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Cyfeilliog

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This article is about the bishop. For the medieval commote, see Cyfeiliog.

Cyfeilliog or Cyfeiliog[1] (Old Welsh Cemelliauc,[2] probably d. 927) was a bishop in south-east Wales, but the location and extent of his diocese is uncertain. He is recorded by the mid-880s in the Llandaff Charters and in 914 he was captured by the Vikings and ransomed by Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons, for 40 pounds. Edward's asssistance is regarded by historians as evidence that he was overlord of the south-east Welsh kingdoms. Cyfeilliog is probably the author of a cryptogram (encrypted text) in the Juvencus Manuscript which would have required a knowledge of Latin and Greek.

Map of early medieval Wales
Early medieval kingdoms of Wales, showing Ergyng, Gwent and Glywysing in the south-east

Ecclesiastical appointments

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Cyfeilliog may have been an abbot. He is included in a list of abbots of Llantwit said to have been in a "very decayed and rent" parchment discovered in about 1720, but as the source was the forger Iolo Morganwg historians are doubtful that it was genuine. The historian Patrick Sims-Williams comments that the fact that Cyfeilliog is not mentioned in any charter before he became bishop "leaves open the possibility" that he was an abbot of Llantwit.[3]

Cyfeilliog was first recorded in charters dating to the mid-880s, when he was granted land as a bishop. According to a Canterbury list of Professions of Obedience, he was consecrated as a bishop by Æthelred, who was Archbishop of Canterbury between 870 and 888. Historians are uncertain of the validity of the list, but in the 880s Welsh kings accepted Alfred the Great's overlordship, and acknowledgement of the primacy of Canterbury by Welsh bishops at this time would not be unlikely.[4] Three clerical witnesses to Cyfeilliog's charters also witnessed those of Bishop Nudd, and another three those of Bishop Cerennyr, indicating an overlap in episcopal households. These bishops may have been Cyfeilliog's predecessors. Cerennyr was active over the whole of the southeast, suggesting that he had a superior status.[5] In a list of bishops in the twelfth-century Book of Llandaff he Cyfeilliog placed between Nudd and Llibio.[6]

Diocese

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In the early Middle Ages, south-east Wales was divided into three kingdoms, which were sometimes combined by more powerful kings. Gwent, north of the Severn Estuary, was south of Ergyng and east of Glywysing. Cyfeilliog is included in a list of bishops of Llandaff, covering the whole of south-east Wales between the River Wye and the River Towy, in the Book of Llandaff. The designation was accepted by John Edward Lloyd in 1939 in his classic History of Wales,[7] but the early bishops in the list are rejected by later historians as an attempt to extend the history of the diocese back to an implausibly early date.[8] Cyfeilliog is named as a beneficiary in charters of the late ninth and early tenth centuries, but none of them relate to Glywysing.[9] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in 914 the Vikings "captured Cyfeilliog, bishop of Archenfield".[10][a] Archenfield was the English name for Ergyng,[12] which at that date was Welsh in language and custom, but under English rule. Grants which Cyfeilliog received suggest that he was mainly active in Gwent, and his see probably covered Gwent and Ergyng. Cyfeilliog may have been described by English chroniclers as bishop of Archenfield because he ministered to Welsh people there with the approval of the bishop of Hereford, leading English writers to assume that this was his see.[13] All grants which can be securely located are near Caerwent in Gwent, suggesting that he was probably based in the town.[14]

Charters

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Page of the Book of Llandaff in the National Library of Wales

Charters preserved in the Book of Landaff record nine grants of land to Cyfeilliog from Hywel ap Rhys, King of Glywysing who died in 886 and his son Arthfael, and from Brochfael ap Meurig, King of Gwent.[15] King Hywel gave Cyfeilliog two slaves and their progeny in about 885 for the souls of his wife, sons and daughters.[16] A witness called Asser attested this charter immediately after Cyfeilliog, and the Asser who was biographer of Alfred the Great spent a year in Caerwent at this time; it is possible that he was temporarily attached to Cyfeilliog and attested the charter in a position of honour.[17] Around 890, King Arthfael granted Villa Caer Birran, at Treberran, Pencoyd, with four modii[b] (about 160 acres (60 hectares)) of land to Cyfeilliog.[19]

Cyfeilliog had several legal disputes with King Brochfael. In about 905, there was a disagreement between his familia (household) and that of King Brochfael. Cyfeilliog was awarded an "insult price" "in puro auro" (in pure gold) of the worth of his face, lengthwise and breadthwise. The charter refers to his value in a fixed scale in accordance with his status, under the legal concept of wynepwerth (honour, literally face-worth). Brochfael was unable to pay in gold and paid with six modii (about 240 acres (100 hectares)) of land at Llanfihangel instead.[20] Brochfael gave a church in Monmouth with three modii of land to his daughter, described as "a holy virgin". In around 910, there was a dispute between Cyfeilliog and Brochfael over the church and its land, and judgement was again given in Cyfeilliog's favour and endorsed by Brochfael.[21]

Brochfael donated property to Cyfeilliog in several charters. In one he gave land with weirs on the Severn and the Afon Meurig, a tributary of the Teifi, together with rights of shipwreck, and in another charter two churches, with six modii of land and landing rights for ships at the mouth of the Troggy.[22]

Capture by the Vikings

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In 914 Cyfeilliog was captured by the Vikings, and the event was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:

In this year a great naval force came over here from the south from Brittany, and two earls, Ohter and Hroald, with them. And they went west round the coast so that they arrived at the Severn Estuary and ravaged in Wales everywhere along the coast where it suited them. And they captured Cyfeilliog, bishop of Archenfield, and took him with them to the ships; and then King Edward ransomed him for 40 pounds [of silver].[23]

In the late 880s the kings of Glywsing and Gwent had accepted the West Saxon lordship of King Alfred the Great, "driven", according to Alfred's biographer Asser, "by the might and tyrannical behaviour" of Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians.[24] The payment of Cyfeilliog's ransom, described by Charles-Edwards as "a princely sum", by Alfred's son and successor Edward the Elder is regarded by historians as evidence that he maintained his father's lordship over south-east Wales.[25]

Cryptogram

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A cryptogram (encrypted text) in the Juvencus Manuscript, which was written in Wales in the second half of the ninth century, praises a priest called Cemelliauc, which is Old Welsh for the Modern Welsh name Cyfeilliog. Such cryptograms usually contained the names of their authors, and this one was probably about this Cyfeilliog as his name was uncommon and he is only known person with that name who was active when the Juvencus Manuscript was being written.[26] The cryptogram is in Latin, with each letter being the Greek for the number of the letter in the Latin alphabet. There are no errors in Greek in the cryptogram, and this would have been very difficult to achieve unless the writer knew the language, which was an unusual accomplishment in the period.[27] The cryptogram is described by the scholar Helen McKee as "charmingly boastful", and it reads in translation, with some words missing due to deterioration of the manuscript at the edge of the page:

Cemelliauc the learned priest
[             ] this without any trouble
To God, brothers, constantly,
Pray for me [                 ].[28]

Death

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Cyfeilliog died in 927 according to the Book of Llandaff.[29] The date is accepted by Charles-Edwards,[30] but Wendy Davies and Patrick Sims-Williams are sceptical as they regard the date as late for someone consecrated by Archbishop Æthelred, who died in 888.[31] Cyfeilliog was probably succeeded by Libiau (also spelled Llibio and Llifio[32]), who may have overlapped in time with Cyfeilliog.[33] Most bishops in the eighth and ninth centuries appear to have been active in both Gwent and Ergyng, but Cyfeilliog's successors seem to have only ministered in Gwent. Bishops of Hereford may have taken over in Ergyng.[34]

Notes

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  1. ^ The thirteenth-century chronicler John of Worcester wrote that Cyfeilliog was captured in Archenfield, but historians prefer the wording in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that it was the location of his diocese.[11]
  2. ^ A modius was equivalent to about 40 acres (16 ha).[18]

References

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  1. ^ Bartrum 1993, p. 161; Lloyd 1939, p. 332.
  2. ^ McKee 2000b, p. 27.
  3. ^ Sims-Williams 2019, pp. 61–66, 171.
  4. ^ Davies 1979, p. 78; Sims-Williams 2019, pp. 23–25, 68, 171; Keynes & Lapidge 1983, pp. 96, 262–263.
  5. ^ Charles-Edwards 2013, pp. 595–596.
  6. ^ Bartrum 1993, p. 161.
  7. ^ Lloyd 1939, p. 332 and n. 45; Charles-Edwards 2013, pp. 245, 594.
  8. ^ Bartrum 1993, p. 161; Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 594; Davies 1978, p. 155.
  9. ^ Charles-Edwards 2004; Charles-Edwards 2013, pp. 245, 594.
  10. ^ Whitelock 1979, p. 212.
  11. ^ Darlington & McGurk 1995, pp. 370–371; Sims-Williams 2019, p. 25.
  12. ^ Charles-Edwards 2004; Richards 1969, p. 66.
  13. ^ Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 594.
  14. ^ Sims-Williams 2019, p. 172.
  15. ^ Lloyd 1959; Davies 1978, pp. 182–184.
  16. ^ Davies 1979, pp. 123–124; Sims-Williams 2019, p. 171; Evans & Rhys 1893, pp. 236–237.
  17. ^ Keynes & Lapidge 1983, pp. 52, 94, 213, 220; Evans & Rhys 1893, p. 236; Sims-Williams 2019, p. 171–172.
  18. ^ Davies 1978, p. 33.
  19. ^ Davies 1978, p. 184; Bannister 1916, p. 187.
  20. ^ Evans & Rhys 1893, pp. 233–234; Davies 1979, pp. 123; Davies 1978, pp. 60, 110, 183; Sims-Williams 2019, p. 115.
  21. ^ Davies 1978, p. 182; Davies 1979, p. 122.
  22. ^ Davies 1979, p. 123.
  23. ^ Whitelock 1979, p. 212; Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 506.
  24. ^ Keynes & Lapidge 1983, p. 96.
  25. ^ Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 506.
  26. ^ McKee 2000b, pp. 27–28; McKee 2000a, p. 4.
  27. ^ McKee 2000b, p. 27; Lapidge 2014, p. 260.
  28. ^ McKee 2000a, pp. 20–21; McKee 2000b, p. 27.
  29. ^ Evans & Rhys 1893, p. 237.
  30. ^ Charles-Edwards 2004.
  31. ^ Davies 1979, p. 78; Sims-Williams 2019, p. 172.
  32. ^ Sims-Williams 2019, p. 68; Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 595.
  33. ^ Davies 1979, p. 78; Sims-Williams 2019, pp. 68–69; Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 595.
  34. ^ Sims-Williams 2019, p. 176; Davies 1978, p. 154.

Bibliography

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  • Bannister, Arthur (1916). The Place-names of Herefordshire: Their origin and development. Cambridge, UK: J. Clay. OCLC 252303893.
  • Bartrum, Peter (1993). A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about A. D 1000. Aberystwyth, UK: The National Library of Wales. ISBN 978-0-907158-73-8.
  • Charles-Edwards, Thomas (2004). "Cyfeilliog (d. 927)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5420. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  • Charles-Edwards, Thomas (2013). Wales and the Britons 350–1064. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-821731-2.
  • Darlington, Reginald; McGurk, Patrick, eds. (1995). The Chronicle of John of Worcester (in Latin and English). Vol. 2. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-822261-3.
  • Davies, Wendy (1978). An Early Welsh Microcosm: Studies in the Llandaff Charters. London, UK: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901050-33-5.
  • Davies, Wendy (1979). The Llandaff Charters. Aberystwyth, UK: National Library of Wales. ISBN 978-0-901833-88-4.
  • Evans, John Gwenoguryn; Rhys, John, eds. (1893). The Text of the Book of Llan Dâv. Oxford, UK: J. Gwenoguryn Evans. OCLC 632938065.
  • Keynes, Simon; Lapidge, Michael, eds. (1983). Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred & Other Contemporary Sources. London, UK: Penguin Classics. ISBN 978-0-14-044409-4.
  • Lapidge, Michael (2014). "Israel the Grammarian". In Lapidge, Michael; Blair, John; Keynes, Simon; Scragg, Donald (eds.). The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England (2nd ed.). Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell. pp. 260–61. ISBN 978-0-470-65632-7.
  • Lloyd, John Edward (1939). A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). London, UK: Longmans, Green & Co. OCLC 799460645.
  • Lloyd, John Edward (1959). "Cyfeiliog". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Cardiff, UK: The National Library of Wales.
  • McKee, Helen (Summer 2000a). "Scribes and Glosses from Dark Age Wales: The Cambridge Juvencus Manuscript". Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies (39): 1–22. ISSN 1353-0089.
  • McKee, Helen (2000b). The Cambridge Juvencus Manuscript Glossed in Latin, Old Welsh, and Old Irish: Text and Commentary. Aberystwyth, UK: CMCS Publications. ISBN 978-0-9527478-2-6.
  • Richards, Melville (1969). Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units. Cardiff, UK: University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-900-76808-8.
  • Sims-Williams, Patrick (2019). The Book of Llandaf as a Historical Source. Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-78327-418-5.
  • Whitelock, Dorothy, ed. (1979) [1st edition 1955]. English Historical Documents, Volume 1, c. 500–1042 (2nd ed.). London, UK: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-14366-0.
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