The title King of the Britons (Welsh : Brenin y Brythoniaid, Latin : Rex Britannorum) was used (often retrospectively) to refer to a ruler, especially one who might be regarded as the most powerful, among the Celtic Britons, both before [1] and after [2] the period of Roman Britain up until the Norman invasion of Wales and the Norman conquest of England. Britons were the Brittonic-speaking (ancestral language of Welsh) peoples of what is now Wales, England and southern Scotland. The Britons contributed as ethnic ancestors of the native British population including the Welsh, Cornish, English and Scottish people but also of the Bretons. [3]
During the Norman and Plantagenet periods, only Wales (or parts thereof) remained under Brittonic rule in Britain and the term "Britons" (Brythoniaid, Britaniaid, Brutaniaid) was used in Britain to mean the Welsh people (Cymry in modern Welsh). This, and the diminishing power of the Welsh rulers relative to the Kings of England, is reflected in the gradual evolution of the titles by which these rulers were known from "King of the Britons" in the 11th century to "Prince of Wales" in the 13th. [2]
Name | Depiction | Reign | Regional power base | Recorded title or description | Source | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kings prior to this period are generally regarded as fictional Legendary Kings of Britain | ||||||
Cassivellaunus | 54BC | |||||
Tasciovanus | 20 BC – 9 AD | |||||
Cunobeline (Welsh: Cynfelyn) | 9 – 40 | lands of the Trinovantes and Catuvellauni | King of the Britons | Suetonius, Dio Cassius | perhaps retrospective | |
(Roman rule from 43 to 410 AD) | ||||||
Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus / Togodumnus | 40–43 | lands of the Regni, Atrebates, and Belgae | Great King of the Britons (or perhaps: Great King of Britain) | marble inscription at Chichester | contemporary, self-description | |
(post-Roman, from 410 AD) | ||||||
Vortigern (Welsh: Gwrtheyrn) | mid-5th century | unknown, but traditionally Powys | King of the Britons (in c. 449) | Bede | probably retrospective | |
Riothamus | c. 469 | unknown, but active in Gaul | King of the Britons (in c. 469) | Jordanes | may refer only to Britons in Gaul | |
Ambrosius Aurelianus (Welsh: Emrys Wledig) | late 5th century | probably in the south | Leader [of the Britons] | Gildas | near contemporary | |
unnamed | c. 545 | unknown | King over them [the Britons] | Procopius [4] | contemporary but distant | |
Maelgwn Gwynedd | ?–549? | Gwynedd | King [who] reigned among the Britons | Historia Brittonum | retrospective | |
Selyf ap Cynan | ?–c. 613 | Powys | King of the Britons (in c. 613) | Annals of Ulster | near contemporary | |
Ceretic of Elmet (Welsh: Ceredig ap Gwallon) | c. 614– 617 | Elmet | King of the Britons (in 614) | Bede | may refer only to Britons in Elmet | |
Cadwallon ap Cadfan | ?–634 | Gwynedd | (Cadwalla,) King of the Britons (in 633) | Bede | ||
Idris ap Gwyddno | ?–635 | unknown. perhaps Meirionnydd | King of the Britons (in 635) | Annals of Ulster (sub anno 633) [5] | perhaps Idris Gawr | |
Eugein I of Alt Clut | c. 642 | Strathclyde | King of the Britons (in 642) | Annals of Ulster | ||
Rule within the modern territory of Wales only | ||||||
Cadwaladr | c. 654–c. 664 | Gwynedd | [King who] reigned among the Britons | Historia Brittonum | retrospective | |
Ifor | 683–698 | Llydaw (Brittanny) | "Sovereignty of the Britons" | Brut y Tywysogion [6] | ||
Rhodri Molwynog | c. 712– 754 | Gwynedd | King of the Britons (in 754) | Annales Cambriae | perhaps retrospective | |
Use of King of Wales title begins (King of the Britons title continues also) | ||||||
Cynan Dindaethwy | 798–816 | Gwynedd (insecurely from 754) | King of the Britons (in 816); The King (in 816) | Annals of Ulster; Annales Cambriae | ||
Merfyn Frych | 825–844 | Gwynedd | King of the Britons (in 829); Glorious King of the Britons | Historia Brittonum ; Bamberg Cryptogram | contemporary | |
Rhodri the Great (Welsh: Rhodri Fawr) | 844–878 | Gwynedd, from 855 also Powys, from 872 also Seisyllwg | King of the Britons (in 878)
| Annals of Ulster | ||
Anarawd ap Rhodri | 878–916 | Gwynedd | King of the Britons (in 916)
| Annales Cambriae | ||
Idwal Foel ap Anarawd | 916–942 | Gwynedd | King of the Britons (in 927) | William of Malmesbury | ||
Hywel Dda | 942–950 | Deheubarth (from 920), from 942 also Gwynedd and Powys | King of the Britons (in 950) | Annals of Ulster and Annales Cambriae | ||
Dyfnwal ab Owain | 930s–970s | Strathclyde | King of the Britons (in 973) | Annals of Ulster | ||
Maredudd ab Owain | 986–999 | Deheubarth and Gwynedd and Powys | King of the Britons (in 999) | Brut y Tywysogion | ||
Llywelyn ap Seisyll | 1018–1023 | Gwynedd and Powys; from 1022 also Deheubarth | King of the Britons (in 1023)
| Annals of Ulster | ||
Iago ab Idwal | 1023–1039 | Gwynedd and Powys | King of the Britons (in 1039) | Annals of Ulster | ||
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn | 1039–1063 | Gwynedd and Powys, from 1057 also the rest of Wales | King of the Britons (in 1063; in 1058) Rex Walensium ("King of Wales") [12] | Annals of Ulster; Brut y Tywysogion | ||
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn | 1063–1075 | Gwynedd and Powys and Seisyllwg | Support[er of] the whole Kingdom of the Britons (in 1075); Chiefest of the Britons | Brut y Tywysogion (sub anno 1173; sub anno 1113) | ||
Rhys ap Tewdwr | 1079–1093 | Deheubarth (insecurely until 1081) | [Upholder of the] Kingdom of the Britons (in 1093) | Brut y Tywysogion | ||
Use the title of Prince of Wales begins (King of Wales title continues also) | ||||||
Gruffudd ap Cynan | 1136–1137 | Gwynedd (insecurely from 1081) | King of all the Welsh (in 1137) | Brut y Tywysogion | ||
Owain Gwynedd | 1137–1170 | Gwynedd | Prince over the British nation (in 1146); King of Wales, King of the Welsh, Prince of the Welsh | Brut y Tywysogion ; contemporary charters [13] |
Geraint | ?670–c. 710 | Dumnonia | King of the Welsh (=Britons) (in 710) | Anglo-Saxon Chronicle | May refer only to Britons in Dumnonia (Not mentioned by Brut y Tywysogion, so possibly a King of the Welsh in Dumnonia only) |
Rhys ap Gruffydd or ap Gruffudd was the ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales from 1155 to 1197. Today, he is commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh Yr Arglwydd Rhys, although this title may have not been used in his lifetime. He usually used the title "Proprietary Prince of Deheubarth" or "Prince of South Wales", but two documents have been discovered in which he uses the title "Prince of Wales" or "Prince of the Welsh". Rhys was one of the most successful and powerful Welsh princes, and, after the death of Owain Gwynedd of Gwynedd in 1170, the dominant power in Wales.
Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, also known as Llywelyn the Great, was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy he dominated Wales for 45 years.
Brutus, also called Brute of Troy, is a fictional character who is depicted as a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, known in medieval British legend as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain. This legend first appears in the Historia Brittonum, an anonymous 9th-century historical compilation to which commentary was added by Nennius, but is best known from the account given by the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae.
Nest ferch Rhys was the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, last King of Deheubarth in Wales, by his wife, Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn of Powys. Her family is of the House of Dinefwr. Nest was the wife of Gerald de Windsor, Constable of Pembroke Castle and son of the Constable of Windsor Castle in Berkshire, by whom she was the ancestress of the FitzGerald dynasty.
Rhys ap Tewdwr was a king of Deheubarth in Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great. Following the Norman Conquest, he had to pay William the Conqueror to keep his kingdom, which lasted until the end of William's reign.
Rhodri Molwynog, also known as Rhodri ap Idwal was an 8th-century king of Gwynedd. He was listed as a King of the Britons by the Annals of Wales.
Brut y Tywysogion 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. Brut y Tywysogion has survived as several Welsh translations of an original Latin version, which has not itself survived. The most important versions are the one in Robert Vaughan's Peniarth MS. 20 and the slightly less complete one in the Red Book of Hergest. The version entitled Brenhinoedd y Saeson combines material from the Welsh annals with material from an English source.
John Williams, was an antiquary and Anglican priest. Born in Llangynhafal, Denbighshire Wales in 1811, he graduated from Jesus College, Oxford in 1835 to become the Anglican curate of Llanfor, Merionethshire, where he married Elizabeth Lloyd Williams. In 1843 he became perpetual curate of Nercwys, Flintshire, and rector of Llanymawddwy, Merionethshire, in 1849.
Gerald de Windsor, aliasGerald FitzWalter, was an Cymro-Norman lord who was the first Castellan of Pembroke Castle in Pembrokeshire. Son of the first Norman-French Constable of Windsor Castle, and married to a Welsh Princess daughter of the King of Deheubarth, he was in charge of the Norman forces in south-west Wales. He was also steward and governor for the Norman magnate Arnulf de Montgomery. His descendants were the FitzGerald dynasty, as well as the FitzMaurice, De Barry, and Keating dynasties of Ireland, who were elevated to the Peerage of Ireland in the 14th century. He was also the ancestor of the prominent Carew family, of Moulsford in Berkshire, the owners of Carew Castle in Pembrokeshire and of Mohuns Ottery in Devon.
Welsh medieval rulers used a variety of titles including Tywysog, Rhi, Brenin, and the Latin Rex and Princeps to express varying degrees of sovereignty and dependence.
Wales in the Middle Ages covers the history of the country that is now called Wales, from the departure of the Romans in the early fifth century to the annexation of Wales into the Kingdom of England in the early sixteenth century. This period of about 1,000 years saw the development of regional Welsh kingdoms, Celtic conflict with the Anglo-Saxons, reducing Celtic territories, and conflict between the Welsh and the Anglo-Normans from the 11th century.
This article is about the particular significance of the century 901–1000 to Wales and its people.
Brenhinoedd y Saeson is the medieval title of a Middle Welsh annalistic chronicle. The name means 'the kings of the English'.
Archaeologia Cambrensis is a Welsh archaeological and historical scholarly journal published annually by the Cambrian Archaeological Association. It contains historical essays, excavation reports, and book reviews, as well as society notes and accounts of field visits. The journal has included "much valuable material on the manuscripts, genealogy, heraldry, toponymy, folklore and literature of Wales".
The Battle of Pencon or Pencoed was a battle won by the Britons, possibly against the Mercians or against themselves, around the year 720.
Osborn Wyddel the Irishman, also known as Osborne Fitzgerald, was the founder of the Fitzgerald House of Corsygedol, Wynne of Ynys maengwyn, Wynne of Maes y neuadd, and other important families in Merionethshire. One of its cadet branches is the House of Yale.
Brut y Saeson is a Welsh-language chronicle running from the death of Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon in 682 to the reign of Richard II (1377–99) of England. The name means the brut or chronicle of the English.
Gwriad ap Merfyn or ap Rhodri was a 9th-century prince of Gwynedd in northern Wales. He is an obscure figure, sometimes being listed as Rhodri the Great's brother and sometimes as his son.
Aneurin Owen was a Welsh historical scholar.
This is a bibliography of published works on the history of Wales. It includes published books, journals, and educational and academic history-related websites; it does not include self-published works, blogs or user-edited sites. Works may cover aspects of Welsh history inclusively or exclusively.