Ceretic (Ceredig, Coroticus)

Early British Celt ruler r. c450s-70s

Born: c400
Died: c470

Father: Cynlo[y]p (c370-c450)
Mother: ?

Spouse: ?

Children:

  • Cinuit, 2nd early British Celt ruler of Strathclyde (c430-c500, FB2b MBKQ p185)
  • Erbin (FB2a, see MBKQ p185)
  • others?

    No pic yet ===>>

  • MBKQ p183: "[FB1 = 1rst ruler of Strathclyde, DA6 = 6th ruler of N Britain; i.e. Yorkshire to the Clyde, possibly P89 = 89th ruler in Geoffrey of Monmouth's list] Ceretic of Alclud fl c450s-70s: Ceretic is the earliest ruler we know of the territory later called Strathclyde. This had as its core the tribe of the Damnonii, and it is likely that Ceretic was of that tribe. His pedigree suggests his forebears were Roman officials who had been placed in authority over the Damnonii. His gfather is recorded as Cinhil (possibly the Roman Quintillius) the son of Cluim (or Clemens), who was probably a Roman general established in command at the Clyde during the reign of Magnus Maximus in the late 4C. It is also just possible that this Ceretic is the same as Ceredig [EB1], the son of Cunedda, and that he may not only have established a kingdom in Alclud, but subsequently joined his father in N Wales where his descendents ruled Ceredigion. [In any case] Ceretic's strict area of rule may not have extended far from his rocky fortress of Dumbarton [get pic], but his influence certainly extended far afield. He is known because St. Patrick wrote to him c450 to complain about his practice of capturing young Irish men and women and selling them as slaves to the Picts. The slave trade between Ireland and Scotland was extremely profitable (in lieu of any coinage) and it was on this wealth that the strong kingdom of Alclud was established. It is not recorded that Ceretic did anything about it. Patrick wrote a 2nd time to admonish the king. The only effect we know this had is from Muirchu's colorful account of Patrick's life in which Ceretic apparently had a premonition that his time had come and, in full view of his court, he was transformed into a fox and ran away. This may have a double-edged interpretation. Ceretic may, at length, have quailed before the wrath of Patrick and ceased his trading openly, but foxes are known for their cunning, and Ceretic may well have continued it in a more sly fashion. We will never know. He was succeeded by his sons Erbin and Cinuit."

    MBKQ pp44-6: "The period between 410 and 450 [in Britain] saw an almost complete breakdown of the social order, particularly in the N. Famine and pestilence swept across Britain. By 450 Britain was in a sorry state and what remained of administration in the S appealed to the Roman consol in Gaul Agitius Aetius, for help, but none came. During this 40yrs certain chieftains had become warleaders to defend their lands ... The best known was Coel [Hen], the Old King Cole of the nursery rhyme ... Others from this period in the N were Ceretic, who ruled from Dumbarton, and Cunedda, who seems to have been a war leader in the area of the Votodini, in Lothian, before he migrated to N Wales ... Cunedda was king of the Votadini, meaning that tribe, not of the land associated with them ... The best known of the [more Romanized] S kings was Vortigern ... The period from 450 to 550 is aptly called the age of Arthur ... The [Briton] kingdoms we know are those that survived the initial Saxon invasion and were documented in the battles that followed as the Saxons and Angles drove westward. In the N there was a British kingdom based on the tribe of the Votadini, which later became known as the Gododdin. These are remembered amongst the Welsh triads and poems. One of their rulers, Leudonus, later gave his name to the N part of the territory, known to this day as Lothian. Another of their rulers, Morcant [hmmm, Arthurian Modred?], betrayed Urien [Uther?] and allowed the Angles to gain their foothold on Deira (the southernmost of these N kingdoms) and later Bryneich, or Bernicia"

    MBKQ p92 i.e. section on Maximus: "The legacy of Maximus' campaign [to become RE] was to weaken an already weakening Britain. Although he did not withdraw all forces from the island, he certainly withdrew a substantial number. There is no doubt that as a seasoned campaigner he would not have left the island undefended, and this is probably where the origins of other royal families arose. It is probable that Maximus installed some strong commanders in the territory between the Hadrianic and Antonine Walls who became the forebears of later rulers. These would include Quintilius, or Cinhil, the gfather of Ceretic of Alclud, and Padarn of the Red Cloak, gfather of Cunedda. It is also possible that Maximus established the arrangement of a strong Irish leadership, under Eochaid in Demetia (SW Wales), and the colony of Britons in Armorica (Brittany) in N France"

    MBKQ p112: "We can only assume that Arthur lived mostly in S Britain, while his contemporaries Ceretic, Bran and Leudonus dominated the N defence."



    From a section in DOKA called "Arthur's Forerunners": "Geoffrey [of Monmouth]'s context seems right in that Britain was essentially on its own after AD 410. He shows successors Vortigern (P94, Vortimer P95), Aurelius Ambrosius (P96), Uther (P97), and Arthur (P98). This "might not inspire much confidence [since] most of his earlier [kings] are fabricated; some are imaginary, some are grossly misplaced in time, and some are emperors falsely made out to have been British" (31). During this time, military leaders who fought invaders rose to power (i.e. outsiders noted them as tyrannus or those holding power w/o constitutional legitimacy, de facto v. de jure). The later welsh term gwledig meant 'landholder' or 'prince.' The most famous of these was Cunedda (Kenneth, DA4, ED1), who came from near Edinburgh to rule Wales. Others were Ceredig (FB1, DA6, possibly P89, EB1) who ruled "the country around the Clyde in western Scotland" (33) and Coel (i.e. 'Hen' P84, DA1), "active in the mountainous Pennine region of north-central England. Legend was to transform him into the Old King Cole of nursery-rhyme fame and make him the father of Helena, mother of Constantine the Great" (33). A 4th was Ambrosius Aurelianus (P96, DB4?, possibly Aegidius). "Border despots like Cunedda were probably only lightly Romanized ... more like the Celtic chieftains of ancient times. Yet even Cunedda, according to his pedigree, had a father, gfather, and ggfather with Roman names [i.e. Edern, Paternus, Tacit, MBKQ p67]. Ambrosius, in the deeply civilized South, certainly belonged to the more Romanized element and helped to keep Romanitas glowing" (33). Ashe discusses Sidonius Apollinaris (in order to better understand the classical education and mindset of Ambrosius, v. br-hisc's Ausonius), "a landed aristocrat who lived in [south-central Gaul]" (34) who wrote many letters still in existence. In the midst of mounting chaos, they clung to Romanitas as long as possible. "Britain had ... begun to be rather notable for producing [religious leaders] ... [most] from the higher ranks of society ... conversion of the masses was to be a slow process [but was growing] ... Even before the break with the Empire, Britain had given Europe the heretic Pelagius ... [who] stressed freedom and moral responsibility, and denied original sin ... his social outlook was left of center" (35). Pelagius had moved to Rome by 405 and "In 418, under pressure from the Emperor Honorius [and dispute w/Augustine], the Pope ruled that Pelagianism was heresy ... In most of the Christian world, Pelagianism faded out as a doctrine, though it survived as an attitude, as it does to this day. But it took fresh hold in the heretic's native Britain ... In 429 two bishops arrived to counter the trend, Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes" (36). Geoffrey of Monmouth says the marriage of King Vortigern to Hengist's daughter occurred at this time [giving us one of a few chrono anchors]. By Germanus' 2nd visit to Britain c446, Pelagianism's influence was much reduced."



    "By placing his bishops next door to the kings, Patrick hoped to keep an eye on the most powerful raiders and rustlers and limit their depredations ... Rising petty kings along the W coasts of Britain, rushing to fill the power vacuum left by the departure of the Roman legions, began to carve out new territories for themselves and to take up piracy, an activity the Christian Britons had long ago abandoned. The forces of one of these kings, Coroticus, descended on the now peaceful coast of N Ireland and, butchering many and seizing booty, carted off Patrick's converts in the thousands - 'the chrism still fragrant on their foreheads,' describes the outraged apostle. He sends a delegation of priests to the court of Coroticus in the hopes of ransoming the captives, but when they get there they are laughed to scorn. Having failed to gain a hearing from the king and now at his wit's end, Patrick writes an open letter to British Christians in an attempt to put pressure on Coroticus ... Patrick's ardor in fueled, of course, by the memory of his own horrible experiences [as a brit captive in Ireland] ... [he appeals to] the British bishops ... If [they] will excommunicate Coroticus, it will only be a matter of time before a well-organized conspiracy of social isolation will break the king's resolve. We don't know if Patrick's ploy was successful ... [the brits looked down on Irish as backward barbarians] Patrick ... knows in his bones the snobbery of the educated Roman, who by the mid-5C had every right to assume that Roman and Christian were interchangeable identities ... [Patrick] has left the old civilization behind forever and has identified himself completely with the Irish ... Patrick ... derides Coroticus and his men as 'dogs and sorcerers and murderers, and liars and false swearers ... who distribute baptized girls for a price, and that for the sake of a miserable temporal kingdom which truly passes away in a moment like a cloud or smoke that is scattered by the wind'" (hisc pp110-4).


    Here's a c1880s image of Dumbarton Castle, from an eBay postcard listing

    Also, see this Scotland tourism page on Dumbarton Castle.

    Sources:
    - MBKQ = The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens, Mike Ashley, Carroll & Graf, 1998, 824pp, own.
    - DOKA = The Discovery of King Arthur, Geoffrey Ashe, Anchor (Doubleday), 1985, FHL.
    - hisc = How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill, Doubleday, 1995, own.
    - see also wiki.