From Lloyd (1:230-231):
After the fall of the great Cadwallon, the house of Cunedda was represented by his son, Cadwaladr, who was king among the Britons in the days of Oswy of Northumbria. None of his deeds have been recorded, yet he must have been a figure of some distinction, for the bards of later ages regarded his name as one to conjure with, and in the days of national depression foretold his return, as was fabled of Arthur also, to lead the Cymry to Victory. He died in the great plague of 664, and it is likely, notwithstanding his martial reputation, that he spent the close of his life as a monk, for the church of Eglwys Ael or Llangadwaldr in Anglesey claims him as its patron saint and founder, and churches were dedicated to him in other parts of Wales.
A triad (Bromwich 17) lists Cadwaladyr the Blessed among the three golden-banded ones of the Isle of Britain, and another (Bromwich 54) lists Cadwaladyr the Blessed as receiving one of the three fatal slaps of the Isle of Britain (from Golyddan the bard).
Events
Date of Birth: about 633.
This estimated birth date is given by Bartrum (EVWG [3]).
Date of Death: 664 or 682.
The Historia Brittonum (Mommsen p. 208) states that Cadwaladr was killed by the plague during the reign of Oswy, which was likely the pestilence of 664. Annales Cambriæ (Williams p. 8), which also has Cadwaladr dying of a plague, gives the year as 682. Lloyd (1:230) preferred the year 664, as he believed the Historia had greater authority. Kirby (p. 91) gives 682. Baldwin (LaI, post to soc.genealogy.medieval) believes 682 is more likely. Brut y Tywysogion Williams (pp. 2-3) records the death of Cadwalader the Blessed, son of Cadvan, king of the Britons, at Rome on 12 May 681. The death is said to have fulfilled a prophecy of Myrddin, and resulted in the Britons losing the crown to the Saxons. The year 681 is also recorded in Brut y Tywysogion as having seen “the great mortality”.
Relationships
Father: Cadwallon ap Cadfan ab Iago.
This relationship is shown by Bartrum (EVWG [3]), and given by Lloyd (1:230), and Thornton (ODNB). It is recorded in Annales Cambriæ (Williams p. 8).
Mother: uncertain.
Bartrum (EVWG [3]) gives Cadwaladr’s wife as a daughter of Pybba, and sister of Penda, king of Mercia. Baldwin (LaI) notes that the source for this, Geoffrey of Monmouth, is too unreliable to be accepted as an authority. In a later post to soc.genealogy.medieval, Baldwin states that the marriage to a daughter of Pybba is a proven fabrication.
Spouse: unknown.
Children:
References
Baldwin, Stewart. Llywelyn ap Iorwerth ancestor table. (Hosted at Rootsweb.ancestry.com. Accessed 18 May 2014).
Bartrum, Peter C (ed.) Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts. (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1968).
The sources Bartrum gives for Cadwaladr include:
Harleian MS. 3859 -- compiled in about the 970s (“...Rotri map Mermin map Etthil merch Cinnan map Rotri map Iutguaul map Catgualart map Catgollaun map Catman map Iacob map Beli map Run map Mailcun map Catgolaun Iauhir map Eniaun girt map Cuneda ....”);
Historia hen Gruffudd vab Kenan vab Yago -- compiled in the middle of the 13th century (...Anaraut m. Rodri m. Etill verch Kenan o Gastell Dindaethue [m. Rodri] m. Idwal dere m. Catwalader vendigeit m. Catwallaun m. Catvan m. Yago m. Beli m. Run m. Maelgun m Catwallawn llauhir m. Einnyawn yrth m. Cuneda vrenhin…)
Mostyn MS. 117 -- dated to the last quarter of the 13th century (“...Rodri mawr m. Meruyn vrych, gwr priawt Esyllt verch Kyuan Tindaethwy mab Rodri maelwynawc m. Idwal iwrch m. Katwaladyr vendigeit m. Katwallawn m. Katuan m. Iago m. Beli m. Run m. Maelgwn Gwyned, herwyd dull y beird. Namyn o herwyd yr Istoria Beli oed vab y Eynyan vab Maelgwn, y gwr a uu petweryd brenhin ar Ynys Prydein gwedy Arthur. Maelgwn oed vab Katwallawn llawhir m. Eynyawn yrth m. Kuneda wledic...”);
Jesus College MS. 20 -- dated to the last part of the 14th century, probably based on an early-13th-century source:
22. “Rodri m. Meruyn m. (space) Ethellt merch Cynan Tintaethwy m Rodri molwynawc m. Idwal iwrch m. Kadwaladyr vendigeit m. Katwallawn m. Kadwgawn m. Iago m. Beli m. Run hir m. Maelgwn Gwyned m. Kadwallawn llawhir m. Einyawn yrth m. Kuneda wledic.”
Bonedd y Saint - a MS compiled in the twelfth century (“Catwaladyr vendigeit ap Katwallawn ap Catuan m. Yago m. Run m. Maelgwn m. Catwallawn llawhir m. Einyawn yrth m. Cuneda wledic.”)
Bonedd yr Arwyr (“Mam Gatwaladyr vendigait, merch Pyt, chaer y Banna ap Pyt.”)
Achau Brenhinoedd a Thywysogion Cymru:
1a. “...Anarawd m. Rodri mawr m. Esyllt verch Kynan Dindaethwy m. Rodri malwynawc m. Idwal iwrch m. Kydwaladr vendigaid m. Kadwallawn m. Kaduan m. Iago m. Beli m. Run m. Maelgwn Gwynedd m. Kadwallawn llawir m. Einion yrth m. Kunedda wledic...”
28.
Historia Brittonum
Trioedd Ynys Prydein nos. 17, 53.
Bartrum, Peter C., “[3]”, in An Electronic Version of Welsh Genealogies AD 300-1500. [The source Bartrum cites for Cadwaladr is his own Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts]
Bartrum, Peter C. A Welsh Classical Dictionary (1993).
Guy, Ben. Medieval Welsh Genealogy. (The Boydell Press, 2020).
From Guy’s attempted recreation of the St David’s recension of the Gwynedd collection of genealogies as it might have existed in the tenth century, based on the Harleian genealogies:
1. [O]uen map [H]iguel map Catell map Rotri map Mermin map Etthil merch Cinnan map Rotri map Iutguaul map Catguala[tr] map Catgollaun map Catman map Iacob map Beli map Run map Mailcun map Catgolaun [L]auhir map Eniaun Girt map Cuneda map Ӕtern map Patern Pesrut map Tacit map Cein map Guorcein map Doli map Guordoli map Dumn map Guordumn map Amguoloyt map Amguerit map <Oumiud> map Dubun map Brithguein map Eugein map Aballac map Amalech, qui fuit Beli Magni filius et Anna mater eius, quam dicunt esse <consobrinam> Mariae uirginis matris Domini nostri Iesu Christi.
Kirby, D.P. “British Dynastic History in the Pre-Viking Period” in The Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 28 (i) (University of Wales Press, 1976) pp. 81-114.
Lloyd, John Edward, A History of Wales. 2 volumes (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1911-1912).
Mommsen, Theodor (ed.) Historia Brittonum (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auct. Antiq., Tom. xiii) (Berlin, 1898).
Thornton, David E. “Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon (d. 664/682)” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004).
Williams ab Ithel, John (ed.). Annales Cambriæ (London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts; 1860).
Williams ab Ithel, John (ed.). Brut y Tywysogion; or, The Chronicle of the Princes (London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts; 1860).
Abstracts and Transcriptions
From Historia Brittonum (Mommsen p. 208):
...Osguid filius Eadlfrid regnavit viginti octo annis et sex mensibus. dum ipse regnabit, venit mortalitas hominum Catgualart regnante apud Brittones post patrem suum et in ea periit….