Cyllinus (Caradoc) ap Caradoc (abt. 50)

Born about 0050 in Trevan, Llanilid, Glamorganshire

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Roma, Roman Empire

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Biography

Saint Cyllin was a legendary, and possibly historical British king of the 1st century AD, early Christian saint and the last pendragon of Great Britain. His existence is based on very limited evidence. ^[1]

See also From Beli to Byzantine

If an historical figure, his reign followed that of Caratacus. ^[1]

Research Notes

Outline of Cyllin's Legend

Name and Time

• "Cyllin was the son of Caradawg ap Bran, a saint who flourished at the close of the first century. No church in Wales Bears his name." ^[2]
• Cyllinus was one of two brothers of Claudia, daughter of Caradoc, the son of Bran. ^[3] Cyllinus was the eldest son of Caradoc ap Bran. ^[4]

Family Connections

Medieval Welsh sources created elaborate and largely fictitious genealogies that incorporated various historical figures. The father of the figure represented in this profile, Caractacus, was authentically known from Roman sources, but the present representation is highly fictionalized. The dates are, of course, speculations that are not given in the primary sources.

Bran the Blessed. According to these forgeries, Bran the Blessed was the son of Llyr Llediaith, the first of the race of the Cymry who was converted to the faith in Christ ; and his family is the most ancient of the Holy Families of the Island of Britain, and his church is in Llandaff. Arwystli Hen, a man from Italy; he came with Bran, the son of Llyr, to the Island of Britain to teach the Christian faith. Saint Ilid^[5], a man of Israel, who came with Bran, the son of Llyr, from Rome to teach the Christian faith to the race of the Cymry.
Eigen, the daughter of Caradoc, the son of Bran, the son of Llyr Llediaith, wife of Sallwg, lord of Garth Mathrin.
Saint Lleurwg, called Lleuver Mawr [the great luminary], the son of Coel, the son of Cyllin, the son of Caradoc, the son of Bran, the son of Llyr Llediaith, sent to Pope Eleutherius to request bishops to confer baptism on those of the race of the Cymry who should believe in Christ.
Saint Gwerydd, the son of Cadwn, the son of Cenau, the son of Eudav, of the family of Bran the Blessed, the son of Llyr Llediaith. His church is Llanwerydd, the same as Saint Dunawd. Saint Gwynno, of the family of Bran the Blessed.^[6]

Cyllin's father and grandfather: Caradoc ap Bran. Reigned in Cambria after his father. "His residence was the site of the present Dunraven Castle, in the centre of his dominions Siluria. Whgen taken prisoner to Rome he was preserved from the criminal's fate by the admiration which he excited; he was permitted to reside seven years in free custody in Rome, his aged father Bran, and the whole Royal Family being retained as hostages. HIs residence was the palace on the declivity of the Mons Sacra, converted by his grand-daughter Pudentiana into the first christian church in Rome, now known as "Saint Pudentiana." ^[3]

Cyllin's Mother Other legends give Cyllin's mother as Anna Arimathea, daughter of Joseph of Arimathea. Anna was married to Caradog ap Bran, said to be born in the year 35, in Glamorganshire, England.

Cyllin's Siblings:

1. Claudia (Gladys) Claudia (Gladys) married Rufus Pudens, a Roman Patrician, who filled high civil and military positions in Britain. He was converted to Christianity by his wife. Rufus is named in the epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. ^[3] (Romans 16:13) Rufus in turn baptized Bran, Caractacus, and the other members of the Silurian Royal Family. ^[3]
2. Eigen^[7]
3. Cyllinus
4. Linus, was ordained by Saint Paul as the first Bishop of Rome^[3]

Cyllin's Children:

1. Cyllinus was the father of Coel, who flourished in the year 120. ^[4]

Travels 59 and 60

In 59, Aristobulus, brother to Barnabas, and father-in-law to S. Peter, was ordained by S. Paul, first Bishop of the Britons, and left Rome with Bran, Caractacus, and the Royal Family; Bran, on account of this second phase in the introduction of christianity into Britain, is known as one of the benefactorsw of the island, and the epithet of the Blessed given him. ^[3]

In 60, S. Paul visited Caradoc, and returned to the continent, after some months, with Claudia, Pudens, and Linus. ^[3]

"In 67, on the evening preceding his execution, he (S. Paul) wrote his farewell epistle to Timothy; the only salutations are from the British family, Pudens, Linus, Eubulus, and Claudia, who thus, through God's grace, ministered to the sorrows of the founder of the Gentile church." ^[3]

Birth Year Estimation

Basing the calculation on the impression that Cyllin would have been a member of the "Royal Family" in 59, assume Cyllin's reputed birth prior to that; if he was born in the year 50 he would have been aged 9, a suitable age for the trip and for remaining behind in Britain in the year 60.

Some legendary sources place Cyllin's birth in Trevan, Llanilid, Glamorganshire; based on the legendary narrative, it would be either in Siluria or Rome.

Death

Cyllinus died in Britain. ^[3]

Marriage to Julia

Some popular genealogies show Saint Cyllinus, son of Caradog ap Bran, as the husband of Julia, reputed to be the name of one of the daughters of King Prasutugus and Queen Baodicca who was raped by the Romans following Prasutugus' death in the year 61. No verification has been found for this and she has been de-linked.

1801 Iolo Morganwg Fraud

Reference to Saint Cyllin is also given in Iolo Morganwg's "Third series" of forged Welsh Triads. ^[8]

1836 Other References

Cyllin is also discussed in the works of Rice Rees, Jane Williams, Sabine Baring-Gould and John Williams (Ab Ithel) as brother of Saint Eigen and father of King Coel. ^[9]

1849 Mabinogion

Cyllin is also noted in a manuscript giving the genealogy of Taliesin from the collection of Thomas Hopkin of Coychurch along with one from the Havod Uchtryd collection where he is called Cynan, a name often associated with Conan Meriadoc. ^[10]

1861 Richard Williams Morgan

Richard Williams Morgan claimed that a reference to him as a son of Caratacus was found in the family records of Iestyn ab Gwrgant and used this as evidence of early entry of Christianity to Britain; "Cyllin ab Caradog, a wise and just king. In his days many of the Cymry embraced the faith in Christ through the teaching of the saints of Cor-Eurgain, and many godly men from the countries of Greece and Rome were in Cambria. He first of the Cymry gave infants names; for before, names were not given except to adults, and then from something characteristic in their bodies, minds, or manners." ^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Saint Cyllin Accessed April 5, 2018. jhd
2. ↑ Robert Williams. A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen, From the Earliest Tiems to…Cyllin Accessed April 4, 2018 jhd
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8} Smart, Prichards, page 5
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Smart, Prichard, page 14
5. ↑ A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen: From the Earliest Times to the Present, and Including Every Name Connected with the Ancient History of Wales ... (Google eBook). Robert Williams. William Rees, 1852
6. ↑ Iolo Manuscripts, p. 538. accessed 2014-04-26, amb
7. ↑ Iolo Manuscripts, p. 538
8. ↑ Iolo Morganwg (1801). The triads of Britain. Wildwood House. ISBN 978-0-7045-0290-1. Retrieved 8 August 2012. Cited by Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Saint Cyllin Accessed April 5, 2018. jhd
9. ↑ Wikipedia Wikipedia: Saint Cyllin Accessed April 5, 2018. jhd Citing the following four sources:
   • Rice Rees (1836). An essay on the Welsh saints or the primitive Christians, usually considered to have been the founders of the churches in Wales. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman. pp. 82–. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
   • Jane Williams (18 November 2010). A History of Wales: Derived from Authentic Sources. Cambridge University Press. pp. 41–. ISBN 978-1-108-02085-5. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
   • S. Baring-Gould; John Fisher (30 June 2005). The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales, Cornwall and Irish Saints. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 218–. ISBN 978-0-7661-8765-8. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
   • John Williams (1844). The eccles. Antiquities of the Cymry; or: The ancient British church. Cleaver. pp. 63–. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
10. ↑ Mabinogion (1849). The Mabinogion, from the Llyfr coch o Hergest, and other ancient Welsh MSS., with an Engl. pp. 391–. Retrieved 10 August 2012.Cited by Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Saint Cyllin Accessed April 5, 2018. jhd
11. ↑ Richard Williams Morgan (1861). St. Paul in Britain; or, The origin of British as opposed to papal Christianity. pp. 161–. Retrieved 8 August 2012. Cited by Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Saint Cyllin Accessed April 5, 2018. jhd

See also:

• Histroical Traditions and Facts relating to Newport and Caerleon, by a member of the Caerleon and Monmouthshire antiquarian society by Charles Octavius S. Morgan 1880, p. 7
• Hughes, David The British Chronicles, Volume 2.
• The National CV of Britain
• Iolo Manuscripts: A Selection of Ancient Welsh Manuscripts, in Prose and Verse, from the Collection Made by the Late Edward Williams, Iolo Morganwg, for the Purpose of Forming a Continuation of the Myfyrian Archaiology; and Subsequently Proposed as Materials for a New History of Wales. (Google eBook). Iolo Morganwg. W. Rees; sold by Longman and Company, London, 1848 - English literature - 712 pages

Bibliography

The Rev. Thomas Gregory Smart. Genealogy of the descendants of the Prichards, formerly lords of Llanover, Monmouthshire, with an appendix of the pedigrees of the houses, with which that family intermarried, Entered at Stationer's Hall, 1868... Enfield, Printed by J. H. Meyers, 1868. Original from Oxford University. Digitized Jun 23, 2006. This work is an excellent example of the use of very early legendary (and substantially non-historical) material in the creation of pedigrees during this time period. The author claims the following sources for his work:

• Jones 'History of Becknockshire'
• The Pedigrees of Prichard, and of Herbert, preserved in the Herald's College
• The Harleian MSS in the British Museum
• MS letter of the Rev. R. Neville
• The Records of the Courts Leet, held formerly at Abergavenny
• The Registers of Geytrey, Lanover, Chepstow, Chorley and Preston
• An MS Pedigree, signed by Sir George Naylor, York Herald, Genealogist of the Bath
• The MSS in the Bodleian Library, Oxford: "The Cambrian Journal," for March and June 1862; Libscomb's "History of Cucks' Archdeacon Coxe's "Tour through Monmouth;" Hardiwck's "History of Preston;" MS. Pedigree, by Thomas Wakeman, Esq., F. S. A. of the Graig, Monmouthsire; Burke's Landed Gentry; and Heraldic Illustrations," etc, etc, etc. Added 2014-08-02, amb Cited as "Smart, Prichards" and page number.

https://archive.org/details/iolomanuscriptss00willuoft

Acknowledgments

• This person was created through the import of Williams_AndersForWikiTree.ged on 07 May 2011.
• This person was created on 16 November 2010 through the import of Morton Family Tree.ged.