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The Pillar of Eliseg – also known as Elise's Pillar or Croes Elisedd in Welsh – stands near
Valle Crucis Abbey Valle Crucis Abbey (Valley of the Cross) is a Cistercian abbey located in Llantysilio in Denbighshire, Wales. More formally ''the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Valle Crucis'' it is known in Welsh both as ''Abaty Glyn Egwestl'' and ' ...
,
Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnew ...
,
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 2 ...
rid reference It was erected by
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, h ...
(died 855), 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 honour of his great-grandfather
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 has been preserved in the historical records about Elisedd, who was an ancestor of Brochwel Ysgithrog. He appears to have recl ...
. The form ''Eliseg'' found on the pillar is assumed to be a mistake by the carver of the inscription.


History

Whilst the pillar itself dates to the 9th century, the large artificial mound is thought to be significantly older, possibly prehistoric. Certainly the mound can be dated to the Bronze Age.


Inscription

The
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
inscription consisted of some thirty-one lines of
insular script Insular script was a medieval script system originating from Ireland that spread to Anglo-Saxon England and continental Europe under the influence of Irish Christianity. Irish missionaries took the script to continental Europe, where they found ...
. It not only mentioned several individuals described in the ''
Historia Britonum ''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British ( Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Br ...
'', but also complemented the information presented in that text. Considerable portions of the original inscription were read by the antiquarian Edward Lluyd in 1696 and his transcript seems to have been remarkably accurate according to Robert Vermaat of ''Vortigern Studies''. The Latin inscription was as follows: :''Concenn filius Cattell Cattell / filius Brohcmail Brohcmal filius / Eliseg Eliseg filius Guoillauc'' :''Concenn itaque pronepos Eliseg / edificauit hunc lapidem proauo / suo Eliseg'' :''Ipse est Eliseg qui nec/xit(?) hereditatem Pouos … mort / c autem(?) per uim …e potestate Anglo/ um��in gladio suo parta in igne /'' :''Quicu]mque recit(a)uerit manescr / um… m det benedictionem supe/ animamEliseg'' :''Ipse est Concenn /……… … manu / ……… e ad regnum suum Pouos / …… …… et quod / …… … …… / …… …… montem /… ………… /……… … monarchiam / … … ail Maximus Brittanniae / … nn Pascen … Mau Annan / … Britu a filius Guarthi/ irnque(m) bened
xit XIT may refer to: *XIT (band), a Native American rock group * XIT, a name briefly used by the 1960s English pop group Consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governm ...
Germanus que(m) / … peperit ei Se ra filia Maximi / eis qui occidit regem Romano/rum'' :''Conmarch pinxit hoc / chirografu(m) rege suo poscente / Concenn'' :''Benedictio d(omi)ni in Con/cenn et s(imilite)r(?) i(n) tota familia eius / et in(?) tota ragione(m?) Pouois / usque in'' … A generally accepted translation of this inscription, one of the longest surviving inscriptions from pre-Viking
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 2 ...
, is as follows: :Concenn son of Cattell, Cattell 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 ... throughout nine (years?) out of the power of the Angles with his sword and with fire. :Whosoever shall read this hand-inscribed stone, let him give a blessing on the soul of Eliseg. :This is that Concenn who captured with his hand eleven hundred acres .5 km²which used to belong to his kingdom of Powys ... and which ... the mountain he column is broken here. One line, possibly more, lost:... the monarchy ...
Maximus Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to: * Circus Maximus (disambiguation) * Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome People Roman ...
... of Britain ... Concenn, Pascent, Maun, Annan. :Britu son of
Vortigern Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in ...
, whom Germanus blessed, and whom Sevira bore to him, daughter of Maximus the king, who killed the king of the Romans. :Conmarch painted this writing at the request of king Concenn. :The blessing of the Lord be upon Concenn and upon his entire household, and upon the entire region of Powys until the Day of Judgement. The pillar was thrown down by the
Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...
s during the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...
and a grave under it opened.
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 ...
examined the pillar and copied the inscription in 1696. The lower half disappeared but the upper half was re-erected in 1779. The original inscription is now illegible.


Archaeological examination

Trevor Lloyd, the landowner in 1773, is said to have conducted an examination and found a stone cist burial in which he claimed to have found a skeleton and artefacts, which he removed. The mound that supports the pillar was subjected to excavation in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 by Project Eliseg. This established that the earliest phase of construction was that of a kerbed platform cairn, dated by type to around 2000 BC. A small
cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East ...
in the first phase of construction yielded evidence of burnt human bone, confirming its use as a burial site. The second phase of construction consisted of a raising in height of the cairn and contained a large cist considered as
Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
; however, no human remains were found. A further cist was found in this phase which contained 7 kg of cremated bone, representing numerous adult, juvenile and infant burials. A flint knife and a bone pin were also recovered. The final phase of construction appeared to be relatively modern and probably subsequent to the re-erection of the cross.


See also

*
Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus (; cy, Macsen Wledig ; died 8 August 388) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian in 383 through negotiation with emperor Theodosius I. He was made emperor in B ...
*
Gratian Gratian (; la, Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and w ...
*
King Doniert's Stone King Doniert's Stone ( kw, Menkov Donyerth Ruw) consists of two pieces of a decorated 9th-century cross, near St Cleer on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. The inscription is believed to commemorate Dungarth, King of Cornwall, who died around 875. Histo ...
– contemporary Cornish cross


External links

* – the pillar and the etymology of "Eliseg" are discussed in this article, which includes
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 ...
's translation.
Project Eliseg – 2010 Archaeological Excavation of the Pillar and Surrounding area"Ancient British Pillar, Valle Crucis Abbey, North Wales", ''Table-book''


References

{{coord, 52.99212, N, 3.189316, W, region:GB_scale:5000, display=title Grade I listed buildings in Denbighshire Grade I listed monuments and memorials in Wales Pillar Monumental columns in Wales Monuments and memorials in Denbighshire Outdoor sculptures in Wales Scheduled monuments in Denbighshire Welsh literature 9th-century inscriptions