romantic literature teems islands, with enchanted castles, wizards, demon kings, strange queenly enchantresses, mysterious boats, lands, castles, miraculous healings, vanishings and so on; all the stuff of the pre-Christian Celtic folklore. real The combats and struggles are portrayed as the struggle between Christian virtues and this all too mysticism. The Grail story is in effect a re-writing, with Christian moralities and powerful other-world of stories being overlaid and written into an older pagan story. How else can many of the characters of the which they are involved, who appear in ancient trish and Welsh epc tales be explained or the events in in identical guise and name?
very uncomfortable The mediaeval church was undoubtedly over the ancient Celtic fertility beliefs and resurrection in the form of the annual the king or his substitute which involved human sacrifice resurrection myths, strong in the time of the Druids, blossoming of the crops. These pre-Christian the idea of a resurrected god. This was a belief common in ancient Egypt in the story of Isis sented siris, Horus and Setekh, common in the lands of Mesopotamia in the story of Tamuz, the annually
-

slai

tiful

ation and crops.

effcgiska ale or collection of tales, obviously by a Welshman, which are up-dated, What we have cloaked with a thick veneer of mediaeval ideas on romantic chvalry. The Ch ist niseT improved, modernised original tales a pagan, or at least semi-pagan, semi-barbaric, Celtic folklore, now
~

by the twelfth

and thirteenth

century

French writers until the original themes are almost obliterated.

Political themes are abundant, for in 'Tristan and Yseult'we have several villainous unworthy characters introduced. One is named Godwin, who is eventually killed by an arrow which strikes him clean in the killed at the Battle of Hastings by an eye. This is a clear reference to King Harold Harold Godwinson 'Death of King Arthur', several arrow which pierced his eye. In the confused jumble of reference in the points are made. First the legendary king soundly defeats the emperor of Rome in a great political precedence over the battle and this is a historicallpolitical maneovre designed to give the English kings reflected French kings. The great Charlemagne was in 800 A.D. the Holy Roman Emperor and gave
-

glory to later kings of France and the author of this work reinforces Arthur's supremacy over the France Gaul. Emperor of Rome by stating that it was Arthur who decided on the disposition of lands in Burgundy. In fact in Section 160 it is stated that the Romans have invaded Arthur's territory of examining In Section 125 Sir Lancelot is speaking to his brothers, Bors and Lionel, and it is worth

"Bors, I want you to be King of Banioc (in France) and you Lionel will be King of Gaunes (in France) as your father was. I shall not speak of the Lordship of Gaul, because King Arthur
gave it to rne........."

This means that Norman and Plantagenet Kings of England did not owe their vast land holdings as liegeentitled to be Kings of men to the King of France at all. In fact it is a statement that they are in fact France.
Various historical facts are found in mangled form in the work. In Section 194 there is King Arthur's epitaph which states -'Here lies King Arthur who through his valour conquered twelve kingdoms'. This is fought by Arthur. Further to this in Section a clear reference to the twelve recorded historical battles 115, Arthur is described as fighting a great battle at the River Humber, actually a supposed site of one of this king's great historical battles. The whole theme is one where Lancelot and his brothers and their

followers are faithful knights over from Northern France, who greatly aid King Arthur. Then through

Lancelot's love of Arthur's queen Queen Guinevere there is the great quarrel and the resulting war which tears Arthur's kingdom apart. In fact this is a description of the Norman entry into South Wales and their seizure of coastal Glamorgan, with the difference that here the Normans are portrayed as most honourable and chivalrous men and not treacherous or deceitful at all.
-

The characters

of the story are as follows:1. Robert Fitzhammon and his twelve knights and their followers enter Morganwg to act as mercenaries for Prince lestyn. Lancelot and Sir Bors, Sir Lionel, Sir Hector and others come to the court of King
=

Arthur.
2. Prince Rhys ap Tudor apparently covets Prince /estyn's wife, so the G/amorgan histories state. Also Prince leuan seeks to marry lestyn's

daughter.
Lancelot has a love affair with Queen Guinevere, King Arthur's wife.
=

3. Prince lestyn is successful in his war when his

own army is aided by the forces led by Robert Fitzhammon. King Arthur's Round Table remains strong as longas Lancelotand the other French knights remain with him.
=

is paid off by Prince lestyn and makes his way back towards Gloucester Lancelot and his forces withdrew to the east coast of England and finally to France.
=

4. Robert Fitzhammon

become paramount prince of South Wales when lestyn died King Arthur makes Modred regent when he goes to France and Modred attempts to seize Queen Guinevere and the throne, but is
=

5. Prince leuan quarrels with Prince lestyn apparently because lestyn refuses to give leuan his daughter in marriage. Prince leuan obviously sought to strengthen his position and possibly

unsuccessful.
Fitzhammon learns of the quarrel and returns seizing parts of coastal Glamorgan Lancelot hears of Arthur's struggle with Modred and returns to Britain from France to make war on the sons of Modred who now control the land.

6. Robert
=

Abbey. wounded in the King Arthur head' returns to the sea shore, takes a ship across water and dies and is buried in the Black Chapel.
= 'mortally

festyn after his wars with Rhys ap Tudor, his quarrel with Prince leuan and now the return of the warlike Norman mercenaries seizing estates, flees by boat across the water to Somerset. Here he dies and is buried in an 7. Prince

8. Robert Fitzhammon near kinsman I, was General of the army and soldier of Normandy and England. Lancelot, the most powerful, successful of all the Knights who Round Table.
=
-

of William
the leading skilful and joined the

Also Robert the Consul (illegitimate)e/dest son of Henry I, the most powerful man in

272

Welsh and the Normans. Then for years he strenuously defended the claims of Matilda his half sister to the throne of England against their cousin Stephen. Again Lancelot, the knight who does not seek the Kingdom of France or elsewhem, although it is within his power to take it easily. Lancelot goes to great lengths even against his Queen Guinevere to protect own interest, (Queen Matilda).
=

France and Britain first marries the daughter of Robert Fitzhammon and secures the inheritance, but also brings peace between the Morganwg

9. Prince lestyn,

with the supporting

princes of

South Eastern Wales, doubly beset on a/I sides by the forces of West, Mid and North Wales, age-old enemies of Anglo-Saxon Eng/and, are a divided collapsing realm. King Arthur and his strife-torn household and Round Table on all sides battling with
=

enemies from Wales (Cornwa//) North Wales, Saxons, Scotland and Ireland. King Arthur's line ended with him as did Prince lestyn's, in squabbles with relatives and rival princes.

The whole work continually reiterates that British power and security was dependant upon the alliance with Gaul, now existing in the renewed power of the Normans. What has to be understood is that the Norman kings were anxious that their right to the throne of England be recognised as legitimate. This they could do by association with the ancient royal houses of Britain and the ancient royal houses of
Britain were in Wales. In this respect the vast collection of prose writing assembled in what is generally referred to as the 'Prose Lancelot' or the 'Vulgate Cycle' consisting of the three monumental works 'Lancelot', 'The Quest for the Holy Grail' and 'The Death of King Arthur' forms the basis for a massive flowering of poetic and narrative writing on the subject.
-

Scraps of written history and half remembered oral folklore went together to form the framework of a land' in legendary upon a time'. Possibly the only parallel is the modern American mass romanticism over the Wild West and the legends of the cowboys in books, television series and films. True, a great migration took place from southern England in the fifth century A.D. of Celtic Britons
'never-never 'once

moving over to Gaul (France). True, they took their army, men, women and children they became the but for Rome, to stop the Bretons. True, they fought a mighty battle not against the Roman Emperor Visigoths coming up out of Spain, giving time for the combined Roman and Frank armies to combine and defeat the invaders.
-

Possibly this is mistaken in the mistaken decision by ahuge body than the island of Britain. The weakening of Southern Britain

romance literature as Arthur's expedition into Gaul, whereas it was a of Britons that Gaul could be better held against the barbarian invasions result, both in fact and in the Arthurian romance story, was a fatal leading to a collapse which strengthened the enemies of the British.

'F

in The Norman view of the story was that they were rightfully and properIgrder Britain following the collapse after the death of their ancient kinsman Arthur. AII rather difficult to follow in the purist sense, as the Normans were of Viking stock and origin before settling and identifying in France. In a sense they were correct, for power had been disputed between a number of British, ngdoms, with first British, then Northumbrian, then Mercian, then Wessex and then Dani ter the Anglo-Saxon line of kings had exhausted their potential, 801-1016 A.D.
,

There is also the difficulty in establishing just how deeply the Christian religion had penetrated into the British framework of society and how tenacious were the ancient beliefs of folklore. In Celtic lands Christianity had in fact been adopted to fit the pre-Christian religious concepts as we have seen. This is very clearly demonstrated in the mass of Arthurian romance literature, full of strange phantom figures and the Celtic Fisher King and the Maimed King (sometimes identified with the Fisher King), magic swords (Excalibur), the fabled magic lance, the wonderful cauldrons (the Holy Grail) and the dream, spirit world in general. The Arthurian literature does in fact demonstrate that old ideas were still very powerful indeed and the fact that there were archbishops and bishops in both England and Wales did not necessarily mean that all the people were Christians, nor did it mean that those who were, were exclusively Christian. It is worth noting that it is a well held belief that when William Il Rufus, King of England, was killed by an arrow in the New Forest on the 2nd August 1100 A.D., he was refused Christian burial because he was a complete pagan, not because he was homosexual. Add to this the fact that the Great Charlemagne was busily butchering and burning people and enforcing Christianity as far as he could with the sword right up to 814 when he died.

273

The Norman propaganda campaign worked well, but it is worth noting that when there was a revolt in Normandy in 1088, William 11 Rufus put it down with a mainly Saxon army, and Henry I was able also to take Normandy from Robert, his brother, in 1106.
It is important to understand what was happening in England at the king's court in this period. There was tremendous impetus given to architecture, not only in massive castle building techniques, but in religious structures such as Durham Cathedral, 1096-1133, and the many great abbeys, churches and chapels. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the 'History of the Kings of Britain' in 1135-6, Walter Map, the author of Goliardic verse, welded the Grail stories into the ancient Arthurian cycle and introduced moral and religious intentions, c. 1140-1209 A.D. Wace produced the Roman de Brut and Roman de Rou 1124-1174; Marie de France was writing prolifically and all three were at the court of Henry II. In the field of science Walcher of Malvern observed the eclipse of the sun in 1092 and attempted to calculate the time difference between England and Italy clearly he knew the world to be round. Walcher also attempted to make calculations in terms of degrees, minutes and seconds around 1120. Adelard of Bath was a student of Arab science and not only observed, but also experimented with the comparative speed of light and sound. He also translated Al-Kharizm's astronomical tables into Latin in 1126 and then introduced Al- Khwarizmi's trigometrical tables into the west by translating them into Latin. Robert of Chester followed this lead and translated Al-Khwarizmi's algebra into Latin in 1145 and then Alexander Neckham, 1157-1217, wrote on botany and also on the magnet. In the field of philosophy John Salisbury (d.1180) a pupil of Abelard, who was the finest classical and humanistic scholar of his time, wrote the 'Policraticus' and other works. John of Salisbury was attached to Henry ll's court and later to that of the Bishop of Chartres. In 1167 there was the formal beginning of Oxford University based on the cultural growth already established there, designed to dgyplog a national cultural centre on the lines of the development in Paris.
-

It all gives a totally different picture of the society of the times as generally imagined and demonstrates the very serious nature of the work being done. Certainly the work of Gryffydd (Geoffrey of Monmouth) in compiling his'History of the Kings of Britain', was aserious exercise based possibly on well remembered oral sources and possibly on the ancient documents given to him (as he said) by Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford in the ancient language of the Britons'. He undoubtedly drew on Nennius, Bede and Gildas, for detail to supplement his other sources.
'written
-

It has been a popular pastime with many modern writers to deride the works of Gruffydd ap Arthur, in fact this has gone on for centuries. In one particular a number have chosen to scoff because Gruffydd claimed in 1140 A.D. to have read ancient books on British history, this claim is summirally and immediately dismissed by these buffoons. The attitude is utterly and quite completely incomprehensible, as it is beyond dispute that the Roman period Welsh/British and their successors in the Dark Ages were clearly literate and wrote and possessed books. There is significant mention in Welsh manuscript history of an ancient book on British history kept in a monastic cell at Tenby. However, whereas most British historical writers believe that the works of Bede writing around 720 to 730 A.D., and Nennius the Northern Briton, writing around 822 A.D., the Angle, are the earliest to record the story of King Lleirwg Lucius and the Pope Eleutherius around 170 A.D. this is not the case. We have an interesting situation, for Schelstrate the Prefect of the Vatican Library wrote a disertation on patriarchal authority and proceeded to quote from a Manuscript Catalogue of the Popes which was written during the reign of the Emperor Justinian that means between A.D. 527 and 565. Here he relates the record of the British King Lucius and Pope Eleutherius, and so we have an early sixth century record naming both Lucius and Eleutherius and describing the events of the connection between- them. AII this two centuries before Bede and three before Nennius, and quite accurate.
-

Nennius himself demonstrates the fact that as early as his time in 760 to 822 A.D. there were books of British history which were regarded as ancient learned another account of this Brutus from the ancient books of our ancestors'. Strangely no-one disbelieves Nennius in 822, but it is quite alright to doubt Gruffydd's claim in 1140 A.D. Then there is the ninth century poem, circa 850 A.D. 'Moliant Dinbych Penfro' which refers to a.manuscript which is Prydein' in British (Welsh), and is preserved in a cell at Tenby'. Giraldus Cambrensis Gerald the Welshman a very accurate historian writing around 1110-1130 A.D. also makes clear references to such ancient books on British history.
'l
-

'yscriuen

'written

The answers to the puzzle of British history possibly do lie in the bits and pieces found in manuscripts, in the Vatican Library and elsewhere and basically the need is to get the framework of the story correct so that these scraps and details become intelligable and make sense. British history does not begin with the arrival of the French Normans in 1066, nor does it begin with the arrival of the refugee Saxons under Hengist between 427 and 446 A.D. when they were allowed in fleeing before the might of the Huns in Europe.

274

CHAPTER THIRTEEN THE MISREADING OF THE STORY THE ALLEGORICAL OR MORAL HISTORIES

of the historical 'Prophecies of Merlin' which There has so far been a complete misunderstanding appear in the History Britannicum of Gildas and are repeated by Gruffydd ap Arthur. These are not prophecies, but they are in fact allegorical morals, simple commentaries on the history which is being detailed, a form of Aesops Fables based on fact. In the manner of the Welsh Triads the tale or moral referred to is covered by a few lines, a simpleform of title statement. Once these few headlines were quoted, the scholar or historian was expected to have his memory stimulated and to remember all the rest and the detail of the story. This was the bardic and druid tradition of oral learning and scholarship, with all its great reliance on memory.

If Gruffydd ap Arthur worked from a book which listed such a mass of headline titles, then it is small wonder that his history was so confused, with accuracy and inaccuracy piled together.
The Prophecies of Merlin were in fact a recital of the titles of the history of Britain, the major headlines of the story, and Gruffydd ap Arthur got many of their meanings wrong as we shall see. First we have Merlin the wonder magician called before the King to prophesy. The first point to establish is whether Merlin was prophesying to Gwythelin or Gwytheryn, for Gwythelin was Vitalianus and Gwytheryn was Victorinus. (Victor was the name of Magnus Maximus' eldest son). The magician tells a story of a king attempting to build a strong fortress on a mountain. The strong fortress was Britain or the British state, the mountain being the island itself set in the seas. Every night the walls of the fortress which had been built in the day, were torn down, the strong fortress could notbehuilt.Sothe pit lay below the foundations magician revealed to the King that agreatcaveor night and tore down the and in thatpitweretwodragons, one red, one white. These dragonsfoughtevery walls built in the day.

Here Merlin is telling the King that the Welsh and the Saxons cannot live together in a strong, stable state. They would always seek to destroy each other, there could be no strong unified, multi-racial, state. The policy of Vortigern was doomed, Vortimer his son was being told 1hat he had to destroy
the enemy. It is when the story of the Red Dragon of the Welsh and the White Dragon of the Saxons is over, that Gruffydd ap Arthur makes his major errors. These we have to look at, for probably many others before and after made the same errors and led themselves away from the quest for Arthur.

We will quote the passages and explain them:Prophecy 2 The cult of religion shall be destroyed completely and
churches

ruin of the shall be clear for all to see. lit This happened in the great Saxon raid of 442 and the subsequent war from 442 to 452 and then in the great wars after the massacres of the elders.
The race that is oppressed

Prophecy 3

shall prevail in the end for it will resist the savagery of the invaders. This happened when Vortimer battered the Saxons, then Ambrosius Aurelianus did the same and finally Arthur destroyed them.
The Boar of Cornwall shall bring relief from these invaders trample their necks beneath its feet. and will

rophecy

The islands of the ocean shall be given into the power of the Boar and it shall lord it over the forests of Gaul. The House of Romulus shall dread the Boar's savagery and the end of the Boar will be shrouded in mystery. Now Gruffydd, we believe, interpreted the Boar of Cornwall as being Arthur and here he was wrong. Ambrosius from Cornuailles The Boar of Cornwall was in fact Aurelius Britanny, who was victorious against the Saxons and who was in power at the time of the great struggle to control Amorican Brittany in Gaul. Both King Conomurus and his Germanic Norse allies were bitter enemies of the British and by bringing in Saxon mercenaries King Conomurus proved to be the scourge of the 'House of Romulus'
-

Te British Royal Clan.

275

follows:

Prophecies continue with further|religious and other catastrophes. Most interesting is one which details the Vandal invasion and occupation of Roman North Africa which did happen at this time. It goes as Prophecy 8 Six of the Boar's descendants shall hold the sceptre after it and next after them will rise up the German Worm (Dragon). The Sea Wolf shall exalt this Worm and the forests of Africa shall be committed to its care.

A clear referenge to Saxon sea pirates and their Vandal kinsmen in Africa. Then after several other prophecies we have the brief headline or prophecies concerning King Arthur with no mention of Cornwall:-

Prophecy

15

He who will achieve these things shall appear as a Man of Bronze and for long years he shall guard the gates of London upon a Brazen Horse. This prophecy speaks of mounted armoured heavy cavalry, armoured horsemen and of Arthur's conquest to stabilize Britain. Then there is immediately the story of the struggle between Arthur's successors and the collapse of his state in Britain.

Prophecy 16

Then the Red Dragon (British) will revert to its true habits and struggle to tear itself to pieces. This is what happened after Arthur abdicated Gildas and Nennius record the story vividly.
-

Then we have the story of Maelgwn Gwynedd Prophecy 17

Sir Lancelot

restoring order after four years of chaos.

Next will come the revenge of the Thunderer and everyone of the farmers fields will be a disappointment to him. Then the story of the great Yellow Plague which swept over Europe and killed millions, including Maelgwn Gwynedd.
Death will lay hands on the people and destroy all the nations. Those who are left alive will abandon their native soil and will sow their seeds in other men's fields.

Prophecy

18

So there would be further flight and migration.

There follow many more Prophecies which are both detailed and general in character, each outlining the history or part of it, of the peoples of Britain. Some are worth looking at here as relevant to our search for Arthur. Prophecy

21

Once again the White Dragon shall rise up and will invite over a daughter from Germany. Our little garden will be stocked again with foreign seed and the Red Dragon will pine away at the gd of the pool;
over Britain and settled

This is the story of the coming of tife Vandals, driven out of North Africa
Empire,. Belisarius. The Vandals swarmed Middle Britain the old F4aviaCaesarensis.
-

& the general of the Eastern down to become the Mercians of

The next Prophecy, No 22, describes how 150 years after Arthur, that is around 700 A.D., the German Worm will obtain a crown. This happened,and the further part of the prophecy tells of how the German Worm would rule for three hundred years and then be overthrown. This is a complex prophecy, for it

tells of the coming of the Normans to finally cast down the Sax the subjection of Wessex-by Northumbria and Mercia

We, with the benefit of well organised research carried out by many scholars over centuries, have much better information than Gruffydd ap Arthur had when he wrote his 'History of the Kings of Britain'in 1135. The type of brief notices from which he worked we can see above, many more are even more obscure and he probably had thousands of them backed by the oral tradition of Welsh folklore. It is notIurprisingthat his 'History' is a veritable minefield of truth and misinterpretations and distortion intermixed. Whatwe must not do is disregard the whole work and so ignore what is true, because of what is obviously misinterpretation. We have in one prophecy or heading some further proof to the identity of Arthur as the Man of Bronze or alternatively the Prince of Brass.

Prophecy 22

After that the German Worm shall be crowned and the Prince of Brass limit was set f6 him beyond which he was powerless to pass.

or

THE NORTHERN GDOMS

King Maelgwn Gwynedd Mag ocunus

CinglasCunogiassus

Prince Vortipor

,*

Siluria

Aurelius Caninus

onstantiae Gystennhin

King Arthwyr son of King Meurig

The five Kings and their Kingdoms attacked by St. Gildas for formenting civil war.

They encircle the later Morganwg which at that time was ruled by
King Arthwyr and his father old King Meurig.

Gildas lived

in "Morganwg" Kingdom of Arthwyr.

the

British possessions

in Gau

BRITI H TERRITORIES AT THE TIME O

ING A THUR

277

For a hundred and fifty years he shall remain in anguish and subjection and then for three hundred more he shall sit enthroned. The North Wind will rise against him, snatching away the flowers which the West Wind has caused to bloom. There will be gilding in the temples but the
sword's cutting edge will not cease its work.

Delphi in Greece and other All this is very reminiscent of the mystery or riddle prophecies of ancient 22 tells of the chaos of defeat after the arrival of the Vandals who orcacular shrines. The Prophecy in Middle England. They settled to become the Mercians and the loss to the British of their territory Thames up to a line from the Humber to the Mersey, stretching from the lost the lands north of the of the pool' is Wales. Welsh border to Norfolk and Suffolk. The
'end

760 A.D. and then from For a hundred and fifty years the anguish would continue, that is to around William the Conqueror would be a period of relative peace and internal 750 to 1066 with the coming of Northumbria against the prosperity. The North Wind rising against the Man of Brass is the onslaughts of which the West Wind has caused Welsh well recorded historical facts. The destruction of the the Northumbrians and others and the destruction to bloom' is the devastation of the Welsh economy by Bangor Iscoed and Welsh centres of learning, including the horrific massacre of 1200 monks at of the of the university there. Other centres of learning also suffered destructon in Glamorgan. destruction
'flowers
-

the

Prophecy 22 represents the line The Man of Bronze in Prophecy 15 is King Arthur. The Man of Brass in kings who succeeded him. of Welsh princes or

Working from folk tales and this type of cryptic prophectical Monmouth) in fact did remarkably well with his 'History'.

riddle, Gruffydd ap Arthur

(Geoffrey of

THE WELSH IMPETUS

in the development of history and There was, as we have seen, a considerable Welsh involvement and Walter of the English Norman Kings, in the persons of Gruffydd ap Arthur literature at the courts of South Wales, had in 926 produced a magnificent Codex of Welsh Map. In Wales Howell Dda, Prince criminal and social matters. In the field law, dealing with the most minute legal details affecting civil, produced a remarkable Rhiwallon and his three sons from Myddvai in Carmarthenshire of medicine, work in 1230 A.D. entitled Kato Kymraeg the Then Walter Map produced a work on agriculture which was actually geography, the Imago Mundi was translated to appear as Delw'r Byd 'Welsh Cato'. A popular work on in Welsh.
-

of Nennius and Tysillio formed a In the field of history, the fifth century works of Gildas and those of Menevia (St. David's), remarkable basis for future work. As we have seen elsewhere, Asser the Bishop Bishop of notable scholar and the tutor of Alfred the Great of England. Asser also became was a Archbishop of the Isle of Britain. The Brut y Brenhenioedd (History of the Sherbourne and was styled 1135-36. Then in 1156 Kings of Britain) by Gruffydd we have discussed, with its limitations by Wace in founded on work by Chronicle of the Welsh PrincesNthich was came the Brut y Tywysogion (The of the Abbey of Strata Florida (Ystrad Flur) Caradoc of Llancarvan and was then continued by the monks Cambrensis, the grandson until 1280. Another remarkable Welsh writer was Gerald de Barry, or Giraldus preach Wales, who accompanied Archbishop Baldwin on his tour of Wales to of Rhys, Prince of South accomplished 'Itinerary', a commentary on manners, customs the Crusade in 1188 A.D. and produced his and feelings of his time, a detailed view of Wales and the Welsh. accomplished poet, was writing At thistime Howell ap Owain of Gwynedd, the Prince of North Wales, an work Bishop Penly so 1130, followed by Gwalchmai ap Meilyo who died 1160, whose circa 1100 to admired. the These details of some of the people who were working scholastically are important to demonstrate against which Gruffydd ap Arthur and Walter Map produced background of very serious scholarship there has been a continuous effort to debunk both of these Welsh their works. For so holars. The work of Gruffydd is portrayed as pure fiction, which it is scholars, principally which Gruffydd had mainly oral based on the best information not. It is an inaccurate is that no Englishman would state that modern available. One foolish argument advanced by Glastonbury had King Arthur was buried in the Black Chapel near the sea shore, as the Monks of and in 1190-1191 they disinterred the body. Now first Gruffydd was claimed that he was buried there Maps and Flora of Llancarvan, and he would not an Englishman, but a Welshman, son of Blondel de have no hesitation in ignoring the monks of Glastonbury completely. Secondly Gruffydd was therefore would have been well writing before the monks made their spurious claim around 1185 and thirdly, he buried where the monks claimed Arthur was. aware that testyn of Morganwg was
-

'scholars'

The crunch point comes when some of the

'provable'

points made by Gruffydd are t

ted:-

278

Gruffydd tells how the warriors of the Venedoti decapitated a whole Roman legion at Point 1 London and threw their heads into a stream called Nantgallum. This stream was, says Gruffydd, called Galobrac in the Saxon language. Well in the 1860's a General Pitt-Rivers dug up the bed of the River Walbrook and found a very large number of human skulls and no other bones of the bodies at all.
-

Point 2 Gruffydd tells how Vortigern, King of the Britons, fled with his son Pacentius to Ireland, First Vortigern fled to the fortified camp of Genoveu on the hill called Cloartius in Erging by the River Wye. Well, Cloartius is at Genoreu, now called Gararew, and Cloartius is the modern Little Dorward, a hill top camp near Monmouth on the Wye.

Over in Ireland memorial stones with Ogham inscriptions bearing Vortigern's name have been discovered at Ballybank and Knockaboy.
Point 3 Gruffydd tells how the magician Merlin brought the stones for Stonehenge piecemeal over that the from Mount Killaraus in Ireland to Salisbury Plain. Modern archaeology has demonstrated famous central circle of bluestones at Stonehenge was brought from the Prescelly mountains in West Wales, probably by raft or boat up the Severn estuary. Now this area of Wales was in fact anciently Demetia, now Dyfed, part of the larger principality of Deheubarth, and Demetia was settled with an Irish ruling family by Magnus Maximus around 383 A.D.

Bluestones at Stonehenge coming from Ireland and not from Prescelly is not as bad as it might first area known as Dyfed, the south western frontier of the West Wales appear, for the Pembrokeshire Principality of Deheubarth was in fact ruled by a minor princely family from the end of the fourth century onwards. The tradition is that Magnus Maximus made a major reshuffle of various ruling families in Britain before he departed for Gaul with the army to seize the Imperial throne of Rome in the West. One of the many moves he made was to bring the family of the Chieftain Cunneda from Strathclyde to North Wales and another was to bring a ruling chief from Southern Ireland to the south west tip of Wales, i.e. Pembrokeshire. The area became Dyfed, a small principality of the later larger domain of the Princes of Deheubarth,

Of course Gruffydd got some of his history mixed up and confused; he was dealing with a period of 2,200 years stretching back to 1200 B.C., the time of the fall of Troy. The seeming error over the

state'of in fact although there were five ancient tribal or national divisions within whatwas the The five Wales, there were two additional subsidiary royal or princely houses making a total of seven. Deheubarth. major areas, each providing a royal house were Powys, Gwynedd, Morganwg, Dyfed and royal houses were those of Dyfed part of Brecon and Gwent, situation in east Morganwg. The two other In fact these principalities were based on the ancient tribal territories of the Ordovices, the Decangli, the Silures. The principal error was the failure to identify King Conomurus certainly was. Arthur was the 'Man of Bronze'. as the 'Boar of Cornwall'which
he most

'federal

THE OLD GRAVE

IOE

LACK CHAPEL

whole o Around 1135 A.D. Henry II of England ruled an Empire which consisted of almost the er Scotland and Ireland. The King held court in France and the Welsh France, England, Wales, lainly at ur was e at the court. Waltar]ag.wrote Walter tvi spent consionable in the Black Chapel, a nonsense statementge
'

clock to 250 A.D. and go to the building of the strong Chap tot mrturn-trackke walled fortress at Cardifg by the Romans as one of their great 'Saxon Shore' defence castles. The stone by an earlier fort or camp, possibly a timbered structure. In undoubtedly previously occ poin protection in dangerous with other forts and castles the garrison was not only a f common

iinckthe Black

(j;

times, but also a potential tradagentre.

1976 A.DJardiff ogical evidence showi 1100 A.D. other wn. Just why of new foundations t

of its ex' le rated th 1syears nce as a town and later a city, the archaeol76 A.D. Little is known of the town of 250 to proof of occupation e 74 obably occupied the same site as the later Norman that it was there an thorities are not ore vitally interested when any rebuilding and digging area, i a source of constant amazement to many. es place in the ancie/central

around 1100 A.D. and this is ely rebuilt by the Norman i However, the town was in fact exte ething a little unusual. The town c66tained two major churches, well recorded and here we have ds from around 1100 and on the south end, that of St. Mary which that of St. John which still s much greater antiquity than St. John's Church. So tge old St. Mary's mediaeval writers stytqd a Church was of c atorieMsfore 1100 A.D.
A ally

e in

pr

remains o sjn

As

St. Cardiff wher pta

at

Church c ont as m.

(rear

the

de

all of the ded i e

10

religious now there were thr Now not only were there two churches in this quite small astle, the Greyf lars Abbey, Ca houses of monks. There was some one hundred yards due east block could en storey offi oration in the sixties so ff ancient ruin site sold an stle Grounds, yards north west of the Castle, in the nd fifty be built on the site. Just Blackfriars Abbey near the banks of the River Taff. o now we have re the foundation remains of the which the istercian monks addition churches a mall town with two major est lished a chapel near the West gate, and two abbeys, in to religious houses, there was also just on mile north west of o this remarkable assembly of towns had cathedral or a church stle, the Cathedral of Llandaff, rebuilt in 1120 A. rdi Cardif ems to ave been overlooked as combination of church and sometimes a or a religious ce tre. Map was bbey ruin is not a large site and it is this ancient chu h which Walter The Blackfriars said that Arthur was buried in the Black Cha f. The King Arthur son of when he probably referring Maurite was found r from here in fact. like this. Some time around 450 to 500 King Te drig set up a church which was The story is somethi Llandaff. This buil ing by his son King Meurig. This was the centre f the Bishops of built or continued meaning the Ian enclosure on the Taff and size. Llandaff was a small church, a b ding of no great the domain of Arthwys s of Meurig, grandson of Tewdrig. Cardiff fell intothe ancien rea of Penuchel,
-

necessarily the site of the present The site of this original tin cathedral of around 500 A,D. is n Study of the land grants Cathedral, which was built in 120 A.D. as the older building w too small. that the land on which the pr ent cathedral stands was not granted Llandaff indica of the Book of Arth ys. This means that the original church to the church until after the time f Tewdrig, Meurig and building is elsewhere.

Viking piracy, would be close The logical place in those troubled age f Saxon raids, Irish, ars and later Blackwalls of Cardiff Castle. here, as we have seen, is the ruined foundation of the to the fortress is ancient si is a stone gr've slab, just as Walter Map described. This friars. Set into the floor of this Arthur died sometime
which i 600 to 700 A.D. and as to be' of around the seventh cent close ndeed. The antiquity of this grave does in fact 537 and 575 A,D., this is getting between of the church in which it y. point to the antiquity
'believed

ords of 1120 A.D., actually gives the dimensions of To take this further, the Book of Llandaff in its thedral building. We are told that the old building replaced by the n the old church which was to be In addition there measured 28 feet long and was 15 feet wide, wi aisl and that it was 20 feet high. feet I g. There was also an altar to St. Mary on the rounded porch at one end and this was was a
north s aev e nsider, about 250 yards south of Cardiff St. Mary t seen, there is the ancient churc but there in the problem that the ruin is larger than the most likel owever Castle. The Blackfriars site is tomb in the south west corner the dimensions given in the Book of Llan ff. There is a very large stone d has no marks. There re probably other tomb slabs in the ruin. This slab is very ld of the church

choir and altar area, but these have now

en covered by a layer of

crete.

aff in the Liber Landavensis The sepulchre of King Meurig is stated to be in the Cathedral of this church Charters. This would mean the o ginal church before the rebuilding of 1120 A.D. and beneath th present cathedral. There is in fact a t<nb which lies in the place would presumably lie to lie. The founder of a church wotiid lie close to the altar, where Meurig's tomb would be expected the right hand side of God. St. Dyfrig lies on the North side and this strange and on the North side Dyfrig, and to the altar. St. Teilo lies on the South side opposite St. tomb lied in front of it clo resigning in favour of t. David, who was before sumably at Caerleon Dyfrig crowned Arthur Io as the archbishop. Arthur's grandfather King Tewdr lies close to the in turn succeeded by St. buried in the same altar in the North wall a Mathern in Gwent. It is highly likely that Arthur was wen setting general area as his fathe and grandfather, and this was an integral part of our reasoni find his resting pl ce. out to Cardiff C$ e in the Walter Map is, in 11 we believe clearly indicating the Black Chapel close to least five Kingkof the As there were at now Cathays or central Cardiff. district of Caer Art wyr ypon Arthwys or Arthmael, dependin Arthfael Arthwyr Athwys hur Dynasty named is it K g the spening of th scribes, this may well be one of them. The question we were asking was, be of around the seven Arthwyr il the n of Meurig. Local historians have guessed the grave there to is very close to Arthwyr dying around 575 A.D. At this stage we had century, and 6 to 700 A.D. narrowed the arch down to three exact sites. The Blackfriars Abbey church could be on top of an might originally date back to Arthur's time. Cardiff as the Roman shipbuilding and older site, meaning techniques or skills known only to experts. operations se, be the town of
-

"mysteries",

The cen

the al Cardiff site is as Walter Map may have known, a very likely place for the location of local folklore or documents he had access to we will never Glamor an King named Arthur, and what Cardiff. The slab know. Certainly his st ies show an intimate knowledge of the local area aro

280

Theoriginal Black Chapel Monastery in the ground of Cardiff Castle.

Ancient grave at }he Black Chapel in the castle grunds believed to be around 600 .D

The remains of St. Mary's Church Cardiff, this was the second Black Chapel, founded by Robert Hammon

around 1195 A.
A

inscripbears tombstone at Blackfriars has been exposed to weathering for many centuries, and nowcrushed no chisel by technology can reveal bruising of the stone, or grains tion at all. Possibly modern should be done to protect blows, or some other technique may show something. Certainly something the occupant of the tomb is known. The King Arthur, son of Maurice, grave stone turn this site, until up a long way from Cardiff. by flooding The old parish church of Cardiff was that of St. Mary which was swept away in 1607 A.D. This was founded in 1094 A.D. by Robert Fitzhammon.

of th Taff

Wales Theatre in St. M ry Street, front of the St. Mary Church preserved in the wall of the Prince of aisle each 15 feet wide plus Car ff, is also of roughly the same dimension, being approximately have stood about 20 feet high. side a would peaceful. It is ome forty yards The site f the ruin in the Castle grounds is a beautiful spot and very by running River Taff and set in spacious green parkland, sheltered to th south and west from the s w Taff is the Sophia Gardens now occupied by an e ibition hall and the fine tall tree Across the River Welsh Nationa Sports Centre.

is the accuracy of the ancient recor of the Liber Landavensis The onlyremarka ething aboutthisstory ack to the period 450 to which although re opied periodically down through the centuries, date of Walter Map's statement in circa 1135 A.D. 1500 A.D., and the c rity
n'oedd Cardiff Castle would ap ar to be Caer Oedd and the town would be 'Song of the Graves', in th Book of Carmarthen. The key clue is in the Book of the ancient lines, in the

Llandaff where Gwdyen and his rother Ceido support the election of Bishop of Llan ff and make the grant of the v age of Gabalfa to Oudoceus. Gabalfa is Oudoceus to be Cathedral. The same still a large district of Cardiff o the east bank of the Taff opposite Llandaff eus and Llan Menechi is in fact Llandaff Guodgen and Ceido also granted La Menechi to Bishop Ou church and so the itself. So the Llandaff area before e time of Oudoceu did not belong to the .L.D. pages 159-161 or underneath. be elsewhere Cathedral church of the sixth century h to
-

owerful an of royal blood Gwyddiew' and is the son of Guodgen in the Llancarfan charters is Brocwell. is Br mael is believed to be another brother of Arthwys Broomail (alsowritten Brochwael and me used in the royal families of Glamorgan son of Meurig, certainly Brocmael was a ro mael Ysgythrog. King of Powys was Br Gwent. The contemporary
'that
-

means either norious of Caerwent, so the term Ceido is Ceido ap Ynyr Gwent, Ceido son of (Gwiddgen) brother or that the two were brought up ogether. Guodgen appears as King Gwyddgen half and in several other Charters of Oudoceus the Bishop. ent, son of Brochwael in the Capalva Gabalfa King Arthwys e relative and contemporary of King Meurig, He is clearly of the Royal Family and a Gweithgen son of and King Morgan. He appears in Meuri s Charters on behlf of King Arthwys as en in the settlement charter and when Brochwael. When Meurig murders Cynf du he is spelt as Gwe charter of Meurig's sepulchre he is he is Gwyddgen. In King Morgan murders his uncle Ffr confusing to say the least n another Meurig charter we have Llywarch which Gwyddgen son of Mion son of Gwenddgar.
'

'brother'

ARTHUR AND CARD

modern city of The vast majority of the po lation of Cardiff probably still believe the live in a cathedral, probably th oldest continuous place limited historical significance Yet at Llandaff there is a of Christian worship in Euro e or anywhere for that matter.

.D. The castle and The Gabalfa area is men ned in the Book of Llandaff in Charters of around 550 around the time of the Emperor Carausius around 280-290 A.D. Out te from town centre certainly the remains of an fron Age Fort and a seventeen on the west side of th city is Caerau where there are East IIst Llanishen is the Llan of St. Isan and Rhydypenau the we1I of St, Denis. Roman camp, acre named
Moors is more pro rly Griffith after a son of King ortigern. The interesting Moor, recovered from the sea by St. Illtyd and Llaneder is hill above the estuary of the Ely r is eas are the central areas however. On the An abbot of Arthur's time was fifth century Abbey foundation. Llandough, the lan of Dochau or named Canna who also named Sadwr who became St. Sadwrn. The Abbot had a son or daughter central area of Cardiff on the west bank of the Taff is named after St. Canna. Thes The became a sai districts are ow called Canton and Pontcanna; Canton derives from Canna Town from St. Canna, and
.

Port Cann
On the

s Canna's Bridge.

sounding name. Cathays st bank of the Taff is the central district of Cathays again a Chinese Arthwys or Caer Athwys the field of Arthur, or the Castel or Fort of Arthur. derives rom either e
-

Over centuries area in Britain Walter Map is Caer Fortress.

-

uncertain, The main point is that the site of the original Llandaff monastery is said to be buried there. In addition there is a Black Chapel at Caer-Arthwys Kings are

This is in fact the only this Caer Arthwys has become Caer Athwys and finally Cathays. named for Arthur. Significantly the Blackfriars grave site of which can be attributed as buried alongside the in Cathays and it is here that in 1135 he said that Arthur was but could be any one of seven Princes named Arthur or anyone else for that matter This not King Arthur the II - The Great. although the Glamorgan
-

in Cardiff.

Cardiff The Line of St. Cadoc the Wise Cattwg Doeth. Founder of Llancarfan near
-

entered.the church as Second cousin of King Arthur, a knight of his armies when young, before he then
an abbot. Magnus Maximus the Emperor

King Owen of Britain

Nor

King Tewdrig Prince Anlach of Ireland

-

Solor

Marchel

King Meurig

Glywys
St. Gwyniliw M

King Brychan of Brecon St. Gwladys

King Arthur
(Nowi)

St. Cadoc
-

King Morgan

prince of the church an abbot or a The descent of St. Cadoc illustrates the British concept that a saint, had to be quite bishop the only people besides Kings and Princes who could aspire to be a literally a prince in his previous social rank. need be taken of apparent Girls were married at 13 and often to men of 25 to 40 so not too much notice slippages between Arthur and Cadoc. time
-

St. Canna of Canton (Canna-town) and Pontcanna districts of Cardiff

Glywys

St. Gwynliiw

St. Gwlady; Sadwrn

Gwyddillw (St. Cadoc a brother) St. Canna

Canna is therefore also a relative of King Arthur.

---

m--

283

THE ROYAL DESCENT OF ST. DAVID

Euguen
-

DEWI SAINT OF WALES

Euguene is almost certainly the daughter of King

sister of Mary

(mother of Jesus)

Caradoc son of Bran

Erddolen Afallach Owain

Dwfn Pieran (King Owain)

Affallach or Aballach is frequently named in pedigrees connected with the family of Jesus.

Omid Emwerydd
Amguoil

Gworddwfn
Dwfn

King Euddav of Britain

Gwrddil
Docil

Conon Mieriadauc of Britanny

Ca van

Elen

Magnus Maximus Emperor of the West

(wifeof)

Padarn Pesrud Euderyn

---

Stradwen
M

---

Coel Godebog

Gwawl

Cuneda Wiedig
Ceredig
.

7 other sons

Einion Yrth
Cadwall n Lawhir

Sa dde (Alexander) St. David c. 480 to 544 A.D.

Maelgwn Hir, King of Gwynedd King from 516.

The family tree of David illustrates the great tangle of inter-relationships in the British royal clans. A group of commonly descended families which continually intermarried, with the result that everyone who was anyone was related in one Way or another to everyone else. All relied on the same mass of ancestral groupings.

Clearly David was a second cousin of Maelgwn Gwynedd, and could claim descent from the senior royal line of King Euddav. Sandde, the Welsh form of Alexander, is still the popular form appled to the name in Scotland where the name Alexander remains popular today.
David was Arthur's Archbishop and Arthur as King Emperor and head of the whole clan was therefore Pontifex Maximus Chief Priest. Arthur could also trace himself in a number of different ways back through the labyrinth of ancestral connections to the holy family if he so wished. As like Jesus the son of Mary he was capable of being resurrected he was not greatly popular with the later Roman church. Celtic religion was far more practical and less mystical and Dubricius, David and others claimed this descent.
-

284

CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE GLASTONBURY MYTHS THE NUISANCE CAUSED BY GLASTONBURY

AND CORNWALL

mentioning Glastonbury and with It should be possible to write a book on King Arthur without ever Glastonbury and the brief reference to Cornwall. Unfortunately, due to the lies of the monks of only sixteenth century English traveller and chronicler John Leland the wild imagination of an early association with both places has to be debunked and explained.
-

of all the Celtic as we will see, for the collective security The Cornish connection is understandable the Celtic kingdoms depended largely onthe holding of Cornwall. This was a geographical fact of life that Poitiers) were connected lands of Amorica in Northern France (Britanny and Normandy, plus much of (Dumnonia) and the kingdoms of Wales, by sea to the south western kingdoms of Cornwall, Devon of this association or Cumbria and what is now the Lowlands of Scotland. The key to the integrity Cornwall, which had to be held. alliance was Finbar the Irishman tried to seize Cornwall aided by Guinner the traitor, and King Theoderic had to not Cornwall. For this very same reason only destroy them both, but also to occupy two strategic ports in following the great raid by the Vandals, the King Arthur occupied his camp at Gelli-Wig in Cornwall. ship' (or In fact a most cursory reading of the various tales concerning Arthur will show that mentioned frequently and often. The ancient Celts, just like the shield) of Arthur, named Prydwen, is ships. The sea Saxons, were excellent seamen and they also built and possessed much larger and better his and his wars with the Irish settlers of Brecon and Dyfed what hold offered the ability
'the

to

was

in the west.
the rear, Meurig In the war with the Saxons where the Irish of Brecon and Dyfed attacked Theoderic in its the father of Arthur, played his part as did Marchel, the daughter. Marchel led the force which drove through Brecon, out of Brecon and down west to the sea and out of Wales. Theoderic died later in way and those Saxon wars but Meurig succeeded him and enlarged the kingdom. Marcellus went to Britanny restored fought a campaign to restore order; later he was to die there, but the princes whom Theoderic quarrelled between themselves it was the King of to their inheritances were now his men. When they South East Wales who restored the peace always named first and as King in all the Charters.
-

powerful So Meurig took over a state large and strong enough to throw off enemies such as the Saxons; of enough to control events in Britanny and Cornwall, ruling north as far as Angelsey. The marriage dominance of Welsh Meurig to Onbrawst, the daughter of Gwrgan the Great, set the seal on the family Celtic royal affairs. How many wives Meurig had altogether we do not know, but it was quite normal for wives, one of whom would occupy a senior position. It is thought princes of the period to have several recorded in the that Meurig acquired Gower by such a marriage. King Meurig is in fact exceptionally well of Llandaff, figuring prominently in many of the Charters recorded in the Book, Book

Meurig's chief wife, Onbrawst, the daughter of Gwrgan the Great, brought to Arthur their son, the preeminence of ancestry which did not so completely belong to Theoderic and Meurig. For Gwrgan, her through marriage father, Gorgonius had assumed the mantle and inheritance of Gwytheyrn Vortigern In Arthur and the emperor's family descended through his son Arthun brought the ancestry of Maximus.
-

the lines descended from all the leading British Emperors and Kings, of Magnus Maximus, the line of Emperor of the Roman World, kinsman of Theodosius, Emperor of the East and West and all the ancient Celtic Kings of the Britons.
were combined

had one So it was that Arthur was heir to a strong kingdom with an ancestry mixed but prodigious. He and hold advantage which Alexander III the Great did not have, for his father Meurig lived to rule South Wales, whilst he was elected war-king of all the Britons. To an extent Arthur was aided by the Christian belief of the Celtic peoples. They were amazingly with the but they firmly believed in Heaven, Hell and the Holy Trinity and their wars superstitious, against enemies or invaders, they were also holy wars. This, added Saxons and others were not only wars for the civilised Celts were opposed to primitive and to the racial and cultural aspects of the conflicts in the Saxons, Angles and others, and then to the murderous and destructive savage Germanic tribes Vandals. So to an extent the common Christian belief must have played a part in the wars.
-

THE GLASTONBURY MYTHS

The search for King Arthur in Britain has been made difficult for many reasons, fact that every district or area wishes to claim him for their own; such is reputation even in sophisticated twentieth century Britain. There is a pathetic evidence of the period which might thrqw light on the life and whereabouts of not least of which is the the magic of the hero's lack of written historical the legendary king, there

was before no stone inscribed discovered which carries his name. No crumbling ruined castle was definitely his, in fact there are too many crags, rocks, hills and promonotories scattered the whole length of Britain which are only vaguely identified with his name.
Possibly the greatest handicap which has bedevilled the quest for the king, has been the unscrupulous mendacity and greed of the monks of the Abbey of Glastonbury. These grasping clerics wanted to lay hands on a large share of the rich and profitable tourist trade of the twelfth century in Britain. Their problem was that only those places where the really notable saints or kings lay buried were considered to be of substantial merit and therefore only those centres of religion could consistently draw the large numbers of the richest and most noble pilgrims. Very important people went on pilgrimages; emperors, kings, queens, dukes, earls, knights, bishops, rich merchants and so on and this meant that huge numbers of all other ranks of society followed in their wake. The result for the cathedral or abbey which was the centre of the pilgrimage was great wealth in donations and gifts. The problem at Glastonbury was that there was a distinct lack of famous and revered bones and graves for the pilgrims to visit and to be associated with and so aquire merit. There was in fact no star attraction to draw the crowds to

Glastonbury.
The problem was acute for in 1184 A.D. the Abbey at Glastonbury burned down and needed rebuilding. The only solution was to somehow acquire great and well known men or their bones, who were buried at Glastonbury. As most great and well known personages were buried in known locations, this was a difficult situation. The answer lay in an association with great men of the past whose movements and resting places were unknown or near impossible to prove. By a stroke of the greatest good fortune Gruffydd ap Arthur, also known as Geoffrey of Monmouth, had some fifty years earlier in 1136 A.D. written his 'History of the Kings of Britain' and this work greatly praised at length the mighty King Arthur. This book had provoked enormous interest in Arthur in Britain and France and was seller' tales and romance to provide in the stories woven around Arthur, the framework for all the written and told in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in those two countries. So who better than the fabulous Arthur whose burial place was unknown?
'best 'acquiring'

Next however there was an urgent requirement for a religious notable, for Arthur was not altogether popular with the ancient clerics of Britain as we will see. This again presented only a temporary problem for there was a historical biblical personage available to add lustre to the Glastonbury Abbey. Joseph of Arimathea who took the body of Jesus of Nazareth from the cross was a merchant and so he was a visitor to Glastonbury; even better he brought Jesus there on a visit as a boy and better still Joseph planted his staff into the ground and it grew into a beautiful Holy Thorn tree, the pride of the Abbey. What is clear is that in their drive to corner as much as possible of the lucrative tourist and pilgrim traffic, the unscrupulous monks of Glastonbury had included just about every possible attraction into their list. Not only was their abbey church founded by none other than Joseph of Arimathea, the man who removed Jesus of Nazareth from the cross and placed the body in his own tomb, but they also had the tombs of King Arthur and his Queen. Now the King of England himself was demanding proof, Henry 11 who ruled from 1154 to 1189 was anxious to do all possible to secure his own right and claim to the throne of all Britain and wished to relate to the mighty Arthur. He also needed to lay the ghost of Arthur and prove his death to the Welsh. So King Henry II in 1189 told the monks of Glastonbury to open up the graves of Arthur and his Queen and to prove their claim. Well King Arthur and his Queen, not being buried at Glastonbury, this presented a problem to the monks. Someone had to be dug up to present the remains to the King, otherwise their reputation would be ruined and their major source of wealth would vanish. They solved the problem quite satisfactorily however, not having to present facts before trained archaeologists or to subject their finds to radio carbon or any other scientific testing. A grave was opened and two bodies or skeletons were revealed. One set of bones was declared to be those of Arthur and the other, a female skeleton, was announced as being that of Queen Guinevere. Other artifacts including a lead cross inscribed in the manner of the eleventh century, a mere six hundred years after Arthur, were also found. Everyone was satisfied at the time of this farce, the situation could not really be otherwise. So if King Arthur and Queen Guinevere were not the two persons whose grave was opened, who were the dead who * were so rudely disturbed? The answer is not very hard to find.
'

t in fact the monks of Glastonbury

knew very well exactly who they were digging up to exhibit to the King. They were not digging up the mighty Arthur, war prince of the Silures of South Wales, but they were digging up one of his descendants. The answer lies in the records of Glamorgan. Sometime between 1584 and 1587 one Rys Mirike (Rhys Meyrick}, who lived at Cottrell in Glamorgan and who owned part of the Manor of St. Nicholas some six miles out to the west of Cardiff, set down his 'Morganiae Archaiographia'. The only known manuscript is in Queen's College, Oxford, and this appears to be a copy with additions put in around 1660 to 1680, during the lifetime of Sir Edward Stradling who died on 5th September 1686. Not all that Rhys Meyrick says may be accurate, but as Clerk of the Peace he had accessto all local documents and manuscripts. The pedigree of this Rhys Meyrick has been examined by a Mr. Clark in the Cambrian Archaeological Journal, Volume Ill, 3rd series, page 112 and it appears that he was the subject of a post mortem in the 29th year of Queen Elizabeth I, his son and heir Morgan dying and being the subject of a post mortem on 13th January in the 22nd year of the reign of James i

of England, 1625 A.D.

286

Rhys Meyrick tells an interesting story of Jestin vap Gurga (Justin or lestyn son of Gwrgan), the last prince of South Wales. Prince lestyn ruled Glamorgan and Morganwg, a sizeable piece of South East Wales and he had a rival in the Prince of West Wales, Rice vap Tewdwr (Rhys ap (son of) Tudor) a direct descendant of Rhodri Mawr King of Wales from 855 to 877 A.D. Morganwg at the time stretched from the bridge over the Severn at Gloucester through to the Tawe River at Swansea, encompassing much of (Gwent), Brecon and Glamorgan, and as such was a very large Monmouthshire present Gloucestershire, area. In the west Rhys ap Tudor ruled over what is now Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire, known as Deheybarth, now Dyfed.

These two princes quarrelled and although Rhys Meyrick lists an old story of Rhys ap Tudor wishing to steal the wife of lestyn of Morganwg, he offers also the more credible version. The Prince of Dehybarth wished to include Morganwg (South East Wales) into his dominions and required lestyn to be his vassal. Now this highlights the age-old difference between the Silures of South East Wales and the Celtic people
of the rest of the country. The Prince of South Wales had never been subject to other princes of Wales. Recent agreements 970 A.D.- are quoted whereby this situation was ratified by King Edgar of England. There were the five ancient royal lines of Wales and the rulers of Morganwg were descended from one of them in their own right.
-

"

The result was a war and this was just about the most dangerous situation for the Welsh which could have come about. The year was 1090 A.D. and William the Conqueror, having subdued England and consolidated his grip on the country, had been succeeded by his son William Il Rufus, who was in the fourth year of his reign. Prince lestyn was an old man, residing at Cardiff Castle and at Dinas Powis Castle, three miles to the South Westaand with the fears and lack of resolution and confidence which come with age, he sent his near kinsman, 'Juon' to the court of the English King at Gloucester to recruit mercenary aid against Rhys ap Tudor. This mission presented no problem as the English King would not be directly involved in the war and he obviously preferred to see two smaller princes in Wales rather than one powerful prince. Juon or leuan or Einion recruited a formidable army of Norman barons and their soldiers, led by one Robert Hammon or Sir Robert Fitzhammon, a near relative and powerful ally of William the Conqueror. The Normans led by Robert Hammon numbered twelve of the leading barons and their followers, 3000 men at arms. Rhys ap Tudor appears to have held the whole of the rest of Wales under his control and as de facto King of Wales was obviously too strong for lestyn. He advanced from the north and west into the territory of lestyn and was confronted by the combined army of Morganwg and the Normans near Hirwaun on the Glamorgan and Breconshire borders. The battle which followed may have been a repeat of the tactics employed by the Normans to defeat King Harold of England at Hastings in 1066 A.D., with lestyn and the Normans retreating from the action at Ton Rees and then standing and fighting at Brin-y-Beddau. The result was a defeat for the invaders and Rhys ap Tudor and his son Cynon were both killed. lestyn pid off the Norman mercenaries and dispersed his own army and retired to his residence at Cardiff. The position was in fact one of extreme peril for Prince lestyn for now the main armed force of the rest of Wales was destroyed, his own army was dispersed to their homes and a sizeable Norman army stood fully armed in the middle of his territories. Legend holds that now Juon (leuan) played the traitor, encouraging the Norman mercenaries to turn against their employer Prince lestyn. These barons would not have required any persuasion from Juon or anyone else to adopt treachery as their next guise. Without warning they seized upon the main strongholds of the flat and very fertile coastal plain which runs along the banks of the Severn estuary and took control of lowland Glamorgan. In the confusion which followed the Welsh largely took to the hills and mountains and the Normans held the fortresses of the plains, an area of around one seventh of the county of Glamorgan. In an attempt to stabilise the situation Robert Fitzhammon saw to were granted to several of the many sons of lestyn, whilst he now This action demonstrates quite clearly that the Normans did not there would have been no possibility of peace with any of his sons. happened to the old prince:it that quite large areas of plain land styled himself Lord of Glamorgan. in fact kill Prince lestyn, otherwise

flhys Meyrick describes for us what

y

'

"(The Normans) entered Dinas Powis Castle suddenly and surprised all the holts and persons of anyconsiderablequality in the Vale Country, except Cardiff Castle, where lestyn then resided; the doleful rumour of this treacherous eploit, seconded with the woeful cries of such as escaped their cruelty, did not only alarm but also amaze him; that quitting his castle and country he embarked himself, wife and youngest children, treasure and best moveables, for Sea and took sanctuary at St. Austin's, Back,at Bristol whence after a few years inhabiting there he and his wife removed to Keynsham Abbey and soon died there of old age and lie

there",

287

Now there is one thing wrong with this account of Prince lestyn spending his last years in exile and dying and being buried in Keynsham Abbey. Prince lestyn was not a young man when he fled from Cardiff in 1091, he already had grown sons. Keynsham Abbey was not founded until 1165, some seventy years after old lestyn's flight, so it could not have been the Abbey Church to which he fled and died. There was in fact only one great Abbey on the southern side of the Severn estuary at the time and that was Glastonbury. It appears that Rhys Meyrick, writing around 1570, got his Abbey's mixed up. The important point of all this is that the monks at Glastonbury did in fact have a grave and skeleton of the last prince of the Silures to dig up for Henry when he ordered an investigation. They dug up poor old lestyn and his consort.
Rhys Meyrick, describing South East Wales before the Normans, tells us something of the inhabitants:-

"And as this Soyle, in respect of the lowe and country is but barren, yet in nourishing bringing up tall, mighty and active men it always excelled the other".

The skeleton which was exhumed asthat of 'King Arthur' was that of a tall and mighty man and may well therefore be that of Prince lestyn.
Rhys Meyrick was not slow to draw the comparison of the treachery of the Normans in seizing land with the unparallelled duplicity and treachery of the Saxons six hundred years before in defrauding the British of Loegria now called England. Celtic codes of honour clearly did not apply to these other
-

races. He concludes:"And what a dangerous matter it is to invite Strangers to a prosperous country, for loth they will be to depart when the sweet thereof
is once tasted. Therefore happy are they whom other men's harms cause to beware".
,

The two great princes had caused each other's downfall and they were in fact the authors of their own misfortune. Other Norman barons entered North Wales as soon as Rhys ap Tudor was dead and others, led by Sir Bernard Newmarket, seized Brecon.

'

(
*

from their conquered lands, against the Welsh who still held most of the territory. However peace was to come for Fitzhammon left no sons, only a daughter Matilda (or Maud) and she married Robert the Consul, Earl of Gloucester, a bastard son of King Henry I of England and Robert the Consul managed to negotiate a peace treaty with the Welsh. Cardiff Castle had proved to be very useful being outside England and Robert Curthose, eldest son of William I the Conqueror, had been held prisoner there for twenty seven years by Henry I. This Duke Robert actually managed to escape from his dungeon and got out of the castle but he was caught in the town and brought back, the street near the castle where he was captured still being called Duke Street until recent times. To prevent any repetition the unfortunate Robert Curthose was then blinded on orders from his brother Henry I. Henry I became king in fact when his older brotherWilliam11 Rufus was murdered whilst hunting in the New Forest in Hampshire at 7 p.m. 2nd August 1100 A.D. The circumstances suggest that Henry arranged this murder, for after William Tyrrell had shot the King with an arrow the whole hunting party fled. King William II's body was discovered by a passing charcoal burner who placed the body on his cart and took it twenty miles to Winchester by the next day, Friday 3rd August 1100. Henry immediately seized the treasury at Winchester and raced to London that afternoon to claim the crown. So it appears that he murdered one brother and held prisoner and blinded another. Robert the Consul died and was succeeded by his son WiHiam Earl of Gloucester, who promptly broke his treaties with the Welsh. This did not profit him however, for when he concentrated his army of knights, men at arms and archers in Cardiff Castle, he was attacked there by a Welsh chieftain named Ivor Bach (Little Ivor) and the Earl, his wife and children were captured and taken up into the hills. So Ivor Bach and his sons got substantial land back under the new peace treaty and order was restored. Earl William left no sons and his eldest daughter married Prince John,whertst'fiieKing John I and pthe King of England was drawn into Glamorgan affairs. Both si s ad by now intermarried and mixed to a great extent and relative harmony had been achieved.

The old line of the princes in South East Wales had effectively ceased although descendants of Prince lestyn held lands and lived on in Morganwg and Glamorgan. Sir Robert Fitzhammon and his twelve knights had a continuing problem as their expenditure in defending themselves exceeded their revenues

In later centuries the area would revert to Welsh Princes again when Henry Tudor the conqueror of the English, became Henry Vil of England and took the Lordship from the dead Richard Ill in 1485. Henry gave the lands to his uncle Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, who died without heir and the lands reverted to Henry VII and then to Henry VIII and to his son Edward VI. However the

mainpoint of the story is that there was a suitable grave to be opened, without heirs and

288

successors present to object, over in Glastonbury Abbey. If anyone doubts the mandacity and rapacious greed of the monks of the age, consider the case of the Abbot of Ely in East Anglia, who in the year 974 churchyard at Dereham to dig up and steal the body of St. Withburga A.D. orderedhismonkstogotothe who had founded a nunnery in East Dereham in the year 654. The stealing of actual relics and the
creation
pilgrim trade. of false ones was all part of grabbing as large a slice as possible of the One of the late acts of blatant theft was committed by a cleric later the Bishop of Lichfield and former Deacon of Llandaff, who stole the famous and ancient 'White' Book of Llandaff' from the cathedral
'tourist'
-

church

og

at Cardiff in Wales and took it to Lichfield Cathedral in England. The Bishop claimed to have Llandaff 6ought the bookf rse d whilst no-one believed this, the book has never been returned to can imagine the clamour and outrage if some small trinket were taken from re it belongs. es Canterbury Cathedral and lodged in a church in Wales. In the same way the great golden cross carried before Welsh Princes was seized and taken to Westminster Abbey where the clergy still cling to it.

Actually the monks of Glastonbury Abbey were badly in need of money when they dug up old Prince lestyn in 1190. Their Abbey had been burned down in a disastrous fire in 1184 and they had to get as many pilgrims as possible, particularly rich people, to rebuild and restore their monastic order. So they said that Jesus of Nazareth had visited the spot, that the first church was founded by none other than Joseph of Arimathea, thatthe Holy Grail used at the Last Supper in Jerusalem, was buried at Glastonbury and finally that the fabulous King Arthur and his Queen lay buried there. An unbeatable collection of fantastic attractions to the pilgrim tourists of the early Middle Ages all the aces in the pack. Like any modern journalist sensationalising events, the Monks of Glastonbury were far too shrewd to let the truth get in the way of a good story. So the myth was born and the pilgrims and the money rolled into
-

Glastonbury.
along with his wife, he had been buried for a mere 100 years. The The King in fact ruled an empire occurs first is why Henry II ordered the exhumation. stretching from the South of France through England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and containing a great number of different races, many of whom were Celtic. The Arthurian legend in common with the promise of Jesus of Nazareth, promised that there would be a second coming of the great king and there was actually a great Celtic unrest at the suggestion that Arthur, the son of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, and Constance Countess of Brittany, the grandson of Henry II, was the risen Arthur. The historian Giraldus suggests that Henry II ordered the digging up of the bones buried at Glastonbury to prove that the ancient king could not arise. Henry feared Arthur of Britanny.

When Prince lestyn was exhumed

question
which

The monks actually dug up the graves in 1191 at a spot a little south of the Lady Chapel of the Abbey Church. One Ralph of Coggeshall wrote reports of the actual exhumation and Giraldus Cambrensis visited the site in either 1192 or 1193 and also reported events in detail, viewing the disinterred bones. Then a history of the Glastonbury Abbey was written by one of the monks named Adam of Donerham, a century later in 1291 A.D. Subsequent to the event a tomb was built in 1192-3 to hold the bones. This was visited in 1278 by Edward I King of England and his Queen Eleanor, when the tomb was opened to allow the King to see the bones. Then the relics were moved to a much more elaborate tomb at the front of the High Altar of the Abbey where they lay until the time of the great Reformation of the church in England beginning with the Act of Supremacy in 1534. Then when the King of England became the Head of the Church in England, hisminister Thomas Cromwell divested the monasteries and abbeys, including Glastonbury. The tomb containing the bogus remains of 'King Arthur' was smashed and despoiled and the bones lost. with the bones in 1191 was recorded as being seen by been The small lead cross which one John Leland around 1542. It was then apparently taken to Wells Cathedral where it lay until the seventeenth century and then it was lost. This small lead cross was the important piece of evidence as it carried an inscription carved upon it. This is quoted by Ralph Coggeshall at the time of the exhumation
-had

'discovered'

as:"Hic iacet inclitus rex

Avallonis sepultus". "Here lies the famous isle of Avalon buried". kng Arthur in the

Arturius in insula

Giraldus Cambrensis gives a different

"cum "with

order

of the words

together with an additional

*

sentence:-

Wennevera

uxore sua secunda" Guinevere his second wife".

Not only are there these differences, but also Ralph Coggeshall also states that the bodies lay in a very quodum vetustissimo sarcophago', whilst Giraldus tells us that the old sarcophagus (a stone coffin) concava'. On top of all this John Leland in bodies lay in a timber coffin (in a hollowed oak), 1544 quotes the inscription on the cross differently to both Ralph and Giraldus:'in

'querca

"Hic

iacct

sepv/tvs

inclytvs rex Artivrivs in

insula Avallonia".

289

"Here

lies buried

the is/e of Avalon".

'inclitus'

the famous King Arthur in

The is virtually the same as the translation and copy of Ralph and Giraldus, minus the Giraldus extra pice about Guinevere. John Leland spells but there are no other major differences. as There was in 1607 a published sketch of the This was contained in the sixth edition of 'Britannia' published by Camden. It has been reasoned cross. that as this scale drawing was six and seven eighths in length it could not have appeared in the first five editions which were on pages of not more than seven and a half inches, whereas the sixth edition was on pages of twelve and a half inches in length. If this printed sketch is accurate, then experts date the cross as being of the tenth or eleventh century period, near the time of the death and burial of Prince lestyn a twelfth century forgery in tenth or eleventh century style. Certainly it is held that the shape and formation of the lettering are definitely not those of the sixth century. Experts identify the C's as too square and the N's look too close to H and so on. There is another point to consider, for the sixth century practice would have been to place some form of slab of stone or upright pillar inscribed with the name of the king. There is no trace of such a stone which would have been inscribed in Roman capitals, possibly Ogham, or possibly both. The latest archaeological evidence is from an investigation of 1962or where evidence of St. Dunstan (who was Abbot of Glastonbury after 945 A.D.) raising the level of the cemetary area and enclosing it with boundary a wall was examined. Dunstan laid a layer of clay to raise the ground level and this clay overlaid the base of what is thought to have been a mausoleum which obviously existed before the raising of the level. The structure may well have been a small chapel or offertory. Certainly Dunstan did not hesitate to demolish whatever had stood on the spot, which certainly casts doubt on the importance of whatever had been there. There is also no evidence that the later exhumation of 1191 was at the same spot as the building or whatever it was that St. Dunstan covered over.
'inclytus'
-

past Hill fort in 1532, a mere one thousand years after the demise of Arthur, and by inspiration it as the legendary Camelot. John Leland had ridden through the villages of Queen Carmel and West Carmel and saw the ancient earthwork fort on the hill and so Cadbury became Cadbury-Camelot. The result of the machinations of the Glastonbury monks and the inspiration of John Letand has been that constructive search elsewhere has been blighted for centuries. Whether that alternative search would have produced results until now is impossible to say, but the situation has certainly not been assisted by the Glastonbury monks in their headlong rush to get a major share of the mediaeval tourist trade.
'identifying'

Certainly the sixth century inscription would not have termed Arthur as king' nor would there have been any location mentioned, in the isle of Avalon'. The whole of the Glastonbury evidence does in fact appear to be total fraud a as far as it relates to King Arthur. In fact much of the furore over this being the Arthurian location resulted from dear old John Leland riding Cadbury
'illustrious 'buried

John Leland further confused the issue in 1532 after his inspired of Cadbury hill fort as Arthur's Camelot, by proceeding to another completely unfounded identification. This time he pronounced that the River Camel in Cornwall was the scene of Arthur's last battle, as the name Camel was roughly similar to Camlan or Camlann, where the battle was recorded as being fought 1000 years before.
'identification'

Now all this instant archaeology completely ruined the trail of the ancient King. First, there was no need to look elsewhere, the whole story had been identified. The birth place of the king was Tintagel Castle in Cornwall ENGLAND although this edifice was not built until around 1100 A.D., some six hundred years after Arthur. The castle of the King to be Cadbury Hill fort- ENGLAND which refortified and in use in Arthur's time. Thewas was in fact last battle was to be at River Camel in ENGLAND where a battle was indeed fought around 830 A.D. at the Slaughterbridge site. Then finally the king found buried at Glastonbury in ENGLAND by was to be the monks of the Abbey.
-

In fairness

century

it must be stated that a Celtic monastery existed at Tintagel from around the mid-sixth just after the Arthurian period, but it was never the place of Kings.

However, we have a gigantic propaganda exercise on the part of the English Kings to appropriate the legendary Celtic hero king. This is all too obvious and well in keeping with the age-old anxiety of royal families to trace their descent as far back in time to all the great historical rulers of the past. There is and always has been a desire on the part of ruling families to legitimize themselves, to show that they are entitled to their exalted position by claiming ancient ancestral rights and symbols. Of course it is utter rubbish that a man should claim a position simply because his great, great.................grandfather held such a position, yet the vast majority of people fall he invaded Wales around 1280 the English King Edward I for this nonsense and they always have. When had as one of his objectives the capture of the reputed crown of King Arthur held at Caernarvon or Nevern, a trophy which he took back to the Tower of London. In the same the same King seized the ancient Stone of Scone from way Scotland, upon which Scottish kings were seated when crowned. The whole effort was one designed to gain the whole of Britain and to steal not only the control over symbols of Celtic power, but also their very legends and history. King Henry II was anxious to kill off Celtic unrest over a supposed reincarnation of Arthur, either immediately or in the future.

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The fact that the dead Arthur posed a very serious threat to English kings was finally shown when Henry descendant of the ancient Welsh Tudor landed in Pembrokeshire from France in 1485. Henry Tudor, of England. He had been born in Pembroke Castle and when he royal houses, had a claim to the throne red landed in Wales he had the intelligence or inspiration to bring with him a flag, a banner with a dragon upon it. This by folklore and legend was the ancient banner of the emperors of Rome and also
that of Arthur. For various reasons of blood, kinship, politics English, the Welsh flocked to join Henry and he triumphed and the age old smouldering hate of the to become Henry VII King of England.

The Arthur legend had revealed its potency and Henry promptly named his elder son Arthur, Prince of of Wales, heir to the throne. This elder son Arthur shared the fate of every other eldest son of kings England named Arthur, he died and never succeeded to the throne. Richard I, King of England, had a nephew as his heir, Arthur of Brittany, Prince of Wales, but his uncle King John had the boy killed, thrown from the walls of a castle in 1203 A.D. Another king, Henry I also named his eldest son Arthur, this prince was drowned in the sinking of the 'White Ship' in 1120 A.D., and so he also never became king. Henry I had no other son and his daughter Matilda had a disputed reign with King Stephen of Blois, unhappy experiences the English son of Adela, daughter of William I the Conqueror. After these three Kings gave up the idea of naming their sons Arthur; it was obviously an unlucky practice and the long dead Celtic emperor was still a potent force to those who would upsurp his name. Not until Queen Victoria, who ruled from 1837 to 1901, did an English monarch dare to use the name. Victoria named her third son and seventh child Arthur, Duke of Clarence and this was again a rather unfortunate circumand very stance. Arthur Duke of Clarence died childless, strongly believed to be mentally defective strongly rumoured to be involved in, if not the perpetrator of, the famous 'Jack the Ripper' murders in Victorian London. It would appear that Arthur's name and heritage is neither for sale or for stealing. The situation did the Glastonbury monks no good either, for Henry Vill, second of the Tudor Kings, devastated their Abbey which now remains a crumbled ruin. It would be wrong to place too much emphasis on the fact that modern archaeologists have traced the of what might be a structure of a building of some sort in the old cemetery levels of foundation Glastonbury Abbey. This could have been a shrine, a chapel, a mausoleum, a place of an old stone cross cemeteries where similar foundation or relic, in fact anything. There are in fact at least two other ancient finds have been made and graves are believed to have been clustered around the building or whatever stood in the cemetery, possibly hermits' cells.

THE WALL AT CADBURY HILL

The design of the wall built on top of Cadbury Hill in the sixth century to defend thefortresshasaroused interest among archaeologists. There has been much speculation as to why the Celtic people reverted to
such a structure after being able to observe the Roman brick and stone waH building techniques centuries. This is all quite extraordinary as the answer is very simple.

for

The history of Julius Caesar's 'War in Gaul' was written by the great general himself. In one section the great Caesar describes the seige of Avaricum, the capital of the Bituriges people, during his struggle with the united confederation of all the Gauls under Vercengetorix their paramount chieftain. Book VI section XXIII lines 23-42:"But this is usual/V the form of aH Gallic waHs. Straight beams connected lengthwise and two

feet distant from each other at equal intervals are placed together on the ground; these are mortised on the inside, and covered with plenty of earth. But the intervals we have mentioned are closed up in front by large stones. These being thus laid and cemented together, another row is added above, in such a manner that the same interval may be observed and that the beams may not touch each other, but equal spaces intervening each row of beams is kept firmly in its place by a row of stones. In this manner the whole wall is consolidated and the regular height of the wall be completed. This work with respect to appearance and variety is
priatv
,

je

owing to the alternative rows of not beams and stones, which preserve their order in right lines; and besides it possesses great advantages as regards utility and the defence of cities; for the stone protects it from fire and the wood from the battering ram, since it (the wood) being

291

mortised on the inside wth rows of beams generally forty feet in length can neither be broken through nor torn asunder", So here we have the greatest of Roman generals telling us exactly how the Celtic people built their fortifications and we have exactly such a fortification on Cadbury Hill. The Roman army were the masters of seige technology, possessing all manner of engines to batter down or through walls, and they took by storm great cities all over Europe and Asia. Here however we have Caesar himself telling us that this is the strongest type of defensive wall possible, which cannot be battered through or torn down. The only way to get inside such a fortress was over the top of the wall. In Gaul Caesar built huge mounds to match the height of the wall and rolled his seige towers up these massive mound slopes to drop down drawbridges to let his legions over the wall tops. The Gauls raised the wall height as he raised his mounds and the whole thing was long drawn out. On Cadbury Hill, up on steep high slopes, there would be no possibility of building high ramps to get above the wall level and so the Britons had built an impregnable fortress on the hill top which could not be battered down, undermined, burnt or scaled by mounds. This actually puts Celtic fortress building into a better perspective and gives the lie to the concept that the later Normans built the best and strongest castle fortresses with their stone constructions. Any force undisturbed from attack in the rear could usually force a Norman castle and the record in Wales at least, shows that most of these imposing looking stone structures were in fact stormed, taken and damaged with some frequency.

So we have the answer to the origin of the style of fortress building on Cadbury Hill. It was purely Celtic and it was stronger than other types of fortresses. Caesar says a little earlier:"To the extraordinary valour of our soldiers, devices of every sort were opposed by the Gauls since they are a nation of consummate ingenuity". and then he tells us further of the walls:"For they had furnished moreover the whole wall on every side with turrets and had covered them with skins (hides)".

That the Celtic nation reverted to their own style of fortress wall building if indeed they ever abandoned it is not at all surprising. Their walls required only abundant natural resources of timber and stones and no great trade skills in masonry. At present we do not know if any such sixth century refortification done on the other side of the Bristol Channel in Morganwg because the investigation has not been was carried out. There are sites which would merit investigation on the North of the Severn as we have sought to indicate.
-

The site of Caerau Llantrisant is slightly larger than Cadbury and remains of the three concentric rings of mound walls remaining contain a great many stones. This indicates a very similar construction of
probably the same period. Finally, when the English London Government in the 1970's decided to re-organise 'Loc nme t' they stated that they were re-creating the ancient Welsh Kingdom Areas. As expecte got it all wrong again. They resurrected Gwynedd, Powys, Dyfed, and even Brecon but they bout old Morganwg instead we have South Glamorgan, North Glamorgan, mid-Glamorgan, Gwent and of course three counties remain in Gloucestershire, and Ergyng in Hereford.
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DINAS POWIS,DINAS EMRYSAND DEGANWY CASTLE

DC

The Welsh tradition of local folklore transmitted by memory down through the centuries maintain that Dinas Emrysin Snowdonia in North Wales was the stronghold of Emrys Ambrosius of the fifth century. Ambrosius was the historical leader of the British against the Saxons. His location up in North Wales paints a totally different picture to that of 'Roman obsessed'historians. These same traditions also recall that the hill fortress at Deganwy was the castle of King MaelgwnGwynedd -'L'Ancelot' the contemporary of King Arthur. Again the picture is of Britain being simply Wales and of Arthur and his ancestors and successors ruling the South whilst the other Royal clan ruled the North.
-

Modern archaeological research has shown that these ancient hill fortresses were in fact occupied and in use during the fifth and sixth century period. There is therefore quite a reasonable assumption that the princes who used these hill forts were in fact Emrys Ambrosius and Maelgwn L'Ancelot'. This is important for it fits with the logic and fact of the perennial struggle between the great King of South Wales and the Kngs of North Wales. It also fits the story in the 'Life of St. Cadoc' by Caradoc of Llancarfan which mentions a treaty between King Maelgwn Gwynedd of North Wales and King Arthur
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292

who is not located, but who must be the King of South Wales for Maelgwn's sons are said to be raiding into South Wales where Llancarfan is located.
Th excavations at Deganwy and at Dinas Emrys match excavations at a small hill at Dinas Powys near ardiff, which also reveals clear evidence of occupation during the period of 400 to 600 A.D. The Dinas nd this is of some significance for there was a 'Roman Villa' Powis site is one used b a+emmWf Wh down on the Ely race was also the location of metal working activity. This activity erred f seems to have been open vulnerable site on the flat land near the River Ely up to the defended small hill fort site. This move of two miles is still close to Cardiff and if jewellery was made at these places the indication is that there was a Royal court to protect and support the activity. The various sites associated with the Glamorgan Kings in the region bear out this theory. Equally important is the surviving tradition from Britanny that when the great St. Gildas removed from this Glamorgan area to there he kept up his skilled trade of metal working. King Arthur's sword Caliburn.was said to have been made at Avallon, and Avallon being by legend a holy lace brings us a stage further. It is quite possible that the Villa built on the Ely racecourse site was inhabited by Monks who were metal workers amongst other things, in keeping with their inherited Druid foundation set up by King Lleirwg around 170 A.D., a monastic traditions. The villa may be the settlement and nothing else. There are no other villa settlements in the area other than King Owen's monster palace twenty miles west at Llantwit Major. This is an attempt to make sense out of the stories the histories and the facts which have survived down to us today. The Ely site is well away from the Roman centres of Caerleon and Caerwent and is in the centre of the territories of the British Kings.
'church'

What we have to do is to stop being mesmerised by the mediaeval tales from Tintagel and Glastonbury, and to start looking at the facts as they are. The re-founding of the ancient church by King Tewdrig and his son King Meurig around 450 to 500 A.D. means that the original church was destroyed. This fits with the destruction of the'Villa"at Ely in Cardiff and the transfer of the church to another site. In support of this thinking we have not only the fortresses of Maelgwn and Emrys, but also others. Another prince of the Arthurian period was named Buan and he was traditiongly said to have lived at an ancient fort in North Wales. Excavations of the old castle ruin of half an acre set inside an Iron Age hill fort of twenty eight acres again showed occupation between 400 and 600 A.D. at Garn Boduan. These repetitions of evidence which matches the tales are not coincidence or mere chance, they are part of a general pattern of proof. If Arthur's sword was made at Avallon then it is far more likely that it was made at Dinas Powis or up in Angelsea than in Glastonbury. The evidence on all counts is very strongly in favour of the Cardiff locations and other Glamorgan sites used by the successive Kings of the Arthurian Dynasty.

The clue lies in Welsh Bardic and Christian practise clearly stated in the Laws of Howel Dda in 900 A.D.
-

and recorded in English in the "Myvyrian Archaiolegy of Wales" of 1801, and also in the "History of smithing the Welsh Bards" of Edward Jones of 1794. The practise of metal working was strictly and exclusively reserved to the Bards. As the Bards were of the Druid order, and the Druids had become the Bishops and Priests of the Celtic Christian church around 180 A.D., it is obvious that a metal working site was a religious site. So the Ely was in fact a monastery of around 150 A.D. and the Dinas Powis hill site of around 500 A.D. was the same. This would indicate very clearly the location of King Lleirwg's church of around 150-170 A.D.
"villa"

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CHAPTER

FIFTEEN
-

BRITANNY

THE THIRD KINGDOM

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF LESSER BRITAIN The British colonization of Northern Gaul, which resulted in the foundation of the major province of Britanny was neither an accident nor was it a panic flight by thousands of people out of Britain. It was in fact a deliberate strategic policy, designed to produce the direct result of protecting the main island of Britain. The area was one which was obvious for seizure and expansionist colonization, as can be seen from any map. It was also the area of Northern France which the British regarded as belonging to them from the times well before Julius Caesar, who had attacked their kinsmen the Vennetti who dwelt there.

Britanny isahugepenninsular bounded by the seas to the North the West and the South. This means that there is a limited land frontier to be defended, with natural barriers of the Loire river to the south Seine to the east, providing formidable frontier barriers. The geographical position of Britanny and the opposite the Southern coasts of what is now England makes it the obvious place to seize and hold to prevent cross channel invasions of the island. Much of the coastline of Britanny is rocky, rough, rugged and dangerous, defensible. With its rock strewn coastline of cliffs, Britanny is therefore

and the best harbours are eminently defensible.

and available across the channel is also supplied. The advantage to the nation was of course frboth sides o e chanane edormidable strategirc advan nf t u ig at n e s and began with the joint c expedition of Magnus Maximus and Conon Mieriadauc in 383 A.D. As the leading prince assigned to this task of settling and protecting Lesser Britain, Conon stood high in the royal order in Britain. He was, according to WefsfrTr'adition and record, the son of the sister of King Euddav, the paramount king whose personal lands were in Gwent and Hereford. The great granite tomb of Leon in Britanny, and his wife was the legendary St. Ursula. As Cynan and Conon lies in St. Pol de Conon in Welsh has the meaning of Chief, it is quite possible that Conon Mieriadauc translates as Count of Denbighshire.
,

offered

from Northern Germany, Denmark, Belgium and Holland and to create a strong British tate on the continent to act as a barrier if possible as far as the untains. The clear indication is that the British were considered to be well able to deal with savages w were moving westwards across Europe. The motivation of so many British to emigrate t h free lands which were
'

The actual land grant of Magnus Maximus to his British kinsmen and allies was traditionally held to be much larger than the present day area of Britanny in France. It was said to extend from Cantguic now Etaples, Le Touquet the mount of Jupiter to the Grand St. Bernard. This was an enormous slice of Northern France, and the attraction for the emigrants from Britain was similar to that offered to emigrants to America in the 18th and 19th centuries A.D. The whole plan was designed to hold back the barbarians
-

The emigrating population took with them the place names of their homelands, and so there was a duplication of names just as settlers in America duplicated the names of European towns and cities in their new homelands. So there was region known a as Cornuailles named after Cornwailles North Wales and also a Dumnonia named after Dumnonia which is now part of South Western England. A number of place names in Britanny recall Mieriadauc and several rulers used the name Conon, one sixth century ruler of Vannes being recorded as 'Conon' by Gregory of Tours.
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The second major wave of emigrants was led by a chieftain named Riothamus, which may mean Rhi tavwys, or the Prince of the Thames. The old histories state that Conon took with him either twenty three thousand or sixty three thousand soldiers, either figure would represent a very formidable force with wives and children. The Rhiothamus expedition is dated as around 450 A.D. and was again a very large and formidable movement. The fighting men were said to number either 12,000 or 20,000 men, a considerable army at the time. This second mass move was directed further south of the first migration which seized all Britanny and the Northern coasts of Gaul, for the second target was the Loire vaHey and Anjou and Gascony. Here the British fought a tremendous battle with the Visigoths, blunting the Gothic drive to the North. The precise date of this mass convoy and fleet leaving for the Loire is uncertain, but it is known that their army was recruited by the Emperor Anthemius, a Vandal general Ricimer, to fight the Visigoths who had moved into Acquitane. puppet of the Suevian As Anthemius can be dated as Emperor between 467 and 472 we know that the second British migration was before that date. Rhiothamus was said to have sailed up the Loire with 12,000 British troops all paid for by Anthemius. This demolishes the nonsense stories that Britain was totally a Roman Province, and was left helpless and defenceless when the legions withdrew. The 'Roman' myth of Britain needs to be shown for the complete exaggeration and which it is, and thrown out once and for all. nonsense
-

Traditions in Britanny record that Rhiothamus had a son named Dieniol (Daniel) Dremrud who actually went off to become King of the Germanic AIIemani. This strange tale of no benefit to those who wrote it or repeated it and must be taken as correct. It does all indicate was that this second British colony was a powerful force, for it mirrors the happening

same

when in 556 A.D. the Picts of NorthernScotland

e

294

sont for Breiddau the third son of the great King Maelgwn of Gwynedd to comeand be their King. It is the same as the life story of Odovarca, who was recruited as a foreign king. Certainly King Childeric of the Franks allied with Odovarca and the Saxons in 468 A.D. to attack the AIIemani and there would be threat. every reason for the British in Gaul to ally with the Allemani to meet this common Emigration went on piecemeal all through the fifth and sixth centuries and for ages afterwards, in Britanny a federated group of countries emerged in a loose alliance in the typically British fashion, each ruled by its own count. These areas were each closely identified with their own parent areas in Britain and owed only a loose allegiance to a paramount leader. The major common activity was the spreading of their Christian type religion amongst the indigenous population and there was a constant flow of 'Saints' between Greater and Lesser Britain for centuries. One other well remembered visitor to Britanny was the Mighty Arthur, who was contemporary with Prince Rhouval or Howell, which again place Ploumerl meaning helps to date Arthur. One place popular with Arthur was Plou-Arthmael of Arthur'. This is interesting as Arthmael is the Glamorgan spelling of Arthur.
'the
-

The strategic policies pursued by the British on the grand scale rules out any notion that they were a bunch of frightened townsmen and farmers deserted by their friendly neighbourhood legions after 383 A.D. The British emerge as a powerful and aggressive state, under strong and intelligent leaders. Britanny was to become the 1hird of Arthur's kingdoms and to play its part in preserving his legend. Even King Maelgwn of Gwynedd, a king of all Britain after Arthur was wounded is remembered in Maelgwn. So the legendary Britanny at the Chateau Tremelgon near Vannes Tre-town and megion 'Sir Lancelot' did in fact spend some time at least in France. Strange how the legend continually proves to be based on fact.
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THE THIRD KINGDOM

IN BRITANNY

As we have explained earlier, the people who knew themselves as the British were a race of herdmen who did some land cultivation but who primarily took open upland areas upon which to graze their flocks and herds. They occupied three major and distinct areas. The first was Wales which they called The second area was Northern England and Britain, calling themselves Cymru meaning the of the north' and the third kingdom was that the lowlands of Scotland, their territories of the which they held in Northern France, called Lesser Britai or Britanny today. Probably it was an area of e d sixth centuries-u uc-h gre x E
'kinsmen'.
-

'men

the as Wales, has always been rife with legends of King Arthur and these mainly centre on The of Lannion which literally teemed with stories of the great King Arthur of Britain. district North prince of Domnonee Dumnonia in Britanny was Hoel Howell or Rhuval and history and tradition state that he and Arthur were great friends. This accords well with the Welsh Triads which state that Arthur was supreme King of the Three British Nations, and their territories of Wales, the North and Britanny. A brief look at the map will show the importance of the sea connections between these areas and the need to hold the islands of Man, Angelsea and the Scillies and the Cornish penninsular. The would supreme King would have toured these three areas of the great provinces of the British and he have held court periodically in all three. Britanny,
-

In Britanny the traditions place his court at Ker-dleul now the site of a fairly modern chateaux, which lies a few miles from Ploemeur this name derived from Plou the place of and Arthmael Arthur. The archaic spelling Arthmael or Arthvael also occurs over in Glamorgan. These traditions are quite specific country' for a Dark in naming these locations. The area is one of woods and streams and ideal Age King. Near to Ker-dleul is the ancient port of Perros Guirec with an ancient Roman church and here also are remembrances of Arthur. The capital of the West pillar of the South porch shows St. Efflam coming to the aid of Arthur who is fighting a dragon. This is not without some significance for in this Lieu de Greve area St. Efflam is remembered as coming to Britanny from Ireland. He was met on hunting' and Arthur acknowledged him as the beach where he landed by King Arthur, who was his cousin when he heard that Efflam was a son of the King of Ireland. This fits the correct Glamorgan genaelogy of Arthur being the nephew of Anlach, Prince of Ireland Anlach marrying the sister of King Meurig who was Arthur's father. They met near a rock named Hyrglas, and Albert Le Grand who and was covered with preserved the folktale tells of how the boat was said to have been of wickerwork hides just like the reconstructed ship, 'St. Brendan' which made the epic voyage from Ireland to the U.S.A. in the 1970's. The Breton records state that Arthur put on a golden helmet on which was the figure of a dragon and that he was clad in a coat of (chain) mail. His sword was called Caliburn and was and his made in the isle of Avallon and his shield was Pridwen with a picture of the Virgin Mary called Ron. AII very similar to the Welsh tales. ance was
-

'hunting

'dragon

"

Efflam is said to have been Diplomatic alliances and a acknowledged if this is tru
'dragon'

Saxon princess who he deserted in order to join the church. been much more advanced and well developed than generally

which was devastating the whole area and so St. Efflam went Arthur was unable to defeat the to his cousin's aid. The saint did the trick leading the beast away peaceably into the sea. What it means is that after the original conquest of Britanny in 383 A.D. by Conon Mieriadauc with Magnus Maximus, the old pagan religions still lingered on and were being rooted out and replaced by Christianity. St.

295

Efflam succeeded with tact and preaching where Arthur failed with the sword. When Efflam buried head first at Toul Efflam but died he was as was often the case he was later dug Plestin was formerly the up and moved to Plestin. This of Gestin' Welsh lestyn an older Amorican Saint who was replaced and overshadowed by the more prestigious Efflam.
'place
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Another story of King Arthur of Britain occurs in the 'Life' of St. Genovesius, another Breton this period. There can be little doubt Saint of that Arthur was over in Britanny either for an extended period on frequent visits. The best sources of Arthurian Breton legends are from the collections of Arthur or la Borderie and Albert le Grand who de assiduously collected and catalogued the folklore before it could be lost in the turmoil of modern times. It is possibly difficult for modern generations how unchanging times to appreciate just and conditions were in remote rural areas for some two thousand years before the advent of the train, the motor radio, newspapers, television and so on. Britanny being one of the three realms of Arthur has close car, associations with Wales and many of the great figures of the Welsh heroic period also figure in Breton history. There is of course St. Samson, another who was educated at Llantwit Major relative of Arthur in Glamorgan, became the Abbot there and then moved on to be a bishop (at York7) before taking ship to Britanny to eventuany become Bishop of Dol. Down in the valley of the River Blavet is ancient chapel called La Roche Blavet, built under a great towering mass of jagged granite. Herean St. Gildas is said to have made his sur home with St. Bieuzi in the tiny chapel. St. Gildas founded the in a tiny wooded chapel. Here Gildas monastery at Rhuys but preferred to live at La Roche sur Blavet busied himself at metalworking, casting wonderful whilst Beiuzi fished in the river. This is metal bells, extraordinary for Gildas is known to have spent much of his life in the Cardiff area where Dinas Powis is located. There may well be connections between metalworking sites, active at the these two same time in history. Gildas could have learned working art at both sites. or practised the metal-

The story of Gildas the friend of Arthur and the great historian of the British is from his 'Life' in Britanny. He lies buried at his monastery at Rhuys the Welsh told and remembered Rhys or Rees along with his disciple St. Beiuzi. At the southern headland of the mouth of the Loire there is Point St. there is St. Gildas island and there is Gildas, near Sarzean the village of St. was washed ashore in its funeral boat and this is the story. When Gildas. Near here the body of Gildas Gildas was ill and dying he knew that there would be a squabble over his bones for monks arrived hastily from Wales ready claim. So he directed that his body should to stake their be placed in a small boat and where it might or where the will cast adrift of god directed it. Well three months after this had beento come ashore drifted into a small done the boat cove near Sarzean, long after marks the spot and in due course the remains ofthe British monks had returned home. An oratory St. Gildas were taken and buried monastery at Rhuys. His story is typcal of his at the nearby chief who had moved down into North Wales, times. Born one of the many sons of Caw a northern Gildas studied at Llantwit Major under the learned Illtyd the wise Druid Knight. St.
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His contemporaries in the college included the young Maelgwn Gwynedd, St. Paul Aurelian, of Wales, St. Samson of Dol,Magliore St. David and many others. Along the his many pupils are said coast of South Wales, St. Illtyd and to have worked to build a great long dyke along the mud of the sea shore where Illtyd marked its course with his staff. This dyke acted deal of very valuable land as a sea wall and as a result a great was reclaimed from the sea. This part of the is or was such a dyke running along story of Gildas is true, for there the sea shore at Cardiff between the Taff Ti estuary and the Rumney at the old boundary of the city. Every old resident of Sptott and Tremorfa in Cardiff others will remember it, the fields behind and many it were occaisionally covered known as the at very high spring tides and were fields'. Beyond the Rumney River the dyke, known the the Rumney bridge down wharf' ran from near to the Severn shore and then east along the as shire to the Rivers Ebbw and Usk at Newport. The Dyke built by filtyd and his followers including Gildas continues for the east bank of the Usk. This is how all the Pengam moors and Tremorfa at Cardiff a mile or more on also the whole were reclaimed and area of Marshfield between Cardiff and Newport around 520 A.D. It was a remarkable ineering featstill visible and effective today nearly fifteen hundred s Ipter
'tide

'great

Gildas when in Glamorgan became the frind of King Arthiir d he wa wise, InWaleshewrotehisgreathistorical mself caHed th sermon, the 'De Excidio Britanniae'and him as 'Doeth' the Welsh remembered wise. For long periods he dwelt on the Flatholm (or Steepholm) island of Cardiff Severn estuary and on the island he built in the the chapel of the Trinity. Here he had the rock where it is thought that he a monks cell, a cleft in wrote. Gildas and his close friend St. Cadoc lived as hermits for periods on the Flatholm and Steepholm; this being the Cadoc who was a nephew of the mighty Arthur, and the founder of Llancarfan monastery, nine mites west of Cardiff. Later at as a missionary teacher to Ireland, preaching some period Gildas went the Christian gospels.
'sapiens'
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Finally Saxo.pirates destroyed the chapel that Gildas had built himself by hiding in on the island a cleft in the rock. He was then rescued from the island and the holy man saved by a British ship which came and took him off. At some time in his life there was a strain for Arthur executed Heuil on his relationship with King Arthur, the brother of Gildas, This was resolved between the two at Llancarfan by a meeting of reconcilliation Abbey with the King travelling pre mably from the castle at Cardiff

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The ruins of the Castle of Count Comorre or King Conomurus who was also known as King Mark, or March Ap Meirchion by the Welsh by the and as Count Comotus Franks. He was killed in 556 A.D. by Ithael the grandson of Howell the second of Britanny who may have been aided by King Arthur.

The statue of St. Efflam at Plestin Church in Britanny. He was an Irish cousin of King Arthur whose
father King Meurig had an older sister named Marshel who married Efflam the Irish Prince Anlach. met King Arthur on the beach at the Lieu De Greve opposite Hyrglas

Rock when he landed in Britanny.

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(k\

mbat paganism which was still flourishing at the great centre of to e Britanny mainland. He set the goddess at Castenac where oach Houard was worshipped. And so he came to pass his last years at La Roche sur Blavet, casting bells being on hand to heal poor little St. Tryphina. So we can trace Arthur's friend St. Gildas from North Wales to Llancarfan to the Wye Valley to Cardiff, the Flatholm and Llancarfan, over to Ireland, back to the Cardiff area and then to Britanny to Houat island to Rhuys monastery and to La Roche sur Blavet. The great long sea wall from Cardiff to Newport proves the basic truths of these old stories.
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which had been built around 250 A.D. For one reason or another Gildas finally left South Wales and took ship to Britanny where he on the island of Houat and again lived as a hermit, writing and udying. Once more he was dri nf the peace of his island so he set up a monastery at Rhuys on

The study of the Welsh Breton stories and their connections would fill a book on their own, for a great number of the personalities of the Arthurian period are to be found recorded on both sides of the channel. We can illustrate this with one example from the family of Conon Mieriadauc who led the British armies over to Gaul with Magnus Maximus in 383 A.D. The great Cononave had a brother named Fracan which sounds very like the Welsh Brachan or Brychan and Fracan had a wife named Gwen the White. This Fracan landed in Britanny at St. Brieuc and settled at Ploufragan the place of Fracan with his wife and two sons. There a third son was born, named Guennole and although his father wished him to become a soldier, Guennole insisted on becoming a monk. He was trained by Correntin of Ploumodiern, later the first bishop of Quimper, and finally as a grown man of high respect he founded the Abbey of Landevennec. Here were collected a huge quantity of rare and ancient Celtic manuscripts over the centuries but finally in the French Revolution the whole lot was seized and so sold by looters. So an irreparable loss occurred in early modern times. The antiquity of the Abbey of Guennole can be gauged by the fact that the tomb of King Gralon, the first King of Britanny after Conon, is.stiH there preserved until our times.
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placed inside churches, which is precisely what is stated in the records Arthur's father Meurig and other senior Kings, inside churches and demonstration that these people were building two storey houses at looking for Arthur need not involve funeral mounds or cemeteries

The tomb of St. Guennole lies on the eastern side of the ruined abbey building and that of King Gralon lies in the church as well. The King's tomb took the form of a little house where wooden figures of watchers in the upper room guard the sleeping King below. This tomb can be added to the great granite tomb of Conon Mieriadauc himself lying in the Cathedral of St. Pol de Leon and thuswe have the tombs of two fifth century British Kings of the Royal clan to whih Arthur belonged. Both are significantly
of the Book of Llandaff concerning not outside in cemeteries. It is also a least. This is useful for it proves that outside ruins and saves much time.

preserved

Britanny did not suffer the continual raids and destructions on the same scale as was common down / through the ages in Wales, with Saxons, Danes and then the English, time and again looting, burning and SC destroying. For, whilst the superstitious Welsh never had designs on England, and never destroyed churches in mostof their wars, the Saxons and Danes and English had no such scrupples. Under its Dukes, Britanny
its culture more fully, these Dukes becoming supporting vassals of the French Kings.

Several of Britanny's Dukes were named Arthur as were a number of the Glamorgan Kings. It was fear of Arthur of Britanny which had Henry 11of England so worried that the grave digging of the monks at Glastonbury Abbey was authorised and undertaken in 1091 A.D. and another Arthur of Britanny fought at Agincourt in 1415 and was later very largely responsible for the restoration of Francios VII and most of his territories. Even Du Guescelin came from Britanny, from Rennes.
So this area which was seized and settled and colonised by the British from 383 onwards is one where much of the folklore and history of Dark Age Britain, the Britain of King Arthur, is found preserved, whilst it has largely been destroyed in its homeland. The Bretons even have a 'Valley of no Return', where the Druid wizard Merlin finally died; where he met Vivianne whom he loved. Merlin is said to have died and lies buried under a massive holly tree near the Fontaine de Juvence, where he failed to recover his youth. This is near the village of Trehorentec, a place where the frowning brothers of the lovely Viviane opposed the old wizard who failed with his own incantations to regain his lost youth and so marry the young girl he loved. Perhaps it is all untrue but most folklore is based on solid fact of some form or another. Significantly Breton folklore is quite positive about the life and existence of Merlin, a whereas British tales are not and he must be a native of Britanny if anywhere at all. The widespread evidence of the practice of older reli i makes the existence nny in the Arthuri lief in Merlin as a ma i credible there than m les wh had b stian for so long.
'pagan'
'

from Italian-Genoese bankers, finally succeeded in getting his ha s on eputed crown of Arthur at Nevern. The whole purpose was to convince the Welsh once and or all that A ur was dead; somehow it never seems to have quite worked for Arthur r ost hke real' that he was before. e
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The power of the legends of Arthur can be gauged from the effor ma e by&nglish Ki s to steal the descended glory of Arthur in an age when Britanny, Scotland and Wales ere sepera olitical entities. Henry 11 dug up poor old lestyn ap Gwrgan and made a great fuss in one of his wives at Glaston 1189. Edward II dug them out again in 1284 claiming from Arthur and holding a great urnament at the remote castle and church site of Nevern in Cardigan, West Wales. After his third war in Wales,the first two being disasters for him, Edward, who had recruite alf Europe with the aid of loans
'descent'
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298

Fifth and Sixth Century Roman War Galley as was available to Maximus, Victor and Arthur

299

THE FORTRESSES OF KING MARK

COUNT CONOMURUS
'period

Much has been written following the excavation of Cadbury Hill in Somerset which revealed that this ancient hill fort had been re-occupied during the of Arthur', from 400 to 600 A.D. The fact that a Celtic type Dark Age chieftain or king re-erected defensive walls on the hill at this time does not mean 1hat this person was Arthur. The territory at that time appears to have been that of Aurelius Canninus, an older contemporary of Arthur, as recorded by St. Gildas. Later it was that of Conomurus or King Mark, also known in Gaul as Count Comotus or in Britanny as Conmor. This King Mark might be the Welsh March son of Meirchion, or Mark the son of Marcianus, was a powerful ruler in the Southwest of England, which leaves no room for Arthur. Mark also held lands in Dumnonia in Britanny, again we have the confusion of Dumnonia in Southern England and Dumnonia Domnonia over in Britanny just like Cornouialles in Britanny, Cornwaites or North Wales and Cornwall. At one time Mark manoevered and intrigued to seize most of
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Britanny and the Breton legends recall him as a very evil character, a fearsome and oppressive tyrant in fact. The hill fort at Cadbury is more likely to belong to Mark Conomurus, or Aurelius Canninus than to Arthur.

on a hill top above the River Blavet, close to the town of Mur and near the Chapel of St. Tryphina who enough to have been one of Count Conmor's many wives. Breton legends recorded that he murdered at least five wives. The tumbled walls were of dry stone and un-mortared, and probably half timbered and stockaded just like those on Cadbury Hill.
was unfortunate

Over in Britanny this King Mark of Dumnonia built himself a fortress of a similar nature. Here this Mark, son of Marcianus accepted thetitle of Count from King Childeric the son of Clovis the Frank, and became known as Count Conomurus or Conmor in folk tales. The ruins of the powerful stone walled hill fortress which he built at Finians can still be seen today. This castle of Count Conmor (Comorre locally) stands

The story of the ferocious Count Conmor or Lord Comorre was handed down the ages by the peasants of Britanny. They told of how Conmor believed that a prophecy told that his own son would kill him, and so he poisoned his first wife, strangled the second, burnt the third and beat the fourth to death. The fifth wife was Tryphina who tried to escape and who was beaten and of exposure in the forests, pursued by the maniac Lord of Finians.
'died'

There is probably a basic element of truth in the story, for Welsh records call old Mierchion his father mad'. The story also relates that the great St. Gildas who was the great British historian and the friend of Arthur, was called to cure Tryphina, which he did. The whole thing looks like a very bad case of wife battering and Gildas who was staying with St. Bieuzi at La Roche sur Blavet hurried to Gouarec where Tryphina was taken, to cure her. As Gildas had learned his medicine from the great St. Illtyd in Glamorgan he was able to heal Tryphina who was probably beaten unconcious and was not dead yet.
'the

The result was that all the bishops of Britanny gathered together under St. Herve and they publicly denounced the evil Lord Comorre King Mark, their meeting taking place on Menez Bre. They condemned the crimes of the wicked count who had nearly murdered Tryphina who was in fact the daughter of the Lord of Vannes who lived at Morbihan. Tryphina rejoined her father and four brothers at home, before founding and running a nunnery and dying (as all Celtic nobility who entered the church) as St. Tryphina. Somewhere in the story is the truth of this variously named and known King or Count or Lord Conomurus, busy making plots and diplomaticmarriagesand leaguing with the Franks, the Saxons, the Frisians, Jutes,and so on,before being killed himself by Judhail (or Ithael) who came to reclaim his lands.
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South East Wales.

As with Maelgwn and Emrys in North Wales, his fortress is still traceable and visible. With Constantine and then Erbin and Geraint holding Cornwall in Britain in succession and with Mark (Comomurus, Conmor, Comorre) and his predecessor Aurelius Canninus holding Dumnonia, it is impossible to actually fit a 'King Arthur' into the South West of England. There is no need to as he was at the time ruling

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN THE EVIDENCE IN THE HOLY PLACES

THE HOLY PLACES

Every nation has its holy places and these once established rarely change. One religion supplanting another often uses the old holy places. These holy places attract the attention of the people and their leaders and often these places are attractions to pilgrims. Here the great make their gifts and seek to have monuments to record their names and titles. Way back in ancient Egypt the gods had their unchanging centres of worship and the kings recorded their exploits and gif1s to Osiris at Bustabis and Abydos and Amun-Re at Karnac and so on.
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It was the same in Rome with the great temple of Jupiter Capitolinus and in every other established state and city. There is also the possibility that this was also the case at Margam in South Wales. This was the in prospects', corrupted to Siluria by the Romans, and kingdom known as Esyllwg, meaning then to Glywysswg and finally to Gwlad Morgan and Glamorgan under Morgan the successor to Arthur II. We have seen how some ancient practices where weapons, cauldrons and other metal objects were thrown into sacred lakes in both Glamorgan and North Wales and how this became tacked onto the legends of King Arthur. The idea of a hand rising from the depths to take the sword flung into the water we have explained at Llyn Fawr at Hirwaun.
'abounding

Whilst there are ancient tumuli scattered around Hirwaun it is at Margam that there is a concentration of remains and signs. Here twenty five miles west of Cardiff we have a place with an obvious name correllation with that of the goddess of deep water, Margam. Here also is a great pool, the pool of Kenfig. This is an extraordinary body of water, for it lies in sand dunes a mere 1000 yards from the sea and there is never a trace of salt in the waters. It is a 12 feet deep pool yet covers 70 acres with a two mile circumference. The pool has always been the subject of local folklore and fable, with talk of a drowned town beneath the water, old tales of dwellings beneath the lake. Such ideas are common in Celtic lands yet one of the old Charters of the Margam Abbey of the time of King John records that there was an island or form of dwelling in ruin in the centre of the Great Pool. This immediately brings to mind the find of a great oaken shrine building in the smaller but similarly shallow lake at Llyn Fawr up at Hirwaun. This may mean that Margam and Kenfig were indeed very holy places in Morganwg. Certainly the mass of ancient mound graves peppering the hills above Margam Abbey indicate this and there is then the mass of stone memorials of the Christian era found in the immediate area, some of which we have described. This does appear to be the place of Kings, with ancient hill forts dotting the hill tops, the stones and mounds. There is the question of why did King Morgan choose this area to build his Abbey and to set up his bishopric and why are there so many traces of ancient saints cells in the area including that of St. Theoderic who may be the old King Theoderic. There are 27 Royal mound tombs on the hills above Margam. Strangely there is a buried town at Kenfig but it is not buried by water but by sand. A town was built by Robert the Consul at Kenfig which was an important place in mediaeval Glamorgan as early as 1184 to 85 A.D. An excavated area of the town's castle shows a bailey curtain wall of around 8 to 10 acres so it was quite large. The sands of the Severn however encroached on the town around the end of the thirteenth century and during the fourteenth century the situation was critical and a prohibition was placed on any act likely to aid the advance of the sands. Disaster struck in the sixteenth century when there was a catastrophic sand storm which covered all the arable land of the entire Kenfig borough and reduced it to a waste land as it appears today. So we have a mediaeval Pompeii of the sands, a walled town and castle buried in sand. The indefatigable John village on the east side of Kenfik and a castle, booth in ruines and almost Leland wrote in 1540 shokid and devourd with the sandes that the Severn so casteth up'. Then the new Kenfig was built on higher ground and so the old stories began to get mingled together.
'a
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With modern underwater equipment it should be possible to one day find the remains of whatever shrine stood in the lake or pool at Kenfig. How far it will throw light on the ancient people and their practices is difficult to even guess, Odd bits and pieces have been found in the area, a sixth century bronze broach and later period iron arrowheads and so ort. As all water was regarded as sacred by the Celtic races there is every chance that this, the largest body of fresh water in Glamorgan would have attracted their attention. Elsewhere in Glamorgan we have the ancient cathedral of Llandaff which must havesome extraordinary tombs beneath its floors, as must the ancient church at Nevern. The church of Llanilid still stands rebuilt on its ancient site and there is the very ancient 'Choir of Eugene' at Llantwit Major later named for Illtyd. Far from being over the search for Arthur's Kingdom has not really started yet.

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STONES
We have elsewhere referred to some very important tombstones the Vitalianus or Vortimer stone and the Maglocunus or Maelgwn stone in the church at Nevern are two. Then we have the stone found at the ruin of the chapel of St. Gwladys on Gelligaer common, Gwladys a niece of Arthur II. There is also the great turf cross of Bedd y Gwydell, the grave of the Irishman, which can only be for Anlach the husband of Queen Marchel the aunt of Arthur II. This however is only the beginning of the evidence in inscribed stones of South Wales.
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The area with the greatest concentration of such stones is Margam and its surrounding area. The one which we single out as important is a stone found at a hamlet 2 miles south of Margam, just north of the ruin of Kenfig castle. This stone is inscribed:PVMPEIVSCARANTORIVS Attempts to produce following:an old Welsh translation
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of this clearly sixth century

script have produced

the

PUM BYS CAR AN TORWS

'The five fingers of our kinsmen killed us'.

Now this is an utter nonsense as the inscription is clearly Latin and not Welsh which was not used for such stones so early. It is simply and very clearly:PVMPE I VS C A R A NTOR I VS
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'Pompey the kinsman of Arthur'.

The answer to who was Pompey is again very simple. The fourth son of King Brychan of Brecon who was Arthur's first cousin was named Pappai or Pappay which is an old mis-spelling of Pompey, or the British version of the name. This stone is of considerable importance as it locates a person of the South Wales royal family, a close kinsman of King Arthur II, and actually names the great King.
Next at Margam we have the 'Bodvoc' inscribed:BODVOCIHIC IACIT stone, which is again a sixth century memorial stone, which is

PRONEPVS

ETERNALI

CATOTIGIRNI FILVS VEDOMAVI

This inscription translates as follows:'Here lies Budic the son of Catogirnus, great grandson of Eternalis Vedomavus'

This is a remarkable monument for one of the ancient 'Lives of the Saints' states very clearly that Arthur !! was in Dumnonia in Britanny with Cato and that Cato was ruling there. There were several princes of that branch of the emigrant clan of South Wales named Budic, one fled to South Wales to get help from Theoderic the grandfather of Arthur 11and there was another contemporary with Arthur who also came to South Wales. What we have here is the tombstone of the second Budic the great grandson of the first Amorican Prince Budic, the son of Cato. Even some modern scholars who should know better have made the quite extraordinary mistake of confusing the Dumnonia of Britanny with the Dumnonia of greater Britain now the South West of England, a district where the South Wales clans never held lands.
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This Bodvoc Budic stone is probably a piece of evidence of the gathering of the Celtic armies to repel 'Twrch Trwyth' the 'Despicable or Dissolute Boar' of the Mabinogion who was of course the Vandal nation under their King having been driven out of North Africa by the imperial forces of Constantinople. This Budic son of Cato, a name definitely linked with Arthur may well have died in the fighting in
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South Wales.

A great cross stone at Margam is known as the Conbelin stone and may be of the period 800 to 900 A.D. The inscription is believed to be CONBELIN POSSIT with probably MEMORIA and also GLYWYS AND NERTAT. The cross carries two carved figures and the base is decorated with what looks like a hunting scene. Other inscriptions may be SOD-NA-CRUCEMFEC-IT, possibly 'The cross of Christ made by Sodna or Rodna'. There was a King Glywys before Arthur 11 and another minor king of the same name around his time according to the Book of Llandaff but this may be a later prince of the area. There is sense in proving these other later connections for if many parts of the whole story of the South Wales epic history can be proved as correct then other parts with less material proof available have greater credibility.

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There are a great many ancient stones at Margam. At Cwrt-y-defald near Kenfig the Ilquici Cross stone was found. This is a six foot cross stone with the inscription:PETRI ILOUICI

T.........CTCER

IRCHAN

T.

Another similar cross is also inscribed as:M IN NOMIN CRUCE 'IIci made this cross in the name of the most high god'. ILCI FECIT
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HANC

E DI SUMMI

The names IIquici and IIci which are Latin spellings can be found in the Book of Llandaff, and so we can trace these people. Also at Margam is another cross stone of six feet high, the Enniaun Cross. This marvellously stone is inscribed:CRUX XPI
+

decorated

ENNIAUN

P ANIMA

GUORGORET

FECIT

'This cross of Christ Einion made for the soul of Guorgoret'.

churchyard Yet another Margam cross stone is the cross of GRUTNE, three feet high and found in the with the inscription
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INOMI NE DI S-UMI

CRUX CRITDI

PROP

ARABIT

GRUTNE

PRO ANMA

AHEST.

'In the name of the most high god, this cross of Christ was prepared

by Grutne for the soul of Ahest'.

So we know that stone crosses were memorial stones for eminent persons. One old cross stone was found in the Egiwys Nunydd Farm yard. Eglwys meaning Church. This cross is carved with a head and central boss and is four feet high. The interest lies in Eglwys Nunydd meaning the Church of Nunydd, for a very great number of the ancient churches of old South Wales were taken over as farmhouses. Now almost inevitably King Brychan the first cousin of Arthur, had a daughter named Nyuein or Nyuen. The stone is inscribed but so defaced that the name of the person commemorated is not known.
One stone found at a farmhouse near Port Talbot railway station is inscribed TUME. Another Roman up) in the reign of the Emperor Caesar Flavius Valerius stone at Margam is originally inscribed for Maximinus, the unconquerable Augustus'.
'(set

This same stone is inscribed the father of Paulinus'.

HIC IACIT CANTVSVS PATER PAVLINVS meaning 'Here lies Cantusus

studying Abbot Paulinus taught St. David at Llantwit Major and it is known that St. Paul Aurelian was with St. Illtyd at Llantwit Major, Paul was a Saint of around 510 to 560 A.D. The stone poses the question of who was Cantusus?

This reusing of older stones is shown on the Pumpeivs Car Antorius stone, which also has the inscription ROLACUN MAQ ILLUNA, and there is the ancient chapel site at St. Roques at Merthyr Mawr. The full 'Conbelanus placed this stone for his soul Saint Gliuissi and Conbelanus stone inscription reads Nertiat and for that of his father. It was prepared by Seitoc'. This Gliuissi may well be a King Glywys.
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At Merthyr Mawr south of Margam where Conbelanus cross was found there was also the Dobitaucus 'In the name of god the fa1her and of the son cross originally seven feet long. The inscription reads:of) the Holy Ghost Dobitaucus prepared this cross for his soul and of his father'. It then goekon to (and until judgement day. At the state that Dobitaucus acquired this piece of ground for his burial place church of St. Teilo are many stones, one marked PAVLI... FILIA MA...., so we have 'Paul the son of Ma.....'. This could be Paul son of Maurice or Monric but we will never know.
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In this same area at Aberavon at Upper Court Farm in 1910 a srnall stone inscribed with a cross and also GELUGUI N', was found. 'The cross of Christ (owned by) Geluguin. Whether this is 'CRU. X XPI Gelli followed by Guinner is again not certain.
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Up in Central Glamorgan at Aberdare stood a stone with 'GLUVOCA' inscribed. The stone is now at Cyfartha Castle in Merthyr Tydfil. Infact Gluvoca sounds like several of the ancestral names of Vortigern, and it will probably translate as either Claudius Gloyw or as Cluvius Glywys.
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St. Baglan was one of St. Illtyd's disciples around 500 to 550 A.D. there is slab, believed to be 9th century. Up at a stone slab in a church marked BRANCU with a cross on the Bargoed near the site of the stone at St. Gwladys at Capel Brithdir on Cefn Brithdir one mile from At Baglan near Aberavon
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Tirphil station was a stone marked:-

'Tegernus the son of Madrun lies here'. TEGERNA CUS FILI-US MARTI HIC lACIT of Vortigern also Madrun not Martius'. 'St. Tegernason of Madrun daughter
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303

'

In the reign of King Brochwael there was a prince nam d March Marcus, the son of Pebiau Phoebus, who killed his cousin Hortwlf. This is in the time of Bishop Cyfeiliawg who was consecrated in 872 and died in 927 A.D.
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In fact there are stones all over Wales churches for preservation. For example with carvings of trees. Near Bridgend at fountain' or well is a pedastal covered all were named for Saints.
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of all sorts, often cemented into the porches of small parish the two in the church of St. Donats which were once decorated field of the Penyrallt Farm in a field known as Cae Ffynon with interlaced and twirled carvings; whose Fountain or well7
'the
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At Capel Llaniltern, six miles north west of Cardiff in St. Illtyd's church is an ancient stone inscribed Great' so here is 'Vendumagli hic iacit', which is just 'Vendumaglos here he lies'. Well Maglo means someone important. If as we think Vendu means Vivian and Vivian is Gwrgan, then we may have Gwrgan the father of Queen Onbrawst, mother of Arthur II. So we can continue to surround Arthur with his
-

'the

family and relatives, all in Glamorgan.

Over at Coychurch two miles from Bridgend at St. Crallo's church are two inscribed stones. One nine foot cross now damaged has EBISSAR carved on it- Ebissar. The other stone says:- EBISSAR-CONDITORECCLESIE-QUIESCIT or 'Ebissar founder of this church rests here'. How is Ebissar interesting? Well there are four names on one stone at Llantwit Major and these are: Arthmael, Ithael, Samson and Teca-g. The first two are definately royal names of the royal clan of Glamorgan, Arthmael is a spelling of Arthur, and Ithael isTnverted to Hywel Howell. The third name Samson was used by Bishop Samson the nephew of Arthur 11 around 500 to 560 A.D., and also by an eighth century Abbot of Llantwit Major. This Arthmael may be King Arthur or else Arthur III, son of King Rhys, and grandson of King Ithael who was himself the grandson of Arthur II.
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From the Llandaff Charters we discover that Arthur II, the great legendary King Arthur had four sons named Nowi, Gwaednerth, Morgan and Ithael. This King Ithael figures in a Charter grant of lands six miles from Cardiff and twelve from Llantwit Major. The names on this old stone are probably those of King Arthur II and his son King Ithael, his nephew Abbot (later Bishop) Samson and of course Ebissar Tecurus this may mean Arthmael may bethe Deacon. As the stone lists Samson King Ithael Arthmael the Strong. The Welsh knew all about Tarquinius Superbus, Third King of Rome, they derived their Prince and Terwyn words Teyrn Strong from the same root source.
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So we have the possibility of only three names and not four on this stone. St. Samson, the nephew of King Arthur followed by King Ithael, son of King Arthur (B.L.D.) and then Arthur the Prince Prince being the style used by Roman Emperors and as such senior to Kings. Teyrn being Prince drawn from Tarquin or similar roots. Ebissar is Eoassa or Ebissa the Saxon who Arthur defeated at the river Douglas.
-

Another stone at Llantwit Major also has four names Iltu, Samuel, Regis and Ebissar. Here we have the name of Illtyd the founder of the monastery at Llantwit Major and a brother-in-law of the great Arthur II, together with Samson who is either Abbot Samson of the eighth century or Bishop Samson who was Arthur It's nephew. Ebissar from Coychurch is inscribed with these names along with Samuel, and Samuel was one of the princes who was a witness to charters of King Morgan son of King Arthur ll. He had a son named Cerigan. What the word Regis King is doing on the stone is not clear at all unless it simply means 'The King'. Samson's rank was "King", so Samson Regis is correct.
-

The important stone at Llantwit Major is the Pillar of Samson. Actually it is more than that, and is inscribed 'In the name of the most high God was begun the cross of the Savious which Samson the Abbot prepared for his soul and for the soul of King tuthahel and for Artmal 'Tecurus'. Yet another stone is the cross of King Howell ap Rhys, the ruler between circa 800 and 880 A.D. This is inscribed
-

with 'In the name of God the father and of the Holy Spirit, Houelt prepared this cross for the soul of Res his father'. So we have four of the Kings who succeeded after King Arthur 11all with their names inscribes at Llanilityd Fawr. If a name appears on a memorial stone then it is that of a King, Prince,
-

Princess, Bishop or Abbot and all top clergym

of royal blood.

There are other stones with carvings, defaced inscrip s, figures of men in kilts, a man on horseback and so on scattered throughout the small churches and cha of the area. There is a remarkable nin road, which is very badly worn. foot high stone pillar up on Gelligaer common at the side of the an Ietters may be recent At one time the letters Defroihi were thought to be inscribed on this pillar. but there are signs of something more than just this pillar in the area. There are stones all over the area, many embedded into church and chapel walls so not all the decoration or inscription can be read. At Llandough the site of an ancient 'Ar urian' period abbey on the west of Cardiff is a very old Celtic Cross and as we know that such c osses were used to act as d it has decorative memorials to very important people it is worth study. Although weathered and m incised patterns oTThe cross shaft and also bears sculpture. One side of the base shows five busts, one of whom is crowned and is therefore a King of some importance whilst the oppos face shows clearly a horseman. The only name on the lower shaft is IRBIC. Certainly the showing g and a horsema 11r is significant. The wearing of a crown by Arthur was in fact a significant even the histories.
~iii

304

It carries the inscription:- 'REX ARTORIVS The Sword shaped stone. FILI MAURICIVS' which means 'BRENHIN ARTHWYR AP MEURIG' in Welsh, whicht translates to 'King Arthur son of King Maurice' in English. Some of the lettering is damaged but clearly visible.

We find that many Dark Age and Mediaeval Manuscripts use 'REX ARTHURM or 'ARTHUR REX' indiscriminately, and here it appears that by placing 'REX' before the name 'ARTHUR SON OF MAURICE' identifies both as Kings of South Wales, and therefore it correctly paramount King of all Britain.
At some time in the past the lower shoulder of the right side of the stone has been broken off.

305

At Ogmore Castle where the armies of Arthur 11gathered as described in the Mabinogion story of the 'Dream of Rhonabwy' another stone was found with the inscription which states 'Be it known to all that Arthmail has given this field to god and to Glywys and to Nertat and to Fili the bishop'. These are the same names Glywys and Nertat which are on the Con Belin stone at Margam and the word name dfil. Most important however is the name of the King granting the land, Fili is on a stone at mot ualr lamorgan form of Arthur. Whether this records an earlier grant made by or Arthmoil later carved into stone to avoid legal wrangles is pure guesswork, it may ih Arthur 11or Arthur .I of around 950 A.D. even be Arthur IV of around 800 A.D. or King Arthur son of King Nowi of Gwent Syn a very much underestimated part of the story of the history.
-

There are
gr h u
-

stones than anus

-

ention y addin ere aglocu er a n or Vor

cribed t
gwn G edd

the

Another stone at Llantwit Major is the work of King Howell the 42nd King of South Wales for his father King Rhys the 41st King. It is inscribed 'IN NOMINE DI PATRIS ET SPERETUS SANTDI ANC CRUCEM HOVELT PROPE RABIT PRO ANIMA RES PATRES EVS'.

'In the name of God the father and of the Holy Spirit, Howell prepared this cross for the soul of his father Rhys'.
There was a later Rhys the 48th King who also had a son named Howell the 49th King Arthur il being the 37th King of the line.
-

Over at Llammadoc is yet another sixth century stone, inscribed VECTI FILIUS GVAN HIC IACIT or 'Vectus son of Guan here he lies'. Exactly who this Arthurian prince was we do not know.

THE ROMAN NAMESOF THE BRITONS

There has been considerable confusion over the use of Roman names for some of the British leaders of the fifth century A.D. and the use of Celtic names by others. This has caused all manner of speculation particularly as the most able war leader of the Britons in the second half of the fifth century was named Ambrosius Aurelianus. Many have felt that this indicates a resistance by the thoroughly Romanised town element of lowland Britain, principally the south of England, as distinct from any general Celtic British effort. This is a misreading of the situation for it is simply not true that some of the leaders had Roman names and others had Celtic British names. All of them the whole lot had Roman names. It is simply a matter of sources and how the names have been handed on down to us. Where the names have passed down through Welsh or Cornish tradition they have been mutated and changed to fit the developing Welsh
-

language.

The earliest Kings of Glamorgan are named in the genealogies as Glywys and Gwrgan, the line into which we trace Arthur starts with Tewdrig and Meurig. In simple terms these translate as below:Glywys Gwrgan
Tewdrig Meurig
-

Glycerius or Clutorius Gorgonius or Voconius or Varius or Vivian

Theoderic Maurice or Theodosius

To illustrate this we have introduced a listing of these Roman/Celtic name adaptations which clearly demonstrates how the Celtic rulers to the Roman tradition, claiming not only descent from Magnus Maximus (the Greatest of the Great) whom they called Mascen Wiedig, but also retaining their age old claim of kinship with the Romans. Of the more familiar Welsh and Round Table names, we can list Sir Kaye or Kai or Cai quite easily Cai is Caius, as in Caius Julius Caesar and Gryffydd is simply Ruffinus; which Sir Peredur is Pedmon which is the Roman Petronius. The name Merlin derives from Martinus
-

became the Welsh Merddin, Myrddin and later Mereddyd

and Meredith.

These name derivations or parallels give possibly the most important clue to the unravelling Arthur. story of the British struggle for survival and within this the story of

of the

These name lists are worth reading for it is here that the explanation Aurelianus and see what happens to it in Welsh:Ambrosius Aurelia
-

lies. Let us again take Ambrosius

Emrys Eurddy! or Ervil

-

good s is a well used Welsh name even in modern times so far so King Pehian son of Erb and ruler of Ergymg part was e seen n to of the fifth century. Eurddyl was Aurelia,the mother o
-

ddyl as we have

ddle as Dy rig.

306

speech'. Their Kimmerians are all recorded as being nations of differed The Pelaegaians, the Carians and the peoples of Asia Minor. Their way of life that of other tongue and pronunciation differed from carved and decorated, for they were who built in stone and from that of the highly cultured Phrygians, change it. This is exactly the nature of the people who lived within their environment without seeking to and tribes. British Celtic races Welsh nation and the other long forgotten for Pebiau is Aurelia? Well that is very straightforward, Eurddyl What of Pebiau the father of this somehow a little more comfortable with will feel simply Phoebus, it is our firm belief that Englishmen with Celtic versions. It is in fact our urgent wish traditionally Latin explanations than they have these tremendous inheritance of the Celts to which they are the that the people of England realise and share government, intermingling and intermarriage. Too many rightly partners after centuries of mutual foreign wars and fought and died as comrades in too many Englishmen and too many Welshmen have conflicts for us not now to share our history in some way. and difficulty intelligible and to try to break down any barrier So we append these lists to make the names speak or pronounce Welsh easily. who do not which may somehow li in the minds of ose fought invading Saxons and d followers were British and they In short, that all of us who now are called British should ish people, but Angles, wh share this pride of inheritance,
-

'rude

THE ROMAN

BRITISH NAMES

Britishwhich are common to both Roman and ancient The remarkable point about the lists of names that the conservative British people similarity. There is no way Welsh society, is the sheer volume of the particularly in the hills and mountains of would have adopted so huge a number of Roman type names, literally This mass of translatable mutated names means Wales, even after three hundred years of contact. the British before the Romans arrived. that these were names in use by one thing and one thing only, and that the Welsh did not adopt the mass of Hebrew As proof of this it is a matter of stark contrast eighteenth and then the nineteenth until the late Biblical names now so common in Western Europe, of mistaken religious zeal, the Welsh began to stop centuries. Then at this very late stage with an excess and began handed on to them from remote antiquity using their own names their historical cunings their institutions had This is not so surprising when it is considered that 1hing is that the to use the names of the Bible. by one over the centuries. The astonishing been so thoroughly razed and destroyed one prolific use. names endured for so long in such grandparents, uncles, aunts and great grandparents and People name their children for their parents, their and when there this way. They also name children after great men so on and names live on in families only great names which heroes, no leaders, they finally turned to the Samuels, Johns, were no great men left in Wales, no finally the Hebrew influence told and the they were told about those in the Bible. So proliferated. The university college settlements of the James', Pauls Omris, the Michael's and so on policy of giving over Welsh cathedrals and abbeys monasteries of Glamorgan had perished long ago, the destroyed them in Norman of often lesser churches in England had and churches to be subsidiary houses with Saxon raids had destroyed the records and pirates or times. This more than any attacks by Viking also finally began to go. destruction of the record of history, so finally the names
-

the

endured from situation where the names used in Wales have What we have in effect is an extraordinary of the Welsh but probably before that. This means that the names not only the age of Julius Caesar that somewhere back in remote antiquity, the gives an astonishing clue to their origins. The names mean crossed, or mingled, or existed close together. This bears out paths of the Romans and the British met, or bulk of their from Asia Minor. The Etruscan aristocracy and the did. the history of both races having come demonstrated by geographical naming, that the Celtic Cymru also people certainly did and we have picked up, borrowed or taken from the Romans. The names demonstrate ancient origin, they were not after a thousand years, are few amongst the Welsh, The Welsh already had them. Norman names, even fewer and copying from the Bible after nineteen hundred Saxon names after fifteen hundred years are all that the Welsh impact over the past two hundred years, There is no way at years has only made an wholesale basis after two to three centuries of loose and British would have taken Roman names on a domingi.gn by Roman overlords, its enormous framework, a great number of has to be remembered that the Roman Empire had within part of the Empire. In fact the Romans interllowed to rule their own lands as who w clie of the best normal arrangements in the provinces of their Empire. Some fered as li as possib e Christian Bible where Herod the Great and later his three known of uch arrengements ar depicted in the ruling in Roman Galilee, with Roman Procurators and Legates there to rarchs are describ Pontus,Lydia, sons the line'. In Asia Minor and Syria there were client kings, in m see that every situation applied to Britain. Capadocia and elsewhere and the same being discovered, one magnificent Palaces belonging to British Kings of southern England are now in Fishbourne. This indicates that the Roman interest was example is that of King Cogidubnus at
'

'

307

collecting taxes from the provincial states much of which went to pay the legions and auxiliaries to defend those areas and in setting up a trading system of towns and ports. The Roman army guarded the 'Fat milk cows' of the empire, King Cogidubnus is remembered as traitor in the Welsh Triads a and his great Roman Palace at Fishbourne proves it.
-

The point is that there were in Britain a number of hereditary dynastic houses and these were able to exist along with the Romans just as the later British empire tolerated Maharajahs and Rajahs (Kings) in India and kings in African nations and Pacific Islands of its empire Tonga Fiji. These royal houses had British/Roman names from acommon root origin and when the Romans withdrew they re-emerged in the highland areas where Roman power had penetrated least effectively.
-

Now this is important to our story, for a great deal has been written in the past, not only about Emrys the Leader or Emrys Wiedig as Aurelianus and therefore a person with a Roman name, but also about Roman derivations of Arthur's name. It has been pointed out ad nauseum that there was a Roman tribe named Artorius. This is merely guessing for a way out of what The Roman to be a problem. Empire had disintegrated, whatever was left of its noble families seems was scrambling for bits of land or even small kingdoms and it is impossible to comprehend how a Roman named Arthur could have come to Britain and been accepted by the Celtic aristocracy. As a suggestion it does not make sense, as there is nowhere from whence such a person could draw his armed forces. Arthur, like all other British names, has its Roman counterpart, but Arthur was British, the son of King Meurig of Glamorgan.
The explanation and translation of the common names and the Grail stories, fitting them into place in history. will bring to life the characters of the Arthurian

LATIN
Adrianus Aelius Aemilianus
.

WELSH Adran now Adrian

-

Huail Emlyn Edern e.g. Edern Davod aw Eithyr e.g. Eithyr ab Llywarch Aedd e.g. Aedd Mawr the Patrician Aetius
-

Aetarnus Aetherius Aetius Agnes ) Agnetia )

Agricola Albanus

Annes, Anne Nest

-

Aircoli and Grigyll Elvan e.g. Elvan Powys

Llywarch

Alexius AIIectus
Alpinus Albinus Alumnus Amandus

Elyw Elaeth

) )
.

Elphin e.g. Elphin ap Gwyddno and Kenydd ap Elphin i.e. Kenneth mac Elphin King of Scots (Cunedda-Kenneth)
Alun now also AIIen, Alan Avan

Ambrosius
Ammonius Andragathius Antoninus Arcadius Arcturus Aristobulous

Emrys Amwn e.g. Amwn dhu o Lydaw, Amon or Amwn the Black of Meuth married Anne daughter of Meurig King of Glamorgan.
Anarawd Anntwn Argad Arthur e.g. Arthwys, Arthrwys e.g. Anarawd Vinddu

Artemius Arvandus Augustinius

Augustus

Arwyath Arthen (Triads) Gavran

Awstin
-

Austin

Aurelia
Avitus

Awst e.g. Awst King of Brecon Ervil Eurddyl e.g. daughter of King Pebiau Awy
-

308

LATIN Beda
Benno Bruno

WELSH
Bedo
-

Bede

Aerddren

Beuno e.g. Beuno Gasulsych Brwyno e.g. Brwyno Hen

Caecilius Caepio Caianus Caius

Camillus

Seisyll the English Cecil Kybi (Gibby Gibi Gybi)

-

Caian
Cai
-

(Sir Kaye) is
'warrior'

This is an Etruscan name, in Erse Cait-milead

milwr is
'warrior'.

in Welsh Cad-

Camoenae Candidianus Carausius

Carus Catellus

The Muses in Welsh can-vwyn is in the Saxon Chronicle

'pleasant

song'
-

Condidan Welsh Kynddylon

King of Powys.

Carawn Car
Cadell Cato the old, King of Britain Cado e.g. Cado Hen brenin Prydain Kedawl Gwyddno Dyndrwyn the father of Kynddylan (Llywarch)
=
-

Cato Catulus Kentronius Kerbonianus

Kethegus

Gorwynion Kedi The great Roman orator. Somehow oats, although kiker meant
'vetches'to

) )

Caedicius ) Cicero )
Kikero

connected Romans.

with the Welsh keirch

Clara Claudia Claudius

Iuvius

Lear

King of Britain

Cneius Coelius Constantine Constantius Cyrillas

Kyriacus Cyrus Kyrus

Gwladys now Gladys Gloyw Glywys Keneu

Coel King Coel remembered in Gascony as Kenon. and as King Cole. Kynon, Kynan, Cynon

Kystennin Custennyn Kysteint Seirioel Wyn now Cyril Curig

-

) )

Gyrys e.g. Gyrys o lal Dwyvan Damien Dian m Erse meaning Dyunan Dunodyn
-

Darrianus Diana Domninus

Donatianus Donatus Ecdicius Egeria

'nimble'

now Dianne, probably the Welsh Dilys.

Dunawd

Eleutherius Eligius
Eloquius

Eiddig Eigyr Elidyr Bishop of Rome

'maiden'
-

Helig Illoc Hemeid, Hyveidd

Emidius
Eucratius

Eudocius

Eugrad Wddog

309

LATIN Eugenius
Eugendus Euladius

WELSH

) )

Ywein e.g. Ywein or Owain ap Urien Gawain e.g. Gawain Douglas our present Owen and Ewan etc.
-

Euladd Effros Fflewin

-

Euphrasia
Flavianus

derivation of Llewellyn

Flora Gallus Gavidius Gavius Germanianus Germanus Gerontius Glycerius Gordius Gorgonius Gradivus Gratialis

Fflur Gall
Kewydd
'

Gawy now possibly Gavin Garmonyawn

-

Garmon Geraint Gleisiar (Triads) Gordd meaning

Gwrgant Gredyv

'earnest'

(see Aneurin)
-

Greidio!
Welsh

Gratianus
Gratus Gregorius
Helvidianus

Amoric Grygor

Grallon Gradlon
-

Gradd (Taliesin)

Elwyddan Hylwydd Elwy

-

Helvidius Helvius Hercules Herculem Hersilia

Hesperius

meaning

'prosperous'

Ercwir
in romance Ysperi (Aneurin)
-

Esyllt

Estrildis, Isolda, Yseult

Hilarius Himerius Honorius

lanuarius Idacius Idoneus

Eteri, llar, Elian Emyr e.g. Emyr Llydaw Ynyr

lonawr Iddawg (Corn Prydain) Iddon and Idno
-

idno ap Meirchion

loverus Italicus Italus Iulus Julianus Julitta Julius Jupiter ) Jove ) Justinianus
Justinus Laberius

leuav (Jove or Jovius?)

Eiddilic e.g. Priscus italicus A.D. 135 Eidal (Taliesin)

Iolo

(for Welsh see Triads)

Sulien
Elidan

lwl e.g. lwl Caiser Julius Caesar

-

lau or lou Stinian

Iestin, lestyn (Justin) Llavyr
-

Laberius

was the first

Roman

to tread

Latinus

Caesar. Llavyr son of Llywarch Lledin (Taliesin)

on British soil

see

310

LATIN

WELSH Llawddad Lloren

-

Laudatus Laurentius
Leo Liberius

another son of Llywarch

Llew Lliver(Llywarch) Llibio

Libius Linus Livius

Lucanus

Llieni (Llieni bab Addit Mss 14882 Brit. Mus.) Llywy (Taliesin)
-

Llugan
Lleucu Lleision

Lucia Lucianus
Lucius Macaritus

Lles now Leslie

-

Machreth Maenwyn (Llywarch) Maenwyn was St. Patrick's original name.

Magnentius
Magnus Maenius Major Maurus

) ) ) )

Maen another son of Llywarch

-

Mor Morien (Vervaug, a foreign prince. Triads)

o a u

Maulius
Mallius Marcellus Marcianus Marcus

Mael
Marchell Meirchion March Meirion
,

Marianus Marinus Marius Mars )

Martis Martinus a

Merini Mair Mawrth Madrun Merddin, Myrddin later Merlin Math e.g. Math ab Mathonwy Moryal (Brotherof Kynddylan)
-

Matius Maurelius Mauricius

Maximus Melior Mercurius Metellus

Meuric Mascen
Meilyr, Meileri Merchur

Metrodurus Nennius Octavius Olybrius Ovidius

-

Medel (son of Llywarch) Medrawd (theSir Modred of romance) Nynniaw (Nynniau

-

King of Morganwg, possible father of King Tewdrig)

Euddav Elivri (in romance the name Oliver) Ovydd (Ovid) Pwlin Pabo Pompey? Pasgen
-

Paulinus

Papias
Pascennius Paternus Paticius Paulinus

Padarn (St Padarn) Padrig (St. Patrick)

Petronius

Peulyn (St. Peulin) Pedrwn

LATIN

WELSH

Phoebus
Pollio

Peibiaw King Pebiau of Ergyng Pyll son of Uywarch he had 24

-

Publicius
Polentius

Peblig Pebiau
-

King of Ergyng

Quinidius Regina
Romanus Ruffinus Saturninus

Gwrin (Gwyn) Rhiain (now Rhiannon) Rhuvon and Rhun (severalKing Rhun's) Gruffydd
Sadwrnin

Saturnus Scaurus Scholasticus Septimianus Septimus Sergius

Servandus

Sadwrn Ysgaron (Aneurin) Yskolan Seithenyn

Seithyn

(now Selwyn)

Serigi e.g. St. Wuddel

Sibylla Solinus Suetonius Suetonius Paulines

Tarquinius

Servan Sibli Ddoeth Heylin Sywidw Sywidw Pawlin

Terwyn
-

which means e.g. Tarquinius Rome Terwyn Syberw

-

'strong'

Superbus

the last King of

Telesinua Theda
Theodorus Theodosius Theoderic Titan Tithonus

Taliesin Telesinus was a Samnite general see Plutarch Tegla the virgin martyr, a disciple of St. Paul
-

Tudor, Tudur
Tewdws Tewdrig
-

a Gothic name

)
.

Tydain

Tityrus Turnus Uranius Urbinus

Tityr

meaning
'the

'spinning'

'whirling'.

Teyrn meaning
Urien

or prince',Turnus

In Vergil the shepherd Tityrus.

was King of the Rutuli.

Erbin e.g. Erbin of Cystennyn Gorneu Balwan

Valentinianus
Varius

Gwair

Venilla
Venus Vergilius Victor

Gwennol )
Gwener Pheryll Uthyr,

meaning

'the

sea gull'. Venilla was a Roman sea goddess.

Veneris )

Withur

Victorinus Vigilius Virginius

Viriathus Virunnius Vitalianus Vivianus

Gwytherin

Voconius

Bugall Gwrgeneu Gwriad Gwron Gwythelyn Gwiawn Gwrgan

312

and the Teutons Names common to the I/Velsh Elyston (Glodrydd) Athelstan Aethered Brand Edfryd Braint (Braint

Hir)

Caedmon
Caedwallo

Cadvan Cadwal

Cerdic Culloch
Donald

Ceredig
Kwllwch
Dyvnwal
-

Cwitwch

Edwin Edwold
HIodwig, Ludwig

Ednewein
Idwal

Hugo Kenneth Kenrick

Reginald
'

Clydawg Hwygi Kynedda, Cynnedda, Kenydd

Kyneuric RheinalIt

Ruderic Witbred

Rhydderch, Rhodri Uchdryd

of Bible names which are adapted into Welsh Cymric

small number, Then there are a few, relatively a speech.

Addav Yuwch do
Arawn
.

Adam
Enoch

Job
Aaron

Elli Elisse Deinioel lago

lenan

Elias Elisaeus Daniel James John

Thaddaeus

Sawyl
'

Saul
David

Davydd

Tathai

Selvy

Solomon for a Christian country and is a very small number of Bible adaptations

This, as we have explained,

their own traditional names. demonstrates the Welsh adherence to

THE STORY HIDDEN IN THE NAMES

meanings. We also descriptive, having quite definite The names that were used by the old Cymru were attached to man's name and in his name itself. a attachment names can see this in the descriptive 'Guinner of the two dreams', (Gwinen) Deu Vreuddwyd With attachment names we have Guinner crosser', plotting to run with the hare and double agent or which actually means that he was a beauty', obviously a Sandde Cryd-angel 'Alexander of angelic also hunt with the hounds. Then there is bandhadlen 'Rhiwallon broomhead'. On the side of identifiand Rhiwallon Wallt sword and very handsome man; gleddyv rhudd Gogan of the ruddy (shining) be possessions or actions we have Gogan addition we cation shivered sheft; he obviously broke his spear. In Patroculus with the Padrogyi paladr ddellt of the golden 'Dyfrig golden head' and Dafydd esgid aw 'David have Dyfrig or Dyvrif beneurog of the golden staff'. buskin' and Kynvas eurvagle 'Cynvas Cadwallon Lawhir, which were of the physical appearance; The common illustrative names of princeswhich is Maelgwn the Tall. Another such descriptive name was Maelgwn Hir Owain means Cadwallon Longarm; Strong Arm. As late as 1400 A.D. we have Caradoc Vreichfras or Caradoc of the Brawny Arm added name was the common simply his home manor. One Glyndwr -OwenWhite-water or Grey Steel or Morgan Hen, There was also reference to the wealth or Llywarch Hen, and old' meaning Lancashire and 'Hen' Mwynvawr (Mwynfawr) in sixth century attitude of a king or prince and we find Elidyr period, this title or descriptive in South Wales at the same Morgan Mwynfawr the son of King Arthwys Morgan the Magnificent. meaning Elidyr the Munificent or Magnificent, and name
-

'double

'the

313

There is of course one very strange name amongst Welsh Kings and that it Gurgynt Bambertruch fork bearded Viking'. an early king of Powys which is in old Norse
'the
-

There are in fact other titles which were applied on a more regular or even hereditary basis. The prince thunder chief of Dyfed'. The of Demetia in Dyfed enjoyed the title of Pendaren Dyved which means Chief' or 'Head Dragon' King of the Britons as we have seen was accorded the title 'Pendragon' or and in this he was the war chief or battle leader. King Arthur Mac Uthyr would be Arthur the Terrible, prince of the the Pendragon of Britain and in this connection we have Rhi-tavwys or Rhio-tavwys, Thames'. Rhi or rhys may mean simply prince and Arthwys or Art-rwys may be 'Arthur the Prince'.
'the

'the

'the

Few historians have bothered to look at the meaning of names and yet they can tell us a great deal. The tribe of the Isambre invaded Italy around 400 B.C. and founded Milan; these were Celtic people led by their chiefs Sigovesus and Bellovesus. Now isambre was corrupted into Isubres, but Isambre in Irish is and then Sigovesus is 'Sig-was', the the and Bellovesus is 'Bel-gwas'
'noble' 'smasher' 'warlike'
-

In 389 B.C. the Celts under Brennus, seized and burned

'king',

victorious Celtic leader was remembered as Belgius and Bel-gwas means warrior'. Then the Bren-hin whose nameweagaindonothave, followed this up by invading Greece and looting the cities and temples, including Delphi. He is said to have joked the rich gods bestow on men what they have no need of'. Once the Celts had chewed up Macedon and its Empire and crushed their way around Greece, the way was open for later Roman conquest.
'that
-

Celtic British claim to have come to Britain by way of Italy. The Brennus who led them was their King, for even in modern Welsh bren-hin is so it was his title the Romans remembered and wrote down, not his name. Around this time the Celts, moving up around the Danube, inspired great terror by their very name and later in 278 B.C. Belgius defeated the Macedonian King Ptolemy Ceraunus, as Alexander the Great had died in 323 B.C. only 45 years earlier and this ruler Ptolemy was still the head king of the whole ramshackle empire, including the Egyptian Empire, the huge Selucid Empire and the Empire of Asia Minor as well as Thrace Macedon and Greece; this was no small victory. However the
'the

Rome, so there need be no dispute

over the

The Gauls of Maine and Chartres were led by Elitovius 'E-illd-wv the hurricane'. Later the Boli or in Irish Buidhe Yellow haired' and the Senones from Sen or Hen meaning pushed or forward and drove the Etruscans from the Adriatic. Among their great chiefs were Britomaurus of the Isambra, which is Welsh Brith-maws painted' (warrior) see Livy. Then there was Moritasgus the king of the Senones see Caesar which is Mortagh or Murdoch, an Irish name. Eginhard records a king of the Bulgarians in A.D. 824 as Ormotag, quite possibly a parallel as when the Celts left Greece around 276 B.C., they went in three directions. One group took central Anatolian Turkey Gallatia and settled a large dominant kingdom in Asia Minor. Another group settled at the confluence of the rivers Danube is strangers. The third group and the Save and were called the Skordiskoi and in Welsh headed back to Southern Gaul to Toulouse known as the Tectogsages. This word Tectosages may mean a plaid overall or journey sack and the Celts certainly wore coloured plaids something similar to Scottish tartans but diagonally crossed,not horizontally and vertically,as in Welsh cloth.
'the 'old' 'honoured'
-

'great

'usgorddion'

However the names have meanings, for in Gaul along with the Tectosages were the Trocmi 'Trwch wyr truces vir= desperadoes'and the Tolistoboii 'Tolws-tov-wyr the uproarious band or array'. Nicomedes of Bithynia allied himself to the representatives of these three tribes when they arrived in Asia Minor, gaining their support by them Gallatia. The leader of the Tectosages in Asia Minor was marshal' or disposer', in other Leonorios (accordingto Strabo L.12) and this is Welsh Llyniwr words the chief who shared out their new lands. Later in history a Breton Saint bore this same name.
-

'giving'

'the

'the

The Welsh Triads state that a Scandinavian chief of the Cymru in Jutland named Ur Lluyddawg came to Britain with the idea of going on one of these great marauding expeditions. Now Ur Lluyddawg means 'Ur the levyer of hosts' and the time is said to be in the reign of Gadail ab Erbin. The huge expedition, or pirate raid, set off but never returned to Britain. It went as far as the Sea of Greece and the raiders finally settled in the land of Galas and Avena. This surely means that they settled in Gallatia and either
-

Armenia or the Auvergne in France.

There is a mass of name evidence to support the truth of this Welsh history. Triad, as is easily seen. One of divine bull'; he was the subject of an the Celtic kings of Gallatia was Deiotarus in Welsh Duw-tarw
'the
-

oration be Cicero. This King Deiotarus had a great castle or treasure stronghold called Blukion meaning in Welsh box or treasury'. Cicero names Brogitarus, in Welsh Broch-tarw angry bull' as the Gallic-Greek priest at Pessinus. Doubtless King Deiotarus was guarding the treasure he footed out of
'a 'the
-

Greece in 278 B.C.

Pompey later had a Celtic Gallatian ally, the prince Donilaus Welsh Dyvnwal or Donald and then Florus tells us of the Gallatian King Orgiagontis which is simply King Gwrgant. Then Strabo writes of Adiatorix whihc could be Aedd-twrch loud boar'; and Pliny tells us of Centaretus or Kyndrud chief brave' or maybe Kyndardd first shot' (fastest spear). We know that Mithridates killed the Celtic lord of the chain', meaning the torques, from Plutarch. It goes on, for Poredorax and Por-e-dorch is crooked' revenged the murder of her husband Sinetus 'Henydd?' by poisoning his killer Camma chief of the swarm'. Hein-rhi
-

'the

'the

'the

'the

'the

'the

314

keant

St. Jerome wrote that the language of Gallatia was the same as that around the district of Treves in the fourth century A.D. and the Treviri were a Celtic tribe. The Monatist church monasteries of Phrygia had that of Patriarch, it was the rank of a high rank in their organisation, above that of Bishop but below Kenones. This Phrygian word Kenones may be a Gallatian borrowing and Kynon and Cynon in Welsh Here it is interesting that when the Isurian Leo IV became Emperor, his native name was in is which fact Conon. St. Epiphanius says that in Gallatia certain heretics were called
'chief'. 'tasgodroungitai' 'man

with a peg in their nose'. Just what that might mean we do now know.

The names however do affirm the truth of the Triads and it is interesting to ponder on the mind of a Celt in old Denmark around 300 B.C. dreaming of a great raid to seize the treasures of Greece. This was of Egypt and Asia, even India, under very logical, for the Greeks had obligingly collected all the treasures Alexander the Great not so long before. It would have been a project very dear to the hearts of the the circle Celtic Britons and old Ur must have been quite a salesman,explaininghishugeprojectaround of kings gathered at the hall of Gadail ab Erbin in Britain. Everyone would have wanted to go and the historians of Greece and Rome record the sudden onslaught by the monstrous Celtic hordes which poured into Greece. This was undoubtedly one of the greatest rails, for plunder in history and it all began when a kinsman from Jutland persuaded the British Celts that it was a feasible proposition. The reputation of Alexander and the kings of Macedonia does not seem to have worried them at alL The proof is in the Triad and in the names. In Asia Minor there was Gangra where King Deiotarus had his principal seat or residence and Gann-gra is white gravel' calling to mind a white-washed, brick walled home. The Celts of Wales and of Spanish Iberia were addicted to plastering their homes white, down through the ages. There were mountains great headland' in place' and Morimene Morben or Penmawr, named Gorieus Gor-van the argwiat did Rosologiacum mean7 Was it perhaps cwm-rhosthe ancient realm of Fingal there is Morven gwyllawc combe of the gloomy moor'.
'the
'high

'the

'the

Theihabits of the Gallatians mirrored those of the Welsh, one chief or tetarch maintaining all the year round and detaining travellers until they had dined in his hall.
'the

open house

The names not only identify people, they help to tell the story. We have in literature Sir Hudibras, not stout staff'. He obviously used a thick, heavy an invented name but Rhun Baladyrbras or Rhun of lance. Both Spenser and Wordsworth, English poets, used the story of Artegal and Elidure, deriving their tale of the brothers Arthal and Elidyr of the Brut stories. Rhud Baladyrbras is of course Rud Hud Hudibras named by Gruffydd ap Arthur as the King of Britain around 870 B.C., a date which is wildly wrong and should be amended to some time around 400 to 250 B.C.

'

THE REAL LIFE CHARACTERS OF THE ARTHURIAN HEROIC AGE

whole The most difficult task which has to be accomplished is that of displaying the truth that the all real people. These group of characters who take part in the Mediaeval Arthurian Romances were in fact nobles and ladies of the are not fanciful names of completely fictional characters, invented to amuse the heroes of a nation's finest hour. French courts, they are the remembered

A great deal of damage has been done, which is in fact of an insulting nature, by foreign authors, ignorant American Mark Twain and subsequent Hollywood film notably the clever but monumentally makers. Doubtless Mr. Mark Twain thought that he was lampooning an English hero, not a Welsh one, doubtless he thought that that hero was a myth, but he did the damage anyway. The pattern set is to capriciously in a tray Arth r as a dodd ring grey-beared, a clown of a king, ruling weakly and has pantomime me saeva court o other ancient hero has been so mistreated and the film industry II upon epi ting a great number of them. We do not inte tim anliim m er were is mt esting to speculate on reaction if some Eur a i the odgy George Washington or the canting Li oin-or simi a Let us however repair the d as the situation deserves, remembering that the i fo their poetry and song and the princes with the legends and ancestral pride, the tales of what Arthur and his generals achieved. They wove more and more embellished tales and feats of valour around those remembered real life heroes and handed on their glorious story for six hundred years before it came to the notice of the princes of the Norman Empire.

Arthur was no fiction, nor was Sir Lancelot, neither were Sir Kaye, Sir Bedevere and all the varied list of the others. They were all romanticised and magnified but they were real life characters of a real life drama equal to that of 1940-41 in Britain, when the British stood alone in Europe against the Axis and Morgan le Fey powers of Nazi controlled Europe and Fascist Italy. We can show that Sir Modred Sir Gawain Sir Lamorach and Merlin. Sir Peredur shadowy fictions, nor were King Lot were no
-

Out of the exalted temper and high passion of a nation forced to a supreme effort in defence of liberty, ir"'.ifs'htanod hh ne n o cane he srgedine nepfearcnea eesrowdnagnecronn mdelan wa f at e

315

national peril, enshrined the deeds of the warrior kings into a marvellous tale that became a legend. The great and leading poets of the Britons flourished at this very time and they recorded the wars, remembering the history of it as narrative, a dry recital of facts but as a series of epic poems. Even today some parts of the works of these brilliant poets is known to us through later copies of their works, the poetry of Talhaearn, of Aneurin, of Taliesin, of Blegrwyd and the name of Cian Gueinthguaut now only a name remembered by the Bretons of France as Guench'lan.
-

When the Normans came to South Wales after six hundred years had passed, they took their tales and their writers created from tham a vertiable Illiad of the heroism of these long dead British Celts. In doing this they identified themselves with those long dead figures of greatness, relying on the record of the

confederacy of the British Kingdoms, including large areas of northern France, now the Norman homelands to create a form of kinship by proxy.
These stories which fascinated the Normans and took hold throughout Europe, lasted down until modern times when uncomprehending ignorance reduced them to children's fables and cynicism mocked a defeated nation's past greatness. So now let us see the characters behind the misty screen of fifteen hundred years of forgotten time;

In Norman times it was still known what it was to fight and defeat an enemy army in the field. This is evidenced surely by the stature accorded to William Duke of Normandy following his victory over Harold Godwinson of England; William became the 'Conqueror'. These, the leading soldiers of Europe knew the greatness of a king who could meet and defeat the combined armies of three Saxon Kingdoms at Badon and could war with other kingdoms in the north and in France without defeat. None of us know today what it is like to sleep in a field and to awake next morning and clothe ourselves in heavy leather and metal armour and then to stand in the grass along with comrades, clutching shields and spears or battle axes and swords. We do not know what it is like to see our enemy massing in the open with distant noise of shouting men, banners flying, the sunlight or rain glistening on armour and weapons. We don't know this feeling but the Normans knew it, our forefathers knew it and the Normans and the old Welsh understood and remembered the mighty Arthur.
drawing freely from the

So the old long dead heroes were revived and used in a new heroic literature,
old historical stories of the Welsh.

Caradawg Vreichfras, the step-brother of Morgan and of Onbrawst, who was Arthur's mother, became the 'Sir Caradoc' of romance. The Mabinogion tale of Rhonabwy also confirms Caradawg as Arthur's uncle. Tristan ab Tallwch became 'Sir Tristram', the lover of Esyllt (Yseuilt Isolde) and Kei ap Kynyr is of course 'Sir Kaye'. Then Bedwyr ap Pedrog was styled 'Sir Bedevere' and with all the others was transferred to Maine and Anjou in France in Villemarque's 'Les Romans de la Table Ronde'.
-

golden tongued', became Sir Walwayne. He was in fact Arthur's nephew and herald; Gwalchmai Owain ab Urien became 'Sir Gawain'. Then there is of course Peredur Gymro ab Evrawg, the Sir Perceval of Romance literature, Peredur the brother of Gwrgi, listed in the Brecon manuscripts with Arthur Penuchel. There is also Garwy son of Geraint ab Erbin, who is the courteous knight 'Sir Gareth'; and 'King Lot' is Llew ab Kynvarch. The poetic Llywarch emerges as none other than 'Sir Lamorack'.

'the

Sir Lancelot and his son Galahad we have elsewhere identified as the great Maelgwn Gwynedd and his Einion Bevr Einiaun the Fair. Whether Maelgwn is also the Melwas King of Somerset of the son stories, who is said to have stolen Queen Guinevere, we have no way of knowing, but this would seem to be the case. Lancelot's father is named as King Bann of Mannot and there is the mountain of Mannot in Merioneth. The other grandfather of Galahad is named in Romance literature as King Pellenore see Milton. At least one of Maelgwn Gwynedd's wives was Sanant, the daughter of Gutuyl. The wife of Kynger and Gutuyl was a daughter of Brychan the son of Anlach and Marchel Marchel being the daughter of Theoderic the Great. In this way we can see how King Arthur would be King Maelgwn's uncle.
-

Cunedda
Theoderic
-

Onbrawst M Meurig
-

Marchel

M Anlach
-

Cadwallon Lawhir

Arthur

I Gutuy/

M Kyngen
-

Sanant

(unnameduncle-father)
-

Maelgwn Gwynedd

Arthur ceased to reign then Maelgwn was the most powerful King in Britain.

The obvious inference is that the war between King Arthur and Sir Lancelot was a war between Arthur and Maelgwn Gwynedd. In fact between a King and his nephew and this matches the history of Maelgwn, who is said to have taken his kingdom from his uncle whom he defeated and possibly killed. The name of Maelgwn's uncle is not stated by Gildas or elsewhere, so presumably he was a well known figure. Once

316

Maelgwn had at least two wives and one mistress, a nun, so just who the mother of Rhuvon Bevr was we do not know for certain.
The other central figure of Romance stories is of course the magician or enchanter, Merlin. There Merlin Emrys) and Merlin appears to have been at least two Merlins, one Merlin Ambrosius (otherwise simply known as recorded by Geoffrey of Monmouth and probably the Taliesin as in his own poem all Marzin' of Britanny. The probability is that Merlin may be a title rather than a name and that the reference is to bards who practised their poetry, genealogy, history and soothsaying. Soothsayers in old Wales, went into trances where they saw illusions or halucinations. Whether or not these trances were drug induced we do not know,
-

'borz

What the whole system of parallel names really amounts to is that the cast of characters who parade through the pages of twelfth century literature concerning King Arthur and his court were in fact real around life people of the sixth century. They existed and played their part in the drama of British history king and the story was taken, recorded, handed down and then dramatised the central figure of the great of the early Mediaeval Normans six hundred years later. into the
'novels'

INDIFFERENCE AND NEGLECT

The saga of Arthur is the Saga of the British Kings, the Kings of old Siluria. Much has been romanticised over the legendary Camelot
The bards and the Triads kept the history yet no-one bothers to see what they say. The grandson of or Caractacus who fought the Romans was named King Owen, the Nineteenth King of the Mercutaes after the style of the Romans at Ystrad Owen, mentes, and he is recorded as building a said to be near Cowbridge in Glamorgan'. So we have a story recording the British King building a Roman Villa around 100 to 120 A.D. and the place named for us. Now is there such a palace? The French pronounced answer is emphatically 'Yes'. It lies today in a field called Caermead maybe the
-

'palace

this Camelot.

Ystrad Owen is the Road of Owen. It runs from the sea at Llanilltud Fawr Llantwit Major up through Cowbridge on to Llantrisant where the great fort sits on Caerau hill. A large village named Ystrad-owen is situated just north of Cowbridge; this is not however the site. Down at the sea end of Ystrad Owen Road, just outside Llantwit Major is the buried palace of King Owen.
-

The palace was partly excavated in 1888 and was found to cover a total area of eight acres. The living revealed that the walls still quarters no less than two acres the size of a football pitch. The excavation remained to a height of 9 feet. A large room (which might have been a courtyard) measured 60 feet by covered by 51 feet and a second room measuring 39 feet by 27 feet was found to have the floors magnificent mosaics. The walls were plastered and covered with 'Beautiful paintings'. The site was then
-

recovered and re-turfed over. Then in 1938 another smaller excavation was made and similarly recovered. So an outstanding national treasure, the palace of a British King not a minor prince like the traitor lies buried and out of mind. Cogidubnus at Fishbourne
-

The same applies to the Castle of lestyn ap Gwrgan, the last King of the line of Arthur. It stands on a hill surrounded by a wood, crumbling and almost completely overgrown. There is no path to the old pre-Norman castle and the rare visitor has to scramble through the slippery undergrowth to find it where it stands on the hill top. The walls still stand between 10 and 20 feet high and the interior is in the South American jungles. The overgrown with shrubs and bushes; it is something like finding a ruin
level of the ground inside the walls is somewhat higher than the main gateway and this could be a defensive arrangement or an accumulation over the years. How old the castle is we do not know and it appears that it was deserted in 1091 A.D. when lestyn was driven from the throne.

Again there is the mysterious buried ruin in the woods at Miskin where again the woods have overgrown the ruins and engulfed the ruin of whatever was there and also the monastery alongside. Again neglected and unexplained, with a tumbled mass of walls and stone. Again on a magnificent defensive position and "History at a place of a recorded royal manor.
in Britain has of course been to spend massive energy and funds to dig up foreign The preoccupation remains in foreign countries, these are fondly believed by the English ruling class to be 'Classical'lassical' to do Greek, Egyptian and Roman and so on. The only interest in British affairs is agai later Saxon. with thin an or
'

e as an we"kave-discusmL Te bardic rememberance of the area is that the land betwee Taff in Cardiff and e Usk West bank at Newport bounded by the hill ridge at Cefn-on to the North Cantref of the King, or Kings. vern estuary to the South, was the Cantref y Breniol Within this Cantref there was a ruined chapel one mile East of the present Blacktown on Wentioog believed built by one of the Kings named Arthur, Arthmael, Arthfael or Athwys. See David Williams of Monmouthshire', published in 1794 A.D.
-

317

There is also the probable site of New Troy founded by Brutus around 450 B.C. to consider and of course the site of Caradoc's (Caractacus) battle with the Romans to consider. Then there is the great fortress on Arthur's hill at Llantrisant still unexcavated and so on.
In this second half of the twentieth century with great talk of the value of tourist trade and so on, these reasons alone would seem to point to the necessity for doing something. Certainly the Bards through the ages, busy preserving the history of the British race were in no doubt whatsoever that the Kings of ancient Britain were the Kings of South East Wales, known variously as Essyllwg Siluria to the Romans and later as Guent or Gewissy Gwent or Glywysswg (phonetically Glue-wus-soog) and later Gwent and Glamorgan. This is where Arthur and all the others are to be found. Archaeologists digging up Roman London find frequent signs of a great fire and the British state that their King Crair No. 27 burned it around 280 to 320 A.D.; a king of Gwent in South Wales. They also tell how King Euddav Octavius rebelled against Constantine the Great's vice-regents in 312 and killed Trahairn the brother of Helen, Constantine's wife, son of Coel in 322 and then ruling until 367 A.D. This gives a totally different picture of Britain than that normally anticipated the Romans. The British Kings were in the same position as Herod the A3reat in Judea with Pontius Pilate, only far more powerful.
-

'under'

-----

The people of Wales re the Cy the people of Engla d, niiggf wi

and an the e is Saxon r Danish or Angle, leaving aside areas such as Kent, Sussex, most of East GlLan he neglect is therefore a national disgrace of the first order. It probably si s from g class being public school educated and being therefore totally bent and tw sted into the direction of things 'Classical'. This strange orientation of mentality is peculiar to this pride at the expense of often in gigg of national hyand ss, and results in a total
. ,degrading

the Kinsmen the descendants of the ancient British and so are also Saxon and Danish blood. The great massacre never happened, the British lived alon sid and amongs he Saxons, as both did later with the Danes and finally the Normans. It is p le that there is far more 'British' blood in the veins of the people of ther
-

As we began The nation which does not believe in its own legends, believes in nothing t is no longer a nation at all.
-

at all. As such

318

APPENDIX 1

probably began around 1200 A.D. and ended with The remembered Celtic imigrations into Britain island known as the "Coming of the Dragon". As we have described the fifth major movement into the identity, and this involved detail knowledge and the British social culture depended upon individual and institution to support and verify of ancestors complete with a national bardic system remembrance relationship from the that after 2500 years everyone could claim descent and the system. The result was multiply by two (x 2) with each generation as they are traced great kings of the nation's past. Ancestors the one necessary back in time, and so the possibilities are almost infinite in seeking of having forty or the royal lines. The habit of many kings and princes ancestor" to find a way into result was the explosion of the myth of noble or royal and the more children greatly aided this process, nobility of England when the two nations blood, which must have been extremely unpopular with the seventeenth century. Literally thousands and thousands of Welshmen began to relate to each other in the ancient kings of Britain, many of these people were very poor as a were able to trace descent from their continued division of lands and estates between children. result of the
"indispensible

of examples: We can illustrate this with a tiny few of the huge number

Royal Ancestor Bleddyn ap Cynfyn

Brychan Brecheiniog .

Descendant
Pembrokeshire John Bowen Bach, farmer of Llanrithan,

Thomas Jenkin, tailor of Defnoch

Andrew Llewelin haberdasher of Brecon his son John Andrew, tailor. Watkin Lloyd, servant of Brecon Rhys Powell, currier of Brecon

Morgan Watkin, attorney at law and vintner at the Old Bear, at Brecon in 1718.
Griffith Lloyd, tanner of Llanfechan John Lloyd fiddler of Llandyssui Pwt y Galon his son John Lloyd Grandson David John Lloyd a fiddler Lewis Lloyd, tiler of Llandyssul David John Walter, tailor and jockey of Llanwenog
-

Cadifor ap Dinawal

Cadif

rmarthen of I Harry Jones at the Post Office, Carmarthen Thomas Lewis, dyer of Newton, Nottage in Glamorgan eLewis, alehouseDkeeperof CynwlE Rhhy L John Morgan, mercer of Carmarthen London Morgan Price (Morgan ap Rhys) silk weaver, Spittlefields,

hSo b

oashEe

carpenans miniret

John Richard, carpenter of Carmarthen Lewis Thomas, stationer of London

John ap Richard (Pritchard) blacksmith David Llewelin, weaver of Brecon

Caradoc Vreichfras

of Glantawy

Elystan Glodrydd

Anthony

Morris Lloyd, alehouse keeper, Royal Oak, Carmarthen, 1686 Morgan, tailor of London Richard Morris, tailor of Carmarthen his son John Morris corvisor of Carmarthen Henry Rhys, a corvisor of LIwyn Cadfor
Harry Ben Bach, farmer of Cilrhedyn Owen Bowen, (Owen ap Owen) a pauper of Nevern Thomas Evans, servant of Citrhedyn David Griffith, pedlar of Dedwydd of Cemes levan Howel weaver of Llangoliman William Griffith, landowner of Penbenglog, who also traced his in 1655 ploughman Robert Bowen to the same ancestors Rev Griffith Jones, farmers son of Llandowror John James mercer of Newcastle Emlyn
--

Gwynfardd Dyfed

Rees James, pauper of Llangeler Robert Lloyd, fisherman of Newcastle Emlyn Thomas Morgan, corvisor of Cardigan Thomas Owen, farmer of Mynyddmelin

319

Howel Melyn Owain Gwynnedd

Richard Rees, a dissenting minister of Gwernilwyn Uchaf, in Glamorgan, around 1740-50 Evan Lloyd, glover of Llanrhysted, Cardiganshire David Morgan, alehouse keeper of Llanrhysted Evan Morgan of Llanrhysted a shopkeeper Robert Bidder, corvisor of Carmarthen Francis Jones, farmer of Llanrhyadder Thomas Jones, yeoman of Llanvihangel, Rhos Lewis Lloyd, feltmaker of Carmarthen William Williams, stableman at Whitehall, c. 1680 Benjamin Howel, blacksmith of Abernant Anthony Jones, corvisor of Carmarthen Griffith Lewis mercer of Carmarthen John Lloyd, s rvant of Newcastle Emlyn

Rhys ap Tewdwr

Tydwal Gloff

These are but a tiny few of the many, a good eample is the descent of Piers Davies of Chester held in the Harteian MSS 2100, naming dozens of Kings. Emigrants into England took their strange pedigrees with them, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. To London went Thomas Jones a dyer, descended of Owain Cyfeitiog, as was David Edwards a draper of Candlewick Ward. Descended of Mareiddig Warwyn, was Richard Morris a Barber-Surgeon of Biningsgate, and Thomas Vaughan a haberdasher of Tower Ward of the Une of Vaughan and Mr. Soutley of Candtewick Street was of Sonlle of Sonlly was from the Tubervilles of Tretower, and was a grocer, Edward Tuberville. Whilst the situation might appear incongruous, it was not so to the Welsh, to whom wealth counted nothing at alL They were a race who did not use money before their involvement with the Normans, they au lived on farms which were generaly small and this included their nobles. They did not consider themselves poor because no-one told them that they were. A was a man because of what not because of what he owned. The writer of the Annals of man Oseney near Oxford summed it all eh,
--

for he described how after the wars of the English King Edward II "From that time in Wales, the Welsh live now almost like the English, and amass treasures fearing the loss of property, sed not to do before". Actually this King Edward 11 the great English wo d like to pretend, his first expedition into Wales was not co ueror that was a humiliating i s rry was dest yed, the second a s a year later was another fiasco and he was lucky to cape with his i e. Th m the third year with both sides exhausted, he borrowed from italian Genovese bankers an ired 7000 Basques from Spain, 10,000 Gascons, and every other mercenary he could in Europe all to defeat a small nation. He actually wanted to assume the mantle of Mascen Wiedig at Caernarvon, and of the great Arthur in the South, holding a ridiculous tournament at Nevern and claiming to have been given Arthur's coronet and sword. (As he also stole the Stone of Scone from Scotland, his ambitions are obvious.) The national symbol of the Welsh, a great Golden Cross which carried before their Kings and Princes was the Croesnawdd was stolen and taken to join the Scone Stone of Scotland in Westminster Abbey, being offered there on 30th April, 1285. p ver war long cease
--

The social order of Dark Age and Mediaeval Wales seems to be something certainly their values were different.

we should envy today,

ERRATA in the Chapter on the Mabinogion, Malpas, in Newport, is wrongly identified as being next Transporter Bridge, whereas it is next to the Motorway Bridge.

to the

320