The House of Rheged (
Welsh pronunciation: ">ˆr̥ɛɡɛd or the House of Rhun was an informal
royal dynasty who ruled in the
brittonic Kingdom of
Rheged. The line is traced back to
Coel Hen whose descendants are often referred to as the ''Coeling.'' The dynasty includes
Urien, King of Rheged and his son
Sir Ywain
Sir Ywain , also known as Yvain and Owain among other spellings (''Ewaine'', ''Ivain'', ''Ivan'', ''Iwain'', ''Iwein'', ''Uwain'', ''Uwaine'', etc.), is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend, wherein he is often the son of King Uri ...
a
Knight of the Round Table in
Arthurian legend.
Coel Hen ruled the majority of
Northern England after the
fall of the Western Roman Empire. His domain was partitioned between his children, leading to his great-grandson,
Meirchion Gul, in the late 5th century, likely being the first of his descendants to exclusively rule Rheged. The line would continue as kings until
Princess Rhiainfellt married
King Oswiu of Northumbria, when the land would be incorporated into the
Anglic,
Kingdom of Northumbria.
Etymology
The origin of the name ''Rheged'' has been described as "problematic". One
Brittonic-language solution is that the name may be a compound of ''rö-'', a prefix meaning "great", and ''cę:d'' meaning "wood, forest" (c.f.
Welsh ''coed'') although the expected form in Welsh would be ''*Rhygoed''. If association of the name with ''cÄ™:d'' is correct, the prefix may be ''rag-'', meaning "before, adjacent to, opposite". Derivation from the element ''reg'', which with the suffix ''-ed'' has connotations of "generosity", is another possibility.
History
It is possible that either
Gorwst Letlwm or
Ceneu ruled in Rheged. However, it is more likely that Meirchion Gul was the first king of the area specifically. The Kingdom was almost certainly passed to
Cynfarch Oer, however, the throne may have originally passed to his brother
Elidyr Lydanwyn, as is claimed the
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 ...
version of
Hywel Dda's 'Welsh laws'. Cynfarch's epithet 'oer' actually meant 'cold' but is better translated as 'unwelcoming'. Cynfarch was well remembered by his own descendants who were referred to as the 'Cynferchyn
' in his honour. His son, Urien Rheged, is no doubt the most famous member of the House. He fought several times in his life against the
Anglo-Saxons such as: Battles of
Gwen Ystrad and
Alt Clut Ford, that are celebrated in the praise poems to him by
Taliesin, preserved in 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 ...
''.
King Urien joined with other northern kings,
Rhydderch Hael "the Generous" of
Strathclyde and two other descendants of Coel,
Gwallog mab Llaenog and
Morgant Bwlch. They defeated the Angles and besieged them on
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...
but, according to the ''
Historia Brittonum'', Urien was assassinated at the behest of Morgant Bwlch who was jealous of his power. A man called Llofan Llaf Difo is said to have killed him in a small river.
The king had at least five sons, named
Owain Owain () is a name of Welsh origin, variously written in Old Welsh as Ougein, Eugein, Euguen, Iguein, Ou(u)ein, Eug(u)ein, Yuein, and in Middle Welsh as Ewein, Owein, and Ywein. Other variants of the name Owain include Ewein, Iguein, Owein, Ouein, Y ...
, Rhiwallon, Elffin, Rhun 'Baladr Bras' and Pasgen. The eldest of them succeeded him. In time, the line would pass to the son of Rhun,
Royth (Rhaith), and die out after Royth's daughter Rhiainfellt married King Oswiu of Northumbria, when the land would be incorporated into the Anglic, Kingdom of Northumbria.
[Lewis, Helen (1989) ''Whose Cultural Heritage? Etifeddiaeth Ddiwylliannol i Bwy?'', English in Education, Taylor & Francis]
Southern Rheged
A second royal genealogy exists for a line, perhaps of kings, descended from Cynfarch Oer's brother: Elidir Lydanwyn. According to ''
Bonedd GwÅ·r y Gogledd'' Elidir's son,
Llywarch Hen
Llywarch Hen (, "Llywarch the Old"; c. 534 – c. 608), was a prince and poet of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a ruling family in the Hen Ogledd or "Old North" of Britain (modern southern Scotland and northern England). Along with Taliesin, A ...
, was a ruler in North Britain in the 6th century. He was driven from his territory by princely in-fighting after Urien's death and was perhaps in old age associated with
Powys. However, it is possible, because of internal inconsistencies, that the poetry connected to
Powys was associated with Llywarch's name at a later, probably 9th century, date. Llywarch is referred to in some poems as king of South Rheged, and in others as king of Argoed, suggesting that the two regions were the same. Searching for Llywarch's kingdom has led some historians to propose that Rheged may have been divided between sons, resulting in northern and southern successor states. The connections of the family of Llywarch and Urien with Powys has suggested to some, on grounds of proximity, that the area of modern
Lancashire may have been their original home.
List of Rheged Rulers
* Meirchion Gul
* Elidyr Lydanwyn?
* Cynfarch Oer
* Urien Rheged
* Owain?
* Riwallon?
* Elffin?
* Rhun?
* Royth Rheged
References
{{Reflist
External links
* Koch, John T, ed. (2006). Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0.
Hen Ogledd
Welsh royal houses