Guriad ap Elidir

According to genealogies from Jesus College , Guriad was the son of a certain Elidir and was a descendant of Llyvarch Old and Coel Old , rulers from Hen Ogledd or the “ Old North ”, the British-speaking part of what is now southern Scotland and northern England ^{[1] [2]} . Bard poetry indicates that Mervyn was "from the land of Manau," the Britton name was applied to several counties, including Manau Gododdin , to the area around the Firth of Forth . This area in Hen Ogledd seems to be consistent with how Guriad came from the north ^[3] . The origin of Manau Gododin was supported by scholars such as William Forbes Skin and John Edward Lloyd. ^[four]

Other scholars associate Guriada with the Isle of Man , known in Wales as Inis Manau, and not Manau Gododdin, especially after the discovery in 1896 of a stone cross dating from the 8th – 9th centuries with the inscription “ Crux Guriat ” on it ^{[4 ] [5]} . Lloyd wrote that this discovery “undoubtedly makes things easier” about the origin of Manau ^[4] . John Rhys suggested that Guriad might have taken refuge on Manau Island during the bloody dynastic struggle in Gwynedd between Keenan Dindaitvi and Hevel, before Mervyn ascended the throne ^[6] . Other locations for Manau have been proposed, including Ireland, Galloway, and Powys. ^[7]

Rhys further noted that the Welsh triads mention "Guriat, son of Gurian in the North," which is considered one of the "Three Kings who were Sons of Strangers", which he suggests is a reference to Mervyn's father ^{[6] [8]} . However, this contradicts the genealogy of Jesus Cloledge, in which the father of Guriad is Elidir. James E. Fraser suggests that the Griad of the Triad should be identified with King Gureth of Alt-Clut , mentioned by the Annals of Ulster as deceased in 658 ^[9] .

Almost nothing is known about the history of Guriad. He married Essilt, daughter of Keenan Dindaitvi , King of Gwynedd. Their son Mervyn later became the first king of Gwynedd, who, as you know, did not come along the male line from the dynasty of its founder Kunedda . Mervyn apparently inherited the throne through his mother, and not through Guriad, and supported this atypical materialistic demand thanks to his own power and reputation ^{[7] [1]} .

The exact years of the life and rule of Guriad are unknown. The end of the VIII beginning of the IX century was marked by the confrontation of King Keenan, the son of Rodri Moluinog and Khivel , his brother. ^[10] . During this war, according to the Chronicles of the Princes of Wales, in 814 ^[11] or 815 ^[12] , Keenan was expelled by his brother Hevel from Inis Mona , killing many of his army ^[13] . Keenan fled to the Isle of Man , to Guriad, since he was married to his daughter ^[14] . The Gwentian chronicle reports that "in the second war between Hevel and his brother Keenan ... in which Keenan ... attacked his brother Hevel and drove him out of Anglesey" in 814 ^[12] . The death of Keenan Dindathy was recorded in the year 814, a short time after the expulsion of his brother from Anglesey, where he is called the “King of All Wales”. ^[12]

The Chronicle of Princes also reports that in one year (816 ^[11] / 817 ^[13] ), Khivel was expelled from Anglesey in the second time, and Keenan's death, as King Gwynedd and the desolation of Eriri and the capture of Ruffoniog by the Saxons. After Keenan’s death, Given’s throne was taken by Hevel, however, after the death of the latter in 825, the direct male line of the first royal dynasty of Gwynedd - the descendants of Einion ap Kunedda , was cut short. These circumstances and kinship with Kuneda’s house on his mother gave Mervyn the opportunity to join the struggle for the throne of the northern Welsh kingdom, and the fact that all sources know him as the next king indicates that his struggle was successful. Information about Mervin’s acts on the Isle of Man has not been preserved, but the existence of many parties in Gwynedd suggests that he was quite busy with Welsh affairs, which allowed the Norwegian - Irish ruler Hebrid Godred MacFergus to take the Isle of Man under his control around 836 . ^[15]

He was married to Essilt Ferch Keenan. He had at least two sons - Mervyn and Cadrod, who in turn had a son, Kilmin Droyed-Ddu . ^[sixteen]