 Abt 0580 -
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| Name |
DUMNONIA Clemen ap Bledric |
| Birth |
Abt 0580 |
Dumnonia, England |
| Gender |
Male |
| Notes |
- Name
Clemen ap Bledric [1]
Clement or Clemens [1]
580 Birth
Clemen ap Bledric was born about 580.[1]
Parents
He was the son of Bledric ap Custennin.[1]
613 Reign
Clemen ruled after his father was killed by King Æthelfrith of Northumbria at the Battle of Bangor-is-Coed (Bangor-on-Dee, Powys Fadog) in about 613. [1]
Some authors have Tewdwr (or Teudu) son of Peredur ruling as king in the fl. 620s, descended from a different line of Dumnonian kings from Gerren Llyngesic's son Cado ap Gerren. [2]
Battle of Beandun
Clemen was probably king when the Britons fought the Battle of Beandun (sometimes thought to be Bindon near Axmouth in Devon[3] but more likely to be in Somerset given the location of the earlier (577) victory at the Battle of Deorham) in 614 when, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us, King Cynegils and his son Cwichelm of Wessex invaded Dumnonia. [1]
614 is also the year that which the peace was broken on the borders of Glevissig (Glywysing), suggesting the Dumnonians co-ordinated their efforts with the kings of South Wales,[4] such as Nynnio ap Erb who was probably ruling Gwent and Glywysing at the time[5]
The West Saxon army was said to have killed 2,065 British:[6] however this figure seems suspect upon examination. Marren [6] estimates Norman casualties at the battle of Hastings to have been around 2000 men, representing a large multinational force in one of the largest battles of the age. Therefore for Wessex to have slain this many men would represent an enormous victory that should have been total. However, very little seems to change as the Anglo Saxon Chronicle records in 652 Cenwalth fighting at Bradford Upon Avon against an unknown foe very likely to be the Britons. [7]
Battle of Cefn Digoll
Clemen may have fought at the Battle of Cefn Digoll (Long Mountain, near Welshpool in Gwynedd) in alliance with Gwynedd and Mercia, against Northumbrian domination in 630.[8] It is not known whether the Dumnonians were part of the British army that went on to ravage Northumbria over the following years.[1]
Marriage
He married the daughter of Guitoli ap Urbgen, who was possibly a great grandson of the late king Gerren Llyngesic.[1]
Issue
Petroc ap Clemen Dumnonia, born 600. They had one known son, Petroc Baladrddellt (“Splintered Spear”) - although, according to the Welsh Bonedd y Saint (Genealogies of the Saints), Clemen was the father of St Petroc, other authorities state that this saint lived around a century earlier, the princely son of King Glywys of Glywysing,[9]making it likely Clemen was actually the father of Petroc Baladrddellt.[1]
Other Children Linked on WikiTree
Gwynhafar ap Clemen, born 604.
Research Notes
Siege of Exeter
Clemen may have been reigning in 630-632 when, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, King Penda of Mercia besieged Exeter until the exiled King Cadwallon of Gwynedd arrived to defeat the Mercians. The three kings are said to have made an alliance and marched north to face the armies of Northumbria which were then occupying Gwynedd: Exeter was in the kingdom of Dumnonia, and Cadwallon is said to have made an alliance with Dumnonia's nobility though Clemen's name is not mentioned.[10][11]
Today's reputable historians do not mention this siege at all, considering it together with the rest of Historia Regum Britanniae as one of Geoffrey of Monmouth's many colourful inventions.[citation needed][1]
Sources
↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Wikipedia: Clemen_ap_Bledric Accessed July 14 2018 jhd
↑ Ashley, Mike The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens New York: Carroll & Graff 1998 ISBN 0-7867-0692-9 p118. This is as given in the Jesus College, Oxford, MS 20, (Snyder, Christopher A. The Britons Blackwell 2003 ISBN 0-631-22260-X p166) although this line ends with a Judhael as Tewdwr's grandson, almost certainly Judicael, High King of the Bretons, and king of Domnonia in Brittany. (Ashley, p. 119)
↑ Morris, J. (1995) The Age of Arthur ISBN 1-84212-477-3 p.307 Cited by Wikipedia: Clemen_ap_Bledric Accessed July 14 2018 jhd
↑ Morris, John. The Age of Arthur 2004 ISBN 1-84212-477-3 p308 Cited by Wikipedia: Clemen_ap_Bledric Accessed July 14 2018 jhd
↑ Post-Roman Celtic Kingdoms: Gwent Retrieved on 2008-09-04. Cited by Wikipedia: Clemen_ap_Bledric Accessed July 14 2018 jhd
↑ Marren, P. (2004). 1066 - The Battles Of York, Stamford Bridge and Hastings. Havertown: Pen and Sword. Cited by Wikipedia: Clemen_ap_Bledric Accessed July 14 2018 jhd
↑ Thorpe, B. (1861). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, according to the several original authorities. 2nd ed. London: Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts. Cited by Wikipedia: Clemen_ap_Bledric Accessed July 14 2018 jhd
↑ D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings (1991, 2000), pages 71–72. Cited by Wikipedia: Clemen_ap_Bledric Accessed July 14 2018 jhd
↑ Williams, Robert. Enwogion Cymru. W. Rees. 1852 p394 Cited by Wikipedia: Clemen_ap_Bledric Accessed July 14 2018 jhd
↑ Jenkins, Alexander. The History and Description of the City of Exeter. P. Hedgeland. 1806 p11 Cited by Wikipedia: Clemen_ap_Bledric Accessed July 14 2018 jhd
↑ Giles, J. A. Six Old English Chronicles. Henry G. Bohn. 1848 p284 Cited by Wikipedia: Clemen_ap_Bledric Accessed July 14 2018 jhd
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| Person ID |
I58625 |
Freeman-Smith |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2026 |
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