Morgan ab Athrwys

Morgan ab Athrwys or Morgan Mwynfawr ('Morgan the Generous'; fl. c. 730[1]) was a king of Gwent and Glywysing (i.e., Morgannwg) in southeast Wales.[2] He was the grandson of Meurig ap Tewdrig and the son of Athrwys ap Meurig.

This Welsh name means Morgan son of Athrwys.

Reign

Morgan was the grandson and probable successor of King Meurig. Lloyd argues that his timing and joint rule over Gwent and Glywysing makes him the probable namesake for the later realm of Morgannwg[2] (whence modern Glamorgan), although his descendant Morgan the Old is another possibility. Through his grandmother Onbraus ferch Gwrgant Mawr, he may have been heir to the kingdom of Ergyng as well.[1]

The charters, contained in the Book of Llandaff, include a number of grants which he is said to have made, to the church of Llandaff in the time of Bishops Oudoceus and Berthguin. Other charters in the book, of the time of Berthguin, are attested by him, and an account is also given of ecclesiastical proceedings taken against him by Oudoceus in consequence of his murdering his uncle Ffriog Though the Book of Llandaff was compiled about the middle of the twelfth century, at a time when the see was vigorously asserting disputed claims, it nevertheless embodies a quantity of valuable old material, and is probably to be relied upon, in the general view it gives of the position of Morgan. He appears as owner of lands in Gower, Glamorgan, and Gwent, and, since the latter two districts were afterwards ruled over by his descendants, was probably sovereign of most of the region between the River Towy and the River Wye.[3]

He seems to have been succeeded by his son Ithel,[1] before Ithel's many sons divided their patrimony among themselves.[2]

References

1. Pierce, Thomas. Welsh Biography Online. "Morgan Mwynfawr". The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 2009. Accessed 22 Feb 2013.
2. Lloyd, John E. A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest, Vol. 1, p. 274. Longmans, Green, & Co. (London), 1911. Accessed 22 Feb 2013.
3. Lloyd 1894.

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lloyd, John Edward (1894). "Morgan Mwynfawr". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co.