Pabo Post Prydain (''supp. fl.'' before 500) was a king from the

Hen Ogledd Hen Ogledd (), meaning the Old North, is the historical region that was inhabited by the Celtic Britons, Brittonic people of sub-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, now Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands, alongside the fello ...

or ''Old North'' of

sub-Roman Britain Sub-Roman Britain, also called post-Roman Britain or Dark Age Britain, is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the end of Roman rule and the founding of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The term was originally used to describe archae ...

. According to tradition Pabo "the Pillar of Britain" was driven out of the North in 460 and settled in

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

. He is said to have been buried in the area. From the 14th century at least, when a stone cross was erected in the ruler's memory in the abbey's churchyard, Pabo has been identified as its founder, having retired, as many Welsh kings are said to have done, to a heremitic retreat.

Family

The

Old Welsh Old Welsh () is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic around 550, ha ...

genealogies of British Library, Harleian MS 3859, calls him a son of Cenau son of

Coel Hen Coel (Old Welsh: ''Coil''), also called ''Coel Hen'' (Coel the Old) and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen, a 4th-century leader in Roman Britain, Ro ...

. Later Welsh genealogies insert two generations by making him son of Arthwys son of Mar son of Cenau son of Coel, though this presents greater chronological problems. The genealogies give him a royal line of descendants as the father of

Dunod Fawr Dynod son of Pabo ( or ''Dunod ap Pabo''; ; died c. 595), better known as Dynod the Stout () or Dynod Fawr was the ruler of a small kingdom in the North Pennines in the post-Roman Hen Ogledd ("Old North"). ''Regio Dunutinga'' was a ...

Sawyl Penuchel Sawyl Penuchel or Ben Uchel ("high-head", "arrogant"), also known as Samuil Penissel ("low-head", "humble"), was a British king of the sub-Roman period, who appears in old Welsh genealogies and the Welsh Triads. The genealogies, in which he appe ...

and Ardun Benasgell, and a saintly one as the grandfather of

Deiniol Saint Deiniol (died 572) was traditionally the first Bishop of Bangor in the Kingdom of Gwynedd, Wales. The present Bangor Cathedral, dedicated to Deiniol, is said to be on the site where his monastery stood. He is veneration, venerated in Bri ...

, Asaph and

Tysilio Saint Tysilio (also known as/confused with Saint Suliac; ; died 640 AD) was a Welsh bishop, prince and scholar. Sources The 12th century poet Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr wrote "An Ode to Tysilio". There is a genealogy of Tysilio in the Bonedd y ...

. As to his period, Elis Gruffydd's ''Chronicle'' says that his daughter married

Maelgwn Gwynedd Maelgwn Gwynedd (; died c. 547)Based on Phillimore's (1888) reconstruction of the dating of the '' Annales Cambriae'' (A Text). was King of Gwynedd during the early 6th century. Surviving records suggest he held a pre-eminent position among t ...

while an Irish genealogy says that his son "Samuel Chendisel" (the Irish equivalent of ''Pen-isel'') married Deichter, daughter of Muiredach Muinderg, the king of

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. Their son Sanctan founded Kilnasantan in County Dublin after travelling to Ireland with his brother Matóc Ailithir. The Irish '' Liber Hymnorum'' confirms that Sanctan and Matóc came to Ireland from Britain. Pabo must have been roughly the same age as Muiredach, whose death-date (after a reign of 24 years according to other sources) is given in the ''Annals of Tigernach'' as 489.

Llanbabo

A tradition identifies Pabo as the founder of St Pabo's Church, Llanbabo (at Llanbabo,

). The first author to record it is antiquarian Henry Rowlands (d. 1723), who writes that "''Pabo'', frequently called ''Post Prydain'', i.e. the Support of Britain, for his great valour against the Picts and Scots, retired here n Anglesey and built his church at ''Llan Babo''."Rowlands, ''Mona antiqua restaurata'', p. 157-8. A stone cross was erected in the ruler's memory in the abbey's churchyard at the same time

Bangor Cathedral Bangor Cathedral () is the cathedral church of Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Deiniol, Saint Deiniol. The site of the present building of Bangor Cathedral has been in use as a place of Christian worship ...

was being built. Welsh poet

Lewis Morris Lewis Morris (April 8, 1726 – January 22, 1798) was an American Founding Father, landowner, and developer from Morrisania, New York, presently part of Bronx County. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Conti ...

reports that the memorial cross was discovered there around 1650. The monument, dated to the 14th century, bears the carved image of a king and an accompanying inscription. The inscription is in part illegible but the following reading has been suggested; :''Hic iacet Pa oPost Priid Co f Gr… l a inem obtulit' :"Here lies Pabo the Upholder of Britain, Confessor, Gruffudd ab Ithel offered (this) image" Some scholars argue, in the absence of early evidence, that the tradition is probably spurious though the identity of the historical Pabo who did give his name to the church remains otherwise unknown.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pabo Post Prydain Northern Brythonic monarchs Northern Brythonic saints 6th-century Christian saints