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= Brochfael ap Meurig =
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Introduction
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Brochfael ap Meurig (ruled ) was king of Gwent in south-east Wales. He
ruled jointly with his brother, Ffernfael ap Meurig. Gwent and
Glywysing, the neighbouring territory to the west, were ruled as a
single kingdom in some periods; at other times they were separate and
the king of Glywysing had the higher status. Brochfael's father,
Meurig ab Arthfael, ruled both territories with the title King of
Glywysing, but Brochfael and Ffernfael were only kings of Gwent, and
had a lower status than their cousin Hywel ap Rhys, King of Glywysing.
The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia claimed dominion over most of Wales.
However, in the late 880s Brochfael, Ffernfael and Hywel submitted
voluntarily to Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, in order to gain
protection from the oppression of Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians. A
number of Brochfael's charters survive, mainly grants to Bishop
Cyfeilliog and settlements of Brochfael's disputes with the bishop.
Brochfael was the last of his line and was succeeded by Hywel's son,
Owain ap Hywel.
Background
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The boundaries and names of Welsh kingdoms varied over time in the
early medieval period. In the seventh century, south-east Wales was a
single kingdom called Gwent, but by the ninth century it had been
divided between Glywysing (later Morgannwg and Glamorgan) in the west
and Gwent in the east, with the king of Glywysing having the higher
status. From the early ninth century, Mercia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom
on the eastern Welsh border, claimed hegemony over most of Wales.
In 878, King Alfred the Great of Wessex defeated the Vikings at the
Battle of Edington and around the same time King Ceolwulf of Mercia
defeated and killed Rhodri Mawr (Rhodri the Great), the powerful king
of the north Welsh Kingdom of Gwynedd. Rhodri's sons soon recovered
their father's power. In 881 they defeated Ceolwulf's successor as
ruler of Mercia, Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, at the Battle of the
Conwy. This victory was described in Welsh annals as "revenge by God
for Rhodri".
Family
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Brochfael acceded to the throne of Gwent around 872. He and his
brother Ffernfael ap Meurig were sons of Meurig ab Arthfael.
Historians of Wales do not agree on Meurig ab Arthfael's death date.
Thomas Charles-Edwards thinks that he may be the Meurig whose death is
recorded in the under 849, but Wendy Davies argues that 874 is more
likely and dates his reign as or .
In early medieval Wales, it was common for brothers to share the
kingship, and in his 'Life of King Alfred', written in 893, the Welsh
monk Asser describes Brochfael and Ffernfael as kings of Gwent. They
are both listed in the twelfth-century Book of Llandaff as witnesses
to charters together with their father, but Ffernfael does not have
any surviving charters of his own, whereas several show Brochfael as a
royal grantor and witness, so Ffernfael may have been subordinate to
Brochfael.
Territory
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Brochfael and Ffernfael were joint kings of Gwent, and their cousin
Hywel ap Rhys was king of Glywysing. The kingship of Glywysing had a
superior status, and Hywel was probably an over-king allowing his
cousins to rule Gwent. He gave more grants in Gwent than in Glywysing,
whereas Brochfael's grants were confined to Gwent. In the previous
generation, Davies (followed by Charles-Edwards) states that
Brochfael's father Meurig ab Arthfael gave grants in both territories,
and that he ruled them both as king of Glywysing. The historian
Patrick Sims-Williams dissents, arguing that the charters placing
Meurig in Glywysing were forged, and that he had no power outside
Gwent.
Kingship
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Æthelred's defeat at the Battle of the Conwy in 881 ended Mercian
domination of north and west Wales, but he violently tried to maintain
his rule over the south-east. Alfred the Great, King of the West
Saxons, became the competitor of Mercia for the allegiance of the
south-eastern Welsh kings, and Æthelred's oppression drove them to
voluntarily submit to Alfred and seek his protection. Æthelred himself
soon followed in abandoning the attempt to maintain his independence
and submitted to the West Saxon king.
In his 'Life of King Alfred', Asser listed Brochfael among Welsh kings
who submitted to King Alfred:
:At that time [late 880s], and for a considerable time before then,
all the districts of right-hand [southern] Wales belonged to King
Alfred, and still do. That is to say, Hyfaidd, with all the
inhabitants of the kingdom of Dyfed, driven by the might of the six
sons of Rhodri [Mawr], had submitted himself to King Alfred's royal
overlordship. Likewise, Hywel ap Rhys (the king of Glywysing) and
Brochfael and Ffernfael (sons of Meurig and kings of Gwent), driven by
the might and tyrannical behaviour of Ealdorman Æthelred and the
Mercians, petitioned King Alfred of their own accord, in order to
obtain lordship and protection from him in the face of their enemies.
Charters
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Charters in the Book of Llandaff show in his early years witnessing
his father's charters, and later making grants as king. In about 868,
King Meurig surrendered the church at Tryleg and returned it to Bishop
Cerennyr in the presence of and Ffernfael. Like other Welsh kings,
had large landed estates, and he made several grants to Bishop of
land and fishing rights on the coast of the Severn Estuary. Grants to
between the 890s and 920s were all of land in Gwent, and was the main
grantor.
Charters also record 's disputes with . One disagreement concerned a
church with three (about 120 acre) of land which gave to his
daughter, described as "a holy virgin", to support her in her
religious life. When she died around 910, attempted to recover his
donation, but claimed the property and judgement was given in his
favour and endorsed by . The historian Lester Little comments that
this episode saw "in a relatively docile mood". Earlier, in about
905, there was a disagreement between 's (household) and 's.
insulted , who threatened to excommunicate him and his family. Once
again, backed down and apologised. was awarded an "insult price"
(in pure gold) of the worth of his face, lengthwise and breadthwise.
was unable to pay in gold and instead paid with six (about 240 acre)
of land at Llanfihangel.
Death
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Brochfael died in the early tenth century; the exact date is unknown.
Davies dates the end of his rule as , and Charles-Edwards thinks that
Glywysing and Gwent were probably ruled as a single kingdom by Hywel's
son Owain ap Hywel by 918. Manuscript D of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
in a section probably compiled in the 1050s, states that in 927,
Owain, king of the people of Gwent, was one of the British rulers who
submitted to Æthelstan, King of England. Davies states that the royal
line descended from Meurig ended with Brochfael.
License
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