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Pillar of Eliseg
 
 
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The Pillar of Eliseg also known as Elise's Pillar or Croes Elisedd in Welsh, stands near Valle Crucis Abbey
Valle Crucis Abbey

Valle Crucis Abbey is in the River Dee, Wales about 1? miles upstream and north of Llangollen, Denbighshire, in north-east Wales.The crucis in its name refers to the Pillar of Eliseg which stands nearby, which would already have stood for nearly four centuries when the abbey was established in 1201....
, Denbighshire
Denbighshire

Denbighshire is a principal area and county in North Wales. It is named after the Denbighshire , but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales....
, Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, at . It was erected by Cyngen ap Cadell
Cyngen ap Cadell

Cyngen ap Cadell was a king of Kingdom of Powys in eastern Wales.Cyngen was of the line of Brochwel Ysgithrog and after a long reign as king of Powys went on a pilgrimage to Rome and died there in 855....
 (died 855), king of Powys
Kingdom of Powys

  The Kingdom of Powys was a Wales successor state that emerged during the Dark Ages following the Roman withdrawal from Britain....
 in honour of his great-grandfather Elisedd ap Gwylog
Elisedd ap Gwylog

Elisedd ap Gwylog , also known as Elise was king of Kingdom of Powys in eastern Wales.Little has been preserved in the historical records about Elisedd, who was a descendant of Brochwel Ysgithrog....
. The form Eliseg found on the pillar is thought to be a mistake by the carver of the inscription.

The Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 inscription not only mentions several individuals described in the Historia Britonum
Historia Britonum

The Historia Brittonum, or The History of the Britons, is a historical work that was first written sometime shortly after AD 833, and exists in several recensions of varying difference....
, but also complements the information presented in that text.






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The Pillar of Eliseg also known as Elise's Pillar or Croes Elisedd in Welsh, stands near Valle Crucis Abbey
Valle Crucis Abbey

Valle Crucis Abbey is in the River Dee, Wales about 1? miles upstream and north of Llangollen, Denbighshire, in north-east Wales.The crucis in its name refers to the Pillar of Eliseg which stands nearby, which would already have stood for nearly four centuries when the abbey was established in 1201....
, Denbighshire
Denbighshire

Denbighshire is a principal area and county in North Wales. It is named after the Denbighshire , but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales....
, Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, at . It was erected by Cyngen ap Cadell
Cyngen ap Cadell

Cyngen ap Cadell was a king of Kingdom of Powys in eastern Wales.Cyngen was of the line of Brochwel Ysgithrog and after a long reign as king of Powys went on a pilgrimage to Rome and died there in 855....
 (died 855), king of Powys
Kingdom of Powys

  The Kingdom of Powys was a Wales successor state that emerged during the Dark Ages following the Roman withdrawal from Britain....
 in honour of his great-grandfather Elisedd ap Gwylog
Elisedd ap Gwylog

Elisedd ap Gwylog , also known as Elise was king of Kingdom of Powys in eastern Wales.Little has been preserved in the historical records about Elisedd, who was a descendant of Brochwel Ysgithrog....
. The form Eliseg found on the pillar is thought to be a mistake by the carver of the inscription.

The Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 inscription not only mentions several individuals described in the Historia Britonum
Historia Britonum

The Historia Brittonum, or The History of the Britons, is a historical work that was first written sometime shortly after AD 833, and exists in several recensions of varying difference....
, but also complements the information presented in that text. A generally accepted translation of this inscription, one of the longest surviving inscriptions from pre-Viking
Viking

A Viking is one of the Norsemen explorers, warriors, merchants, and Piracy who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century....
 Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
, is as follows:

† Concenn son of Catell, Catell son of Brochmail, Brochmail son of Eliseg, Eliseg son of Guoillauc.
† And that Concenn, great-grandson of Eliseg, erected this stone for his great-grandfather Eliseg.
† The same Eliseg, who joined together the inheritance of Powys . . . throughout nine (years?) out of the power of the Angles with his sword and with fire.
† Whosoever shall read this hand-inscribed stone, let him give a blessing on the soul of Eliseg.
† This is that Concenn who captured with his hand eleven hundred acres [4.5 km²] which used to belong to his kingdom of Powys . . . and which . . . . . . the mountain
[the column is broken here. One line, possibly more, lost]
. . . the monarchy . . . Maximus
Magnus Maximus

Magnus Clemens Maximus , also known as Maximianus, was a Hispanic Roman usurper of the Western Roman Empire from 383 until his death, in 388, by order of Emperor Theodosius I....
 . . . of Britain . . . Concenn, Pascent, Maun, Annan.
† Britu son of Vortigern
Vortigern

Vortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Sub-Roman Britain, a leading king of the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend....
, whom Germanus blessed, and whom Sevira bore to him, daughter of Maximus the king, who killed the king of the Romans.
† Conmarch painted this writing at the request of king Concenn.
† The blessing of the Lord be upon Concenn and upon his entire household, and upon the entire region of Powys until the Day of Judgement.


The Pillar was thrown down by the Roundhead
Roundhead

"Roundheads" was the nickname given to the Puritan supporters of Parliament of England during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they were the supporters of Oliver Cromwell against Charles I of England ....
s during the English Civil War
English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Roundhead and Cavalier. The First English Civil War and Second English Civil War civil wars pitted the supporters of Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the Third English Civil War saw fighting between supporters...
 and a grave under it opened. Edward Lhuyd
Edward Lhuyd

Edward Lhuyd was a Wales Natural history, Botany, linguistics, geographer and antiquary.Lhuyd was born in Loppington, Shropshire, the illegitimate son of Edward Lloyd of Llanforda, Oswestry and Bridget Pryse of Llan-ffraid, near Talybont, Ceredigion, and was a pupil and later a master at Oswestry_School....
 examined the Pillar and copied the inscription in 1696. The lower half disappeared but the upper half was re-erected in 1779. The original inscription is now illegible.

See also

  • Magnus Maximus
    Magnus Maximus

    Magnus Clemens Maximus , also known as Maximianus, was a Hispanic Roman usurper of the Western Roman Empire from 383 until his death, in 388, by order of Emperor Theodosius I....
  • Gratian
    Gratian

    Flavius Gratianus , known usually by the anglicised name Gratian, was a Western Roman Emperor from 375 to 383.He favoured the Christian religion against Roman polytheism, refusing the traditional polytheistic attributes of the emperors and removing the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate....


External links

  • – the pillar and the etymology of "Eliseg" are discussed in this article, which includes Edward Lhuyd
    Edward Lhuyd

    Edward Lhuyd was a Wales Natural history, Botany, linguistics, geographer and antiquary.Lhuyd was born in Loppington, Shropshire, the illegitimate son of Edward Lloyd of Llanforda, Oswestry and Bridget Pryse of Llan-ffraid, near Talybont, Ceredigion, and was a pupil and later a master at Oswestry_School....
    's translation.