| Merfyn Frych | |
|---|---|
| King of Gwynedd | |
| Reign | 825–844 |
| House | Manaw |
| Father | Gwriad ap Elidyr |
| Mother | Ethyllt ferch Cynan |
Merfyn Frych ("Merfyn the Freckled"; Old Welsh Mermin), also known as Merfyn ap Gwriad ("Merfyn son of Gwriad") and Merfyn Camwri ("Merfyn the Oppressor"),[1] was King of Gwynedd from around 825 to 844, the first of its kings known not to have descended from the male line of King Cunedda.[2]
Little is known of his reign and his primary notability is as the father of Rhodri Mawr (Rhodri the Great) and founder of his dynasty, which was sometimes called the Merfynion after him.[3] Merfyn came to the throne in the aftermath of a bloody dynastic struggle between two rivals named Cynan and Hywel – generally identified with the sons of Rhodri Molwynog.[4]
The Annales Cambriae say Merfyn died around 844, the same year in which a battle occurred at Cetyll,[5] but it is unclear whether those were two unrelated events or he fell in battle.[6][7]
- ^ Wade-Evans, Arthur; Welsh Medieval Law, 1909. Accessed 31 January 2013.
- ^ The Houses of Cunedda and Rhodri Mawr, Welsh Medieval Law: The Laws of Howell the Good (1909) by Hywel ap Cadell, translated by Arthur Wade Wade-Evans
- ^ e.g. in Charles-Edwards, T.; Wales and the Britons, 350–1064, Oxford University Press, 2012. Accessed 26 February 2012.
- ^ Parry 1829:63, Brut y Saeson.
- ^ Middle Welsh: Ketill
- ^ Mermin moritur. Gueith cetill. Phillimore 1888:165, Annales Cambriae.
- ^ Lloyd notes that some later copyists had invented a definite connection of the battle with Mercia and Merfyn, where no such connection was stated in the original source. Lloyd 1911:324, A History of Wales, Vol I.