Athrwys ap Meurig

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

1 Life
2 The real King Arthur?
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Life

Athrwys was the son of Meurig ap Tewdrig, a King of Gwent (and probably Glywysing, now known as Glamorgan) by his wife, Onbrawst, 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.

[edit] 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 historians 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.