Elisedd ap Gwylog (died c. 755), also known as Elise, was king of

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

in eastern

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, son of Gwylog ap Beli. Little has been preserved in the historical records about Elisedd, who was an ancestor of

Brochwel Ysgithrog Brochwel son of Cyngen ( cy, Brochwel ap Cyngen, died c. 560), better known as Brochwel Ysgrithrog, was a king of Powys in eastern Wales. The unusual epithet ''Ysgithrog'' has been translated as "of the canine teeth", "the fanged" or "of the tusk" ...

. He appears to have reclaimed the territory of Powys after it had been overrun by the English. His great-grandson,

Cyngen ap Cadell Cyngen ap Cadell ( English: Cyngen son of Cadell) or also (Concenn), was King of Powys from 808 until his death in 854 during a pilgrimage to Rome. Biography Cyngen was of the line of Brochwel Ysgithrog, and, after a long reign as king of Powys ...

erected a column in his memory which stands not far from the later abbey of Valle Crucis. This is known as the

Pillar of Eliseg The Pillar of Eliseg – also known as Elise's Pillar or Croes Elisedd in Welsh – stands near Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbighshire, Wales rid reference It was erected by Cyngen ap Cadell (died 855), king of Powys in honour of his great-grandf ...

, but the form ''Eliseg'' which appears on the column is thought to be a mistake by the carver of the inscription. The Latin inscription on the pillar is now very hard to read, but was apparently clearer in the time of

Edward Lhuyd Edward Lhuyd FRS (; occasionally written Llwyd in line with modern Welsh orthography, 1660 – 30 June 1709) was a Welsh naturalist, botanist, linguist, geographer and antiquary. He is also named in a Latinate form as Eduardus Luidius. Lif ...

, who transcribed it. The translation of the part of the inscription referring to Elisedd is as follows: : + Concenn son of Catell, Catell son of Brochmail, Brochmail son of Eliseg, Eliseg son of Guoillauc. : + And that Concenn, great-grandson of Eliseg, erected this stone for his great-grandfather Eliseg. : + The same Eliseg, who joined together the inheritance of Powys . . . out of the power of the Angles with his sword and with fire. : + Whosoever repeats the writing, let him give a blessing on the soul of Eliseg. Some old poems refer to Elisedd and assert he had a "special crown, a chain of twisted gold links, and armlets and anklets of gold which were the badges of sovereignty of Powys".Pre Welsh History
/ref> These artifacts have disappeared from history but perhaps resurfaced briefly during the coronation of

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (, anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in ...

in 1400. Elisedd was succeeded by his son

Brochfael ap Elisedd Brochfael ap Elisedd was a mid 8th century King of Powys, who inherited the throne from his father, Elisedd ap Gwylog Elisedd ap Gwylog (died c. 755), also known as Elise, was king of Powys in eastern Wales, son of Gwylog ap Beli. Little ha ...

References

John Edward Lloyd Sir John Edward Lloyd (5 May 1861 – 20 June 1947) was a Welsh historian, He was the author of the first serious history of the country's formative years, ''A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest'' (1911). An ...

(1911) ''A history of Wales from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquest'' (Longmans, Green & Co.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gwylog, Elisedd ap Monarchs of Powys Elisedd 8th-century Welsh monarchs 750s deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain