Coel Hen ap Tegfan, King of Northern Britain

See Peter Bartrum, See Peter Bartrum, https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000173396507821 (February 7, 2023; Anne Brannen, curator)

See Peter Bartrum, https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000173393042924 (February 5, 2023; Anne Brannen, curator)

See Darrell Wolcott, http://www.ancientwalesstudies.org/id93.html, "Pedigree of the Ancient Lords of Ial," for the untangling of these lines. (April 21, 2016, Anne Brannen, curator)

King Cole

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see King Cole (disambiguation).

King Cole or Coel is the name of a figure, or multiple figures with similar names, prominent in British literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen (Coel the Old), a leader in Roman or Sub-Roman Britain and the progenitor of several kingly lines in the Hen Ogledd ("the Old North"), the Brythonic-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 traditional "King Coel" may be the historical basis for the popular nursery rhyme "Old King Cole".[1]

Context and evidence

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.[2] 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 Eiddin or Edinburg.[2][3] He was also considered to be the father-in-law of Cunedda, founder of Gwynedd in North Wales, by his daughter Gwawl.[4] The genealogies give him the epithet Godebog, meaning "Protector" or "Shelterer".[2] The poem Y Gododdin mentions some enmity between the "Sons of Godebog" and the heroes who fought for the Gododdin at the Battle of Catraeth.[3]

As an ancestor figure, Coel Hen compares to Dumnagual Hen, who is likewise attributed with founding kingly lines in the Hen Ogledd. According to Welsh tradition the region of Kyle was named for Coel, and a mound at Coylton in Argyll was regarded as his tomb.[5] Projections back from dated individuals suggest that Coel Hen lived around AD 350 – 420, during the time of the Roman departure from Britain.[3] In his widely-criticized book[6] The Age of Arthur, historian John Morris suggested that Coel may have been the last of the Roman Duces Brittanniarum (Dukes of the Britons) who commanded the Roman army in northern Britain.[7] According to Morris he may have taken over the northern capital at Eburacum (York) to rule over what had been the northern province of Roman Britain. Upon Coel Hen's death, his lands would have been split between his sons, Garmonion and Cunedda II, and later his grandsons, Dunwal Moelmut, Cunedda III, and Gwrwst Ledlwn, thus creating the many old northern kingdoms of Britain.

[edit]Later sources

In his Historia Anglorum, Henry of Huntingdon mentions that a King Coel of Colchester was the father of Saint Helena and therefore the grandfather of Constantine the Great.[8][9] The same claim appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, in a passage using some of the same words. However, Henry appears to have written this part of the Historia Anglorum before he knew about Geoffrey's work, leading J. S. P. Tatlock to conclude that Geoffrey borrowed the passage from Henry, rather than the other way around.[10] The source of the claim is unknown, but it may have come from a lost hagiography of Helena.[10]

Geoffrey's largely fictional Historia Regum Britanniae expands upon Henry's brief mention, listing Coel as a King of the Britons following the reign of King Asclepiodotus.[11] He states that, upset with Asclepiodotus's handling of the Diocletianic Persecution, Coel began a rebellion in the duchy of Caercolun (Colchester), of which he was duke. He met Asclepiodotus in battle and killed him, thus taking the kingship of Britain upon himself. Rome, apparently, was pleased that Britain had a new king and sent a senator, Constantius Chlorus, to negotiate with Coel. Afraid of the Romans, Coel met Constantius and agreed to pay tribute and submit to Roman laws as long as he was allowed to retain the kingship. Constantius agreed to these terms but, one month later, Coel died.[11] Constantius married Coel's daughter, Helena, and crowned himself as Coel's successor. Helen later gave birth to a son who became the Emperor, Constantine the Great, giving a British pedigree to the Roman imperial line.[12]

[edit]Notes

^ Opie and Opie, pp. 134-5.

^ a b c Bromwich, pp. 256–257.

^ a b c MacQuarrie, p. 5.

^ Koch, p. 458.

^ Bromwich, p. 314.

^ N. J. Lacy, A history of Arthurian scholarship Arthurian studies, 65 (Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2006), pp. 9-10.

^ Morris, p. 54

^ Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, Book I, ch. 37.

^ Greenway, pp. 60–61.

^ a b Greenway, p. civ.

^ a b Thorpe, p. 17; 131.

^ Harbus, p. 74.

[edit]References

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

Greenway, Diana (Ed.); Henry of Huntingdon (1996). Historia Anglorum: The History of the English People. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198222246.

Harbus, A. (2002). Helena of Britain in Medieval Legend. D. S. Brewer.

Koch, John T. (2006). Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1851094407.

MacQuarrie, Alan; A. Grant & K. Stringer (Eds.) (1993). "The Kings of Strathclyde". Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community (Edinburgh University Press): 1–19.

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

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

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

---

King Cole or Coel is the name of a figure, or multiple figures with similar names, prominent in British literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen (Coel the Old), a leader in Roman or Sub-Roman Britain and the progenitor of several kingly lines in the Hen Ogledd ("the Old North"), the Brythonic-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 traditional "King Coel" may be the historical basis for the popular nursery rhyme "Old King Cole".[1]

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.[2] 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 Eiddin or Edinburg.[2][3] He was also considered to be the father-in-law of Cunedda, founder of Gwynedd in North Wales, by his daughter Gwawl.[4] The genealogies give him the epithet Godebog, meaning "Protector" or "Shelterer".[2] The poem Y Gododdin mentions some enmity between the "Sons of Godebog" and the heroes who fought for the Gododdin at the Battle of Catraeth.[3]

As an ancestor figure, Coel Hen compares to Dumnagual Hen, who is likewise attributed with founding kingly lines in the Hen Ogledd. According to Welsh tradition the region of Kyle was named for Coel, and a mound at Coylton in Argyll was regarded as his tomb.[5] Projections back from dated individuals suggest that Coel Hen lived around AD 350 – 420, during the time of the Roman departure from Britain.[3] In his widely-criticized book[6] The Age of Arthur, historian John Morris suggested that Coel may have been the last of the Roman Duces Brittanniarum (Dukes of the Britons) who commanded the Roman army in northern Britain.[7] According to Morris he may have taken over the northern capital at Eburacum (York) to rule over what had been the northern province of Roman Britain. Upon Coel Hen's death, his lands would have been split between his sons, Garmonion and Cunedda II, and later his grandsons, Dunwal Moelmut, Cunedda III, and Gwrwst Ledlwn, thus creating the many old northern kingdoms of Britain.

In his Historia Anglorum, Henry of Huntingdon mentions that a King Coel of Colchester was the father of Saint Helena and therefore the grandfather of Constantine the Great.[8][9] The same claim appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, in a passage using some of the same words. However, Henry appears to have written this part of the Historia Anglorum before he knew about Geoffrey's work, leading J. S. P. Tatlock to conclude that Geoffrey borrowed the passage from Henry, rather than the other way around.[10] The source of the claim is unknown, but it may have come from a lost hagiography of Helena.[10]

Geoffrey's largely fictional Historia Regum Britanniae expands upon Henry's brief mention, listing Coel as a King of the Britons following the reign of King Asclepiodotus.[11] He states that, upset with Asclepiodotus's handling of the Diocletianic Persecution, Coel began a rebellion in the duchy of Caercolun (Colchester), of which he was duke. He met Asclepiodotus in battle and killed him, thus taking the kingship of Britain upon himself. Rome, apparently, was pleased that Britain had a new king and sent a senator, Constantius Chlorus, to negotiate with Coel. Afraid of the Romans, Coel met Constantius and agreed to pay tribute and submit to Roman laws as long as he was allowed to retain the kingship. Constantius agreed to these terms but, one month later, Coel died.[11] Constantius married Coel's daughter, Helena, and crowned himself as Coel's successor. Helen later gave birth to a son who became the Emperor, Constantine the Great, giving a British pedigree to the Roman imperial line.[12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Cole

---

Notes: HRM King 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 A. D. 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, HIM 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. Name: 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". 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". His name is thus sometimes given as "Coel Godebog" or "Coel Hen Godebog". However, some of the Harleian genealogies list Godebog as Coel's father's name. Geoffrey of Monmouth Latinized the name to Coelus. Some modern authors modernise it to "Cole". Context and evidence: 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. His line, collectively called the Coeling, included such noted figures as HRM King Urien, King of Rheged; Gwallog, perhaps king of Elmet; the brothers, Gwrgi and Peredur; and HRM KIng Clydno Eiddin, King of Eidyn or Edinburgh. He was also considered to be the father-in-law of Cunedda, founder of Gwynedd in North Wales, by his daughter, Gwawl. 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. Judging by the genealogical references, HRM King 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 HRM King 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. Projections back from dated individuals suggest that HRM King Coel Hen lived around 350 – 420 A. D., during the time of the Roman departure from Britain. In his book, The Age of Arthur, historian John Morris suggested HRM King 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. However, Morris' book has been widely criticised. Colchester legend: By the 12th century, HRM King 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 HIM Emperor 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. Around the same time, a further development of this legend that HRM King Coel, of Colchester, was the father of HIM Empress Saint Helena, and therefore the grandfather of HIM Emperor Constantine, the Great, appeared in Henry, of Huntingdon's, Historia Anglorum and Geoffrey, of Monmouth's, Historia Regum Britanniae. 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. 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; Antonia Harbus suggests it came instead from oral tradition. Geoffrey's largely legendary Historia Regum Britanniae expands upon Henry's brief mention, listing HRM King Coel as a King of the Britons following the reign of King Asclepiodotus. In the Historia, HRM King 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, HRM KIng Coel meets Constantius and agrees to pay tribute and submit to Roman laws as long as he is allowed to retain the kingship. Senator Constantius agrees to these terms, but HRM King Coel dies one month later. Senator Constantius marries HRM KIng Coel's daughter, St. Helena, and crowns himself as HRM King Coel's successor. St. Helena subsequently gives birth to a son who becomes the Emperor, HIM Emperor Constantine, the Great, giving a British pedigree to the Roman imperial line. Notes: 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." Koch, p. 458. Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru: A dictionary of the Welsh language, Volume 1, University of Wales. Board of Celtic Studies, 1950, p. 532 Matasović, Ranko, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Brill, 2009, pp. 197 - 198 Bromwich, p. 256 – 257. Charles-Edwards, p. 386. Harbus 2002, pp. 64 – 65, 89. MacQuarrie, p. 5. Bromwich, p. 314. Morris, p. 54. N. J. Lacy, A history of Arthurian scholarship Arthurian studies, 65 (Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2006), pp. 9 – 10. Nicolaisen, Gelling & Richard, p. 76. Harbus 2002, pp. 64 – 65. Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, Book I, ch. 37. Greenway, pp. 60 – 61. Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae, Book V, ch. 6. Greenway, p. civ. Harbus 2002, p. 76. Harbus 2002, p. 77. Thorpe, p. 17; 131. Harbus, p. 74. Bibliography: 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. Source: http://www.wikipedia.org

---