Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon (also spelled Cadwalader or Cadwallader in English) was
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
of
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
from around 655 to 682 AD. Two devastating plagues happened during his reign, one in 664 and the other in 682; he himself was a victim of the second. Little else is known of his reign.
The
red dragon ( cy, Y Ddraig Goch), long known as a Welsh symbol, appearing in 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 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...
'', the ''
Historia Brittonum
''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British (Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Bri ...
'', and the stories of Geoffrey of Monmouth. Since the accession of
Henry VII to the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
throne, it has often been referred to as "The Red Dragon of Cadwaladr". The association with Cadwaladr is a traditional one, without a firm historical provenance.
Though little is known about the historical Cadwaladr, he became a mythical redeemer figure in Welsh culture. He is a prominent character in the
romantic stories of
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...
, where he is portrayed as the last in an ancient line to hold the title
King of Britain
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...
. In Geoffrey's account, he does not die of plague. He renounces his throne in 688 to become a pilgrim, in response to a prophecy that his sacrifice of personal power will bring about a future victory of the Britons over the Anglo-Saxons. Geoffrey's story of Cadwaladr's prophecy and trip to Rome is believed to be an embellishment of the events in the life of
Cædwalla of Wessex
Cædwalla (; 659 – 20 April 689 AD) was the King of Wessex from approximately 685 until he abdicated in 688. His name is derived from the Welsh Cadwallon. He was exiled from Wessex as a youth and during this period gathered forces and ...
, whom Geoffrey mistakenly conflated with Cadwaladr. Cædwalla renounced his throne and travelled to Rome in 688.
For later Welsh commentators, the myth "provided a messianic hope for the future deliverance of Britain from the dominion of the Saxons".
It was also used by both the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions during the
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
to claim that their candidate would fulfil the prophecy by restoring the authentic lineage stemming from Cadwaladr.
![Welsh Dragon (Y Ddraig Goch)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Welsh_Dragon_%28Y_Ddraig_Goch%29.svg)
Historical record
![Gwynedd General Map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Gwynedd_General_Map.png)
Cadwaladr was the son of a famous father,
Cadwallon ap Cadfan
Cadwallon ap Cadfan (died 634A difference in the interpretation of Bede's dates has led to the question of whether Cadwallon was killed in 634 or the year earlier, 633. Cadwallon died in the year after the Battle of Hatfield Chase, which Bede rep ...
, and the successor to King
Cadafael. His name appears in the
pedigrees of the Jesus College MS. 20 (as "Kadwaladyr vendigeit", or "Cadwaladr the Blessed").
Cadwaladr appears to have suffered a major military defeat at the hands of the West Saxons at Pinhoe near Exeter in 658. He is said to have been of a "peaceful and pious" temperament and to have patronised many churches. The church of
Llangadwaladr
Llangadwaladr () is a small village in south-west Anglesey, Wales, located around 2 miles east of Aberffraw and 3 miles south of Gwalchmai, Anglesey, Gwalchmai. It is part of the community (Wales), community of Bodorgan.
The village is a short ...
in Anglesey identifies him as its founder.
Cadwaladr's name appears as 'Catgualart' in a section of the ''
Historia Brittonum
''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British (Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Bri ...
'', where it says he died of a dreadful mortality while he was king. The great plague of 664 is not noted in the ''
Annales Cambriae
The (Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later ed ...
'', but
Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
's description makes clear its impact in both Britain and Ireland, where its occurrence is also noted in the ''Irish Annals''. The plague of 682 is not noted by Bede, but the ''Annales Cambriae'' note its occurrence in Britain and that Cadwaladr was one of its victims. Both the ''Annales Cambriae'' and the ''Irish Annals'' note the plague's impact in Ireland in 683, as do other sources.
The
genealogies in Jesus College MS. 20 and the
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 ...
give Cadwaladr as the son of Cadwallon and the father of
Idwal Iwrch
Idwal Iwrch ( en, Idwal the Roebuck), or Idwal ap Cadwaladr ( en, Idwal son of Cadwaladr), is a figure in the genealogies of the kings of Gwynedd. He was the son of King Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon (reigned c. 655 – 682) and the father of King Rh ...
. Idwal, who fathered the later king
Rhodri Molwynog
Rhodri Molwynog ("Rhodri the Bald and Grey"; died ), also known as Rhodri ap Idwal ("Rhodri son of Idwal") was an 8th-century king of Gwynedd. He was listed as a King of the Britons by the ''Annals of Wales''.
This era in the history of Gwynedd ...
, may have been his successor.
Early mythic significance
Cadwaladr's name is invoked in a number of literary works such as in the ''
Armes Prydein
''Armes Prydein'' (, ''The Prophecy of Britain'') is an early 10th-century Welsh prophetic poem from the ''Book of Taliesin''.
In a rousing style characteristic of Welsh heroic poetry, it describes a future where all of Brythonic peoples are alli ...
'', an early 10th-century prophetic poem from the
Book of Taliesin
The Book of Taliesin ( cy, Llyfr Taliesin) is one of the most famous of Middle Welsh manuscripts, dating from the first half of the 14th century though many of the fifty-six poems it preserves are taken to originate in the 10th century or before ...
. While the poem's "Cadwaladr" is an emblematic figure, scholars have taken the view that the Cadwaladr of ''Armes Prydein'' refers to the historical son of Cadwallon, and that already at this stage he "played a messianic role" of some sort, but "its precise nature remains uncertain". He is typically paired with
Conan Meriadoc
Conan Meriadoc (; Welsh: Cynan Meriadog; Breton: Konan Meriadeg) is a legendary Celtic leader credited with founding Brittany. Versions of his story circulated in both Brittany and Great Britain from at least the early 12th century, and supplant ...
, the founder of British settlements in Brittany. Conan and Cadwaladr are identified as warriors who will return to restore British power. ''Armes Prydein'' says, "Spendour of Cadwaladr, shining and bright, defence of armies in desolate places. Truly he
onan
Onan ''Aunan'' was a figure detailed in the Book of Genesis chapter 38, as the second son of Judah and Shuah, and the brother of Er and Shelah. After being commanded by Judah to procreate with the late Er's wife Tamar, he instead "spilled his s ...
will come across the waves, the promise of prophecy in the beginning."
[
According to Elissa R. Henken, Cadwaladr was well established as a "prophesied deliverer" of the Britons before Geoffrey's version of his life altered its ending. This may be because he was seen as the man who would carry forward the achievement of his father Cadwallon, the last great war leader of the Britons: "it is quite likely that the father and son became confused in folk memory, a fusion enhanced by Cadwaladr, whose name is a compound meaning 'battle-leader', also having assumed his father's epithet Bendigaid (Blessed)."][Elissa R. Henken, ''National Redeemer: Owain Glyndŵr in Welsh Tradition'', Cornell University Press, 1996, pp.29–32.]
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Cadwaladr figures prominently in Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...
's romantic account of the ''Historia Regum Britanniae
''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...
'' ( en, History of the Kings of Britain). As such, the Cadwaladr of Geoffrey is a literary invention that used the name of a historical person to advance the plot of the story. In Book XII, Chapter XIV of the ''Historia'', Cadwaladr is given as the last in a line of kings that began with Brutus of Troy
Brutus, also called Brute of Troy, is a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, known in medieval British history as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain. This legend first appears in the ''Historia Brittonum'', an anonymous ...
. Chapters XV – XVIII have him leaving a depopulated Britain for Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
, where the British people have resettled. Britain itself has been almost emptied by plague; for eleven years the country was "completely abandoned by all the Britons" except for parts of Wales. Cadwaladr is received as a guest by Alan Hir, King of Brittany. Taking advantage of the depopulation, the Saxons invite more of their countrymen to join them as soon as the plague abates. From this point they become completely dominant in Britain, and the British come to be called the "Welsh".
At the same time, in Brittany, Cadwaladr intends to return to take back the island, and asks Alan to provide him with an army. The Breton king agrees, but Cadwaladr hears a prophetic voice which tells him that he must sacrifice personal power for the sake of his people. If he renounces the throne, his sacrifice will eventually lead to the restoration of British control of the island in the future, as predicted by Merlin
Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...
to Vortigern
Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in ...
: "the Voice added that, as a reward for its faithfulness, the British people would occupy the island again at some time in the future, once the appointed moment should come".[Nice, Jason A., "Being 'British' in Rome: The Welsh at the English College, 1578–1584", ''The Catholic Historical Review'', Volume: 92, Issue: 1, January 2006, p.1] Cadwaladr is told that if he lives a penitent life he will become a saint. His bones will be hidden to protect them. When his sacred bones are found and returned to Britain, the Britons (Welsh and Bretons) will be restored to full possession of their homeland. Cadwaladr and Alan then consult the prophecies of Merlin, and rejoice that this prediction will be fulfilled in future. He then travels to Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
as a pilgrim, where he dies in 689 after meeting the pope.
Thus Cadwaladr becomes a messianic figure who sacrifices himself to redeem his people and restore them to their promised homeland. Cadwaladr's penitence assures his sainthood. His son Ivor and his nephew Ynyr return to Britain with an army, but, as predicted, are not successful in restoring British control of the island.
In another passage in the book a list of Merlin's prophesies contains the prediction:
This seems to correspond to the pairing of Cadwaladr and Conan as restorers of Britain in ''Armes Prydein''.[ The merging of the Welsh and Breton peoples is linked to an alliance with "Alban" (which probably means Scotland: ]Alba
''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scottish people, Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed i ...
). The occupation of the English will be at an end and Britain will be restored to its true identity as the territory of the descendants of Brutus of Troy
Brutus, also called Brute of Troy, is a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, known in medieval British history as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain. This legend first appears in the ''Historia Brittonum'', an anonymous ...
.
Cadwaladr and the Wars of the Roses
During the Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
the prophecies connected to Cadwaladr were used by various contenders as part of their claim to the throne. This was linked to the story of the struggle between the Red Dragon and the White Dragon, part of the myth of Merlin
Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...
, interpreted as warring Celtic and Saxon peoples. Edward IV
Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
claimed to be restoring the authentic ancient lineage of Cadwaladr, thus fulfilling Merlin's prophecy of the victory of the red dragon. His chancellor gave a sermon asserting that "the British line, which perished with Cadwallader's exile in 689 was restored by the arrival of Edward the king prophesied by Merlin and others."
The Tudors also claimed descent from Cadwaladr to legitimize their authority over Britain as a whole. Owen Tudor
Sir Owen Tudor (, 2 February 1461) was a Welsh courtier and the second husband of Queen Catherine of Valois (1401–1437), widow of King Henry V of England. He was the grandfather of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty.
Background
Owe ...
claimed descent from Cadwaladr and used a red dragon badge. When Henry Tudor landed in Wales in 1485, he adopted the red dragon flag and claimed to be returning in fulfilment of the prophesies of Merlin as recorded by Geoffrey of Monmouth. After his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field
The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 Augu ...
Henry was greeted at the gates of Worcester with a poem asserting,
:Cadwallader's blood lineally descending,
:Long hath be told of such a prince coming.
:Wherefore friends, if that I shall not lie,
:This same is the fulfiller of the prophesy.
The Welsh Dragon
The Welsh Dragon ( cy, y Ddraig Goch, meaning 'the red dragon'; ) is a heraldic symbol that represents Wales and appears on the national flag of Wales.
As an emblem, the red dragon of Wales has been used since the reign of Cadwaladr, King of ...
(Red Dragon) was thereafter referred to as the "Red Dragon of Cadwallader" and used as Henry's personal emblem. Tudor historian Thomas Gardiner created a genealogical roll that gave Henry's son, Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
, a pedigree showing his descent from Cadwaladr, referred to as "the laste kynge of that blode from whome by trew and lynyall descensse" the Tudors descended.[D.R. Woolf, "The power of the past: history, ritual and political authority in Tudor England", in Paul A. Fideler, ''Political Thought and the Tudor Commonwealth:Deep Structure, Discourse, and Disguise'', New York, 1992, pp.21–22.]
Cadwaladr and Cædwalla
Geoffrey's account of the pilgrimage of Cadwaladr is believed to derive from a confusion between Cadwaladr and his near-contemporary Cædwalla of Wessex
Cædwalla (; 659 – 20 April 689 AD) was the King of Wessex from approximately 685 until he abdicated in 688. His name is derived from the Welsh Cadwallon. He was exiled from Wessex as a youth and during this period gathered forces and ...
(reigned 685 – 688). He also conflates Cadwaladr's son Ivor with Cædwalla's successor Ine
INE, Ine or ine may refer to:
Institutions
* Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística (disambiguation)
* Instituto Nacional de Estatística (disambiguation)
* Instituto Nacional Elec ...
. According to Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
Cædwalla, king of Wessex, renounced his throne and went to Rome in 688 to be baptised by the pope, dying soon afterwards. Ine took the throne in 689.
The argument that Geoffrey confused Cadwaladr with Cædwalla acquired significance in the late 1570s. At that time, when St. Peter's in Rome was being rebuilt, the tombstone of Caedwalla was found, confirming Bede's story that he had died in Rome. Welshmen in Rome, seeking to validate Geoffrey, claimed that the tomb was that of Cadwaladr. This raised the prospect that his sacred bones could be returned to Britain in fulfilment of the prophecy.
The English critics stated that Geoffrey had simply mixed up the two kings, and that Cadwaladr's pilgrimage was thus pure fiction. According to Jason Nice, the Welsh "attempt to 'prove' the legend of Cadwaladr in Rome belonged to a longstanding tradition that held that Wales' special relationship with Rome could reinforce Welsh identity and protect Welshmen from English aggression", a belief that was grounded in the supposed prophecy given to Cadwaladr. Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed ( – before 24 April 1582) was an English chronicler, who was most famous for his work on ''The Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande'', commonly known as ''Holinshed's Chronicles''. It was the "first complete printe ...
summed up the English view in his 1577 '' Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland'':
Also traced to Geoffrey's fertile imagination are stories of Ivor ap Alan and Ynyr travelling from Brittany to Britain. The choice of names for Ivor and Ynyr in the stories may be a consequence of spurious additions to the Laws of Edward the Confessor, which inaccurately speak of good relations between Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
and the Welsh in the reign of King Ine of Wessex
Ine, also rendered Ini or Ina, ( la, Inus; c. AD 670 – after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of southern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor ...
(reigned 688 – 726).
See also
*Kings of Wales family trees
Family trees of the kings of Gwynedd, Deheubarth and
Powys and some of their more prominent relatives and heirs. The early generations of these genealogies are traditional and their historical accuracy is debated by scholars.
...
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadwaladr
682 deaths
Monarchs of Gwynedd
7th-century Welsh monarchs
Year of birth unknown