Athrwys ap Meurig (c. 605β655) was a prince, and possibly king, of
Gwent and
Glywysing
Glywysing was, from the sub-Roman period to the Early Middle Ages, a petty kingdom in south-east Wales. Its people were descended from the Iron Age tribe of the Silures, and frequently in union with Gwent, merging to form Morgannwg.
Name a ...
in Wales. He was the son of King
Meurig ap Tewdrig Meurig ap Tewdrig (Latin: ''Mauricius''; English: ''Maurice'') was the son of Tewdrig (St. Tewdric), and a King of the early Welsh Kingdoms of Gwent and Glywysing. He is thought to have lived between 400AD and 600AD, but some sources give more spec ...
and the father of the later king
Morgan ab Athrwys. It is possible he died before his father Meurig and did not live to rule as king himself.
History
Athrwys's name is spelled variously. It is spelled ''Atroys'' in the 10th century Welsh
Harleian genealogies
__NOTOC__
The Harleian genealogies are a collection of Old Welsh genealogies preserved in British Library, Harley MS 3859. Part of the Harleian Library, the manuscript, which also contains the ''Annales Cambriae'' (Recension A) and a version of th ...
and ''Andrus'' in the early medieval Latin ''Life of Saint Cadoc''; also note ''Andres
s' son of ''Morcant
s' in the same section of the saint's life, all derived from an early
Old Welsh
Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...
spelling ''*Antres''.
He was the son of
Meurig ap Tewdrig Meurig ap Tewdrig (Latin: ''Mauricius''; English: ''Maurice'') was the son of Tewdrig (St. Tewdric), and a King of the early Welsh Kingdoms of Gwent and Glywysing. He is thought to have lived between 400AD and 600AD, but some sources give more spec ...
, a King of
Gwent and
Glywysing
Glywysing was, from the sub-Roman period to the Early Middle Ages, a petty kingdom in south-east Wales. Its people were descended from the Iron Age tribe of the Silures, and frequently in union with Gwent, merging to form Morgannwg.
Name a ...
in South Wales.
[Bartrum, p. 35.] His mother was Onbrawst, daughter of
Gwrgan Fawr
Gwrgan Fawr (meaning ''Gwrgan the Great''; also, in Latin, Gurgantius; English Fergus; died c. 645) was a king of Ergyng, a south-east Welsh kingdom of the Early Middle Ages.
He was the son of Cynfyn and rightful heir to the Ergyng throne wh ...
, King of
Ergyng
Ergyng (or Erging) was a Welsh kingdom of the sub-Roman and early medieval period, between the 5th and 7th centuries. It was later referred to by the English as ''Archenfield''.
Location
The kingdom lay mostly in what is now western Herefordsh ...
. His siblings were Idnerth and Ffriog.
[Bartrum, p. 547.] His wife may have been Cenedlon ferch Briafael Frydig, though it has also been suggested that she was the wife of a later king of this dynasty; his children included
Morgan ab Athrwys, later a king of Gwent, as well as Ithel and Gwaidnerth.
[ While Athrwys's father Meurig and son Morgan are named as kings in the Book of Llandaff, Athrwys is only named as a king of Gwent in a charter which is believed to be spurious (on chronological grounds, due to the witnesses of the charter). ]Wendy Davies
Wendy Elizabeth Davies (born 1942) is an emeritus professor of history at University College London, England. Her research focuses on rural societies in early medieval Europe, focusing on the regions of Wales, Brittany and Iberia.
Career
Da ...
concluded that Athrwys predeceased his father and thus never ruled as king, and when Meurig died after a long reign the kingship passed to Morgan. Davies suggests Athrwys lived between about 605β655.
His son was Morgan ab Athrwys or Morgan Mwynfawr ('Morgan the Benefactor' in the Welsh language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...
). Morgan was King of Morgannwg
Morgannwg was a medieval Welsh kingdom formed via the merger of the kingdoms of the Kingdom of Glywysing and the Kingdom of Gwent.
Formation of Morgannwg
First under King Morgan the Generous (fl. ) until the end of the reign of his descendant I ...
, or Gwent and Glywysing, land as far west as the River Towy
The River Towy ( cy, Afon Tywi, ) is one of the longest rivers flowing entirely within Wales. Its total length is . It is noted for its sea trout and salmon fishing.
Route
The Towy rises within of the source of the River Teifi on the lower sl ...
and also encompassing land beyond the River Wye
The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...
, into the old Kingdom of Ergyng
Ergyng (or Erging) was a Welsh kingdom of the sub-Roman and early medieval period, between the 5th and 7th centuries. It was later referred to by the English as ''Archenfield''.
Location
The kingdom lay mostly in what is now western Herefordsh ...
, South Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
.
Arthurian connection
Some writers have identified Athrwys ap Meurig as a potential historical basis for King Arthur
The historicity of King Arthur has been debated both by academics and popular writers. While there have been many suggestions that Arthur was a real historical person, current consensus among academic historians holds him to be a mythological or ...
. This identification is found at least as early as Thomas Carte
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225β1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
's ''A General History of England'', written in 1747. It was later put forward and popularised by William Owen Pughe in 1803. The theory subsequently gained more popularity during the 19th century.
Proponents of the identification of Athrwys ap Meurig with Arthur generally point to the fact that Athrwys was a prince (and possibly king) of Glywysing, Gwent and Ergyng, which is where King Arthur is placed in many sources. For example, the Mabinogion
The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12thβ13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...
(along with Geoffrey of Monmouth) describes Caerleon
Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman ...
-upon-Usk as Arthur's main city, and the pre-Galfridian ''Life of St Cadoc'' also places Arthur in this region. Proponents of this theory argue that Athrwys lived in the sixth century, not the seventh century as is commonly believed by scholars. Thus, they argue that Athrwys lived at the same time as Arthur and in the same place as Arthur, indicating that they were, in reality, the same person. The name ''Athrwys'', some argue, may be a corruption of one of the Latin forms of Arthur's name, such as ''Arthurus'' or ''Arturus''.
Critics of this theory point out that the ''Annales Cambriae'' reports the death of Ffernfael son of Ithael in 775. This is widely accepted as being Ffernfael ap Ithael ap Morgan ap Athrwys. If the great-grandson of Athrwys died in 775, that makes it virtually impossible for Athrwys to have lived in the sixth century; he must instead be a seventh-century individual (if the identification of the Ffernfael of the ''Annales Cambriae'' with his great-grandson is correct). This means that he would not have lived at the same time as Arthur. In addition, most scholars believe that the name ''Athrwys'' comes from ''*Antres'', not ''Arthur''. However, Samson of Dol, son of Anna and a nephew of Athrwys, is placed in the 6th century, including the likely date of his elevation to bishop on 22 February 521.
References
Sources
*
*Davies, Wendy, ''The Llandaff Charters'', National Library of Wales, 1979.
*Sims-Williams, Patrick, "The Emergence of Old Welsh, Cornish and Breton Orthography, 600-800: the evidence of Archaic Old Welsh", ''Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies'', V. 38, 1991, p. 52
*Williams, David. (1796). ''The History of Monmouthshire''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athrwys Ap Meurig
7th-century births
7th-century deaths
7th-century Welsh people
Historical figures as candidates of King Arthur
Monarchs of Ergyng
Monarchs of Gwent
Welsh royalty