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Rhodri ap Merfyn ( 820 – 873/877/878), popularly known as Rhodri the Great ( cy, Rhodri Mawr), succeeded his father,
Merfyn Frych Merfyn Frych ('Merfyn the Freckled'; Old Welsh ''Mermin''), also known as Merfyn ap Gwriad ('Merfyn son of Gwriad') and Merfyn Camwri ('Merfyn the Oppressor'), was King of Gwynedd from around 825 to 844, the first of its kings known not to have ...
, as King 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 844. Rhodri annexed
Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...
c. 856 and
Seisyllwg Seisyllwg () was a petty kingdom of medieval Wales.Davies, p. 85 It is unclear when it emerged as a distinct unit, but according to later sources it consisted of the former Kingdom of Ceredigion plus the region known as Ystrad Tywi. Thus it covere ...
c. 871. He is called "
King of the Britons The title King of the Britons ( cy, Brenin y Brythoniaid, la, Rex Britannorum) was used (often retrospectively) to refer to the most powerful ruler among the Celtic Britons, both before and after the period of Roman Britain up until the Norma ...
" by the ''
Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...
.'' In some later histories, he is referred to as "
King of Wales King of Wales was a rarely used title, because Wales, much like Ireland, rarely achieved a degree of political unity like that of England or Scotland during the Middle Ages. While many different leaders in Wales claimed the title of "King of Wale ...
", although the title is anachronistic and his realm did not include southern Wales.


Lineage and inheritance

Rhodri was the son of King
Merfyn Frych Merfyn Frych ('Merfyn the Freckled'; Old Welsh ''Mermin''), also known as Merfyn ap Gwriad ('Merfyn son of Gwriad') and Merfyn Camwri ('Merfyn the Oppressor'), was King of Gwynedd from around 825 to 844, the first of its kings known not to have ...
, who had claimed
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 ...
upon the extinction 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 ...
's male line. Rhodri then inherited the realm after his father's death around 844. Merfyn hailed from "Manaw" which may either refer to the
Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...
or Manau, the ancestral homeland of all Gwynedd's kings since
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 ...
. According to later genealogies, his mother or grandmother was
Nest ferch Cadell Nest ferch Cadell was the daughter of Cadell ap Brochfael, an 8th-century King of Powys, the wife of Merfyn Frych, King of Gwynedd. On the death of her brother Cyngen ap Cadell in 855, authority over the Kingdom of Powys was claimed by Rhodri t ...
of the ruling dynasty in
Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...
, and Rhodri inherited the kingdom through his uncle Cyngen and then the rule of the southern realms on the death of
Gwgon Gwgon ap Meurig (died ) was a 9th-century king of Ceredigion and Ystrad Tywi (i.e., Seisyllwg) in southwest Wales. Gwgon was the son of the former king Meurig or Morydd ap Llywarch Llwyd and inherited the realm on the death of his father. Gwg ...
, Rhodri's brother in law. Although surviving texts of
Welsh law Welsh law ( cy, Cyfraith Cymru) is an autonomous part of the English law system composed of legislation made by the Senedd.Law Society of England and Wales (2019)England and Wales: A World Jurisdiction of Choice eport(Link accessed: 16 March 2022 ...
expressly forbid inheritance along the maternal line, Nest and Rhodri's supposed inheritance was later used to justify Gwynedd's annexation of Powys after the c. 855 death of
Cyngen ap Cadell Cyngen ap Cadell (English: Cyngen son of Cadell) or also (Concenn), was King of Powys from 808 until his death in 854 during a pilgrimage to Rome. Biography Cyngen was of the line of Brochwel Ysgithrog, and, after a long reign as king of Powys, h ...
in preference to Cyngen's other heirs. Similarly, Rhodri's marriage to
Angharad ferch Meurig Angharad ferch Meurig was a 9th-century Welsh noblewoman. She was the wife of Rhodri the Great of Gwynedd, and mother of Anarawd (Rhodri's successor), Cadell ap Rhodri, and Merfyn. Life Angharad was the daughter of Meurig, evidently the King ...
was used to explain his supposed inheritance of her brother
Gwgon Gwgon ap Meurig (died ) was a 9th-century king of Ceredigion and Ystrad Tywi (i.e., Seisyllwg) in southwest Wales. Gwgon was the son of the former king Meurig or Morydd ap Llywarch Llwyd and inherited the realm on the death of his father. Gwg ...
's
kingdom of Ceredigion The Kingdom of Ceredigion was one of several Welsh kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain. Cardigan Bay to the west and the surrounding hilly geography made it difficult for foreign invaders to conquer. Its area corresponded r ...
after that king's death in 872 via a principle of ''
jure uxoris ''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title ''suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could becom ...
'' that does not survive in our sources for Welsh law.


Reign

Now the master of much of modern Wales, Rhodri faced pressure both from the English and, increasingly, from
Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
s, called the "black gentiles" in the Welsh sources. The
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
are recorded ravaging
Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
in 854. In 856, Rhodri won a notable victory and killed their leader Gorm. The
Chronicle of the Princes ''Brut y Tywysogion'' ( en, Chronicle of the Princes) is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. ''Bru ...
records two victories by Rhodri in 872: the first at a place given variously as Bangolau,''Archæologia Cambrensis'': "Chronicle of the Princes"
p. 15
Accessed 27 Feb 2013.
Bann Guolou, Harleian MS. 3859. Op. cit. Phillimore, Egerton. ''Y Cymmrodor'' 9 (1888), pp. 141–83. or Bannoleu, The Annals of Wales (B text), p. 10. where he defeated the Vikings on Anglesey "in a hard battle" and the second at Manegid or Enegyd where the Vikings "were destroyed". The
Chronicle of the Princes ''Brut y Tywysogion'' ( en, Chronicle of the Princes) is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. ''Bru ...
records his death occurring at the Battle of Sunday on Anglesey in 873; the
Annals of Wales 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 ...
record the two events in different years and Phillimore's reconstruction of its dates places Rhodri's death in 877. According to the Chronicle, Rhodri and his brother Gwriad were killed during a Saxon invasion (which probably would have been under
Ceolwulf Ceolwulf, occasionally spelt Ceolwulph, may refer to: * Ceolwulf I of Mercia, King of Mercia *Ceolwulf II of Mercia, King of Mercia *Ceolwulf of Northumbria (Saint Ceolwulf), King of Northumbria *Ceolwulf of Wessex Ceolwulf (died 611) was a Kin ...
of
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 ...
, given that the Wessex forces under
Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...
were fighting Vikings in East Anglia at the time). The Annals record no great details of the death, but where the B text calls Gwriad Rhodri's brother, the A text has him as Rhodri's son instead. It is likely he was killed in battle given that all the sources call his son Anarawd's victory over the Mercians at the Battle of the Conwy a few years later "God's vengeance for Rhodri".


Succession

Rhodri died leaving at six sons to share his land among themselves. The traditional account is that his eldest, Anarawd, became king of Gwynedd and the head of the subsequent
House of Aberffraw The Royal House of Aberffraw was a cadet branch of the Kingdom of Gwynedd originating from the sons of Rhodri the Great in the 9th century. Establishing the Royal court ( cy, Llys) of the Aberffraw Commote would begin a new location from which t ...
. Another, Cadell, was given Ceredigion . Cadell's family was later known as the
House of Dinefwr The Royal House of Dinefwr was a cadet branch of the Royal House of Gwynedd, founded by King Cadell ap Rhodri (reign 872–909), son of Rhodri the Great. Their ancestor, Cunedda Wledig, born in late Roman Britain, was a Sub-Roman warlord ​who ...
, after its base of operations was moved by Cadell's son, Rhodri's grandson,
Hywel Dda Hywel Dda, sometimes anglicised as Howel the Good, or Hywel ap Cadell (died 949/950) was a king of Deheubarth who eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllwg in 920 and shortly thereafter established Deheubarth ...
to
Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed was also the name of the area's county council and the name remains in use f ...
following another (supposed) inheritance via Hywel's marriage to Elen ferch Llywarch. Hywel's wide domain, later known as
Deheubarth Deheubarth (; lit. "Right-hand Part", thus "the South") was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under the House of ...
, briefly eclipsed Gwynedd under his immediate heirs before fracturing. A fourth son, possibly too young to have been considered for the first division of Rhodri's lands, took part in Anarawd's 881 revenge against Mercia and, wounded there, became known to history as Tudwal the Lame, a condition disqualifying him from rule under
Cyfraith Hywel ''Cyfraith Hywel'' (; ''Laws of Hywel''), also known as Welsh law ( la, Leges Walliæ), was the system of law practised in medieval Wales before its final conquest by England. Subsequently, the Welsh law's criminal codes were superseded by ...
, Welsh customary law.


Children

*
Anarawd ap Rhodri Anarawd ap Rhodri (died ) was a King of Gwynedd, referenced as "King of the Britons" in the ''Annales Cambriae'' (''The Annals of Wales''). Anarawd's father Rhodri the Great, by conquest and alleged inheritances, had become ruler of most of north ...
(died 913) *
Cadell ap Rhodri Cadell ap Rhodri (854–909) was King of Seisyllwg, a minor kingdom in southwestern Wales, from about 872 until his death. Life Cadell was the second son of King Rhodri the Great of Gwynedd and Angharad, a princess from Seisyllwg. In 872 Anghar ...
(854–907) *Gwriad ap Rhodri: He had a son named Gwgawn who was killed in 955. * Tudwal ap Rhodri (born 860)


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


External links


Rhodri the Great Britainaexpress.com


, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodri the Great 820s births 878 deaths Year of birth uncertain Monarchs of Ceredigion Monarchs of Gwynedd Monarchs of Powys 9th-century Welsh monarchs