CHAPTER 14
The genealogies of the Glamorgan kings indicate that ‘Arthur son of Maurice’ – usually called Athrwys in Welsh documents, but also sometimes Athwyr or adras – was directly descended from King Caractacus (‘Caradoc’). We know from the Roman historian Tacitus that he was the King of the Silures, the British tribe who occupied Siluria. This territory was rather larger than present-day Glamorgan, stretching roughly from Carmarthen in the West to the River Severn in the East and taking in Breconshire, parts of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Tacitus tells us that Caractacus and the Silures proved to be a major obstacle to the Romans, resisting their invasion for nine long years. He was a Pendragon, which is to say commander of a confederacy of many tribes, and he won many battles. Eventually, though, superior Roman equipment meant that his luck ran out. He lost his final battle and was subsequently betrayed into Roman hands. He and his family were taken back to Rome in chains with every expectation of a grisly death. Caractacus, however, was made of sterner stuff and did not give way to fear. Instead, he made an impassioned speech to the Senate, which had a surprising result. He was unexpectedly pardoned by the Emperor Claudius and, provided he stayed in Rome and never again bore arms against the Romans, was allowed to go free.
This much is documented in Roman history. For what happened next we have to rely on more local traditions. These tell us that at least some, maybe all, of his family converted to the then new religion of Christianity. Their house on the Esquilline Hill in Rome, known as the Palatium Brittanicum, became a centre for Christian worship. There were then two Christian congregations in Rome: one founded by the Apostle Peter and a one resulting from the missionary efforts of Paul and others among non-Jews. It seems that one of Caradoc’s sons, Linus, became the first bishop of this gentile church. Meanwhile, one of Caractacus’ daughters, Claudia (Gwladys), married a Roman senator called Rufus Pudens. He, like his wife Claudia, was a Christian convert, and they are mentioned in the letters of Paul, their son Timothy being the recipient of two of them. Claudia was also eulogized by the Roman poet Martial, who seems to have been very taken with her red hair:
‘Red-haired Claudia who came over, veiled foreign woman of Pudens …
The food having meaning of worshipping the god through art …
Such high degrees of beauty are rarely joined together, confusing endearments and sweet powers of perception.’
At the start of another poem, Martial makes it clear that she is indeed British when he writes: ‘Veiled Claudia with eagerness red-haired Briton.’
Most of Caradoc’s family seem to have stayed on in Rome, but some of them at least were later allowed to return back home to Britain. Welsh records remember in particular the return of his father, Bran Fendigaid – ‘Bran the Blessed’ – and another of Caradoc’s daughters, Eurgain or ‘Eugenie’. These two, we are told, brought with them a venerable confessor called St Ilid. He was evidently an Israelite and, in Welsh texts, is generally identified with Joseph of Arimathea.
Exactly why Joseph should also be called Ilid is not explained. However, he is credited with organizing a Christian college – the first of its kind – on behalf of his patroness, St Eurgain. According to the Welsh records, this college was not at Glastonbury but on the other side of the Bristol Channel in Glamorgan, at what later developed into the town of Llantwit Major.
Taking this evidence into account, I was convinced that the original ‘Island of Avalon’, if it existed at all, must have been somewhere in the vicinity of this church and not at Glastonbury in Somerset. The church of St Illtyd (a later saint and not to be confused with Ilid) in Llantwit Major was, of course, where I had seen the curious tombstones with their ‘Rosicrucian’ designs that first compelled me to make the current investigation. I was not too surprised, therefore, when further research revealed intense rivalry between Llantwit Major in Glamorgan and Glastonbury in Somerset. This concerned the theft of a bell by none other than King Edgar in about AD 940.
The story goes that St Illtyd, who lived in the mid 6th century, had a falling-out with a local king and went to live in a cave. One day, a man riding an ox cart came by, and Illtyd had a conversation with him. It transpired that he was on his way to take a newly cast bell to St David. Illtyd asked him if he could see and hear the bell, which turned out to have such an exceptionally sweet sound that he was entranced. The man left and in due course delivered the bell to St David. However, when an attempt was made to ring it, it made no sound at all. David questioned the man and, on learning how it had played a beautiful note for Illtyd, understood that it was God’s will that he should have it. He sent the bell back to Illtyd, who hung it in his church.
In a corollary to this story, we are told that the late 10th-century King Edgar of Wessex invaded Glamorgan with his army, looting churches as well as houses. Visiting Llantwit Major, he stole the bell of St Illtyd and tied it around the neck of his favourite horse, no doubt intending to give it to his favoured monastery of Glastonbury. That night, he had a dream that the horse died from a spear thrust into its chest. When he awoke, he realized that he had done wrong in plundering the churches and ordered that goods which had been taken should be returned. Of his horse, however, there was no trace, and Edgar died a few days later without returning the bell. However, the horse was not really lost and made its own way back to the River Severn. The bell around its neck rang so sweetly that every horse that heard it followed. Eventually, a great herd of horses swam over the river and found their way to St Iltyd’s church. On arrival, the King’s horse died and the bell fell from its neck. Rejoicing at its miraculous return, the monks placed it back in the church and then shared out the other horses amongst themselves.
Now while this story, which was written down only in the 12th century, is clearly apocryphal, it does tell us something about the rivalry between Llantwit Major and Glastonbury: both churches were claiming an apostolic foundation from St Joseph of Arimathea. The implication is that St Illtyd has precedence over both St David (for whom the bell is silent) and King Edgar. By inference, Llantwit Major is also superior to Glastonbury, Edgar’s favourite church and the place where he was subsequently buried.
I found this an interesting story, and it prompted me to take another look at Llantwit Major’s subsequent history following the Norman conquest. This was to take my quest in an entirely different direction.