Kevin Patrick Mostyn Family - Person Sheet
Kevin Patrick Mostyn Family - Person Sheet
NameCunedda Wledig AP EDERN King Of Gwynedd, 45G Grandfather
FatherEdern AP PADARN (~364-)
Spouses
1Gwawl VCH COEL, 45G Grandmother
FatherCoel Hên Godebog King Of Britain (~350-~420)
MotherYstradwel VCH CADFAN (~360-)
Web Notes notes for Cunedda Wledig AP EDERN King Of Gwynedd
From "In Search of the Dark Ages" by Michael Wood, ISBN 0-8160-1686-0, 1987, p 43:
By the 430's, the Romans had left Britain, and a large part of Britain had fallen under the sway of a British leader called 'Vortigern', meaning 'Great King.' He had something approaching absolute power. He was even able to arrange the migration of a whole people, the Votadini under their leader Cunedda, who were forced to leave Lothian and made to settle in North Wales, in order to resist Irish incursions.
From "The Matter of Wales" by Jan Morris, ISBN 0-19-504221-2, 1984, p. 90-91:
The first news of Christianity reached Wales in Roman times . . . and the founder of the princedom of Gwynedd, the Romanized Celt Cunedda, is thought to have been a Christian.
From Wikipedia:
Cunedda ap Edern or Cunedda Wledig (fl. 5th century) was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd. The name Cunedda derives from the Brythonic word kunodagos, meaning good hound. His genealogy is traced back to Padarn Beisrudd, which literally translates as Paternus of the Scarlet Robe. One traditional interpretation identifies Padarn as a Roman (or Romano-British) official of reasonably high rank who had been placed in command of Votadini troops stationed in the Clackmannanshire region of Scotland in the 380s or earlier by the Emperor Magnus Maximus. Alternatively, he may have been a frontier chieftain who was granted Roman military rank, a practice attested elsewhere along the empire's borders at the time. In all likelihood, Padarn's command in Scotland was assumed after his death by his son, Edern (Latin: Æturnus), and then passed to Edern's son, Cunedda.
Cunedda and his forebears led the Votadini against Pictish and Irish incursions south of Hadrian's Wall. Sometime after this, the Votadini troops under Cunedda relocated to North Wales in order to defend the region from Irish invasion, specifically the Uí Liatháin, as mentioned in the Historia Brittonum. Cunedda established himself in Wales, in the territory of the Venedoti, which would become the centre of the kingdom of Gwynedd. Two explanations for these actions have been suggested: either Cunedda was acting under the orders of Maximus (or Maximus's successors) or Vortigern, the high king of the British in the immediate post-Roman era. The range of dates (suggested by Peter Bartrum) runs from the late 370s, which would favor Maximus, to the late 440s, which would favor Vortigern.
Maximus (or his successors) may have handed over control of the British frontiers to local chieftains at an earlier date; with the evacuation of the fort at Chester in the 370s, he may have had little option. Given that the archaeological record demonstrates Irish settlement on the Llŷn Peninsula however and possible raids as far west as Wroxeter by the late 4th century, it is difficult to conceive of either Roman or allied British forces having presented an effective defense in Wales.
The reliability of early Welsh genealogies is not uncontested, and many of the claims regarding the number and identity of Cunedda's heirs did not surface until as late as the 10th century. Nonetheless, if we accept this information as valid, calculating back from this date suggests the mid-5th-century interpretation.
Of Cunedda personally even less is known. Probably celebrated for his strength, courage, and ability to rally the beleaguered Romano-British forces of the region, he eventually secured a politically advantageous marriage to Gwawl, daughter of Coel Hen, the Romano-British ruler of Eboracum (modern York), and is claimed to have had nine sons. The early kingdoms of Ceredigion and Meirionnydd were supposedly named after his two sons Ceredig and Meirion.
By the 430's, the Romans had left Britain, and a large part of Britain had fallen under the sway of a British leader called 'Vortigern', meaning 'Great King.' He had something approaching absolute power. He was even able to arrange the migration of a whole people, the Votadini under their leader Cunedda, who were forced to leave Lothian and made to settle in North Wales, in order to resist Irish incursions.
From "The Matter of Wales" by Jan Morris, ISBN 0-19-504221-2, 1984, p. 90-91:
The first news of Christianity reached Wales in Roman times . . . and the founder of the princedom of Gwynedd, the Romanized Celt Cunedda, is thought to have been a Christian.
From Wikipedia:
Cunedda ap Edern or Cunedda Wledig (fl. 5th century) was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd. The name Cunedda derives from the Brythonic word kunodagos, meaning good hound. His genealogy is traced back to Padarn Beisrudd, which literally translates as Paternus of the Scarlet Robe. One traditional interpretation identifies Padarn as a Roman (or Romano-British) official of reasonably high rank who had been placed in command of Votadini troops stationed in the Clackmannanshire region of Scotland in the 380s or earlier by the Emperor Magnus Maximus. Alternatively, he may have been a frontier chieftain who was granted Roman military rank, a practice attested elsewhere along the empire's borders at the time. In all likelihood, Padarn's command in Scotland was assumed after his death by his son, Edern (Latin: Æturnus), and then passed to Edern's son, Cunedda.
Cunedda and his forebears led the Votadini against Pictish and Irish incursions south of Hadrian's Wall. Sometime after this, the Votadini troops under Cunedda relocated to North Wales in order to defend the region from Irish invasion, specifically the Uí Liatháin, as mentioned in the Historia Brittonum. Cunedda established himself in Wales, in the territory of the Venedoti, which would become the centre of the kingdom of Gwynedd. Two explanations for these actions have been suggested: either Cunedda was acting under the orders of Maximus (or Maximus's successors) or Vortigern, the high king of the British in the immediate post-Roman era. The range of dates (suggested by Peter Bartrum) runs from the late 370s, which would favor Maximus, to the late 440s, which would favor Vortigern.
Maximus (or his successors) may have handed over control of the British frontiers to local chieftains at an earlier date; with the evacuation of the fort at Chester in the 370s, he may have had little option. Given that the archaeological record demonstrates Irish settlement on the Llŷn Peninsula however and possible raids as far west as Wroxeter by the late 4th century, it is difficult to conceive of either Roman or allied British forces having presented an effective defense in Wales.
The reliability of early Welsh genealogies is not uncontested, and many of the claims regarding the number and identity of Cunedda's heirs did not surface until as late as the 10th century. Nonetheless, if we accept this information as valid, calculating back from this date suggests the mid-5th-century interpretation.
Of Cunedda personally even less is known. Probably celebrated for his strength, courage, and ability to rally the beleaguered Romano-British forces of the region, he eventually secured a politically advantageous marriage to Gwawl, daughter of Coel Hen, the Romano-British ruler of Eboracum (modern York), and is claimed to have had nine sons. The early kingdoms of Ceredigion and Meirionnydd were supposedly named after his two sons Ceredig and Meirion.