Clemen ap Bledric (also known as Clement or Clemens) was a 7th-century King of

Dumnonia Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...

(now 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 ...

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

Family, life and rule

Born about 580, the son of

Bledric ap Custennin Bledric ap Custennin (also known as Blederic, Bredrice, Peledric, Bletius, Bledrys, Bledrig, Bletricius or Bledericus) was a 6th- and 7th-century ruler of Dumnonia (now part of the English West Country). Life and rule The actual status and realit ...

, Clemen ruled after his father was killed by King

Æthelfrith Æthelfrith (died c. 616) was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until his death. Around 604 he became the first Bernician king to also rule the neighboring land of Deira, giving him an important place in the development of the later kingdom of Nor ...

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

at the Battle of Bangor-is-Coed (

Bangor-on-Dee Bangor-on-Dee ( cy, Bangor-is-y-coed or Bangor Is-coed) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, on the banks of the River Dee. Until 1974 it was in the exclave of Flintshire known as the Maelor Saesneg, and from 1974 to 19 ...

Powys Fadog Powys Fadog (English: ''Lower Powys'' or ''Madog's Powys'') was the northern portion of the former princely realm of Powys, which split in two following the death of Madog ap Maredudd in 1160. The realm was divided under Welsh law, with Madog's ...

) in about 613. He married the daughter of Guitoli ap Urbgen, who was possibly a great grandson of the late king Gerren ''Llyngesic'', and they had one known son, Petroc ''Baladrddellt'' (“Splintered Spear”) - although, according to the Welsh ''Bonedd y Saint'' (Genealogies of the Saints), Clemen was the father of

St Petroc Saint Petroc or Petrock ( lat-med, Petrocus; cy, Pedrog; french: link=no, Perreux; ) was a British prince and Christian saint. Probably born in South Wales, he primarily ministered to the Britons of Devon (Dewnans) and Cornwall (Kernow) then f ...

, other authorities state that this saint lived around a century earlier, the princely son of King

Glywys Glywys is a legendary early 5th century Welsh king, an important character in early Welsh genealogies as the eponymous founder king of Glywysing, a southeast Welsh kingdom whose heartland lay between the Tawe and the Usk. In one genealogy Glywys ...

of Glywysing, making it likely Clemen was actually the father of Petroc ''Baladrddellt''. Some authors have Tewdwr (or Teudu) son of Peredur ruling as king in the ''fl.'' 620s, descended from a different line of Dumnonian kings from Gerren ''Llyngesic's'' son Cado ap Gerren. This is as given in the Jesus College, Oxford, MS 20, although this line ends with a Judhael as Tewdwr's grandson, almost certainly Judicael, High King of the

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

s, and king of Domnonia in

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 ...

Battle of Beandun

Clemen was probably king when the

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...

fought the Battle of Beandun (sometimes thought to be Bindon near

Axmouth Axmouth is a village, civil parish and former manor in the East Devon district of Devon, England, near the mouth of the River Axe. The village itself is about inland, on the east bank of the Axe estuary. The parish extends along the estuary ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

but more likely to be in Somerset given the location of the earlier (577) victory at the

Battle of Deorham The Battle of Deorham (or Dyrham) is claimed as a decisive military encounter between the West Saxons and the Britons of the West Country in 577. The battle, which was a major victory for Wessex's forces led by Ceawlin and his son, Cuthwine, ...

) in 614 when, the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...

'' tells us, King

Cynegils Cynegils () was King of Wessex from c. 611 to c. 642. Cynegils is traditionally considered to have been King of Wessex, but the familiar kingdoms of the so-called Heptarchy had not yet formed from the patchwork of smaller kingdoms in his life ...

and his son Cwichelm of

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 ...

invaded Dumnonia. 614 is also the year that which the peace was broken on the borders of Glevissig (

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 and ...

), suggesting the Dumnonians co-ordinated their efforts with the kings of

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

,Morris, John. ''The Age of Arthur'' 2004 p308 such as Nynnio ap Erb who was probably ruling Gwent and Glywysing at the time. The West Saxon army was said to have killed 2,065 British: however this figure seems suspect upon examination. Marren arren, P. (2004). 1066 - The Battles Of York, Stamford Bridge and Hastings. Havertown: Pen and Sword/ref> estimates Norman casualties at the battle of Hastings to have been around 2000 men, representing a large multinational force in one of the largest battles of the age. Therefore for Wessex to have slain this many men would represent an enormous victory that should have been total. However, very little seems to change as the Anglo Saxon Chronicle records in 652 Cenwalth fighting at Bradford Upon Avon against an unknown foe very likely to be the Britons. horpe, B. (1861). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, according to the several original authorities. 2nd ed. London: Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts

Siege of Exeter

Clemen may have been reigning in 630-632 when, according to

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 ...

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 ...

, King

Penda Penda (died 15 November 655)Manuscript A of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' gives the year as 655. Bede also gives the year as 655 and specifies a date, 15 November. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology and History'', 1934) put forward the theor ...

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

besieged Exeter until the exiled

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 ...

Cadwallon 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 ...

arrived to defeat the Mercians. The three kings are said to have made an alliance and marched north to face the armies of Northumbria which were then occupying Gwynedd: Exeter was in the kingdom of

, and Cadwallon is said to have made an alliance with Dumnonia's nobility though Clemen's name is not mentioned. Today's reputable historians do not mention this siege at all, considering it together with the rest of

as one of Geoffrey of Monmouth's many colourful inventions.

Battle of Cefn Digoll

Clemen may have fought at the Battle of Cefn Digoll (Long Mountain, near

Welshpool Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

in Gwynedd) in alliance with Gwynedd and Mercia, against Northumbrian domination in 630. It is not known whether the Dumnonians were part of the British army that went on to ravage Northumbria over the following years.

Literature

He is also given in Llyfr Baglan (

Book of Baglan The Book of Baglan (''Llyfr Baglan'' in Welsh) is a collection of old Welsh manuscripts, containing much genealogical data, compiled by John Williams from several sources between 1600 and 1607. It was transcribed from the original manuscript preserv ...

) as a

Duke of Cornwall Duke of Cornwall is a title in the Peerage of England, traditionally held by the eldest son of the reigning British monarch, previously the English monarch. The duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in England and was established by a ro ...

, son of Bredrice (e.g. Bledric) and father of Pedroc (e.g. Petroc).Williams, John. ''Llyfr Baglan: or The

. Compiled Between the Years 1600 and 1607. Edited by Joseph Alfred Bradney.'' London: Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 1910. p80

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bledric, Clemen Ap 7th-century births 7th-century deaths Monarchs of Dumnonia 7th-century English monarchs