Rhodri the Great

Medieval Kingdoms in Wales ( Powys ).

Rhodri the Great ( Welsh Rhodri Mawr ), also called Rhodri ap Merfyn Frych (* approx. 820; † 878 ) became King of Gwynedd (844 to 878) in 844 after the death of his father , and King of Powys through the death of his maternal uncle in 854 (854 to 878) and through the death of his brother-in-law in 871 King of Seisyllwg (855 to 878) and thereby ruler of much of Wales . This and the successful defense against attacks by the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings earned him the honorary title of "the great" as the first Welsh ruler. In later chronicles such as the Ulster Annals, he is even referred to as "King of the British" and also as "King of Wales", although he never carried these titles in his lifetime.

origin

Rhodri came from a very old Celtic ruling family who, according to tradition , can be traced back to the legendary British King Beli Mawr (Beli the Great). This was probably a historical ruler, but his life dates have been so overgrown by myths that it is difficult to filter out historical facts. He is likely to have been the first to unite the Celtic tribes in Britain and thus to have a special place in the consciousness of later generations. Since the legend u. a. the father of Caswallon (for the Romans Cassivellaunus (about 60 - 48 BC), who ruled there as chief or king at the time of the invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar (55 BC), the ancestor of this house could Beli Mawr, lived in the first half of the first century BC.

Closer direct ancestors of Rhodri in the male line included:

• Coel Hen (Coel the Old) around 410-430 ruler in northern Britain who had to defend himself against attacks by the Picts and the Irish after the withdrawal of the Romans .
• Gwriad King of the Isle of Man (cl. C. 800) to whom the "Crux Guriad" (Cross of Gwriad) in Maughold on the Isle of Man (Isle of Man) commemorates. He was married to Esyllt von Gwynedd, a daughter of Cynan Dindaethwy ap Rhodri, King of Gwynedd (798-816), from which the claim of his son, Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad († 844), based on this kingdom.

Rhodri's father was Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad (Merfyn the Freckled, Son of Gwriad), who after a long internal battle between two brothers for the crown of Gwynedd between Cynan Dindaethwy ap Rhodri Molwynog, who ruled from 798 to 816, and Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog who ruled from 816 to 825 - became King of Gwynedd (825–844) in 825. This thanks to his mother, Ethyllt (Esyllt) ferch Cynan, who was a daughter of King Cynan Dindaethwy. Merfyn ended the rule of the royal family that had previously ruled in Gwynedd, which was derived from Maelgwn Hir ap Cadwallon (Maelgwn the Tall, son of Cadwallon) for short: Maelgwn Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd († approx. 547) and founded a new dynasty there. According to the Annales Cambriae, he died in 844 at the Battle of Cyfeil near Ketell in Wales.

Rhodri's mother was Nest ferch Cadell (Nest, daughter of Cadell). She was a daughter of Cadell ap Brochfael (Cadell, son of Brochfael), King of Powys (773-808) and a sister of Cyngen ap Cadell (Cyngen, son of Cadell), the last king of Powys, who died in 855, of the House of Gwertherion dynasty, the descendants of Vortigern , who was one of the leading British rulers in the 5th century .

Life

Ascent through marriage politics

Rhodri was traditionally born around 820 in Caernarfon Castle (on the east bank of Menai Straits, across from the island of Anglesey ) in Wales and followed his father Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad after his death in 844 as king of the historic Celtic kingdom of Gwynedd , the was in northwest Wales. This made him one of the most important Welsh rulers.

View of Caernarfon from the castle walls, 2002

The next step in expanding his power was the acquisition of the Powys Kingdom in 854. Rhodri's mother, Nest ferch Cadell ap Brochfael, was of the House of the Powys Kings , but it was not foreseeable that this would have any special significance since Nests Brother Cyngen ap Cadell ruled his country and had sufficiently provided for the continuation of the dynasty through four sons. Nevertheless, Rhodri succeeded - under not entirely clear circumstances - as a descendant in the female line to gain control and to oust the sons of Cyngen from the throne. This is - in view of the existing rules of succession in Wales, which, similar to the Lex Salica, provide for the preference of male heirs to the throne - difficult to explain without cunning or violence, unless it is assumed that the traditional genealogy of the Powys kings would be flawed and for example King Cyngen had no sons at all, which, however, would contradict the existing tradition. Rhodri is therefore likely to have exerted considerable pressure on his brother-in-law to persuade him to renounce the throne in his favor. In any case, King Cyngen went on a pilgrimage to Rome , where he died in 855, whereupon Rhodri also took over the crown of Powys.

The second step towards ruling almost all of Wales was Rhodri's marriage to Angharad ferch Meurig (Angharad, daughter of Meurig), she was a daughter of Meurig ap Dyfnwallon, King of Seisyllwg. This historic Welsh kingdom was located in the southwest of Wales and comprised the provinces of Ceredigion , Cantref Mawr and Ystrad Tywi and bordered on the west by the Kingdom of Dyfed . The ruling dynasty there, whose original heartland was the sub-kingdom of Ceredigion, is traditionally derived from the eponymous progenitor, Ceredig (cl. C. 470), a son of the semi-legendary British king Cunedda . Also in the Kingdom of Seisyllwg, a successor to Rhodri was not foreseeable, since after the death of his father-in-law, King Meurig, Rhodri's brother-in-law, Gwgon ap Meurig reigned as King of Seisyllwg. However, Rhodri intervened as the most powerful neighbor in the politics of his brother-in-law, who drowned under not entirely clear circumstances - with or without Rhodri's help - in the year 871, whereupon Rhodri also annexed his kingdom. Rhodri ruled a large part of Wales, which had last been ruled to a similar extent centuries before - around 534 to 549 - by Maelgwn Hir ap Cadwallon Lawhir (Maelgwyn the Long, son of Cadwallon Lawhir).

Map of the realm of Rhodri the Great

Gwynedd, The Kingdom of Rhodris

The Morgannwg area

Defense to the outside

It was fortunate for Celtic Wales that Rhodri was an energetic and powerful ruler at that time, as Wales was attacked both from the east - by the Anglo-Saxons - and from the west, from the sea, by the Vikings :

In 853 there was a joint attack by King Burgred of Mercia (852-874) and King Æthelwulf of Wessex , in which the Kingdom of Powys was overrun, but Rhodri was able to repel the attack on Gwynedd and forced the attackers to retreat. Two poems by Sedulius Scotus , which the latter wrote at the court of Charles the Bald , King of the Western Franconia (843–877), celebrate the victories of “Roricus” over the Normans.

Just two years later, in 855, the Vikings first attacked Wales, which took place on the coast of the island of Anglesey ( Ynis Mon in Welsh ) and led to extensive looting. After their withdrawal, Rhodri strengthened the existing defenses and gathered an army to face the Vikings the next year. He managed to defeat the Danish pirates and kill their leader Gorm (Gormr). This victory was celebrated not only in Gwynedd, but throughout the region, as Ireland and England had become the target of numerous Viking raids. This victory proved permanent, as there were no attacks by the Vikings on Gwynedd in the next 20 years, but there were attacks on England, Ireland and in south Wales on the neighboring kingdom of Dyfed.

The fact that Rhodri was able to successfully defend himself both against the attacks of the Anglo-Saxons in the east and against those of the Vikings shows that he had strategic and organizational skills.

Defeat and death

After more than thirty years of successful government, the moment came when the opponents who had learned from their defeats gained the upper hand: In 877 the Danes renewed their attacks on Anglesey. Unlike before, they had now established strong military bases in Dublin , Ireland and the Hebrides , and came with a large fleet. They therefore succeeded in breaking through the defenses built by Rhodri and devastating large parts of the country. Rhodri was defeated in a memorable battle, known in Welsh memory as "gweith duw sul" (the Sunday battle), and had to get to Ireland for safety.

He returned to his kingdom from Ireland in 878, but in the same year was faced with a massive attack by King Ceolwulf II of Mercia , who himself had become a vassal of the Danish King Siegfried Schlangenauge (873 - 903). With a hastily assembled army, Rhodri threw himself against the Anglo-Saxon army, but was defeated and died in battle.

According to tradition, Rhodri Mawr is said to have built Dinefwr Castle in the 9th century , but there are hardly any remains from this period. However, Dinefwr became the headquarters of Rhodri's grandson, Hywel Dda the first King of Deheubarth , who like him ruled much of Wales.

Dinefwr Castle

Marriage and offspring

Rhodri the Great was married to Angharad ferch Meurig, a daughter of King Meurig ap Dyfnvallon von Seisyllwg.

children

Rhodri had the following children, among others:

• Anarawd ap Rhodri , king of Gwynedd (878-916)
• Cadell ap Rhodri , King of Seisyllwg (878–910), who conquered the neighboring Welsh Kingdom of Dyfed
• Merfyn ap Rhodri, King of Powys (878-900)
• Nest ferch Rhodri
• Gwriad ap Rhodri, † 867 in Anglesey

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Ashley "The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens"; Constable Publishers, London, reprinted 2000; ISBN 1-84119-096-9 , p. 346
2. ↑ Mike Ashley: op cit. Chart 1 Celts (1) - Early Britain, p. 67
3. ↑ Mike Ashley: op cit. Pp. 67, 96 and 97
4. ^ Gwynfor Evans: Land of my fathers: 2000 years of Welsh history, Barnes & Noble (1993)
5. ↑ Mike Ashley, op. Cit.S. 422
6. ↑ Mike Ashley: op. Cit. P. 149
7. ↑ Annales Cambriae, An English translation of the original, the texts A, B and C, which range from the 5th to the 10th century can be found in [1] .
8. ↑ Mike Ashley, op cit. P. 344
9. ↑ Mike Ashley p. 140; 4. Family tree, Wales (2) The sons of Cunedda (The sons of Cunedda)
10. ↑ Mike Ashley: op cit. P. 132
11. ↑ Mike Ashley: op cit. P. 142
12. ^ Jean Renaud: "Les Vikings et les Celtes" Éditions Ouest-France, Rennes 1992, p. 105
13. ↑ Jean Renaud op. Cit. P. 105

literature

• John Edward Lloyd : A history of Wales from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest. Longmans, Green & Co., 1911.
• John Davies : A History of Wales. Penguin, London 1993, ISBN 0-713-99098-8 .
• Mike Ashley : The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens. Carroll & Graf, New York 1998, p. 151.
• Egerton Phillimore: The Annales Cambriae and Old Welsh Genealogies, from Harleian MS. 3859. In: Egerton Phillimore: Y Cymmrodor. IX. Honorable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1888, pp. 141-183.

Web links

• Rhodri the Great (in English)
• Rhodri Mawr - King of Wales (About Dinefwr Castle in Carmathenshire, believed to have been built by Rhodri - in English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad	King of Gwynedd 844–878	Anarawd ap Rhodri
Cyngen ap Cadell	King of Powys 854–878	Merfyn ap Rhodri
Gwogon	King of Seisyllwg 872–878	Cadell ap Rhodri