Beli ap Rhun (c. 517 – c. 599) was 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 ...

(reigned c. 586 – c. 599). Nothing is known of the person, and his name is known only from

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

genealogies, which confirm that he had at least two sons. He succeeded his father

Rhun ap Maelgwn Rhun ap Maelgwn Gwynedd (died c. 586), also known as Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn Gwynedd ( en, Rhun the Tall, son of Maelgwn Gwynedd), sometimes spelt as 'Rhûn', was King of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd (reigned c. 547 – c. 586). He came to the throne on ...

as king, and was in turn succeeded by his son

Iago Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist, and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia, who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago hates ...

. Beli was either the father or grandfather of Saint Edeyrn. The royal genealogies of 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 ...

, Jesus College MS. 20, and ''Hengwrt MS. 202'' show him as the ancestor and descendant of kings, and thus presumably a king himself. 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 ...

'' ( en, Descent of the Saints) says that he is the ancestor of Saint Edeyrn (the ''Bonedd y Saint'' says that he was the son of Nudd or Lludd who was the son of Beli, while ''Hengwrt MS. 202'' says that he was the son of Beli). One of the medieval ''

Welsh Triads The Welsh Triads ( cy, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, "Triads of the Island of Britain") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a ...

'' mentions a certain 'Rhun ap Beli',, ''The Ecclesiastical Antiquities of the Kymry'' implying that there was yet another son of Beli, who was famed for his military exploits. The name is repeated elsewhere in medieval poetry, such as in Hywel Foel's (fl. c. 1240 – 1300) ''

awdl In Welsh poetry, an ''awdl'' () is a long poem in strict metre (i.e. ''cynghanedd''). Originally, an ''awdl'' could be a relatively short poem unified by its use of a single end-rhyme (the word is related to ''odl'', "rhyme"), using cynghanedd; ...

'' lamenting the capture and imprisonment of Owain ap Gruffudd, where he likens Owain to Rhun: "Who if free, like Rhun the son of Beli, Would not let Lloegria burn his borders"., ''Welsh Poetry from AD 1240 – 1284'' There is no confirming evidence that such a person existed, and it is contradicted by records such as the royal genealogies. Scholars such as Thomas Stephens have concluded that this is a mistake, and that the intended person was someone else.

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* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beli ap Rhun 517 births 599 deaths Monarchs of Gwynedd 6th-century Welsh monarchs

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