Corocticus, King of Alt Clut (c.410 - c.450)

The first king of Alt Clut, Coroticus was a powerful Celtic monarch who ruled a considerable swathe of southern Scotland from his base on Dumbarton Rock. The history of Alt Clut during the fifth and sixth centuries is murky at best and what little is known comes from Irish and Welsh sources. Because of this, Coroticus, like many other fifth century rulers, is sometimes referred to by the Welsh version of his name, Ceretic Guletic.

Dunbarton Rock, the stronghold of the Kings of Alt Clut for five hundred years

Medieval genealogies list Coroticus as the son of Cynloup, the grandson of Quintillus and the great-grandson of Clemens. The Roman names of his grandfather and great-grandfather suggest that Coroticus was descended from Damnonii leaders who, although they lived some way north of Hadrian’s Wall, were Romanised to some extent. However, Coroticus is a British name and it has been suggested that he was named after Caratacus of the Catuvellauni, a then-legendary leader of a British revolt against the Romans.

Not much is known of his reign in the dark days of sub-Roman Britain. Coroticus was almost certainly the Brittonic warrior addressed in a letter written by St. Patrick in which the priest condemns the capture and enslavement of Irish Christians and their sale to pagans before excommunicating Coroticus and his men. It’s possible that St. Patrick’s letter referred to a bloody raid on Ireland led by Coroticus and his men which resulted in the death and enslavement of many Irish, some of which were Christian converts. Coroticus’s response to the letter, if any, has gone unrecorded.

It’s thought that Coroticus died around 450 and was succeeded either by his son, Cinuit, or possibly his grandson, Dumnagual Hen. His descendants went on to rule kingdoms as far south as the Isle of Man and Alt Clut itself would survive until the late ninth century when Dumbarton would be captured and sacked by the Norse kings of Dublin.

Vortigern (fl.425 AD?)

Shrouded in legend, Vortigern is a shadowy and semi-mythical early British leader who existed in the first half of the fifth century. There are no contemporary records that have survived and what little we know of him comes from legend and semi-historical tracts written centuries after his death.

Vortigern came to power sometime in the early fifth century, possibly as early as 425, or as late as 445 and possibly came from a noble Romano-British family with a powerbase in southern Wales. He is remembered in legend as the High-King of Britain, a position he achieved through treachery and murder. However, Gildas, a historian writing in the sixth century, merely writes that Vortigern was one of a council, perhaps a civitas leader or magistrate; less of a high-king and more of a first-among-equals. Of his early leadership, very little is mentioned. Some sources claim that he married Sevira, a daughter of Magnus Maximus, and had three sons, named in the Historia Brittonum as Vortimer, Catigern and Pascent. Vortigern may also have been involved in a power struggle with Ambrosius Aurelianus, another powerful Romano-British leader, who he defeated in battle in c.437.

Vortigern is a prominent figure in medieval Welsh legend. This illustration shows Vortigern (in the fur lined gown) being shown two battling dragons by Emrys, the boy-wizard. The red dragon symbolises the British and the white symbolises the Germanic invaders. 

Vortigern is immortalised in legend as the man who, in 446, foolishly and shortsightedly invited the Saxon princes, Hengist and Horsa, to settle in Kent in return for protection. Employing one barbarian tribe to defend against another was a standard Roman practice and it worked. Pict and Scottish raids ceased and, for a while, the Britons and Saxons lived peacefully. Exactly where the mercenaries settled is uncertain; legend has it that they settled on the Isle of Thanet while Gildas rather vaguely mentions that they settled someone in the east. 

Some years later, either the Saxons or the Britons rose up against the other. The traditional version is that, Vortigern, drunk at a celebratory feast, fell deeply in love with Rowena, Hengist’s daughter, and promised Hengist whatever he wanted in exchange for her hand in marriage. The Kingdom of Kent was Hengist’s price and Vortigern agreed. Understandably, the British revolted, overthrew Vortigern, put his eldest son, Vortimer, on the throne and battled against the Saxons. Gildas, on the other hand, writes that the Saxons revolted over a disagreement over payment. Yet another version claims that Hengist, realising how poor the British defences were, decided to take the opportunity and seize Kent for himself.

Vortigern’s last mention in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was in 455. It’s likely his kingship effectively ended with the Saxon revolt. Whether he died or disappeared is unknown. Legend says that Vortigern fought alongside his sons and was betrayed yet again at the Night of the Long Knives, a peace conference where the Saxons murdered the British in cold blood and forced Vortigern to surrender the kingdoms of Essex and Sussex in return for his life. Vortigern then fled to his powerbase in Powys where he was killed by Ambrosius Aurelianus. His two eldest sons, Vortimer and Catigern, died fighting the Saxons while his third son, Pascent, is named as an early ancestor of the Kings of Powys.

Ednyfed, King of Dyfed (fl. 400)

If the tangled royal dynasties of sub-Roman Wales can be trusted, Ednyfed was a member of a powerful and influential Welsh dynasty founded in the fourth century. He was the son of Anwn Dynod and a grandson of Magnus Maximus. His cousin, Mor ap Owain, was the king of Cernyw, and he was linked by marriage to the royal dynasties of Dumnonia, Gwent and Powys.

Ednyfed inherited his father's powerbase in southwest Wales in the early fifth century. The area was then still known as Demetia after the local Celtic tribe, the Dematae, but would become corrupted to Dyfed within the next couple of generations.

Very little is known as Ednyfed's reign. Like his father, he may still have considered himself more Roman than Welsh and ruled as a Roman-style protector rather than a true king. Roman troops had withdrawn from Britain in 410 AD and the kingdom of Demetia appears to have weathered this turbulent time fairly well. Desai mercenaries, led by Aed Brosc and the later by his son, Urb, helped defend the Dyfed coast against Irish raiders just as they had done under Anwn Dynod.

Ednyfed married a woman whose name has been lost to history and had at least two sons, Clotri and Dyfanwal. He died around 410 AD and was succeeded by Clotri. His second son, Dyfanwal, may have become a sub-king; if this is true then it suggests a slow return to Celtic-style leadership in which kingdoms are split between heirs. 

Urb mac Aed (fl. 391 AD)

Urb mac Aed, along with the rest of the Deisi, settled along the
Dyfed coast and protected Demetia from Irish raiders in the
fourth and fifth centuries.

Urb was the son of Aed Brosc and, like his father, was a Deisi chieftain and warrior in the late fourth century. The Deisi had fled Ireland two generations earlier after a failed bid for independence had infuriated the Irish High King. The homeless Deisi were employed as mercenaries in 382 AD by Magnus Maximus, the Commander of Britain and later Western Roman Emperor. In return for protecting the kingdom of Demetia (later to become Dyfed), the Deisi were given land along the coast. Aed Brosc is thought to have died sometime around 405 AD and it's presumed that Urb, as his eldest son, inherited his leadership. 

Very little is known of Urb. Presumably he and the rest of the Deisi continued to defend the Dyfed coast against Irish raiders. Urb had at least one son, Cormac, and a younger brother, Triffyn, who would go on to marry Gweldyr, the sole heiress of Demetia and become King of Dyfed. At some point in the 390s, Urb moved his family east to the Brecon Beacons where, two generations later, his grandson, Brychen, would found the kingdom of Brycheiniog in the mid-fifth century. His death is not recorded and it's probable that his son, Cormac, became the chieftain of the Deisi. 

Manau-Gododdin

Manau-Gododdin, a tiny sub-kingdom in northern Britain
and a buffer zone between the Picts and Britons.

Located on a narrow strip of land on the south coast of the Firth of Forth, Manau-Gododdin was a small and little-known sub-kingdom of Goutodin. North of the Forth was Pictish Manau, and it is possible that the people of Manau-Gododdin may have been Picts under British Votadini over-lordship. This over-lordship may have stemmed from the early second century when Votadini troops in the pay of Rome were stationed within Manau territory to fend off Pictish attacks. When the Romans withdrew from Britain, the Votadini retreated to the other side of the Forth, but kept hold of Manau-Gododdin.

Manau-Gododdin’s most famous son is undoubtedly Cunedda Wlendig, an early fifth century chieftain and sub-king who migrated to Wales, founded the Kingdom of Gwynedd and started a royal dynasty from which Welsh nobility claimed descent for centuries afterward. By the late fifth century, Manau-Gododdin appears to have lost its independent identity, implying the sub-kingdom had been brought under the direct control of Goutodin. From then, the people of Manau-Gododdin presumably shared the same fortunes as their overlords and it is very likely warriors from Manau-Gododdin were involved in Morgan Bulc’s fruitless efforts to regain Bernaccia in 590 and the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Caltreath in 597.

Squeezed by the Picts expanding southwards and the Northumbrians expanding northwards, Manau-Gododdin fell along with Goutodin in 638 and by the middle of the seventh century had been absorbed into an increasingly powerful Kingdom of Northumbria. Three centuries later, in 975, the Goutodin territories were transferred to the Scottish Crown.

Cunedda Wledig (fl. 430 AD)

Cunedda and his band of Romanised Picts travelled south to 

Wales and drove out the Irish who had settled there several

generations earlier. He may have been employed as a 

mercenary by the Romano-British authorities or simply seized 

an opportunity to carve out a kingdom.

Cunedda Wledig was a powerful warrior prince from Manau-Gododdin who migrated to Wales in the early fifth century and founded a dynasty from which Welsh nobility would claim ancestry for centuries afterward.

According to tradition, Cunedda was descended from a line of Votadini chieftains whose Latinised names suggest they ruled in some sort of official Roman capacity north of Hadrian’s Wall. By Cunedda’s time, the Manau-Gododdin was a sub-kingdom of Goutodin and it is likely that Cunedda was some sort of leader or sub-king. Not much is known of his life in the north. Cunedda must have been a charismatic warrior as he was able to rally the beleaguered Romano-British to fight off constant Irish and Pictish raids. Perhaps because of his actions, Cunedda managed to secure a politically advantageous marriage to Gwawl, a daughter of Coel Hen, and is claimed to have had nine sons and at least two daughters.

At some point in the early fifth century, maybe around 430, Cunedda and his warband migrated southwest to Wales. His wife, Gwawl, appears to have gone with him, as did his younger sons. His eldest son, Typaun, remained behind in Manau-Gododdin and presumably inherited whatever role it was that Cunedda relinquished when he left. According to legend, Cunedda was offered land in return for ousting Irish raiders (named as the Ui Liathain from Munster) who had invaded and settled along the Welsh coastline during the last century. Nennius, writing centuries later, wrote that Cunedda and his warband arrived in Wales “and with great slaughter they drove out from these regions the Scotti who never returned again to inhabit them”.

Alternatively, it has been suggested that Cunedda may have sailed down the Irish Sea of his own volition and invaded North Wales, establishing himself a kingdom during the chaos that resulted from a plague that swept southern Britain in 446 and the subsequent Saxon laeti revolt. Northern Wales had been governed by Custennin, a son of Magnus Maximus, but presumably Custennin had either died by this point or unable to put up much resistance. 

With only the westernmost parts of Wales remaining in Irish hands, Cunedda settled down in Gwynedd and founded both a kingdom and a dynasty. His sons went on to found royal dynasties of their own in kingdoms which would later be named after them; Ceredigion, Meirionnydd, Ysfeilion, Rhufoniog, Dunoding, Afflogion and Edeyrnion.

Aed Brosc (fl. 382 - 405?)

There was a lot of Irish migration to Wales in
the fourth century. The Desai fled Ireland after
a failed bid for independence and eventually
settled in Dyfed as mercenaries.

Aed Brosc was a warrior and key figure from the Desai tribe who had settled along the Dyfed coast in southwestern Wales in the late fourth century. Several years before, his grandfather, Eochaid Allmuir, had led a failed bid for independence which had been severely crushed by the Irish High King. Fearing retribution, the Desai fled Ireland, sailing across the Irish Sea to Britain.

The Roman Commander of Britain at the time was Magnus Maximus, who would later go on to become Western Roman Emperor. At a time when Roman military strength was stretched, he made very effective use of mercenaries to protect the remoter parts of Britain. The Desai, led by Aed Brosc, were allowed to settle in Dementia (modern-day Dyfed) in 382 AD and in return became mercenaries, protecting the Dyfed coast against Irish raiders. This arrangement continued after Magnus Maximus's death in 388 AD. One of Magnus Maximus's sons, Anwn Dynod, had been given authority over Demetia sometime in the 380s and it appears that Aed Brosc fought alongside him to drive off the Irish warbands that continued to plague the Welsh coast.

Not much is known about Aed Brosc personally. He must have been a strong character to lead a dispossessed tribe across the Irish Sea, and also a loyal man who helped protect his new homeland even as Roman authority crumbled. He had at least two sons and indirectly founded two royal dynasties. The descendants of his eldest son, Urb, would found the kingdom of Brycheiniog in the mid-fifth century and his younger son, Triffyn, would go on to marry Gweldyr, the sole surviving heiress of the Demetian kings in 421 AD. Aed Brosc's death is not recorded but he probably died before the Roman withdrawal in 410 AD.