Ceredig ap Cunedda (died 453), was king of

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cer ...

in Wales. "Lives of the Cambro British saints"
p. 396, 1853, Rev. William Jenkins Rees He may have been born c. 420 in the

Brython The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', la, Britanni), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were people of Celtic language and culture who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age and into the Middle Ages, at which point the ...

ic kingdom of

Manaw Gododdin Manaw Gododdin was the narrow coastal region on the south side of the Firth of Forth, part of the Brythonic-speaking Kingdom of Gododdin in the post-Roman Era. It is notable as the homeland of Cunedda prior to his conquest of North Wales, and ...

(modern Lothian in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

), centred on the Firth of Forth in the area known as

Yr Hen Ogledd Yr Hen Ogledd (), in English the Old North, is the historical region which is now Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands that was inhabited by the Brittonic people of sub-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages. Its population spok ...

. Little is known of him. One of the sons of

Cunedda Cunedda ap Edern, also called Cunedda ''Wledig'' ( 5th century), was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the Royal dynasty of Gwynedd, one of the very oldest of western Europe. Name The name ''Cunedda'' (spelled ''Cuned ...

, grandfather of Saint David, according to Nennius'

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 B ...

, he arrived in what is now modern

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

from Gododdin with his father's family when they were invited to help ward off

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

invaders. As a reward for his bravery, his father gave him the southernmost part of the territories in north-west Wales reconquered from the Irish. The realm is traditionally supposed to have been called ''Ceredigion'' after him, which led to the name of modern

, one of the

principal areas of Wales Since 1 April 1996, Wales has been divided into 22 single-tier principal areas ( cy, Awdurdodau unedol), styled as counties or county boroughs ( or ) for local government purposes. The elected councils of these areas are responsible for the pr ...

. He married

Meleri Saint Meleri was a late 5th century Welsh saint and Queen of Ceredigion. Meleri was one of the 24 daughters of King Brychan Brycheiniog of Brycheiniog (now Brecknockshire) in Wales. She married King Ceredig of Ceredigion, one of the son of Cune ...

, one of the many daughters of King

Brychan Brycheiniog Brychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, alternatively Breconshire) in Mid Wales. Life According to Celtic hagiography Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and hi ...

of Brycheiniog (now Brecknockshire). Amongst their children was a daughter named Ina who is thought to be the Saint Ina to whom St Ina's Church in Llanina near

New Quay New Quay ( cy, Cei Newydd) is a seaside town (and electoral ward) in Ceredigion, Wales, with a resident population of around 1,200 people, reducing to 1,082 at the 2011 census. Located south-west of Aberystwyth on Cardigan Bay with a harbour a ...

, Ceredigion is dedicated.

Footnotes

{{Reflist

References

Lives of the Cambro British saints

William Jenkins Rees William Jenkins Rees (10 January 1772 – 18 January 1855) was a Welsh cleric and antiquary.Dictionary of ...

, Thomas Wakeman, 1835
A history of Wales from the earliest times
John Edward Lloyd, 1911
The Cambrian, A Bi-Monthly Published in the interest of the Welsh people and their descendants in the United States, 1881, Vol. 1, 1881
420s births British traditional history Britons of the North Monarchs of Ceredigion People from Clackmannanshire 5th-century monarchs in Europe 453 deaths