Petroc Baladrddellt

Last updated May 01, 2019

Petroc Baladrddellt (also known as Pedrog, or Pedrogl Paladrddellt) was a 7th-century King of Dumnonia (now the English West Country).

Dumnonia is the Latinised name for the Brythonic kingdom in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries, in what is now the more westerly parts of South West England. It was centred in the area later called Devon, but included modern Cornwall and part of Somerset, with its eastern boundary changing over time as the gradual westward expansion of the neighbouring Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex encroached on its territory. The spelling Damnonia is sometimes encountered, but is also used for the land of the Damnonii, later part of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, in what is today southern Scotland. Domnonia also occurs and shares a linguistic relationship with the Breton region of Domnonée, Breton: Domnonea.

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

West Country area of south-western England

The West Country is a loosely defined area of south-western England. The term usually encompasses the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, and often the counties of Bristol, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, in the South West region. The region is host to distinctive regional dialects and accents. Some definitions also include Herefordshire.

Monarch

According to the Welsh pedigrees in the Bonedd y Saint or "Genealogies of the Saints", Petroc Baladrddellt ap Clemen was the son of Clemen (or Clement) ap Bledrig, his epithet meaning "Splintered Spear". It is thought he was born in c. 600 and succeeded to the Dumnonian throne after his father in c. 630,^{[ citation needed ]} reigning at a time of continued West Saxon aggression which had also affected his father. His death may have occurred in c. 652 when King Cenwalh of Wessex is said to have defeated the Britons at the battle of Bradford-on-Avon, taking large swathes of Dorset and Somerset.^{[ citation needed ]} Other sources are unclear as to whether this battle was civil war between Cenwalh and his kinsman Cuthred,^[1] or against the Welsh or the Mercians or both.^[2]

The Bonedd y Saint or Seint is a Welsh genealogical tract detailing the lineages of the early British saints. There are a number of different manuscripts in existence dating from the early 13th to the late 17th century, although the material is much older in origin.

Clemen ap Bledric was a 7th-century King of Dumnonia.

Family

King Petroc may have had two sons, Culmin (or Cwlfyn) and Progmael (or Brochwel).^{[ citation needed ]} In the later case, Culmin is given as the son of Progmael and grandson of Petroc, as given in the Book of Baglan. If so, Prince Progmael appeared to have predeceased his father Clemen ap Bledric who died in c.654, at Y Ferwig in Ceredigion, leaving the Dumnonian kingdom to Culmin.^{[ citation needed ]}

The Book of Baglan is a collection of old Welsh manuscripts, containing much genealogical data, compiled by John Williams from several sources between 1600 and 1607. It was transcribed from the original manuscript preserved in the public library at Cardiff, and edited by Joseph Bradney with explanatory notes for reprinting in 1910. It is also available at the National Library of Wales on microfilm.

Y Ferwig is a small village and community about 2 to 3 miles from Cardigan, Wales.

Ceredigion is a county in Wales, known prior to 1974 as Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Welsh is spoken by more than half the population. Ceredigion is considered to be a centre of Welsh culture. The county is mainly rural with over 50 miles (80 km) of coastline and a mountainous hinterland. The numerous sandy beaches, together with the long-distance Ceredigion Coast Path provide excellent views of Cardigan Bay.

In Welsh Literature

In the late medieval Welsh list of triads, Pedwar Marchog ar Hugain Llys Arthur ("The 24 Knights of King Arthur's Court"), Petroc is given as one of the three Marchawg Cyviawnbwyll or 'Just Knights of Britain'^[3] in Arthur’s court as Pedrog Splintered-Spear, son of Clement Prince of Cornwall. With Blaes son of the Earl of Llychlyn, and Cadog son of Gwynlliw the Bearded, he was described as slaying whoever did wrong to the weak, no matter how strong they might be, and the three had themselves to preserve justice by every Law. Pedrog’s was by Law of arms.^[4]

Welsh Triads group of related texts in medieval manuscripts

The Welsh Triads 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 rhetorical form whereby objects are grouped together in threes, with a heading indicating the point of likeness; for example, "Three things not easily restrained, the flow of a torrent, the flight of an arrow, and the tongue of a fool."

Cornwall is a county in South West England in the United Kingdom. The county is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar which forms most of the border between them. Cornwall forms the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula of the island of Great Britain. The furthest southwestern point of Great Britain is Land's End; the southernmost point is Lizard Point. Cornwall has a population of 563,600 and covers an area of 3,563 km² (1,376 sq mi). The county has been administered since 2009 by the unitary authority, Cornwall Council. The ceremonial county of Cornwall also includes the Isles of Scilly, which are administered separately. The administrative centre of Cornwall, and its only city, is Truro.

Saint Cadoc or Cadog was a 5th–6th-century Abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorganshire, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the British church as a centre of learning, where Illtud spent the first period of his religious life under Cadoc's tutelage. Cadoc is credited with the establishment of many churches in Cornwall, Brittany Dyfed and Scotland. He is known as Cattwg Ddoeth, "the Wise", and a large collection of his maxims and moral sayings were included in Volume III of the Myvyrian Archaiology. He is listed in the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology under 21 September. His Norman-era "Life" is a hagiography of importance to the case for the historicity of Arthur as one of seven saints' lives that mention Arthur independently of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae.

Petroc himself would have lived much later than King Arthur; however, his namesake St Petroc, with which he is often confused, was described as one of the seven survivors of the Battle of Camlann according to Evan Evans’ copy (Panton MS 13) of the 17th-century Peniarth 185 manuscript.^[5]

King Arthur was a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians. The sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthur's name also occurs in early poetic sources such as Y Gododdin.

The Battle of Camlann is reputed to have been the final battle of King Arthur during the early 6th century, in which he either died or was fatally wounded, fighting either with or against Mordred who is also said to have died. Its depictions in the medieval legend of Arthur are generally based on that in the pseudo-chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae. These variants include the later chivalric romance tradition, with the version included in Le Morte d'Arthur being popular today.

Evan Evans was a Welsh language poet, clergyman, antiquary and literary critic.

In his Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen, Williams asserts that Petroc (Pedrogl Paladrddellt) is better known as the English translation of the name Lancelot du Lac of Arthurian Legend.^[3]

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References

↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bradford-on-Avon". Encyclopædia Britannica . 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 372.
↑ Morris, John. The Age of Arthur 2004 ISBN 1-84212-477-3 p308
1 2 Williams, Robert. Enwogion Cymru. W. Rees. 1852. p. 394
↑ Celtic Literature Collective: The Twenty-Four Knights of Arthur's Court. Retrieved on 2008-08-19.
↑ Celtic Literature Collective: The Seven Survivors of Prydein. Retrieved on 2008-08-19.