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Early medieval south-east Wales. Glywysing is the number "9" west of Gwent[1]

Brochfael ap Meurig[a] (ruled c.870-c.910[7]) was king of Gwent in south-east Wales. For at least part of his reign he ruled jointly with his brother, Ffernfael ap Meurig.

Background

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The boundaries and names of Welsh kingdoms varied over time in the early medieval period. In the seventh century, south-east Wales was one kingdom called Gwent, but by the ninth century it was divided between Glywysing (now Glamorgan) in the west and Gwent in the east, with the king of Glywysing having a higher status.[8] From the early ninth century, Mercia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom on the eastern Welsh border, claimed hegemony over Wales.[9]

In 878, King Alfred the Great of Wessex defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Edington and around the same time King Ceolwulf of Mercia defeated and killed Rhodri Mawr (Rhodri the Great), the powerful king of the north Welsh Kingdom of Gwynedd. Rhodri's sons soon recovered their father's power, and in 881 they defeated Ceolwulf's successor as ruler of Mercia, Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians at the Battle of the Conwy, a victory which was described in Welsh annals as "revenge by God for Rhodri".[10]

Family, dating and territory

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The historian Wendy Davies dates Brochfael's reign as c.872-910. He and his brother Ffernfael ap Meurig were sons of Meurig ab Arthfael.[b] Davies dates Meurig's reign as c.848-874,[7][c] but Thomas Charles-Edwards thinks that he may be the Meurig whose death is recorded in the Annales Cambriae in 849.[13] Brochfael, Ffernfael and Hywel ap Rhys, King of Glywysing, were paternal grandsons of Arthfael ap Rhys.[14]

Historians agree that Brochfael and Ffernfael were joint kings of Gwent and Hywel was king of Glywysing,[15] but there is no agreement on Meurig's territory. Thomas Charles-Edwards shows Meurig as king of Glywysing,[16] whereas Patrick Sims-Williams states that there is no evidence that he had any power outside Gwent,[17] and Davies and the genealogist Peter Bartrum think that he ruled both territories.[18] The kingship of Glywysing seems to have been superior, and Hywel was probably an over-king allowing his cousins to rule Gwent. He gave more grants in Gwent than Glywysing, whereas Brochfael's grants were mainly confined to Gwent.[19]

In early medieval Wales, it was common for brothers to share the kingship,[20] and in his Life of King Alfred, the Welsh monk Asser describes Brochfael and Ffernfael as kings of Gwent.[21] They are both listed in the Book of Llandaff as witnesses to charters of their father without royal status, but Ffernfael does not witness any charters as king, whereas several show Brochfael as a royal grantor and witness.[3] Ffernfael may have been subordinate to Brochfael.[22]

Brochfael and his brother both witnessed charters without royal status in the times of Bishops Nudd and Cerenhir, and Brochfael witnessed charters as king in the times of bishops Cerenhir and Cyfeilliog.[3]

Kingship

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Æthelred's defeat at the Conwy ended Mercian domination of north Wales, but he still violently tried to maintain his rule over the south-east. Alfred the Great became the competitor of Mercia for the allegiance of the south-eastern Welsh kings, and Æthelred's oppression drove them to voluntarily submit to Alfred and seek his protection. Æthelred himself soon followed in abandoning the attempt to maintain his independence and submitting to the West Saxon king. In the view of the historian of Wales Thomas Charles-Edwards, the Welsh kings' decision may have been a significant factor in Æthelred's decision, and thus in an important step towards the unity of England.[23]

In his Life of King Alfred, Asser listed Brochfael among Welsh kings who submitted to King Alfred:

At that time [around 887], and for a considerable time before then, all the districts of right-hand [southern] Wales belonged to King Alfred, and still do.That is to say, Hyfaidd, with all the inhabitants of the kingdom of Dyfed, driven by the might of the six sons of Rhoddri [Mawr], had submitted himself to King Alfred's royal overlordship. Likewise, Hywel ap Rhys (the king of Glywysing) and Brochfael and Ffernfael (sons of Meurig and kings of Gwent), driven by the might and tyrannical behaviour of Ealdorman Æthelred and the Mercians, petitioned King Alfred of their own accord, in order to obtain lordship and protection from him in the face of their enemies.[24]

Charters

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Page from the Book of Llandaff

Charters in the Book of Llandaff show Brochfael in his early years witnessing his father's charters, and later making grants as king. In about 868, King Meurig surrendered the church at Tryleg and returned it to Bishop Cerennyr in the presence of his sons Brochfael and Ffernfael.[25] Like other Welsh kings, Brochfael had large landed estates, and he made several grants of land on the coast of the Severn Estuary.[26] In two charters, he granted fishing rights in estates west of Sudbrook Point.[27] Grants to Bishop Cyfeilliog between the 890s and 920s were all of land in Gwent, and Brochfael was the main grantor.[28]

Charters also record Brochfael's disputes with Cyfeilliog. In about 905, there was a disagreement between Brochfael's familia (household) and Cyfeilliog's. Cyfeilliog was awarded an "insult price" "in puro auro" (in pure gold) of the worth of his face, lengthwise and breadthwise. Brochfael was unable to pay in gold and paid with six modii (about 240 acres (97 ha) of land at Llanfihangel instead.[29] The historian Lester Little comments that this episode saw Brochfael "in a relatively docile mood". In another dispute, Brochfael insulted Cyfeilliog, who threatened to excommunicate him. Once again, Brochfael backed down and apologised.[30] Around 910, there was a dispute between Cyfeilliog and Brochfael about a church in Monmouth and its territory, and judgement was again given in Cyfeilliog's favour.[31] Most of the grants to Cyfeilliog are from Brochfael.[32]

Legacy

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The royal line descended from Meurig ended with Brochfael, but he may have been the father of Gwriad ap Brochfael.[33] Historians do not agree about the end of Brochfael's rule. Davies dates it to c.872-910,[7], whereas Sims-Williams thinks that Hywel's son Owain ap Hywel may have ruled Gwent and Glywysing from around 893,[34] while Charles-Edwards thinks that both kingdoms were probably ruled by Owain by 918.[35] Manuscript D of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in 927 Owain, king of the people of Gwent, was one of the British rulers who submitted to Æthelstan.[36]

Note

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  1. ^ His name is also shown as Brochmail,[2] Brochwel,[3] Brochmael,[4] Brocmail map Mouric,[5] and Brochuail:[6]
  2. ^ "Meurig" is also spelled "Mouric"; "ap" and "ab" were used interchangeably in medieval Welsh names to mean "son of" (a father called).[11]
  3. ^ Elsewhere in the same book Davies is more vague about the dating of Meurig's rule, giving it as c.850-870.[12]

Citations

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  1. ^ Lloyd 1911, endpapers; Charles-Edwards 2013, pp. 14, 553.
  2. ^ Guy 2020, p. 61; Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 253.
  3. ^ a b c Bartrum 1993, p. 60.
  4. ^ Haddan & Stubbs 1869, p. 207 n..
  5. ^ Sims-Williams 2019, pp. 29–30.
  6. ^ Evans & Rhys 1893, p. 234.
  7. ^ a b c Davies 1978, p. 19.
  8. ^ Charles-Edwards 2011, p. 76.
  9. ^ Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 425.
  10. ^ Charles-Edwards 2013, pp. 489–491.
  11. ^ Moore 1990, p. 13.
  12. ^ Davies 1978, p. 70.
  13. ^ Charles-Edwards 2011, p. 77.
  14. ^ Charles-Edwards 2011, pp. 77–78.
  15. ^ Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 505; Sims-Williams 2019, pp. 121–122; Davies 1978, p. 95.
  16. ^ Charles-Edwards 2011, p. 78.
  17. ^ Sims-Williams 2019, pp. 121–122.
  18. ^ Davies 1978, p. 95; Bartrum 1993, p. 477.
  19. ^ Charles-Edwards 2011, pp. 76–78.
  20. ^ Davies 1978, p. 102.
  21. ^ Keynes & Lapidge 1983, p. 96.
  22. ^ Charles-Edwards 2011, p. 76; Sims-Williams 2019, p. 122.
  23. ^ Charles-Edwards 2013, pp. 490–492.
  24. ^ Keynes & Lapidge 1983, pp. 27, 93–94, 96.
  25. ^ Davies 1978, p. 177.
  26. ^ Davies 1978, p. 98.
  27. ^ Edwards 2023, p. 210.
  28. ^ Charles-Edwards 2004.
  29. ^ Evans & Rhys 1893, pp. 233–234; Davies 1979, pp. 123; Davies 1978, pp. 60, 183.
  30. ^ Little 1991, p. 70.
  31. ^ Davies 1978, p. 182.
  32. ^ Sims-Williams 2019, p. 172.
  33. ^ Davies 1978, p. 95; Bartrum 1993, p. 60.
  34. ^ Sims-Williams 2019, p. 117.
  35. ^ Charles-Edwards 2013, pp. 495, 505.
  36. ^ Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 511; Whitelock 1979, p. 218.

Bibliography

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  • Bartrum, Peter (1993). A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about A. D 1000. Aberystwyth, UK: The National Library of Wales. ISBN 978-0-907158-73-8.
  • Charles-Edwards, Thomas (2004). "Cyfeilliog (d. 927)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5420. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  • Charles-Edwards, Thomas (2011). "Dynastic Succession in Early Medieval Wales". In Griffiths, R. A.; Schofield, P. R. (eds.). Wales and the Welsh in the Middle Ages. Cardiff, UK: University of Wales Press. pp. 70–88. ISBN 978-0-7083-2446-2.
  • Charles-Edwards, Thomas (2013). Wales and the Britons 350–1064. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-821731-2.
  • Davies, Wendy (1978). An Early Welsh Microcosm. London, UK: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901050-33-5.
  • Davies, Wendy (1979). The Llandaff Charters. Aberystwyth, UK: National Library of Wales. ISBN 978-0-901833-88-4.
  • Edwards, Nancy (2023). Life in Early Medieval Wales. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-873321-8.
  • Evans, John Gwenoguryn; Rhys, John, eds. (1893). The Text of the Book of Llan Dâv. Oxford, UK: J. Gwenoguryn Evans. OCLC 632938065.
  • Guy, Ben (2020). Medieval Welsh Genealogies. Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-78327-513-7.
  • Haddan, Arthur; Stubbs, William, eds. (1869). Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. I. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. OCLC 1046288968.
  • Keynes, Simon; Lapidge, Michael, eds. (1983). Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred & Other Contemporary Sources. London, UK: Penguin Classics. ISBN 978-0-14-044409-4.
  • Little, Lester (1991). "Spiritual Sanctions in Wales". In Timea, Szell; Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Renate (eds.). Images of Sainthood in Medieval Europe. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. pp. 67–80. ISBN 978-0-8014-2507-3.
  • Lloyd, John Edward (1911). A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest. Vol. 2 (1st ed.). London, UK: Longmans, Green & Co. OCLC 1074958012.
  • Moore, Donald (April 1990). "The Indexing of Welsh Person Names". The Indexer. 17 (1): 12–20. ISSN 0019-4131.
  • Sims-Williams, Patrick (2019). The Book of Llandaff as a Historical Source. Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-78327-418-5.
  • Whitelock, Dorothy, ed. (1979). English Historical Documents, Volume 1, c. 500–1042 (2nd ed.). London, UK: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-14366-0.
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