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.

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.

Coel Hen (c.350 - 420 AD)

Named in Celtic tradition as the High King of Northern Britain, Coel Hen was a prominent figure in many ancient genealogies. Many of the kingdoms of northern Britain and Wales were ruled by his descendants and he is preserved in legend as the founding ancestor of the Men of the North - the kings of northern Britain and southern Scotland.

Mention of Coel Hen in an ancient Welsh genealogy, Y Commrodor

With the fading of central Roman administration in the early fifth century, regional governors known as dux were appointed to manage the protection of the island in the face of increasing barbarian raids. Brittania Secunda, the province of northern Britain, was placed into the care of a man named as Coel Hen – Cole the Old. From his headquarters in Ebrauc (York), Coel ruled a huge area of the north which stretched from Ebrauc to Hadrian’s Wall and possibly even beyond into the territory of Goutodin. The old Celtic traditions returned quickly in the north and it's likely that Coel Hen gradually took on the role of a king rather than a dux. Very little is known of Coel Hen personally but he must have been a charismatic and determined leader as he managed to turn northern Britain from a province which looked to Rome for its defence to an independent kingdom capable of defending itself.

Coel’s efforts meant that he was regarded as the first King of the North and he is familiar to many of us as Old King Cole from the nursery rhyme. Coel died in around 420 and his death is preserved in Welsh legend. The story goes that during Coel’s time as High King, Scotti settlers from Ulster had settled on the western coast of Pictland. Concerned that the Picts and Scots would join forces against the British, Coel sent raiders across his northern borders to stir up trouble between them. Coel’s ruse didn't fool anyone and the Picts and the Scots retaliated by attacking Alt Clut. Enraged, Coel and his army stormed north and the Picts and the Scots fled into the hills. Flushed with victory, Coel chased after them and set up camp in what is now Ayrshire. Sometime later, starving and desperate, the Picts and Scots advanced in an all-or-nothing attack on Coel’s stronghold. Taken by surprise, Coel and the northern British scattered in panic. Lost and alone, Coel wandered through the unfamiliar countryside of Argyll until he fell into a bog and drowned – an inglorious end for the first High King of Northern Britain.

On his death, Coel’s kingdom was divided between his two sons with the eldest, Ceneu, taking Ebrauc and his youngest, Gorbanian, inheriting Bernaccia. His daughter, Gwawl, had been married off to Cunedda Wledig and the pair had founded a kingdom and spawned several royal dynasties of their own in North Wales. His descendants, the northern British and Welsh kings of the sixth century, would stubbornly resist Teutonic invasion until their calamitous defeat at the Battle of Catreath in 597.