Cyfeilliog
Cyfeilliog or Cyfeiliog was a bishop in south-east Wales. The location and extent of his diocese is uncertain, but lands granted to him are mainly close to Caerwent, suggesting that his diocese covered Gwent. There is evidence that his diocese extended into Ergyng. He is recorded in charters dating from the mid-880s to the early tenth century.
In 914 he was captured by the Vikings and ransomed by Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons, for 40 pounds of silver. Edward's assistance is regarded by historians as evidence that he inherited the overlordship of his father, Alfred the Great, over the south-east Welsh kingdoms.
Cyfeilliog is probably the author of a cryptogram which was added as a marginal note to the ninth-century collection of poetry known as the Juvencus Manuscript. Composing the cryptogram would have required knowledge of Latin and Greek. The twelfth-century Book of Llandaff records his death in 927, but some historians are sceptical as they think that this date is late for a bishop active in the 880s.
Political background
italic=no's diocese was located in south-east Wales. In the ninth century, the area was divided into three kingdoms, which were sometimes combined by more powerful kings. Gwent, north of the Severn Estuary, was south of italic=no and east of Glywysing. Mercia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom on the eastern Welsh border, had claimed hegemony over most of Wales since the early ninth century. In 873 the Vikings drove out King Burgred of Mercia and appointed Ceolwulf as a client king. Ceolwulf maintained Mercian efforts to control the Welsh, and in 878 he defeated and killed italic=no, King of italic=no in north Wales. Around 879, Ceolwulf was replaced by Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians. In 881, Rhodri's sons defeated Æthelred in battle, but he continued to dominate the south-east Welsh kingdoms, and Rhodri's sons sought the protection of King Alfred the Great of Wessex. Alfred's Welsh biographer, Asser, wrote:Cryptogram
A cryptogram in the Juvencus Manuscript, which was written in Wales in the second half of the ninth century, praises a priest called italic=no. Such cryptograms usually contained the names of their authors, in this case almost certainly Bishop italic=no as his name was uncommon and he is the only known person with that name who was active when the cryptogram was written. It is in Latin, with each letter replaced by the Greek numeral for the number of the letter in the Latin alphabet. It is described by the scholar Helen McKee as "charmingly boastful", and it reads in translation, with some words missing due to deterioration of the manuscript at the edge of the page:The cryptogram is in a different hand from the rest of the manuscript, and it is probably Cyfeilliog's only contribution to it. The main scribe was Núadu, which is an Irish name, and the code of the cryptogram was probably invented by an Irish scholar called Dubthach at the court of Gwynedd in the first half of the ninth century. The cryptogram is one of several indications of WelshIrish links in the Juvencus Manuscript.
Ecclesiastical appointments
italic=no may have been an abbot before he became a bishop. He is included in a list of abbots of italic=no said to have been in a "very decayed and rent" parchment discovered in about 1719, but as the source for the document was the forger italic=no, it is uncertain whether it was genuine. The historian Patrick Sims-Williams comments that the fact that italic=no is not mentioned in any charter before he became a bishop "leaves open the possibility that he really is the Camelauc listed among the abbots of Llantwit, dubious though the source is".italic=no is first recorded in charters dating to the mid-880s. According to a Canterbury Cathedral roll, he was consecrated as a bishop by Æthelred, who was Archbishop of Canterbury between 870 and 888. Historians are uncertain of the validity of the list, but as southern Welsh kings accepted Alfred's overlordship in the 880s, acknowledgement of the primacy of Canterbury by bishops at this time would not be unlikely. Three clerical witnesses to italic=no's charters also witnessed those of Bishop Nudd, and another three those of Bishop italic=no, probably because these bishops were Cyfeilliog's predecessors, and italic=no inherited members of their episcopal households. italic=no was active over the whole of the south-east, suggesting that he had a superior status. In a list of bishops in the twelfth-century Book of Llandaff italic=no is placed after Nudd.
Diocese
The Book of Llandaff claims that there was a succession of bishops of Llandaff, covering the whole of south-east Wales between the River Wye and the River Towy, from the fifth century onwards. This is accepted by the Welsh historian John Edward Lloyd in 1939 in his History of Wales, but is rejected by Wendy Davies and Thomas Charles-Edwards as an attempt to extend the history of the diocese back to an implausibly early date. italic=no is included in this succession, but his bishopric covered a much smaller area, and the locations of land grants to him suggest that he was mainly active in Gwent. All those which can be securely located are near Caerwent in Gwent, suggesting that he may have been based in the town, and none of the charters relate to Glywysing or Llandaff.The early tenthcentury Anglo-Saxon Chronicle described italic=no as bishop of Archenfield, which was the English name for italic=no. His diocese probably covered both Gwent and italic=no. In this period, italic=no was Welsh in language and custom, but under English rule, and he may have ministered to people there with the approval of the Bishop of Hereford.
Charters
Charters preserved in the Book of Llandaff record grants to italic=no. The earliest charter is probably one dating to around 885: King italic=no of italic=no gave italic=no two slaves and their progeny for the souls of his wife, sons and daughters. A witness called Asser attested this charter immediately after italic=no, a position of honour. The Asser who was the biographer of Alfred the Great spent a year ill in Caerwent at this time, and he may have attested the charter while temporarily attached to Cyfeilliog.Cyfeilliog received grants of land in several charters from italic=no, King of Gwent. In one he gave three Ancient Roman units of measurement#Area about of land with weirs on the Severn and the Meurig, a tributary of the Teifi, together with free landing rights and rights of shipwreck; and in another charter two churches, with six modii of land and free landing rights for ships at the mouth of the Troggy. Other donors included Hywel's son Arthfael, who in about 890 granted Villa Caer Birran, at italic=no, italic=no, with four modii of land to Cyfeilliog.
italic=no had several legal disputes with King italic=no. In about 905, there was a disagreement between their households. italic=no was awarded an "insult price" "in puro auro" of the worth of his face, lengthwise and breadthwise. The charter refers to his value in accordance with his status, under the ancient legal concept of wynepwerth. italic=no was unable to pay in gold and paid with six modii of land at Llanfihangel instead. Another dispute concerned a church with three modii of land which Brochfael gave to his daughter, described as "a holy virgin". In around 910, there was a dispute between italic=no and italic=no over the church and its land, and judgement was again given in italic=no's favour and endorsed by italic=no.
Capture by the Vikings
In 914, Cyfeilliog was captured by the Vikings, and the event was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:The payment of italic=no's ransom, described by Charles-Edwards as "a princely sum", by Alfred's son and successor Edward the Elder is regarded by historians as evidence that he maintained his father's lordship over south-east Wales.