Clemen ap Bledric
Encyclopedia
Clemen ap Bledric was a 7th century King of Dumnonia
(now the English
West Country
).
, Clemen ruled following the death of his father, killed at Battle of Bangor-is-Coed (Bangor-on-Dee
, Powys Fadog
) by King Æthelfrith
of Northumbria
in c. 613, until possibly c. 630. He married the daughter, ferch, of Guitoli ap Urbgen, likely a great grandson of former monarch King Gerren Llyngesic
, and they had one known son, Petroc Baladrddellt (“Splintered Spear”).
Some authors have Tewdwr (or Teudu) son of Peredur ruling as king in the fl. 620s, descended from a different line of Dumnonian kings from Gerren Llyngesic's son Cado ap Gerren
. This is as given in the Jesus College, Oxford, MS 20
, although this line ends with a Judhael as Tewdwr's grandson, almost certainly Judicael ap Hoel
, High King
of the Breton
s, and king of Domnonia
in Brittany
.
in Devon
) in 614, when the Anglo Saxon Chronicle tells us King Cynegils and his son Cwichelm
of Wessex
invaded Dumnonia, possibly taking advantage of the death of his father.
Bindon, on the Devon side of the Dorset
border suggests that the Dumnonian army was invading Wessex using the Roman road
eastward from Exeter
to Dorchester and was intercepted by a West Saxon garrison marching south. 614 is also the year that which the peace was broken on the borders of Glevissig (Glywysing), suggesting the Dumnonians co-ordinated their efforts with the kings of South Wales
, such as Nynnio ap Erb who was probably ruling Gwent and Glywysing at the time.
The West Saxon army was said to have slewed 2,065 of the Welsh
. The Britons were badly defeated and thought to have withdrawn west to the city of Caer-Uisc
(Exeter). Exeter in the early 7th century was still occupied, as shown by the archaeology of surviving Roman
buildings.
by King Penda of Mercia
, until the exiled British High King
Cadwallon
, king of Gwynedd
, arrived to defeat the Mercians. The three kings were said to have made an alliance and marched north to face the armies of Northumbria which were then occupying Gwynedd. Exeter was in the kingdom of Dumnonia
, and Cadwallon is said to have made an alliance with the British nobility, but Clemen is not mentioned in person Geoffrey of Monmouth
also paints a particularly colourful account of the siege in his pseudo-historic Historia Brittonum,.
(Long Mountain near Welshpool
) in 630. It is not known whether the Dumnonians were part of the British army that went on to ravage Northumbria over the following years.
of Glywysing, making it likely Clemen was actually the father of Petroc Baladrddellt.
He is also given in Llyfr Baglan (Book of Baglan
) as a Duke of Cornwall
, son of Bredrice (eg Bledric) and father of Pedroc (eg Petroc).
Dumnonia
Dumnonia is the Latinised name for the Brythonic kingdom in sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries, located in the farther parts of the south-west peninsula of Great Britain...
(now the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
).
Family, life and rule
Described as being born in c. 580 and the son of Bledric ap CustenninBledric ap Custennin
Bledric ap Custennin was a 6th and 7th century ruler of Dumnonia .-Life and rule:...
, Clemen ruled following the death of his father, killed at Battle of Bangor-is-Coed (Bangor-on-Dee
Bangor-on-Dee
Bangor-on-Dee is a local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is a village in the ancient district of Maelor in Wales, situated on the banks of the River Dee...
, Powys Fadog
Powys Fadog
Powys Fadog or Lower Powys was the northern portion of the former princely realm of Powys which split in two following the death of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys in 1160...
) by King Æthelfrith
Æthelfrith of Northumbria
Æthelfrith was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until c. 616; he was also, beginning c. 604, the first Bernician king to also rule Deira, to the south of Bernicia. Since Deira and Bernicia were the two basic components of what would later be defined as Northumbria, Æthelfrith can be considered, in...
of Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
in c. 613, until possibly c. 630. He married the daughter, ferch, of Guitoli ap Urbgen, likely a great grandson of former monarch King Gerren Llyngesic
Geraint
Geraint is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a king of Dumnonia and a valiant warrior. He may have lived during or shortly prior to the reign of the historical Arthur, but some scholars doubt he ever existed...
, and they had one known son, Petroc Baladrddellt (“Splintered Spear”).
Some authors have Tewdwr (or Teudu) son of Peredur ruling as king in the fl. 620s, descended from a different line of Dumnonian kings from Gerren Llyngesic's son Cado ap Gerren
Cador
Cador was a legendary Duke of Cornwall, known chiefly through Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudo-historical History of the Kings of Britain and previous manuscript sources such as Vita Sanctus Carantoci circa 1100 from Cotton Vespasian xiv...
. This is as given in the Jesus College, Oxford, MS 20
Genealogies from Jesus College MS 20
The genealogies from Jesus College MS 20 are a medieval Welsh collection of genealogies preserved in a single manuscript, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Jesus College, MS 20, folios 33r–41r...
, although this line ends with a Judhael as Tewdwr's grandson, almost certainly Judicael ap Hoel
Judicael ap Hoel
Saint Judicael ap Hoel was the King of Domnonia and a Breton high king in the mid-seventh century.According to Gregory of Tours, the Bretons were divided into various regna during the sixth century, of which Domnonia, Cornouaille, and Broweroch are the best known; they had been under Frankish...
, High King
High king
A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of Emperor; compare King of Kings.Rulers who have been termed "high king" include:...
of the Breton
Breton people
The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...
s, and king of Domnonia
Domnonia
Domnonée is the modern French version of the Latin name Dumnonia , which denoted a kingdom in northern Brittany founded by migrants from Dumnonia in Great Britain...
in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
.
Battle of Beandun
It is thought that Clemen was king when the Britons fought the Battle of Beandun (possibly Bindon near AxmouthAxmouth
Axmouth is a village and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, near the mouth of the River Axe. The village itself is about 1 km inland, although the parish extends to the sea. The village is near Seaton and Beer...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
) in 614, when the Anglo Saxon Chronicle tells us King Cynegils and his son Cwichelm
Cwichelm of Wessex
Cwichelm was an Anglo-Saxon king of the Gewisse, a people in the upper Thames area who later created the kingdom of Wessex. He is usually counted among the Kings of Wessex....
of Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
invaded Dumnonia, possibly taking advantage of the death of his father.
Bindon, on the Devon side of the Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
border suggests that the Dumnonian army was invading Wessex using the Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
eastward from Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
to Dorchester and was intercepted by a West Saxon garrison marching south. 614 is also the year that which the peace was broken on the borders of Glevissig (Glywysing), suggesting the Dumnonians co-ordinated their efforts with the kings of South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
, such as Nynnio ap Erb who was probably ruling Gwent and Glywysing at the time.
The West Saxon army was said to have slewed 2,065 of the Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
. The Britons were badly defeated and thought to have withdrawn west to the city of Caer-Uisc
Isca Dumnoniorum
Isca Dumnoniorum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia and the capital of Dumnonia in the sub-Roman period. Today it is known as Exeter, located in the English county of Devon.-Fortress:...
(Exeter). Exeter in the early 7th century was still occupied, as shown by the archaeology of surviving Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
buildings.
Siege of Exeter
Clemen could also have been reigning in c. 630 or 632 during the Siege of ExeterSiege of Exeter (c.630)
The Siege of Exeter or the Siege of Caer-Uisc was a military conflict that took place in or around AD 630, between the Mercians, led by Penda of Mercia, and Britons occupying Caer-Uisc in the kingdom of Dumnonia. Penda laid siege to the settlement until the exiled British High King Cadwallon of...
by King Penda of Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
, until the exiled British High King
King of the Britons
The Britons or Brythons were the Celtic-speaking people of what is now England, Wales and southern Scotland, whose ethnic identity is today maintained by the Welsh, Cornish and Bretons...
Cadwallon
Cadwallon
Cadwallon is a Welsh name, derived from an earlier Old Welsh version of the same name spelled Caswallawn. The name honours Cassivelaunus who was the pre-Roman king of the British Catuvellauni tribe who successfully resisted the Romans in 55 BC....
, king of Gwynedd
Gwynedd
Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
, arrived to defeat the Mercians. The three kings were said to have made an alliance and marched north to face the armies of Northumbria which were then occupying Gwynedd. Exeter was in the kingdom of Dumnonia
Dumnonia
Dumnonia is the Latinised name for the Brythonic kingdom in sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries, located in the farther parts of the south-west peninsula of Great Britain...
, and Cadwallon is said to have made an alliance with the British nobility, but Clemen is not mentioned in person Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
also paints a particularly colourful account of the siege in his pseudo-historic Historia Brittonum,.
Battle of Cefn Digoll
In alliance with Gwynedd and Mercia, Clemen may have next fought in Gwynedd to relieve the Northumbrian domination at the Battle of Cefn DigollBattle of Cefn Digoll
The Battle of Cefn Digoll, also known as the Battle of the Long Mynd, was a battle fought at Long Mountain near Welshpool, Powys, in 630. The battle was fought between the Northumbrian army of King Edwin of Deira an anti-Northumbrian alliance between King Cadwallon of Gwynedd and Penda of Mercia...
(Long Mountain near Welshpool
Welshpool
Welshpool is a town in Powys, Wales, or ancient county Montgomeryshire, from the Wales-England border. The town is low-lying on the River Severn; the Welsh language name Y Trallwng literally meaning 'the marshy or sinking land'...
) in 630. It is not known whether the Dumnonians were part of the British army that went on to ravage Northumbria over the following years.
Literature
According to the Welsh Bonedd y Saint (Genealogies of the Saints), Clemen was the father of St Petroc. Other authorities state that this saint was the princely son of King GlywysGlywys
Glywys is described in Welsh genealogies as an early 5th century Welsh king who is seen as an important character in early Welsh history. The kingdom of Glywysing is believed to have been named after Glywys, and is the earliest place name for the land between the Rivers Tawe and Usk...
of Glywysing, making it likely Clemen was actually the father of Petroc Baladrddellt.
He is also given in Llyfr Baglan (Book of Baglan
Book of Baglan
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...
) as a Duke of Cornwall
Duke of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in the peerage of England.The present Duke of Cornwall is The Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning British monarch .-History:...
, son of Bredrice (eg Bledric) and father of Pedroc (eg Petroc).