Meurig ab Arthfael[a] (orMouric, ruledc. 848 – c. 874) was a king in south-eastWales. In the seventh century,Gwent was a single kingdom covering south-east Wales, but in the ninth century it was divided betweenGlywysing (now calledGlamorgan), which had a higher status, and a smaller Gwent, covering the area which is nowMonmouthshire. Historians disagree whetherMeurig was king of Glywysing, with authority across south-east Wales, or only of Gwent. His sonsBrochfael ap Meurig andFfernfael ap Meurig were only kings of Gwent, and they were subject to their cousinHywel ap Rhys, king of Glywysing.
The twelfth-centuryBook of Llandaff recordscharters in which Meurig granted land to bishops or guaranteed grants by others. Two charters state that he freed all churches from obligations to laymen, and in the view of the historianWendy Davies, he was one of the few kings recorded in the charters who attempted to guarantee ecclesiastical immunity from widespread lawlessness and arbitrary use of power. Historians disagree when he died. Deaths of kings called Meurig are recorded in 849 and 874, and some historians date Meurig ab Arthfael's death definitely to 874, but others think that it is possible that he was the Meurig who died in 849.
The boundaries and names ofWelsh kingdoms varied over time in the early medieval period.[3] In the seventh century, south-east Wales was a single kingdom calledGwent, but historians of Wales do not agree on the situation in the ninth century, when some kings made grants in locations across the territory, while others were confined to the eastern part.Thomas Charles-Edwards thinks that the old Gwent was divided betweenGlywysing (later calledMorgannwg orGlamorgan[4]) in the west and a smaller Gwent (nowMonmouthshire[5]) in the east, with the ruler of Glywysing being an over-king.[6]Wendy Davies argues that it is more likely that the old Gwent remained a single kingdom now called Glywysing, but she also mentions junior kings whose territory was confined to the smaller ninth-century Gwent.[7]Patrick Sims-Williams thinks that either may be true, and that they "may amount to the same thing".[8]
The main sources for KingMeurig ab Arthfael arecharters recorded in the twelfth-centuryBook of Llandaff. Much of this book is fraudulent, and until the late twentieth century most historians dismissed it as worthless, but since the work of Davies in the 1970s on the charters, they have been reappraised, and while some are judged to be forgeries, others are regarded as genuine in whole or part.[9] However, the charters are undated; severalMeurigs are mentioned, and it is not always clear which one is being referred to.[10] Confirmation thatMeurig ab Arthfael and his sons,Brochfael andFernfael, ruled in the ninth century is provided by their notice in two independent sources.Asser in his biography ofAlfred the Great of 893 mentions "Brochfael andFfernfael (sons ofMeurig and kings of Gwent)", and charter 199bii[b] is a grant by KingMeurig, giving his sons' names as witnesses.[12]
Davies datesMeurig's reign asc. 848 – c. 874.[13] Almost nothing is known of kings in south-east Wales immediately before his time as his reign follows a gap in the Llandaff charters of some fifty years.[14] His predecessor as king was probably his second cousin, Ithel ab Athrwys, who was killed in battle in 848 and was apparently the last of his line.[15] According to aHarleian genealogy (anOld Welsh genealogy preserved in theHarleian Library), Meurig was a son ofArthfael ap Rhys.[16]
Davies locatesMeurig's grants across Glywysing and Gwent, and she and Charles-Edwards state that he ruled both territories as king of Glywysing.[17] Charles-Edwards suggests that Meurig and his brotherRhys ab Arthfael probably ruled Glywysing successively.[18] Sims-Williams dissents, arguing that in the only charter placingMeurig in Glywysing, his name was later interpolated, and that he had no power outside Gwent.[19] Rhys ab Arthfael's sonHywel ap Rhys was king of Glywysing, and his cousins,Meurig's sons, had an inferior status as kings of Gwent.[6]
Around 850, charters 169b and 170 state thatMeurig ordered that all churches were to be released from obligations to laymen. Davies comments that the Llandaff charters give an "impression of lawlessness and of the arbitrary use of royal power by those who held it." In her view,Meurig is one of the few exceptions, as he seems to have attempted to free all ecclesiastical property from lay control, but he cannot have been wholly successful as kings continued to make grants transferring the ownership of churches in the tenth and eleventh centuries.[20]
Medieval Welsh kings owned largelanded estates,[21] and grants byMeurig to bishops recorded in charters in the Book of Llandaff include one in 868 surrendering the church atTryleg to Bishop Cerennyr.[22] Several charters approved byMeurig record grants by laymen to ecclesiastics. Two dated to around 850 record grants to Bishop Grecielis with Meurig's guarantee. In charter 169b, Fauu gave Cilpedec (Kilpeck) church with its land, and in charter 170 Cuinncum returned Cum Mouric (perhapsLittle Dewchurch) church to the bishop.[23] In charter 74 dating to around 860,Meurig consented to a grant by Britcon and Iliwg of Lann Mocha (St Maughans) to ArchbishopDyfrig's church, but in another version (171b) of the charterMeurig guaranteed their grant of Lann Bocha to Bishop Grecielis, and it is not clear which version is genuine.[24]
Deaths of kings called Meurig are recorded in theAnnales Cambriae in 849 and 874, and historians of Wales do not agree which one wasMeurig ab Arthfael. Charles-Edwards thinks that he may be theMeurig who died 849,[25] but Bartrum states that his death is recorded in 874.[26] Davies argues that "the claims of the relative chronology of the witness sequence are such as to suggest thatMeurig ab Arthfael, the KingMeurig of grants 169b-171b, 199bii (214?), 216b, 225 died in 874 rather than 849".[27] Sims-Williams mentions both dates as alternatives.[28]
A genealogy ofMeurig's nephew,Hywel ap Rhys, listsGwriad ap Brochfael as an ancestor, but in the view of the scholar of Welsh genealogyPeter Bartrum, this is probably an error, andGwriad may have been a son ofBrochfael ap Meurig and father ofNowy ap Gwriad, king of Gwent in the 950s.[29] This theory is not accepted by other historians, who describeNowy's descent as unknown.[30] Davies states that the royal line descended fromMeurig appears to have ended withBrochfael, who died in the early tenth century.[31]