Chapter II – The Good Son (784-793)
June 784 – Caradog
"Are you really going to battle Papa?"
Caradog stared up at his father, regarding the leathers and ax he wore with the awe only a child could posess. Owain nodded, checking his armour a third time before turning to face his son.
The love that Owain held for his second son is well recorded in poems from the time.
"Aye, the Gaels in Dál Riata are still a threat even after the raids. They need to be pushed off of the mainland if I am to be able to focus on the Angles and the Picts." The King explained, kneeling down to look him in the eye. "And I know what you want to ask, no I will not bring back a sword for you. Six winters is still too young to wield a real one."
Caradog pouted, but nodded all the same. Owain let out a small chuckle and ruffled his hair. "How about this? When I return, I'll start training you in combat. Does that sound fair?"
As Caradog opened his mouth to reply, a knock on the door cut him off so he merely nodded his approval and stepped aside as his father rose to open the door.
"Father, I wished to ask you something before you le- Oh. Good morning little brother." Rhydderch, Caradog's elder brother and his father's heir said with a meek smile upon his entrance. Caradog returned the greeting as his father let Rhydderch into the room with a sigh. "Aye, I have something I wish to ask as well." He murmured, turning to look at the younger son. "Caradog my lad, I must speak to Rhydderch about something important. Go be with your mother."
No record remains of Rhydderch's mother, but it is believed that she was a local woman who died giving birth to him.
"Yes Papa." Caradog chimed with a smile. As he moved to leave the room, he stopped to bid Rydderch goodbye. The way that his brother looked at him stopped that right away as Caradog felt his smile falter. He mumbled his farewells before quickly exiting.
He had barely turned the corner at the end of the hallway before stopping, realising that he had left one of his treasured toys in Owain's quarters. Caradog returned down the hall, only stopping as he realised that the door was ajar still and Owain could be heard speaking tersely beyond it. His curiosity overtook his worries of scolding and he edged towards the door, catching part of his father's sentence.
"-told you this before Rhydderch, Gisela can manage this hold even if she cannot speak our tongue fluently yet. She does not need your aid in something you have no experience in. Now let me ask you though. Do you think me a fool?"
Caradog peered as far around the door as he dared, watching as his father approached Rhydderch, who began to sweat. "I-I... Whatever do you mean father?" he stammered, backing against a desk. Owain grabbed him by the collar, pushing him down against the desk with a growl of anger.
"Do not act ignorant to what I am asking,
boy. The maidservants you tried to bribe came to me immediately afterwards. I know all about your plot against Caradog. Now I'll ask you again. Do you think me a fool?"
Rhydderch is believed to have seen his younger brother as a threat, but the lack of subtlety in his plot became quickly evident.
Rhydderch whimpered and mumbled "I-I didn't- I did not mean t-"
"You did not mean to kill your own brother? The lad ten winters your younger, who has done
nothing to you? You tried to bribe those maids to smother Caradog in his sleep while I was away."
Caradog stared at his brother in blank shock as Owain went on, lambasting Rhydderch and throwing him from the desk to the floor. He was forced to quickly flee from the door into a new hiding place before two guards marched from the other direction and into the King's room. He peered around the corner of his new hiding spot, unable to make sense of it.
What did he do? Why did Rhydderch want to kill him? Did all brothers want to kill each other?
His trail of thought was cut off as Rhydderch was dragged out of the office by the guards, on the verge of tears. "F-Father... Please... I am your firstborn... Your heir!" he pleaded. Owain gave him a look of disgust.
"That my firstborn is a coward and a wretch is a stain upon the names of my ancestors. I should throw you into the deepest pit beneath the Rock. But no, your inheritance is enough. You are my heir no longer. A monastery to the south awaits it's newest monk. I would wish you luck in your new calling, but it is obvious that you do not care for my approval." The King explained, frowning deeply as he looked towards the guards. "Get him out of my sight and then send word to the marshal. We leave at noon." he ordered, returning to his quarters once more.
Rhydderch, for all his cowardice, grew bold as his fate sunk in. "You cannot do this! Alt Clut is my birthright! I WILL TAKE WHAT I AM OWED! FATHER!!" he bellowed, struggling against the grip of the guards as they dragged him down the hallway away from where Caradog was hidden.
The monastery that Rhydderch was banished to is believed to be one in the county of Aeron.
When he eventually came to his mother an hour later, Caradog was in a dark mood. He and Rhydderch had never been particularly close but... To learn that your own brother wants you dead is a heavy burden to learn at such an age.
June 785 – Owain
He had done it. The Gaels had fallen back after a failed offensive at Cyndeyrn Sant and all Dál Riata was open to him, the mainland at Eppidant quickly submitting to him.
Eochaid IV had recovered from the prior defeat, gathering his forces and launching an assault at Port an Eilein. Owain had crushed him there, forcing another rout. This time however, the Gaelic king merely sent an envoy a day later.
The envoy offered surrender to Owain, explaining that his king had no desire to remain at war and would grant him the province as a peace deal. With his goal complete, Owain now sat upon a horse, riding back to Alt Clut.
He had taken much time to contemplate the efforts of Caradog of the Catuvellauni, his ancestor and the legendary figure who very nearly defeated the Romans when they first invaded Britain. Truly it was a time long gone, when pagan gods still ruled the hearts of the Britons. He could understand the merit of such beliefs even if he did not share them.
Whether Owain was truly descended from the Catuvellauni Chieftain is unknown, many Kings claimed legendary ancestry.
The name brought him to his own son however, and Owain quickly spurred his horse forward, eager to reunite with the son he could have easily lost if not for the honesty of his own servants.
January 792 – Caradog
It had been six years since his father had been at war. Six years since Caradog learned that brothers could never be trusted as his own's jealousy gave way to murderous intent. Now Owain was gone again and Caradog found his situation reversed.
Old King Ealhred had been slain in a duel last summer, leaving his only child, a sickly yearling girl named Wulfthryth as his successor. Naturally the Northumbrians were in disarray, and Owain almost immediately pounced upon the situation.
Queen Wulfthryth and her domain c.892, also pictured is the Pictish invasion of Dál Riata.
He'd marched his army over the border to Nofant, the county the Angles called Rhinns, quickly seizing it at the end of the season.
It was nearly two months later when Caradog's mother gave birth to another boy, one she called Tewdrig. There had been several sisters born in the six years prior but this was the first new brother since Rhydderch.
Tewdrig ap Owain, thirdborn son
His exiled kin never returned to claim his birthright of course, a cold winter was harsh on the former heir and he came down with a flu that he never recovered from, perishing six months after Owain's victory at Port an Eilein.
A celebratory feast was being held in honour of the absent King as news came that he had bested an army that attempted to cross the border to Aeron, slaying over two hundred men and merely losing a score of his own.
Caradog longed for the day he could truly go to battle. He had grown tall, almost a head taller than other boys his age, with a body that began to harden with the rigors of combat training. His mind had begun to flourish as well, and his tutors noted the shrewd mind he possessed with praise. They did criticise the lack of interest he showed in the day to day running of a kingdom however.
Right now, combat was not on his mind, it was Tewdrig that occupied that space. Caradog knew that the infant nestled in his mother's arms was not guilty of anything, he would not plot against an innocent as Rhydderch did. He would however, remember the most important lesson he ever learned: A brother's ambition is the greatest threat to any king.
Archaeological evidence of the war for Nofant
Very little evidence has been found to mark the length of the invasion of Nofant beyond the recordings of the Battle of Aeron. A mass grave was discovered outside of the site of the village of Rhinns in 1876 which contained the remains of approximately 150 individuals that are theorised to be Anglian footmen, pieces of 8th century Anglian armour scattered amongst them. This at least suggests that an ill fated attempt to liberate the captured county happened at some point during the war.
The best indication of the war's end is by 793, as a preserved letter from Alcuin to the Archbishop of York inquires about the "lost county" and the rumours of a civil war against the infant Queen Wulfthryth.
.png){kind=avatar}
