Maelgwn Gwynedd (; died )Based on Phillimore's (1888) reconstruction of the dating of the Annales Cambriae (A Text). 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. He was the son of Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion and great-grandson of Cunedda. According to legend, Maelgwn died of the "yellow plague", debated among historians as either the delayed arrival of Plague of Justinian or an extreme variant of Relapsing fever which causes jaundice, and was buried on Ynys Seiriol (now known as Puffin Island in English), off the eastern tip of Anglesey.
Name Maelgwn (IPA: /mɑːɨlgʊn/) is a Middle Welsh name meaning "Princely Hound". Attested in Latin as in Gildas' , it derives from a Common Brittonic form reconstructed as *Maglo-kunos, a compound composed of the root *maglo- (MW. mael) meaning "prince", attached to *cun- (cwn), an old oblique case root of *cū (ci), meaning "hound, dog". As the word for "hound" was sometimes used as a kenning for warriors in early Welsh poetry, the name may also be translated as 'Princely Warrior'.
Reign After the collapse of Roman authority in Britain, north Wales was invaded and colonized by Gaelic tribes from Ireland. The kingdom of Gwynedd began with the reconquest of the coast by northern Britons under the command of Maelgwn's great-grandfather Cunedda. Three generations later, Maelgwn's father Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion completed the process by destroying the last Irish settlements on Anglesey. Maelgwn was the first king to enjoy the fruits of his family's conquest and he is considered the founder of the medieval kingdom's royal family. He is thus most commonly referenced by appending the name of the kingdom to his own: Maelgwn Gwynedd.
By tradition, his llys (, literally hall) was located at Deganwy, in the Creuddyn Peninsula of Rhos. Tradition also holds that he died at nearby Llanrhos, and was buried there., A History of Wales, Vol. I. Other traditions say that he was buried at Ynys Seiriol (), off easternmost Anglesey. There are no historical records to confirm or deny these traditions.
Historical records of this early era are scant. Maelgwn appears in the royal genealogies of the Harleian genealogies, – the pedigree is given as: ... map Rotri map mermin map etthil merch cinnan map rotri map Intguaul map Catgualart map Catgollaun map Catman map Iacob map Beli map Run map Mailcun map Catgolaun Iauhir map Eniaun girt map Cuneda map AEtern .... Jesus College MS. 20, – the pedigree is given as ... Cynan tintaeth6y. M. Rodri mol6yna6c. M. Idwal I6rch. M. Kadwaladyr vendigeit. M. Katwalla6n. M. Kad6ga6n. M. Iago. M. Beli. M. Run hir. M. Maelg6n g6yned M. Kadwalla6n lla6hir. M. Einya6n yrth. M. Kuneda wledic. and Hengwrt MS. 202. – katwaladyr vendigeit ap katwalla6n ap katwan ap iago ap beli ap run ap maelg6n g6yned ap einion wwr ap pabo post prydein. His death in a "great mortality" of 547 is noted in the Annales Cambriae. Tradition holds that he died of the "Yellow Plague" () of Rhos, but this is based on one of the Triads that was written much later. The record says only that it was a "great mortality", which followed the outbreak of the great Plague of Justinian in Constantinople by a few years.
Maelgwn was a generous contributor to the cause of Christianity throughout Wales. He made donations to support saints Brynach in Dyfed, Cadoc in Gwynllwg, Cybi in Anglesey, Padarn in Ceredigion, and Tydecho in Powys., A History of Wales, Vol. I. He is also associated with the foundation of Bangor, but hard evidence of this is lacking. In his 1723 Mona Antiqua Restaurata, Henry Rowlands asserts that Bangor was raised to an episcopal see by Maelgwn in 550, but he provides no source for the assertion.
The only contemporary information about the person is provided by Gildas, who includes Maelgwn among the five British kings whom he condemns in allegorical terms in his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae. He says Maelgwn held a regional pre-eminence among the other four kings, going on to say that he overthrew his maternal uncle () to gain the throne; that he had taken up life as a monk but then returned to the secular world; that he had been married and divorced, then remarried to the widow of his nephew after being responsible for his nephew's death; and that he was tall., On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain, sections 33–35, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, sections 33 – 35 Some historiansGraham Phillips and Martin Keatman; King Arthur: The True Story, Century, 1992. identify Owain Danwyn as the overthrown uncle. Gildas was fluent in Latin and would be more likely to have used a different word () if describing Maelgwn's father's brother Owain.
"High king"
The evidence suggests that Maelgwn held a pre-eminent position over the regions ruled by the descendants of Cunedda, perhaps in the sense of a regional high king. There is nothing to suggest that Maelgwn held sway over any larger area. Gildas says as much in his condemnation, saying he held a pre-eminence over the other four kings similarly condemned, and also describing him as the "dragon of the island",, On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain where the Isle of Anglesey is the ancient stronghold of the kings of Gwynedd.
The fact that Maelgwn's donations to religious foundations are not restricted to the Kingdom of Gwynedd but are spread throughout northern and southern Wales in the regions where the descendants of Cunedda held sway implies that Maelgwn had a responsibility to those regions beyond the responsibilities of a king to his own kingdom.
While the context is not definitive, Taliesin also implies it, in his Marwnad Rhun () that laments the death of Maelgwn's son Rhun, where he says that Rhun's death is "the fall of the court and girdle of Cunedda"., Taliesin's Marwnad Rhun ()
Gildas
In his work On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain written c. 540, Gildas makes an allegorical condemnation of five British kings by likening them to the beasts of the Book of Revelation 13:2 — the lion, leopard, bear and dragon, with the dragon supreme among them.* – "And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority". He says that Maelgwn is the "dragon of the island", and goes on with a litany of moral accusations, in the process describing him almost as a regional high king over the other kings (the power-giving dragon of the Apocalypse). The Isle of Anglesey was the base of power of the kings of Gwynedd, so describing Maelgwn as the "dragon of the island" is appropriate., A History of Wales, Vol. I, Gildas.
Gildas restricts his attention to the kings of Gwynedd (Maelgwn), Dyfed (Vortiporius), Penllyn (probable, as its king Cuneglasus (Cynlas) appears in royal genealogies associated with the region),, A History of Wales, Vol. I. Damnonia/Alt Clud or Dumnonia (Constantine), and the unknown region associated with Caninus. Gwynedd is associated with the conquest of the Gaels by Cunedda, while Alt Clud had a long and ongoing relationship with Gwynedd and its kings.
In the course of his condemnations, Gildas makes passing reference to the other beasts mentioned in the Apocalypse, such as the eagle, serpent, calf and wolf. The reason for Gildas' disaffection for these individuals is unknown. He was selective in his choice of kings, as he had no comments concerning the kings of the other British kingdoms that were thriving at the time, such as Rheged, Gododdin, Elmet, Pengwern/Powys, or the kingdoms of modern-day southern England. That he chose only the kings associated with one king's pre-eminence (Maelgwn, the "dragon") suggests a reason other than his claim of moral outrage over personal depravity. Neither outrage nor a doctrinal dispute would seem to justify beginning the condemnation of the five kings with a personal attack against the mother of one of the kings, calling her an "unclean lioness"., De Excidio, sections 28 and 29 (in English), De Excidio, sections 28 and 29 (in Latin)
Literary record In the Historia Brittonum, Nennius says that "the great king Mailcun reigned among the Britons, i.e., in Gwynedd". He adds that Maelgwn's ancestor Cunedda arrived in Gwynedd 146 years before Maelgwn's reign, coming from Manaw Gododdin, and expelled the Scots [i.e., the Gaels] with great slaughter., The Works of Nennius (English translation)., Historia Britonnum (in Latin).
Maelgwn appears once in the Welsh Triads: In the "Three Tribal Thrones of the Island of Britain", which describes three seats of power, each ruled by Arthur, Maelgwn is Arthur's Chief of Elders in Mynyw (St Davids). The pestilence that killed him also appears as one of the "Three Dreadful Pestilences of the Isle of Britain". It is described as the Yellow Plague of Rhos, originating from the carcasses of the dead., Letters on Welsh History
There is an incidental mention of Maelgwn in the song To Maenwyn found in the Red Book of Hergest and attributed to Llywarch Hen. The steward () Maenwyn is encouraged to resist a command to surrender his post and show his fidelity to Maelgwn.; in Welsh, with notes in English on pp. 441; in English.
In the Book of Llandaff, compiled c. 1125, Maelgwn Gwynedd is claimed to be one of the benefactors of the Diocese of Llandaff in its early years., The Book of Llandaff One of the specific places mentioned is at Louhai (Tintern parva, some six miles north of Chepstow), where Maelgwn is claimed as a secular witness to its donation., The Book of Llandaff.
In the Black Book of Carmarthen, Dormarch, Gwyn ap Nudd's favourite hound, is recorded as previously belonging to Maelgwn Gwynedd. This is significant in relation to the mythological role of his new master in the Wild Hunt.; in Welsh
Fictional tradition As a famous king of the past, Maelgwn's name figures strongly in Welsh legend. It is used more often than most in questionable accounts of history and in genuine efforts at history that either invent fictions of their own or repeat the fictions of others as though they were true. Some of the most significant sources of misinformation about Maelgwn are:
The History of the Kings of Britain Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th century pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae includes Maelgwn (Malgo) as a character in its account of British history. It says that Saint David was buried at St Davids on the command of "Malgo, king of the Venedotians",, History of Britain that Malgo addicted himself to sodomy,, History of Britain and that he was succeeded by a certain Careticus., History of Britain It adds that Britain had groaned under the barbarians since the time of Malgo,, History of Britain that Malgo was the fourth king of Britain after Arthur,, History of Britain and that Malgo had two sons, Ennianus and Runo.