Padarn Beisrudd

Padarn Beisrudd ap Tegid (lit. Paternus of the Scarlet Robe, son of Tegid) was the son of Tegid ap Iago,[1] who may have been born with the Roman name of Tacitus. Padarn is believed to have been born around 400AD in the Old North (or Hen Gogledd) of Roman Britain.[2] According to Old Welsh tradition, his grandson, Cunedda, came from Manaw Gododdin, the modern Clackmannanshire region of Scotland.

One traditional interpretation identifies Padarn as a Roman (or Romano-British) official of reasonably high rank who was placed in command of Votadini troops stationed in Clackmannanshire in the 380s or earlier by Emperor Magnus Maximus. Alternatively, he may have been a frontier chieftain in the same region who was granted Roman military rank, a practice attested elsewhere along the empire's borders at the time.[3] His command in part of what is now Scotland probably lasted until his death and was then assumed by his son Edern (Edeyrn=Eternus). Edern was the father of Cunedda, founder of the Kingdom of Gwynedd.[4]

The coat of Padarn is one of the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain.[5] The coat is said to perfectly fit any well-born nobleman, but not a churl. The Life of Saint Padarn confuses this Padarn with the saint, and contains a story about how King Arthur tried to steal his tunic and became a Christian afterward.

In literature and film

In M J Trow's fictional Britannia series, Padarn Beisrudd is one of the central characters. He is given the Latinised name of Paternus and portrayed as a limitanei soldier guarding Hadrian's Wall.

References
  1. Williams, Robert (1852). Enwogion Cymru. W.Rees. p. 388. Retrieved Aug 28, 2018.
  2. "Family of Padarn + Beisrudd AP TEGID". sites.rootsweb.com. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  3. Lloyd, John Edward. "Cunedda Wledig", Dictionary of Welsh Biography
  4. Lloyd, John Edward (1911). A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest, vol.1. Longmans, Green, and Company. pp. 117–118. Retrieved Aug 28, 2018.
  5. "Family of Padarn + Beisrudd AP TEGID". sites.rootsweb.com. Retrieved 2021-01-11.


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