Cuneglasus (
fl. 540) was a prince of
Rhos in
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 ...
, Wales, in the late 5th or early 6th century. He was castigated for various sins by
Gildas
Gildas (Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recounts ...
in ''
De Excidio Britanniae
''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'' ( la, On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain, sometimes just ''On the Ruin of Britain'') is a work written in Latin by the 6th-century AD British cleric St Gildas. It is a sermon in three parts condemning ...
''. The Welsh form Cynlas Goch is attested in several genealogies of the Rhos royal line. The two names are assumed to refer to the same ruler.
Cuneglasus and Gildas
Cuneglasus is one of the five "tyrants" of Britain denounced by
Gildas
Gildas (Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recounts ...
in his c. early sixth-century C.E. work ''
On the Ruin of Britain
''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'' ( la, On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain, sometimes just ''On the Ruin of Britain'') is a work written in Latin by the 6th-century AD British cleric St Gildas. It is a sermon in three parts condemning ...
''. Gildas says of him:
*"You bear, you rider and ruler of many, and guider of the chariot which is the receptacle of the bear"
*"You contempter of God and vilifier of his order"
*"You tawny butcher, as in the Latin tongue thy name signifies"
* one who raises war against men, indeed against his own countrymen, as well as against God
* one who has "thrown out of doors your wife" and lustfully desires "her detestable sister who had vowed unto God, the everlasting
chastity
Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains either from sexual activity considered immoral or any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for example when mak ...
of widowhood".
The first phrase is notably obscure.
The Latin ' ("container; refuge") would literally describe a bear's lair or cage, which seems unlikely.
Bartrum gives the translation as "driver of a chariot belonging to a bear's den". Those seeking an identification of Arthur with Cuneglasus's putative father Owain have seen it as reference to Cuneglasus's guiding the chariot containing his father's casket.
[ In 1918, historian ]Arthur Wade-Evans
Arthur Wade Wade-Evans (born Arthur Wade Evans) (31 August 1875 – 4 January 1964) was a Welsh clergyman and historian.
Biography
Evans was born in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, in south Wales on 31 August 1875 and did not include his mother's ...
theorized that the "bear's den" was actually the township of Dinerth in Llandrillo-yn-Rhos (Rhos-on-Sea
Rhos-on-Sea ( cy, Llandrillo-yn-Rhos) is a seaside resort and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The population was 7,593 at the 2011 census. It adjoins Colwyn Bay and is named after the Welsh kingdom of Rhos established there in late ...
). The name "Dinerth" can be translated to a "bear's fortress".[ Excavations undertaken in 1997 by David Longley for the ]Gwynedd Archaeological Trust
The Gwynedd Archaeological Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth Archeolegol Gwynedd) is an Archaeological Trust organisation established in 1974; it is one of four Welsh Archaeological Trusts.
The trust maintains Historic Environment Records for their ar ...
revealed an early medieval fortress with a "massive, well-built" wall of quarried limestone standing high and fronted by a rampart of of rubble.[ The phrase would then serve as a punning reference to the main court of Cuneglasus.
As for the final entry, Gildas does not mention the name of either of the two sisters, and their names do not survive in other sources.][
]
Welsh genealogies
According to Peter Bartrum
Peter Clement Bartrum (1907 in Hampstead, London, England — 14 August 2008) was a researcher and genealogist who, from the 1930s onwards, specialised in the genealogy of the Welsh nobility of the Middle Ages.
Educated at Queen's College, Oxford, ...
(1907-2008), Cuneglasus is typically identified with a figure known in Welsh sources as Cynlas Goch, and there is little doubt about this identification. Cynlas appears in the genealogies of the kings of Rhos, in 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 ...
, as a son of Owain Danwyn Owain Danwyn ( fl. 440) was a king of Rhos in Gwynedd, Wales, in the mid-5th century. He was the son of Einion Yrth and the father of Cynlas Goch, probably the Cuneglasus excoriated by Gildas. Very little is known of his life. Graham Phillips a ...
and a father of Maig. The relationship is attested in 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 ...
(HG), the Genealogies from Jesus College MS 20
The genealogies from Jesus College MS 20 are a medieval Welsh collection of genealogies preserved in a single manuscript, Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Jesus College, MS 20, folios 33r–41r. It presents the lineages of a number of medie ...
(JC), and the Achau Brenhinoedd a Thywysogion Cymru (ABT). However the JC disagrees with the other sources on the exact relationship between the three men. Cynlas' cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...
, "Goch", is only mentioned in the ABT. This is also the only source which specifically connects him with Rhos.[
The '']Bonedd y Saint The ''Bonedd y Saint'' or ''Seint'' (Welsh for "Descent of the Saints") is a Welsh genealogical tract detailing the lineages of the early British saints
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degr ...
'', a genealogy of British saints, mentions other children of Owain Danwyn and apparent siblings of Cynlas. They included the saints Einion Frenin
Saint Einion Frenin (Welsh: old ', mod. ' or ', "Saint Einion the King"; la, Ennianus or ''Anianus'') was a late 5th-Abersoch Virtual Guide"History: The Pilgrim's Trail and Some of Its Churches" Accessed 18 Nov 2014. and ...
, Seiriol
Seiriol was an early 6th-century saint, who created a cell at Penmon Priory on Anglesey, off the coast of north Wales. He later moved to Ynys Seiriol ( Puffin Island).
Narrative
Seiriol was a son of King Owain Danwyn Owain Danwyn ( fl. 440) ...
and Meirion, and in some versions, Hawystl Gloff. The Welsh genealogies also mention a brother of Owain Danwyn and paternal uncle to Cynlas: Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion Cadwallon ap Einion (c. 460-517 or 534), usually known as Cadwallon Lawhir ('Long Hand') and also called Cadwallon I by some historians, was a Wales, Welsh ruler around 500.
Cadwallon was the son of Einion Yrth and Prawst ferch Deithlyn. He is oft ...
. Maelgwn is known as a son of Cadwallon, and consequently a paternal cousin of Cynlas.
Cynlas may have been the eponymous figure behind the ancient township of Cynlas, located in Llandderfel
Llandderfel is a village and a sparsely populated community in Gwynedd, Wales, near Bala, formerly served by the Llandderfel railway station. The community also includes the settlements of Glan-yr-afon, Llanfor, Cefnddwysarn and Frongoch. T ...
, Penllyn.[
A grave of Cynlas is mentioned in a 1745 source, as located in Bangor Church, Caernarvonshire (]Caernarfonshire
, HQ= County Hall, Caernarfon
, Map=
, Image= Flag
, Motto= Cadernid Gwynedd (The strength of Gwynedd)
, year_start=
, Arms= ''Coat of arms of Caerna ...
).[
]
References
Sources
{{Empty section, date=February 2018
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.
...
Monarchs of Rhos
6th-century deaths
Year of birth unknown
6th-century Welsh people
6th-century Welsh monarchs