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Coel ap Meurig (80 - abt. 170)

King Coel ap Meurig
Born in Camulod, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and [mother unknown]
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
[children unknown]
Died about at about age 90 in Colchester, Essex, Englandmap
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Profile last modified | Created 5 Jul 2011
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Contents

Disambiguation

King Cole of the 1st century vs. King Cole of the 5th century

The following WikiTree Profiles require review and distinction:

  1. Coel ap Meurig, b 080 Camulod
  2. Coellus Britain ap Meurig, b. 100
  3. Coel (Siluria) Cyllin born 0125
  4. [[De Bretagne-149|Coel I de Bretagne, b. 0130
  5. [[Kaercolvin-1|Coilus (Kaercolvin) Cambria, b. 0218
  6. Coel of Camulod born 218
  7. Coel Hen ap Tegfan, born -0340

Biography: King Cole of Camuloden

Mother: Julia?

Some genealogies show Julia as the mother of the following children. Since there is no record that she married or had children, and most likely died with her mother, the following have been disconnected as her children:

  1. Coel ap Meurig
  2. Coellus (Britain) ap Meurig
  3. Gladys (Britain) Maurius
  4. Eurgen (Meric) Britain

Research Notes

From Beli to Byzantine

Name

Name: Coel (Croilus) Britannian Kuningas (Silures Heimo) //
Given Name: Coel (Croilus) Britannian Kuningas (Silures Heimo)
Name Prefix: Kuningas

"Coel", "Coilus", "Cole", "Caelius", "Coelis", "King of Britain", "Colius of Britain", "Coelus" [1]

0080 Birth and Parents

He was born about 80 or 90 in Camulod, England. [1]

He was the son of St. Cyllin / Marius ap Gweirydd, King of Britain and Julia of the Iceni [1]

Wikipedia estimates his great-uncle Caratacus as born in 10 CE, therefore make his father's birth year in the next generation, 40 CE.. Making his birth year 80 is a stretch, but not implausible.

Parents Shown on WikiTree

Siblings

He was brother of

  1. Eigen ferch Marius; [1]
  2. Owain Eurgen ap Marius Cyllin, King of Wales [1]
  3. Eurgain (Fictional) [1]


Marriage

He married Ystdrawl Gadeon of the Catuvellauni Tribe [1]

Reign

He was King of Briton; He was king of Colchester.[1]

-170 Death

He died in the year 170, aged 86-94 in Colchester, Essex, England[1]

Children

He was father of

  1. Saint Emerita verch Coel; [1]
  2. NN . ap Coilus,

He was grandfather of

  1. Aoife .
  2. Gall-Gaidheal; [1]
  3. NN . verch Coilus
  4. St. Lucius Lleuver Mawr, King of the Silures

[2]

Biography: King Cole of 350

Name

Coel (Old Welsh: Coil) or Coel Hen ("Coel the Old")

is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages.

Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen (Coel the Old), a circa Fourth Century CE leader in Roman or Sub-Roman Britain and the progenitor of several kingly lines in the Hen Ogledd ("the Old North"), the Brittonic-speaking part of northern England and southern Scotland.

Later medieval legend told of a Coel, apparently derived from Coel Hen, who was the father of Saint Helena and the grandfather of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great.

Other similarly named characters may be confused or conflated with the Welsh Coel.

The legendary "King Coel" is sometimes supposed to be the historical basis for the popular nursery rhyme "Old King Cole", but this is unlikely.[1]

Contents [hide] 1 Name 2 Context and evidence 3 Colchester legend 4 Notes 5 Bibliography Name[edit]

Coel's name was rendered "Coil" in Old Welsh. It may be the same as the common noun coel, meaning "belief, credence; confidence, reliance, trust, faith" (a secondary meaning is "omen"), derived from Proto-Celtic *kaylo- "omen" and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh2ilo- "whole, healthy; blessed with good omen".[2][3][4]

Coel is often named as "Coel Hen", Hen being an epithet Hen meaning "old" (i.e., "Coel the Old").

The genealogies give him an additional epithet, Godebog (Old Welsh: Guotepauc), meaning "Protector" or "Shelterer".[5]

His name is thus sometimes given as "Coel Godebog" or "Coel Hen Godebog".[2]

However, some of the Harleian genealogies list Godebog as Coel's father's name.[6]

Geoffrey of Monmouth Latinized the name to Coelus.

Some modern authors modernize it to "Cole".[7]

Context and evidence[edit]

Coel Hen appears in the Harleian genealogies and the later pedigrees known as the Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd (The Descent of the Men of the North) at the head of several post-Roman royal families of the Hen Ogledd.[5]

His line, collectively called the Coeling, included such noted figures as

  • Urien, king of Rheged;
  • Gwallog, perhaps king of Elmet;
  • the brothers Gwrgi and Peredur; and
  • Clydno Eiddin, king of Eidyn or Edinburgh.[5][8]

He was also considered to be the father-in-law of Cunedda, founder of Gwynedd in North Wales, by his daughter Gwawl.[2]

The poem Y Gododdin mentions some enmity between the "Sons of Godebog", possibly a reference to the Coiling, and the heroes who fought for the Gododdin at the Battle of Catraeth.[6][8]

Judging by the genealogical references, Coel Hen must have controlled a large part of the Hen Ogledd. As an ancestor figure, he compares to Dyfnwal Hen, who is likewise attributed with founding kingly lines in the Hen Ogledd.

Ayrshire folklore states that Coel and his entire army perished in the Battle of Coilsfield.

According to Welsh tradition the region of Kyle was named for Coel, and a mound at Coylton in Ayrshire was regarded as his tomb.[9]

Projections back from dated individuals suggest that Coel Hen lived around AD 350–420, during the time of the Roman departure from Britain.[8]

In his book The Age of Arthur, historian John Morris suggested Coel may have been the last of the Roman Duces Brittanniarum (Dukes of the Britons) who commanded the Roman army in northern Britain, and split his lands among his heirs after his death.[10] However, Morris' book has been widely criticized.[11]

Colchester legend[edit]

By the 12th century, Coel had become attached to the "Colchester legend", which claimed he was a ruler of Colchester in Essex and the father of Saint Helena, and therefore the grandfather of Constantine the Great.

The legend originated from a folk etymology indicating that Colchester was named for Coel (supposedly from "Coel" and "castrum", producing "fortress of Coel"). However, the city was actually known as Colneceaster until the n was dropped in around the 10th century; its name likely comes from the local River Colne.[12][13]

Around the same time, a further development of this legend that King Coel of Colchester was the father of Empress Saint Helena, and therefore the grandfather of Constantine the Great, appeared in Henry of Huntingdon's Historia Anglorum and Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae.[14][15][16]

The passages are clearly related, even using some of the same words, but it is not clear which version was first. Henry appears to have written the relevant part of the Historia Anglorum before he knew about Geoffrey's work, leading J. S. P. Tatlock and other scholars to conclude that Geoffrey borrowed the passage from Henry, rather than the other way around.[17][18] The source of the claim is unknown, but may have predated both Henry and Geoffrey. Diana Greenway proposes it came from a lost hagiography of Helena;[17] Antonia Harbus suggests it came instead from oral tradition.[19]

Geoffrey's largely legendary Historia Regum Britanniae expands upon Henry's brief mention, listing Coel as a King of the Britons following the reign of King Asclepiodotus.[20]

In the Historia, Coel grows upset with Asclepiodotus's handling of the Diocletianic Persecution and begins a rebellion in his duchy of Caer Colun (Colchester). He meets Asclepiodotus in battle and kills him, thus taking the kingship of Britain upon himself.

Rome, apparently, is pleased that Britain has a new king, and sends senator Constantius Chlorus to negotiate with him. Afraid of the Romans, Coel meets Constantius and agrees to pay tribute and submit to Roman laws as long as he is allowed to retain the kingship. Constantius agrees to these terms, but Coel dies one month later.[20]

Constantius marries Coel's daughter, Helena, and crowns himself as Coel's successor. Helena subsequently gives birth to a son who becomes the Emperor Constantine the Great, giving a British pedigree to the Roman imperial line.[21]

Notes[edit]

[1]Jump up ^ Opie and Opie, p. 6: "Because there is said to have been a Prince Cole in the third century A.D.... it does not follow that the song 'Old (or Good) King Cole' dates back to that period, even in the unlikely event of it referring to this chieftain." [2]^ Jump up to: a b c Koch, p. 458. [3]Jump up ^ Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru: A dictionary of the Welsh language, Volume 1, University of Wales. Board of Celtic Studies, 1950, p. 532 [4]Jump up ^ Matasović, Ranko, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Brill, 2009, pp. 197-198 [5]^ Jump up to: a b c Bromwich, p. 256–257. [6]^ Jump up to: a b Charles-Edwards, p. 386. [7]Jump up ^ Harbus 2002, pp. 64–65, 89. [8]^ Jump up to: a b c MacQuarrie, p. 5. [9]Jump up ^ Bromwich, p. 314. [10]Jump up ^ Morris, p. 54. [11]Jump up ^ N. J. Lacy, A history of Arthurian scholarship Arthurian studies, 65 (Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2006), pp. 9–10. [12]Jump up ^ Nicolaisen, Gelling & Richard, p. 76. [13]Jump up ^ Harbus 2002, pp. 64–65. [14]Jump up ^ Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, Book I, ch. 37. [15]Jump up ^ Greenway, pp. 60–61. [16]Jump up ^ Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae, Book V, ch. 6. [17]^ Jump up to: a b Greenway, p. civ. [18]Jump up ^ Harbus 2002, p. 76. [19]Jump up ^ Harbus 2002, p. 77. [20]^ Jump up to: a b Thorpe, p. 17; 131. [21]Jump up ^ Harbus, p. 74.

Bibliography[edit]

Bromwich, Rachel (2006). Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain. University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1386-8.

Henry of Huntingdon (1996). Greenway, Diana, ed. Historia Anglorum: The History of the English People. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-822224-6. Harbus, Antonina (2002). Helena of Britain in Medieval Legend. D. S. Brewer. ISBN 0859916251.

Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-85109-440-7.

MacQuarrie, Alan (1993). "The Kings of Strathclyde : c.400 - 1018". In Grant, A.; Stringer, K. Medieval Scotland : Crown, Lordship and Community : essays presented to G.W.S.Barrow. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 1–19. ISBN 9780748611102.

Morris, John (1973). The Age of Arthur. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Opie, I.; Opie, P. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes. Oxford University Press.

Geoffrey of Monmouth (1966). Thorpe, Lewis, ed. The History of the Kings of Britain. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044170-0.


Legend

Constantine's mother:

Mother: Helena[3][4] (not to be confused with the mythical "St. Elen" (Helen ferch Coel Hen) of Welsh tradition).[5][3]

Constantine

Constantine 272-337

This is the bogus pedigree where Henry of Huntingdon inserts St. Helen (Empress of Rome), as a daughter to make Coel the father of Constantius Chlorus ... then passed on by Geoffrey of Monmouth:[3] Huntington and Monouth's Pedgiree

Sources

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Geni Coel Coelus King of Britain Managed by: Erin Spiceland. Last Updated: June 11, 2017. Accessed August 24, 2017 jhd
  2. Wikipedia. Coel Hen Accessed August 24, 2017 jhd
  3. 3.0 3.1 LEGEND: Monmouth, G. (1842). History of the Kings of Britain: Book 5. Aaron Thompson & J. A. Giles (Ed). Wikisource. eBook;[1] Also see:

Acknowledgements

  • WikiTree profile UNKNOWN-83026 created through the import of heinakuu2011-6.ged on Jul 5, 2011 by Johanna Amnelin. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Johanna and others.




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Comments: 2

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Surely Coel (Ap_Meurig-24) and Coellus (Britain-52) should be merged? Coellus is the Latin for Coel.
posted by Alan Chisholm
Another one. Thanks
posted by Gillian Thomas

A  >  ap Meurig  >  Coel ap Meurig

Categories: Roman Britain | Siluria