Meurig ap Tewdrig (Latin: ''Mauricius''; English: ''Maurice'') was the son of

Tewdrig Tewdrig ap Teithfallt (; ), known simply as Tewdrig, was a king of the Sub-Roman Britain, post-Roman Glywysing, Kingdom of Glywysing. He abdicated in favour of his son Meurig ap Tewdrig, Meurig (Maurice) and retired to live a hermitical life, b ...

(St. Tewdric), and a

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

of the early Welsh Kingdoms of Gwent and

Glywysing Glywysing was, from the sub-Roman period to the Early Middle Ages, a petty kingdom in south-east Wales. Its people were descended from the Iron Age tribe of the Silures, and frequently in union with Gwent, merging to form Morgannwg. Name ...

. He is thought to have lived between 400AD and 600AD, but some sources give more specific dates of c.596 - c.665. Meurig took over the Gwent throne upon his father's abdication in the early 7th century. According to tradition, Tewdric became a hermit at

Tintern Tintern () is a village in the community (Wales), community of Wye Valley (community), Wye Valley, on the west bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, about north of Chepstow. It is popular with tourist ...

, but later came to the assistance of Meurig, and they repelled the invading

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

in a battle at Pont y Saeson (Bridge of the Saxons). Meurig reunited his kingdom with

Ergyng Ergyng (or Erging) was a Brittonic kingdom of the sub-Roman and early medieval period, between the 5th and 7th centuries. It was later referred to by the English as ''Archenfield''. Location The kingdom lay mostly in what is now western Herefor ...

(Archenfield) by marrying Onbrawst, the daughter of King

Gwrgan Fawr Gwrgan Fawr (meaning ''Gwrgan the Great''; also, in Latin language, Latin, Gurgantius; English language, English Fergus; died c. 645) was a king of Ergyng, a South Wales, south-east Welsh kingdom of the Early Middle Ages. He was the son of Cynf ...

(the Great) of that kingdom. He is said to have been a great patron of Llandaff Cathedral where he was eventually buried. He was the father of

Athrwys ap Meurig Athrwys ap Meurig (c. 605–655) was a prince, and possibly king, of Gwent and Glywysing in Wales. He was the son of King Meurig ap Tewdrig and the father of the later king Morgan ab Athrwys. It is possible he died before his father Meurig and ...

who, it has been postulated, was the real

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

who drove out the invading

. Some researchers claim that Meurig used the title "Uther Pendragon", which translates as "fearsome chief warrior". Athrwys is believed to have pre-deceased Meurig, who was succeeded by his grandson, Morgan Mwynfawr. Characters based on Meurig and Tewdric appear in

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also writ ...

’s Warlord Chronicles series.

References

{{Reflist Monarchs of Gwent