Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
Cyngen ap Cadell
(d. 854/5)David E. Thornton
https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/51399 Published in print: 23 September 2004 Published online: 23 September 2004Cyngen ap Cadell (d. 854/5), king of Powys, was the son of Cadell
ap Brochfael (d. 808) of Powys. Cyngen ruled the kingdom of Powys in north-east and east Wales from 808, when his father died, until his own death in 854 or 855, or shortly before that date. He is the last known king of the Cadelling dynasty of Powys, descended from
Cadell Ddyrnllug of the fifth century, and his reign was characterized by constant military pressure from England, especially the rulers of Mercia, and possibly also from the neighbouring kings in Gwynedd. However, not all relations with Gwynedd were necessarily hostile: the later genealogies represented Cyngen's sister Nest as wife of the king of Gwynedd, Merfyn Frych (less correctly of Merfyn's son
Rhodri Mawr), and the so-called ‘Bamberg cryptogram’ of Dubthach deciphers as a short greeting to Cyngen from his brother-in-law Merfyn. Cyngen's own wife is unknown but two of his sons appear to have been involved in a fraternal struggle in 814 when one Gruffudd (or Griffri) ap Cyngen was slain by his brother Elise. The reason for this struggle and its implications for Cyngen's position are
impossible to determine. His other sons were called Aeddan and Ieuaf.
It was the pressure from the English that probably caused the demise of Cyngen's line and may have compelled him to journey to Rome, where he was to die in 854 or 855. Though not all English raids into Wales are specifically said to have involved Powys, that kingdom's easterly location must have meant it felt the brunt of their force. In 816 the English, probably Cenwulf, king of Mercia, raided north Wales, as far as Snowdonia and Rhufoniog, which would only have been accessible by passing through Powys. Two years later Cenwulf attacked Dyfed in south Wales, but he had no doubt
returned his attention to Powys in 821 when he died at Basingwerk (according to the twelfth-century historian Geoffrey Gaimar). This proved to be no reprieve for Cyngen, for in 822 the English, probably under Cenwulf's successor, Ceolwulf, are said to have destroyed the fortress at Deganwy and taken Powys into their power. The
implications of these events for Cyngen are not clear, though he may have been subjected to Mercian overlordship. In 828 Ecgberht, king of Wessex, the dominant English ruler at that time, marched into Wales and compelled all the Welsh kings (presumably including the unfortunate Cyngen) to submit to him. Finally, in 853 the combined forces of Burgred of Mercia and Æthelwulf of Wessex invaded Wales,
again exacting the submission of the Welsh kings. It was perhaps this that drove Cyngen, if he was still in Wales by this date, to undertake his pilgrimage to Rome, though not all early medieval Welsh kings who made that pilgrimage did so as a result of political pressure and at least one later returned to Wales.
This pressure from the English, so characteristic of the reign of Cyngen ap Cadell, is reflected in Powysian literary output of the time. For example, the so-called ‘pillar of Elise’ (or Eliseg) which Cyngen commissioned from the mason Cynfarch, bears an
inscription commemorating the victories of Cyngen's ancestor Elise ap Gwylog against the English in the previous century. In a more pessimistic vein scholars have dated to this period in Powysian history the composition of a cycle of poems attributed to Llywarch Hen concerning the defeat of Cynddylan ap Cyndrwyn of southern Powys in the mid-seventh century. The fortunes of the kingdom on Cyngen's death are difficult to determine: he did have sons, but it is not known whether they succeeded on Cyngen's death or whether Rhodri Mawr annexed what was left of Powys on account of his mother's connection with the kingdom.
