Severa ferch Macsen (370 - abt. 459)

Born 0370 in Roman Britain

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 0459 at about age 89 in post-Roman Britain

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Biography: In History

Respected genealogist Stewart Baldwin has stated, "although Magnus Maximus was historical, and there is no good reason to doubt the existence of Vortigern, Helen is completely fictional, and Severa was probably also an early invention."^[1]

Biography: In Legend

Pillar of Eliseg

Severa's name and place in history or legend has one source: The Pillar of Eliseg, a pillar erected by a Welsh king in the 9th century. A rough English translation of the inscription Latin inscription would be: Maximus of Britain [Conce]nn, Pascen[t], Mau[n], An[n]an [+] Britu, moreover, (was) the son of Guorthi(girn), whom Germanus blessed and whom Severa bore to him, the daughter of Maximus the king, who slew the king of the Romans. ^[2]

Or, in list form:

• Severa was the daughter of Maximus the king.
• Concenn, Pascent, Maun, Annjan, and Britu were the sons of Vortigern by Severa.

From these spare details a legendary life of Severa may be constructed.

Name

If Magnus Maximus, the Roman governor of Britain, had a daughter Severa, it would make sense to assign her a Latin "last name."

The language of the local people being Brythonic, ancestor of Welsh, a Brythonic form of her hame might be Severa ferch Macsen Wledlg^[3]

Parents

Seveira is said to be the daughter of Magnus Maximus.^[4] In some legendary material her mother is said to be named Helen.

Birth Year Estimation

One source says she was about 370 in Caer Gloui, Gwent, North Wales. ^[3]

The historic Magnus Maximus was born about 335 and was executed in 388. This creates a span of time between 355 and 388 during which his children might be born. His profile discusses an unnamed first wife who is said to be the mother of all of his children but one, and a possible second wife named Elen or Helen, whom some sources say was the mother of one.

Elen appears mostly in the Brythonic legends in which Magnus Maximus is Macsen Wledig, Macsen the Emperor. When place names appear in these legends, they are places in today's Wales. Severa herself is given a Brythonic or Welsh patronymic, Severa ferch Macsen, rather than a Roman one.

In the absence of other clues, all one can say about her birth year is that it occurred before her father's execution in 388.

Marriage to Vortigern

Severa ferch Macsen Wledig married Gwrtheyrn Gwrtheneu, who was also known as Vortigern, who was overlord from 425. ^[5]

She married Vortigern^[4]

Death

Severa ferch Macsen Wledig probably survived her father in 388. ^[5]

She died about 459 ^[6]

Issue

Boyer

Vortigern was alleged by Peate to have married first an unknown woman who was the mother of all of his children except Brydw. ^[5]

1. Brydw, flourished 433-462. ^[5] Note -- if he flourished beginning at age 25, an estimated birth date could be 408. If he were the only child, the marriage might have taken place 407. If a typical age at marriage was 18, then Severa could have been born any time before the year 389. A birth at 370, as presently shown, would make her aged 38 at a year 408 birth year for her son, and raise the question of whether she had previous marriages or children.

Children Linked on WikiTree

1. Cynderyn ap Gwrtheyrn
2. Vortimer Fendigaid
3. Brydw Ap Vortigen
4. Pascent (Gwrtheyrn) ap Vortigen

Line of Descent from Magnus Maximus

The following substantially legendary line of descent is mostly derived from Historum Brittainorum, dated 828, so at its earliest it is reporting events 500 years earlier without further documentation. ^[1]

1. Emperor Magnus Maximus (c. 335-388) (? m. Helen)
2. Severa m. Vortigern, King of Britain (c. 370-c. 441)
3. Pascent, King of Buellt and Gwrtheyrnion (b. c. 410)
4. Riagath, King of Buellt and Gwrtheyrnion (b. c. 445)
5. Mepurit, King of Buellt and Gwrtheyrnion (b. c. 485)
6. Paul, King of Buellt and Gwrtheyrnion (b. c. 520)
7. Eldoc, King of Buellt and Gwrtheyrnion (b. c. 555)
8. Eldad, King of Buellt and Gwrtheyrnion (b. c. 590)
9. Moriud, King of Buellt and Gwrtheyrnion (b. c. 625)
10. Guoidcant, King of Buellt and Gwrtheyrnion (b. c. 660)
11. Pascent, King of Buellt and Gwrtheyrnion (b. c. 700)
12. Gloud (b. c. 735)
13. Brawstudd (b. c. 775) m. Arthfael, King of Glywysing (b. c. 765)
14. Rhys (b. c. 795)

A marriage between them could be rejected as an attempt to link the dynasty of Powys with the emperor Magnus Maximus, but it might have been historical. Maximus might have been the patron of Vortigern, who could rise in power under his brief reign from 383 until his death in 388. ^[2]

Welsh sources give Maximus two wives, a number of sons and at least one other daughter. More historical sources (St Ambrose) tell us of at least two more daughters who survived him and were beneficiaries of the emperor Theodosius. We know of another daughter of Magnus Maximus (Maxima) who was married to a powerful man (Ennodius, proconsul Africae). ^[2]

coin of Magnus MaximusWhen did Vortigern get married to Sevira? If the marriage took place before the downfall of Maximus, all depends on what was to be gained. Since the value of such a marriage would have dropped sharply after 388, at least seen from the perspective of a member of a noble provincial family (with ambitions) to a fast rising star in the empire, it should have taken place earlier. But that would take Vortigern probably too far back into the 4th century (see the House of Vortigern). The other alternative is that Vortigern married Sevira after 388, as a favor from the House of Theodosius, as mentioned above, in a position of an already powerful man. I like this solution the best, for the birth of their sons Vortimer, Pascent and Catigern is best explained after 400. But since hardly any material does exist on these matters, all this remains speculation. ^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} In a discussion on the Soc.Gen.Medieval List, Isla McDonald displayed a line of descent provided in Peter Bartrum's Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1500 , with dates adjusted by her. The descent in turn came from Historia Brittainorum (828). McDonald said that the first three generations could be deduced from the early accounts of Vortigern's family and the Pillar of Eliseg (9th century). Stewart Baldwin responded that "although Magnus Maximus was historical, and there is no good reason to doubt the existence of Vortigern, Helen is completely fictional, and Severa was probably also an early invention." Accessed Sept 6, 2017. jhd
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Robert Vermaat, Vortigern Studies. Sevira 1999-2008. Accessed Sept 8, 2017. jhd
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} LJ Pellman Consolidated Family_2011-03-21.ged on 21 March 2011.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} The inscription on the Pillar of Eliseg, a mid-9th century stone cross in North Wales, gives the Brythonic variant of Vortigern: Guorthigern, a name similar to Vortigern, or Gildas' "superbus tyrannus". The pillar also states that he was married to Severa, the daughter of Magnus Maximus and gave a line of descent leading to the royal family of Powys, who erected the cross.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Carl Boyer, 3rd. Medieval Welsh Ancestors of Certain Americans. Santa Clarita, California: By the Author, 2004. Pages 242-243
6. ↑ Wikitree Data Field, not otherwise sourced

• Lloyd, Jacob. The History of Powys Fadog (T. Richards, London, 1881) Vol. 1, Page 1

See also:

• Bonedd y Saint, Lineage of the Saints, in: Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Genealogiae, ed. A.W. Wade-Evans, pp. 320-323.*
• Drinkwater, J.F. and Hugh Elton (eds.): Fifth-century Gaul: a Crisis of Identity?, (Cambridge 1992).*
• Martindale, J.R., A.H.M. Jones and John Morris (eds.): The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire.Vol. 1, A.D. 260-395, (Cambridge1971).
• Wade-Evans, A.W.: Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae et Genealogiae, (Cardiff 1944).
• Ward, J.H.: Vortigern and the End of Roman Britain, in: Britannia III, 1972, pp. 277-289.

Peter Bartrum, https://cadair.aber.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/handle/2160/6516/TABLES%20-%20EARLY%20SERIES_18.png?sequence=28&isAllowed=y (May 9, 2018; Anne Brannen, curator)

Peter Bartrum, https://cadair.aber.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/handle/2160/6516/TABLES%20-%20EARLY%20SERIES_13.png?sequence=33&isAllowed=y (May 9, 2018; Anne Brannen, curator)

Darrell Wolcott: Maxen Wledig and the Welsh Legends; http://www.ancientwalesstudies.org/id18.html. (Steven Ferry, February 4, 2020.)

Darrell Wolcott; Constans I and his A.D. 343 Visit to Britain; http://www.ancientwalesstudies.org/id131.html. Footnote 13. He posits that Sefera ferch Maxen Wledig married Constantine III, whereas Vortigern married Sefera ferch Custinnen ap Maxen Wledig, a more age appropriate match. (Steven Ferry, February 16, 2020.)

https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/FeaturesBritain/BritishMagnusMaximus.htm