Cuneglasus (fl. 540) was a prince of Rhos in Gwynedd, Wales, in the late 5th or early 6th century. He was castigated for various sins by Gildas in De Excidio Britanniae . 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 is one of the five "tyrants" of Britain denounced by Gildas in his c. early sixth century CE work On the Ruin of Britain . Gildas says of him:
The first phrase is notably obscure. [3] The Latin receptāculum ("container; refuge") would literally describe a bear's lair or cage, which seems unlikely. [4] 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. [3] In 1918, historian Arthur Wade-Evans theorized that the "bear's den" was actually the township of Dinerth in Llandrillo yn Rhos (Rhos-on-Sea). The name "Dinerth" can be translated to a "bear's fortress". [5] Excavations undertaken in 1997 by David Longley for the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust revealed an early medieval fortress with a "massive, well-built" wall of quarried limestone standing 3 m (9.8 ft) high and fronted by a rampart of 3.5 metres (11 ft) of rubble. [6] [4] 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. [5]
According to Peter Bartrum (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, as a son of Owain Danwyn and a father of Maig. The relationship is attested in the Harleian genealogies (HG), the Genealogies from Jesus College MS 20 (JC), and the Achau Brenhinoedd a Thywysogion Cymru (ABT). [5] However the JC disagrees with the other sources on the exact relationship between the three men. Cynlas' cognomen, "Goch", is only mentioned in the ABT. This is also the only source which specifically connects him with Rhos. [5]
The Bonedd y Saint , a genealogy of British saints, mentions other children of Owain Danwyn and apparent siblings of Cynlas. They included the saints Einion Frenin, Seiriol and Meirion, and in some versions, Hawystl Gloff. [7] The Welsh genealogies also mention a brother of Owain Danwyn and paternal uncle to Cynlas: Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion. [8] Maelgwn is known as a son of Cadwallon, and consequently a paternal cousin of Cynlas. [9]
Cynlas may have been the eponymous figure behind the ancient township of Cynlas, located in Llandderfel, Penllyn. [5]
A grave of Cynlas is mentioned in a 1745 source, as located in Bangor Church, Caernarvonshire (Caernarfonshire). [5]
Owain ap Gruffudd was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. He was called Owain the Great and the first to be styled "Prince of Wales", and the "Prince of the Welsh". He is considered to be the most successful of all the North Welsh princes prior to his grandson, Llywelyn the Great. He became known as Owain Gwynedd to distinguish him from the contemporary king of Powys Wenwynwyn, Owain ap Gruffydd ap Maredudd, who became known as Owain Cyfeiliog.
Maelgwn Gwynedd was King of Gwynedd during the early 6th century. Surviving records suggest he held a pre-eminent position among the Brythonic kings in Wales and their allies in the "Old North" along the Scottish coast. Maelgwn was a generous supporter of Christianity, funding the foundation of churches throughout Wales and even far beyond the bounds of his own kingdom. Nonetheless, his principal legacy today is the scathing account of his behavior recorded in De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae by Gildas, who considered Maelgwn a usurper and reprobate. The son of Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion and great-grandson of Cunedda, Maelgwn was buried on Ynys Seiriol, off the eastern tip of Anglesey, having died of the "yellow plague"; quite probably the arrival of Plague of Justinian in Britain.
The Kingdom of Gwynedd was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain.
Cunedda ap Edern, also called Cunedda Wledig, was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the Royal dynasty of Gwynedd, one of the very oldest of Western Europe.
The Kingdom of Powys was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. It very roughly covered the northern two-thirds of the modern county of Powys and part of today's English West Midlands. More precisely, and based on the Romano-British tribal lands of the Ordovices in the west and the Cornovii in the east, its boundaries originally extended from the Cambrian Mountains in the west to include the modern West Midlands region of England in the east. The fertile river valleys of the Severn and Tern are found here, and this region is referred to in later Welsh literature as "the Paradise of Powys".
Vortiporius or Vortipor was a king of Dyfed in the early to mid-6th century. He ruled over an area approximately corresponding to modern Pembrokeshire, and Carmarthenshire, Wales. Records from this era are scant, and virtually nothing is known of him or his kingdom. The only contemporary information about Vortiporius comes from the Welsh ecclesiastic Gildas, in a highly allegorical condemnation from his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae. At the time the work was written, Gildas says that Vortiporius was king of Dyfed, that he was grey with age, that his wife had died, and that he had at least one daughter.
Beli ap Rhun was King of Gwynedd. Nothing is known of the person, and his name is known only from Welsh genealogies, which confirm that he had at least two sons. He succeeded his father Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn as king, and was in turn succeeded by his son Iago. Beli was either the father or grandfather of Saint Edeyrn.
Rhun ap Maelgwn Gwynedd, also known as Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn Gwynedd, sometimes spelt as 'Rhûn', was King of Gwynedd. He came to the throne on the death of his father, King Maelgwn Gwynedd. There are no historical records of his reign in this early age. A story preserved in both the Venedotian Code and an elegy by Taliesin says that he waged a war against Rhydderch Hael of Alt Clut and the kings of Gododdin or Manaw Gododdin. The small scattered settlement of Caerhun in the Conwy valley is said to be named for him, though without strong authority. Rhun also appears in several medieval literary stories, as well as in the Welsh Triads. His wife was Perwyr ferch Rhûn "Ryfeddfawr" and their son was Beli ap Rhun "Hîr".
Einion Yrth ap Cunedda, also known as Einion Yrth, was a king of Gwynedd. He is claimed as an ancestor of the later rulers of North Wales.
Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion, usually known as Cadwallon Lawhir and also called Cadwallon I by some historians, was a king of Gwynedd around 500.
The Castle of Dinerth is a Welsh castle located near Aberarth, Ceredigion, west Wales that was completed c. AD 1110. It is also known as Hero Castle, presumably from the Norse hiro.
Owain Danwyn was a king of Rhos in Gwynedd, northwestern Wales, in the mid-5th century. He was the son of Einion Yrth ap Cunedda and the father of Cynlas Goch, probably the Cuneglasus excoriated by Gildas. Very little is known of his life. Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman proposed a theory that he was the historical figure behind the legend of King Arthur.
Rhos is a region to the east of the River Conwy in North Wales. It started as a minor kingdom then became a medieval cantref, and was usually part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd.
Cadwallon ap Madog was the son of Madog ab Idnerth who had died in 1140, while Idnerth was a grandson of Elystan Glodrydd who had died in around 1010 and had founded a dynasty in the Middle Marches of Wales, in the area known as Rhwng Gwy a Hafren.
Elfael was one of a number of Welsh cantrefi occupying the region between the River Wye and river Severn, known as Rhwng Gwy a Hafren, in the early Middle Ages. It was divided into two commotes, Is Mynydd and Uwch Mynydd, separated by the chain of hills above Aberedw. In the late medieval period, it was a marcher lordship. However, after the Laws in Wales Act 1535, it was one of the territorial units which went to make up the county of Radnorshire in 1536.
Saint Cwyllog was a Christian holy woman who was active in Anglesey, Wales, in the early 6th century. The daughter, sister and niece of saints, she is said to have founded St Cwyllog's Church, Llangwyllog, in the middle of Anglesey, where a church is still dedicated to her.
Bryn Euryn is a hill which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Conwy County Borough, Wales. There is a trig point at the summit. It lies above the seaside town of Rhos-on-Sea and village of Mochdre, Conwy. It is 131 metres above sea level, and is listed as a HuMP. At the bottom of the hill are the remains of Llys Euryn.
Saint Einion Frenin was a late 5th and early 6th century Welsh confessor and saint of the Celtic Church. His feast day was originally given as 9 February, although this had moved to the 10th or 12th by the 16th century and is no longer observed by either the Anglican or Catholic church in Wales.
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