• Born: Abt 872, Morgannwg, Gwlad, Wales
• Died: 1001

  Research Notes:

Morgan, the son of Howel*, was a mighty, brave-hearted king; and great, beyond measure, in generosity, justice and mercy; for which he was designated, a second Arthur. He married Olwen,† the daughter of Rhodri the Great; and succeeded in his dispute with Howel the Good.... ¹

* The parentage of this prince is here erroneously given; for in the Coychurch genealogy, (Williams's Monn. pp. 704, and Appendix, 69) he succeeds Owen, the son of Howel; and, in an important MS. historical pedigree, said to have been transcribed from Ieuan Deulwyn's handbook... he is called Morgan, the son of Owen, the son of Howel, a testimony that is confirmed by several other genealogies. Owen, Lord of Glamorgan, is recorded by Caradoc before Morgan (Myv. Arch. II. p. 483) although omitted here.... Blegywryd, Archdeacon of Llandaff, who so efficiently assisted Howel the Good in framing his new Code of Welsh Laws (circ. ann. 926) is named, by Caradoc (p. 585) as the son of Owen, and brother of Morgan, King of Glamorgan.—Another brother—Idwallon—is also similarly described, (p. 494). In the Liber Landavensis, Morgan the Aged is mentioned as the son of Owen... ¹

† The wife of Morgan is, by historians and genealogists, generally named Elen, the daughter of Rhodri the Great. ¹

Morgan had a palace at Cardiff, where formerly stood the court of the Roman general, Aulus Didius;‡ but that palace was reduced to heaps of ruins by the Saxons, in the time of Cadwalader the Blessed. He had, also, a royal residence at Margam, and another at Brigan, where he usually held his national and juridical courts. He lived to the age of one hundred and twenty-five years; being, consequently, called Morgan the Aged.§ ¹

‡ Opinions are divided with regard to the etymology of Caerdydd—[anglicized] Cardiff. Our text here, and, I think, justly, derives the Welsh name from Didius (Aulus Didius) the Roman general, who commanded in Britain from A.D. 53 to about 57; who was strenuously opposed by the Silures; and who, according to this genealogy, which is supported by other Welsh records, as well as by strong probability, built a fortress on the Taff... In the adoption of British names, the Romans latinized them with increments, such as Cassivellaunus, from Caswallawn, Lucarum and Lucarium, from Llychwr..., Nidum, from Nedd; &c. On the contrary, the Britons rejected the final syllable of Latin names and words: as Iwl, from Julius; Aleg, from Alectus; Sevyr from Severus; modd, from modus; gradd, from gradus; ysplennydd, from splendidus;—and Dydd, from Didius, whence Caer-Dydd, or the fortress of Didius. ¹

§ Caradoc, having casually noticed the proceedings of this Ruler for a very long period, states that he died in 1001, at the extreme age of 129 years, nor have we any reason to suspect that duration to have been materially overrated, for we find him in power in A.D. 893, or 108 years before his demise, an event that could not have been involved in distant obscurity at the time of the historian, who is stated by some writers to have died himself, at an advanced age, in 1156, his chronicle having, it should seem, been continued by a later hand to 1196. ¹

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Under Morgan the Old, Gwent, Gower & Glywysing were united to create a single Morgannwg kingdom—to be later called Glamorgan. The former kingdoms of Gwent & Glywysing retained their individual identities to some degree. ²

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The Gwentian Chronicle records that "Blegywyrd son of Owain, chief of the court of Llandav, brother to Morgan king of Glamorgan" accompanied "Hywel the Good son of Cadell, king of all Wales" on his journey to Rome in 926. The Gwentian Chronicle records that "Morgan the Great, prince of Glamorgan died at the extreme age of a hundred and twenty-nine" in 1001 "having transferred his authority to his sons and grandsons many years before his death on account of age and decrepitude" and was buried "under the altar of Teilaw at Llan Dav". ³