Athrwys ap Meurig

Infobox Monarch
name =Athrwys ap Meurig
title =King of Ergyng


caption =
reign =c. 645 - c. 655
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predecessor =Gwrgan Fawr
successor =("none of the same title")
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heir =
queen =
consort =
spouse 1 =
spouse 2 =
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spouse 5 =
spouse 6 =
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father =Meurig ap Tewdrig
mother =
date of birth =c. 618
place of birth =
date of death =c. 655
place of death =
date of burial =
place of burial =|

Athrwys (sometimes misspelled as Arthwys) was a Prince, possibly a King, from Gwent in Wales, who is generally accepted as having lived in the early 7th century.

Lineage

Athrwys was the son of Meurig ap Tewdrig, a King of Gwent (and probably Glywysing, now known as Glamorgan) by his wife, Onbrawst, or Onbraus the daughter of Gwrgan Fawr, King of Ergyng (Western Herefordshire).

His family relationships are recorded in a number of Old Welsh pedigrees, as well the Book of Llandaff. From her study of the Llandaff Charters in this manuscript, Prof. Wendy Davies has concluded that Athrwys predeceased his father around 655 and never actually ruled in Gwent. David Nash Ford suggests, however, that he ruled as King of Ergyng in the right of his mother, during his father's lifetime.

Issue

His son was Morgan ab Athrwys or Morgan Mwynfawr 'Morgan the Benefactor' in the Welsh language. Morgan was King of Morgannwg, or Gwent and Glywysing, land as far west as the River Towy and also encompassing land beyond the River Wye, into the old Kingdom of Ergyng, South Herefordshire.

He was in turn succeeded by his son Ithel.

The Real King Arthur?

:"See main article, Historical basis for King Arthur"Gwent contains many places associated with the famous King Arthur of legend. As early as 1796, local antiquarians had identified the similarly-named Athrwys as the "real" King Arthur. In the late 20th century, this idea has been taken up by Baram Blackett and Alan Wilson and then Chris Barber and David Pykitt. Both partnerships re-interpret Old Welsh pedigrees and literature to place Athrwys in the more traditionally-accepted Arthurian period of the early 6th century. Blackett and Wilson believe they have discovered his grave marker at Mynydd-y-Gaer in Glamorgan, while Barber and Pykitt believe he emigrated to Brittany to become Saint Armel who is buried at Saint-Armel-des-Boschaux. The identification of the name Athrwys with Arthur has been challenged on sound linguistic grounds by most of those who have examined the names. [cite book | last = Bartrum | first = Peter C | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = A Welsh Classical Dictionary | publisher = National Library of Wales | date = 1993 | location = Aberystwyth | pages = 136 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = ]

References

*Barber, Chris & Pykitt, David. (1993). "Journey to Avalon".
*Blackett, A. T. & Wilson, Alan (1986). "Artorius Rex Discovered".
*Davies, Wendy. (1979). "The Llandaff Charters".
*Williams, David. (1796). "The History of Monmouthshire".

External links

* [http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/athrwgt.html Early British Kingdoms: Athrwys, King of Ergyng] David Nash Ford's interpretation of the evidence