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Beli Mawr (Welsh for 'Beli the Great') was an ancestor figure inMiddle Welsh literature and genealogies. He is the father ofCassivellaunus,Arianrhod,Lludd Llaw Eraint,Llefelys, andAfallach. In certain medieval genealogies, he is listed as the son or husband of Anna, cousin ofMary, mother of Jesus. According to theWelsh Triads, Beli andDôn were the parents of Arianrhod, but the mother of Beli's other children—and the father of Dôn's other children—is not mentioned in the medieval Welsh literature. Several royal lines in medievalWales traced their ancestry to Beli. TheMabinogi namesPenarddun as a daughter of Beli Mawr, but the genealogy is confused; it is possible she was meant to be his sister rather than daughter.[1]
The origin of the name Beli is still a matter of debate among scholars.[2] The most popular hypothesis sees the nameBeli as aMiddle Welsh reflex of theGaulish andBrittonic divine nameBelenus (also attested as a personal name), but a more recent alternative is that proposed by Harvard CelticistJohn T. Koch, who suggests thatBeli derives from aProto-Celtic nameBelgius orBolgios borne by one of the chieftains who led theGallic invasion ofMacedonia in 280–279 BCE against KingPtolemy Ceraunus.[3][4]
Ptolemy was a member of thePtolemaic dynasty (Cleopatra), founded by his father,Ptolemy I Soter, a Greek general and the successor ofAlexander the Great.[5] Koch therefore proposes that this great leaderBelgius came to be regarded as the namesake and ancestor of the powerfulBrittonic and Gallic tribal group, theBelgae, whence would have come the doctrine that Beli was the ancestor of tribal dynasties.[6] The Belgae were also described byJulius Caesar inCommentarii de Bello Gallico, his diary on theGallic Wars.[7]
Beli Mawr is claimed as the head of theHouse of Gwynedd by the line ofCunedda Wledig, founder of theKingdom of Gwynedd, following theEnd of Roman rule in Britain during the late 4th century underMagnus Maximus.[8] The pedigree is shown in theHarleian genealogies, the oldest documented genealogies of Welsh royal families.[8] In Welsh legend, according to theWelsh Classical Dictionary, Beli Mawr was born between 120 BC and 80 BC.[9]
Another Beli from medieval Welsh literature, who first appears in the 9th centuryHistoria Brittonum and is often confused or conflated with Beli Mawr in both medieval and modern sources, is Beli son of Manogan (also spelled Mynogan). This Beli is actually derived from the historical pre-Roman Brittonic king of theCatuvellauni,Cunobeline and his sonAdminius (or Amminius). Via a series of textual corruptions that span several different popular books from Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, the names of Cunobelinus and his son Adminius were combined and then jumbled, giving way to a new Beli, with the patronymic "son of Manogan":[10][11]
Rachel Bromwich writes that such a figure has origins in traditional names/characters: "Beli Mawr is a character rooted far too firmly in Welsh tradition for his existence to be accounted for merely as an adaptation ofNennius's Bellinus. Further, Loth showed that Manogan itself can be explained as a Celtic name, since Monocan appears in the Cartulaire de Redon (RC LI, p. 10; Chr. Br., p. 152). Two further instances of this name in Celtic sources may also be included: Jes. Gen. XVIII Manogan m. Pascen m. Cadell; and the Ogham inscription MINNACCANNI (Macalister, Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum I, no. 135)."[12]
Thus, although Beli became a separate personage in medievalpseudohistory from Cunobelinus (WelshCynfelyn, Shakespeare'sCymbeline), he was generally presented as a king reigning in the period immediately before the Roman invasion; his "son" Caswallawn is the historicalCassivellaunus.[13]
The 12th-century English historianHenry of Huntingdon, in hisHistoria Anglorum first published in 1129, follows theHistoria Brittonum in his discussion ofJulius Caesar's invasion of Britain, mentioning aBelinus, brother ofCassibella(u)nus, who are both styled sons ofMinocannus, but in later revisions of the text (and under the influence of Geoffrey of Monmouth),Liud (orLuid) (seeLludd Llaw Eraint).[14][15]
Beli also appears inGeoffrey of Monmouth's historyHistoria Regum Britanniae (1130s) as the British king Heli, son ofDigueillus and father ofLud,Cassivellaunus andNennius. He is said to have held the throne for 40 years, after which he was succeeded by his son Lud (Llud).[16] In the Middle Welsh translations of Geoffrey's work known collectively asBrut y Brenhinedd, Heli's name was restored to Beli[17] and his father renamed to Manogan.
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| Preceded by | King of Britain | Succeeded by |