Sevira (a

Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Colloquial, Popular, Spoken or Vernacular Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. ''Vulgar Latin'' a ...

spelling of the

Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...

name ''Severa'') was a purported daughter of the Roman Emperor

Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus (; died 28 August 388) was Roman emperor in the West from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian. Born in Gallaecia, he served as an officer in Britain under Theodosius the Elder during the Great Conspiracy ...

and wife of

Vortigern Vortigern (; , ; ; ; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; ; , , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Sub-Roman Britain, Britain, known perhaps as a king of the Britons or at least ...

. She was mentioned on the fragmentary, mid- ninth century C.E.

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

inscription of 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 Kingdom of Powys, Powys in honour o ...

in the ancient commote of

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, near

Valle Crucis Abbey Valle Crucis Abbey (Valley of the Cross) is a Cistercian abbey located in Llantysilio in Denbighshire, north Wales. More formally ''the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Valle Crucis'' it is known in Welsh both as ''Abaty Glyn Egwestl'' a ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

, Wales. The inscription was commissioned by

Cyngen ap Cadell Cyngen ap Cadell (also spelled 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, he went on a pilgrimage t ...

(died 855),

king of Powys This is a list of rulers in Wales (; and neighbouring regions) during the Middle Ages, between . The rulers were monarchs who ruled their respective realms, as well as those who briefly ruled the Principality of Wales. These former territor ...

, in honour of his great-grandfather

Elisedd ap Gwylog Elisedd ap Gwylog (died c. 755?), also known as Elise, was king of Kingdom of Powys, Powys in eastern Wales, son of Gwylog ap Beli. Little has been preserved in the historical records about Elisedd, who was a descendant of Brochwel Ysgithrog. ...

(reign 725–755), who is here claimed to be a descendant of "Britu son of Vortigern, whom Germanus blessed, and whom Sevira bore to him, daughter of Maximus the king, who killed the king of the Romans." The Pillar of Eliseg inscription is the only known source for a daughter of Magnus Maximus specifically named Sevira (or Severa). However, Geoffrey Ashe noted in 1960 that "A letter of

St. Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

gives us a scrap of information about aximus'sdaughters. After his fall they were thrown on the charity of

Theodosius Theodosius ( Latinized from the Greek "Θεοδόσιος", Theodosios, "given by god") is a given name. It may take the form Teodósio, Teodosie, Teodosije etc. Theodosia is a feminine version of the name. Emperors of ancient Rome and Byzantium ...

, who magnanimously provided for their education."

References

External links

The Pillar of Eliseg inscription
on the Celtic Inscribed Stone Project website. Daughters of Roman emperors 5th-century Welsh women 5th-century Welsh people {{Wales-bio-stub

Further reading

References

External links