Urien
(also spelled Urbgen, Uryen) was a warrior-king of the royal house of Rheged
some time in the late sixth century. He
appears in Historia Brittonum, various genealogies and some of the poetry
attributed to Taliesin and Llywarch Hen.
Later, as King Uriens of Gore, he became a secondary character in
medieval Arthurian romances. What can we
say about him?
Evidence
Genealogies
Both
the Harleian genealogies and the Bonedd Gwyr y Gogledd (Descent of the Men of
the North) genealogies contain a very similar genealogy for Urien tracing his
descent from Coel Hen:
[U]rbgen map Cinmarc map Merchianum map Gurgust map
Coilhen
Vryen
uab Kynuarch m Meirchavn m Gorust Letlvm m Keneu m Coel
Historia Brittonum
Adda,
son of Ida, reigned eight years; Ethelric, son of Adda, reigned four years.
Theodoric, son of Ida, reigned seven years. Freothwulf reigned six years. In
whose time the kingdom of Kent, by the mission of Gregory, received baptism.
Hussa reigned seven years. Against him fought four kings, Urien, and Ryderthen,
and Gualllauc, and Morcant. Theodoric fought bravely, together with his sons,
against that Urien. But at that time sometimes the enemy and sometimes our
countrymen were defeated, and he shut them up three days and three nights in
the island of Metcaut; and whilst he was on an expedition he was murdered, at
the instance of Morcant, out of envy, because he possessed so much superiority
over all the kings in military science.
Metcaut
is the island of Lindisfarne (Holy Island), off the coast of what is now north-east England.
Taliesin poetry
The Book
of Taliesin is a medieval Welsh manuscript containing 56 poems, of which eight
are poems in praise of Urien:
The
Battle of Gwenystrad
A
Song for Urien Rheged (1)
A
Song for Urien Rheged (2)
A
Song for Urien Rheged (3)
The
Battle of Argoed Llwyfain
A
Song for Urien Rheged (4)
The
Spoils of Taliesin, a song for Urien
The
Satisfaction of Urien
You can read translations of the poems, as well as the original text, on the linked site. The
poems describe Urien’s exploits as a cattle raider and successful warrior in a
number of battles (more about the battles and their locations in a later post).
Triads
Three
Savage Men of the Island of Britain, who performed the Three Unfortunate
Assassinations:
Llofan
Llaw Ddifro who slew Urien son of Cynfarch
Three
Battle-Leaders of the Island of Britain:
Selyf
son of Cynan Garrwyn, and Urien son of Cynfarch, and Afaon son of Taliesin
Interpretation
Date
Historia
Brittonum says that Urien fought against Theodric of Bernicia, one of the sons
of Ida of Bernicia. Theodric’s reign is
not precisely dated, but it falls somewhere between the end of Ida’s
twelve-year reign (which, according to Bede, began in 547) in 559 and the
twenty-four-year reign of Aethelferth of Bernicia that began in 593 (for a
discussion on the dating, see my article ‘Origins of Northumbria: Two Aethelrics?’). So Theodric ruled at some time between 559
and 593.
As
Urien fought against Theodric, it can be inferred that Urien was militarily
active at some time in the same period, i.e. in the second half of the sixth
century. Urien and Theodric need not
have been exact contemporaries, of course; all that is needed for consistency
with Historia Brittonum is that their reigns overlapped long enough for at
least one battle.
Status and career
Historia
Brittonum, the Triads and the Taliesin poetry are all consistent in portraying
Urien as a powerful king and an effective military leader. (I should add the usual caveat that they may
not necessarily be independent sources, and the apparent consistency may be
because they all copied from each other).
The
Taliesin poetry shows Urien Rheged in the traditional roles of heroic poetry,
as a successful warrior and cattle raider.
According to Taliesin, Urien was a great king, warrior and hero. I would be cautious about reading too much
into that; extravagant praise of one’s patron was expected of a bard. However, it is consistent with the Triads and
Historia Brittonum.
Urien
is said by Historia Brittonum to have besieged Theodric of Bernicia on the
island of Metcaut or Metcaud (now known as Lindisfarne, or Holy Island). This siege was presumably an important and/or
famous event since Historia Brittonum describes it specifically. If it means that the Bernician king and his
warband(s) were really driven out of all their territory except Lindisfarne,
even temporarily, it indicates that Urien was an effective and powerful
military leader. Historia Brittonum’s
comment about the motive for Urien’s assassination ‘out of envy, because he
possessed so much superiority over all the kings in military science’ is also consistent
with Urien having been an exceptionally able commander.
Historia
Brittonum’s list of ‘four kings’ who fought against Theodric can be interpreted
as indicating that Urien was the leader of a united coalition of Brittonic
rulers fighting against Anglian Bernicia, and/or that Urien was some sort of
over-king or High King. However, this is
not the only possible interpretation. The
line in Historia Brittonum does not specify that all four kings fought against
Theodric at the same time, or that they formed an alliance; it is also possible
that the four kings fought against Theodric of Bernicia independently at
different times. If the four kings did
fight together, it may have been no more than a temporary alliance to campaign against
a common enemy. Such an alliance need not necessarily have long-term political implications,
any more than the joint attack by Penda of Mercia and Catwallaun of Gwynedd on
Northumbria in 633, or Penda’s alliance with 30 Brittonic leaders at the Battle
of Winwaed in 655, necessarily imply long-term political unity between Mercia
and Gwynedd.
Historia
Brittonum says that Urien was a king. It
does not name his territory, but presumably he was king of the ‘Rheged’
mentioned in the Taliesin poetry. The
location and extent of Rheged is uncertain, although it was probably somewhere
in what is now north-west England and/or south-west Scotland (more about Rheged
in a later post). If Urien was indeed
the leader of an alliance of four kings, this suggests that he was able to
command a position of seniority. This in turn may indicate that he was
exceptionally effective as a military leader, or that he ruled a kingdom with
great military power, or that he held a dominant position, perhaps as an
over-king, and was able to compel other kings to fight under his leadership. Or any combination thereof; these would tend
to go together in an age where kings were constantly seeking to extend their
power at the expense of their neighbours and rivals. Conversely, if Urien was able to besiege
Theodric of Bernicia with just his own military resources, this also implies
that he ruled a very powerful kingdom and/or had considerable military skill.
Urien’s
death appears in the Triads as one of the ‘Three Unfortunate Assassinations’,
and Historia Brittonum describes it as ‘murder’ and attributes a base motive
(envy) to the instigator, identified as Morcant (presumably the same Morcant
who is mentioned earlier in the same section as one of the four kings who
fought against Theodric). This suggests
that whoever compiled these sources regarded Urien’s death as a bad thing. As far as I know, no surviving source gives
Morcant’s side of the story; if Urien held a position of dominance over less
powerful kings, it is possible that this was resented and his assassination was
seen in some quarters as the overthrow of a tyrant.
Age
The Battle of Argoed Llwyfain clearly shows
Urien and his son Owain together as leaders of a war host, indicating that
Urien’s career was long enough for at least one of his sons to have grown up
and reached fighting age. This in turn
suggests that Urien’s military career extended at least into middle age.
Ancestry
The
genealogies trace Urien’s ancestry back to Coel Hen, a founder figure in
several royal pedigrees (see earlier post on Coel Hen for more information).
Urien’s
father is named in both genealogies as Cynfarch (Cinmarc, Kynuarch). Cynfarch
is not mentioned in his own right in the sources. The Cynferchyn (‘people of Cynfarch’) appear
in a triad in the Bonedd Gwyr y Gogledd:
The
300 swords of the Cynferchyn, and the 300 shields of the Cynwydion, and the 300
spears of the Coeling; on whatever expedition they might go together, they
would never fail
as
one of three groups of warriors who were seen as natural allies, but apart from
that Cynfarch appears only in the genealogies.
There is no body of surviving poetry praising his exploits, as for his
famous son and grandson.
This
may be pure chance. The allusions in the
Triads hint at a vast shadowy hinterland of stories that have not come down to
us. Perhaps Cynfarch’s bard was not as
famous or as popular as Taliesin and any verses he composed in honour of his
patron were lost before they were written down.
This prosaic explanation is the simplest and perhaps the most
likely. However, the lack of surviving
stories about Cynfarch is also consistent with the possibility that he may have
been a less significant figure than his famous son.
Marriage
The
story of ‘King Urien and Modron’ is a supernatural tale, telling how the
daughter of the King of Annwfn (=The Otherworld) bore a twin son (Owain) and
daughter (Morfudd) to Urien. For
details, see the earlier post on Owain ap Urien).
As discussed there, it may indicate that Urien was thought to have married a
non-Christian queen. As it includes only
Owain and Morfudd, and does not mention Urien’s other children (see below), it
may indicate that Urien’s other children had a different mother.
Or,
more prosaically, the story may be a late legend invented to provide a suitably
supernatural origin for Owain after he had become established as a legendary
hero of medieval Arthurian romance. This
could also explain the omission of Urien’s other children. Morfudd daughter of
Urien appears as the lover of Cynon ap Clydno in the Triad of the ‘Three Ardent
Lovers’ (text available online).
This may indicate that Morfudd was the heroine of a romance that has since been
lost, and as such she may have been given a suitably exotic origin by
storytellers. If Urien’s other children
(see below) had not become established figures in romance, there may have been
no need to give them a supernatural origin.
Children
None
of Urien’s children appear in the genealogies, which stop with Urien as the
last generation. This may indicate that
they were derived from a source compiled in Urien’s lifetime and were not
extended by later scribes, or that Urien was considered to be the last member
of the family to have wielded notable political power.
Other
sources identify Urien as the father of Owain, famous as a warrior-hero in
later medieval romances (see post on Owain son of Urien for more details on Owain’s career). Historia
Brittonum mentions another son of Urien, Rhun map Urbgen, who would therefore
have been Owain’s brother or half-brother (more about Rhun in a later
post).
The
Triads mention another son of Urien, Rhiwallawn, and a daughter, Morfudd. The poem The Death of Urien attributed to
Llywarch Hen
mentions two more sons, Pasgen and Elphin.
Conclusion
It
seems clear that Urien was a powerful king and warlord in the late sixth
century who fought numerous battles, including at least one celebrated campaign
against the Anglian king of Bernicia in what is now north-east England.
The
absence of references to Urien’s father Cynfarch may indicate that Cynfarch was
a less famous or important figure than his son.
If this is so, Urien may have established or considerably extended Rheged’s
power. This is a plausible scenario if
he was a highly effective warrior. Success
in war could bring a king status and access to additional resources in the form
of the spoils of battle and tribute payments rendered by less powerful and/or
defeated rivals, which in turn could allow him to support a larger warband,
bringing more success in battle, and so on.
Urien
fathered at least two sons (Owain and Rhun).
His dynasty may have lasted at least a few more generations, as a lady
named Rhianmellt daughter of Royth son of Rhun married Oswy of Bernicia some
time in the 630s. If Rhianmellt’s grandfather Rhun was the Rhun son of Urien
named in Historia Brittonum, Rhianmellt was Urien’s great-grand-daughter (more
about Rhianmellt in a later post).
It
may be significant that the genealogies stop at Urien, even though the medieval
Welsh scribes who wrote them down had access to information about Owain, Rhun
and Rhianmellt in the Taliesin poetry and Historia Brittonum. This may be because the genealogies derived
from a sixth-century source, perhaps a king-list complied in Urien’s lifetime,
which stopped at Urien when it was composed and was not extended or updated
later. It could also indicate that Urien was regarded as the last really
powerful ruler of Rheged, and that his descendants wielded less political power
than Urien himself. If he was also the
first really powerful ruler of Rheged, this would be consistent with Rheged
itself being quite short-lived as an important power. Combined with the comment in Historia
Brittonum about Urien’s exceptional military skill, one can imagine a scenario
in which Urien’s personal military prowess briefly made Rheged a significant
regional power, only for its dominance to collapse or fade away after his
death. If Rheged was indeed a
short-lived military empire built up by one man and lasting only the length of
his active career, this could explain why the kingdom is poorly documented in
the surviving sources. Historia
Brittonum does not mention Rheged by name, although it does name other
contemporary kingdoms such as Elmet and Gwynedd, and Rheged’s location is
uncertain. (More about Rheged and its
possible location in a later post). If
Urien gained his power through military success at the expense of rival
neighbouring kings, it would also provide an obvious context for his
assassination by a disgruntled rival, as stated in Historia Brittonum. I need hardly add that this is speculative,
and other interpretations are possible.
References
Map links
