Morcant Bulc
Encyclopedia
Morcant Bulc was a Brythonic
prince, probably a king, from Northern Britain
, during the period between the end of the Roman Empire
and the establishment of an English
state during the early Middle Ages
.
Morcant appears in a line of Men of the North from Old Welsh pedigrees. He was apparently preceded by his father, Cuncar, and succeeded by his son, Coledauc. Nothing else is known of him. However, historians have conjectured that his kingdom may have lain in Gododdin
(Lothian
), Alt Clut (Strathclyde
) or Bryneich
(Northumberland
) in the late 6th century.
Morcant’s first name is a form of Morgan
. It is possible that he may therefore be identified with other Morgans found elsewhere in the Life of St. Kentigern
and the writings of Nennius
:
Britons (historical)
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
prince, probably a king, from Northern Britain
Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeological label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity: the term "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the potsherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a...
, during the period between the end of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and the establishment of an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
state during the early Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
Morcant appears in a line of Men of the North from Old Welsh pedigrees. He was apparently preceded by his father, Cuncar, and succeeded by his son, Coledauc. Nothing else is known of him. However, historians have conjectured that his kingdom may have lain in Gododdin
Gododdin
The Gododdin were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britain in the sub-Roman period, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North...
(Lothian
Lothian
Lothian forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills....
), Alt Clut (Strathclyde
Strathclyde
right|thumb|the former Strathclyde regionStrathclyde was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created by the Local Government Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc Act 1994...
) or Bryneich
Bernicia
Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
(Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
) in the late 6th century.
Morcant’s first name is a form of Morgan
Morgan
-Places:Australia*Morgan, South AustraliaCanada*Morgan, OntarioUnited States*Morgan, California*Morgan, Georgia*Morgan, Minnesota*Morgan, Texas*Morgan, Utah*Morgan, Vermont*Morgan, Wisconsin, a town...
. It is possible that he may therefore be identified with other Morgans found elsewhere in the Life of St. Kentigern
Saint Mungo
Saint Mungo is the commonly used name for Saint Kentigern . He was the late 6th century apostle of the Brythonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in modern Scotland, and patron saint and founder of the city of Glasgow.-Name:In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptismal name Kentigern...
and the writings of Nennius
Nennius
Nennius was a Welsh monk of the 9th century.He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the Historia Brittonum, based on the prologue affixed to that work, This attribution is widely considered a secondary tradition....
:
- King Morken, apparently of Alt Clut, the opponent of St. Kentigern, during his early missionary work, who expelled the saint from his kingdom.
- King Morcant who almost single-handedly destroyed any hope the Britons of The Old North had of resisting the AnglianAnglesThe Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
invaders during 6th century. He was part of a grand BrythonicBritons (historical)The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
alliance, along with King UrienUrienUrien , often referred to as Urien Rheged, was a late 6th century king of Rheged, an early British kingdom of the Hen Ogledd . His power and his victories, including the battles of Gwen Ystrad and Alt Clut Ford, are celebrated in the praise poems to him by Taliesin, preserved in the Book of Taliesin...
of RhegedRhegedRheged is described in poetic sources as one of the kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd , the Brythonic-speaking region of what is now northern England and southern Scotland, during the Early Middle Ages...
, King Riderch HaelRiderch I of Alt ClutRiderch I , commonly known as Riderch or Rhydderch Hael , was a ruler of Alt Clut and the greater region later known as Strathclyde, a Brittonic kingdom that existed on the valley of the River Clyde in Scotland during the British Sub-Roman period...
of Alt ClutKingdom of StrathclydeStrathclyde , originally Brythonic Ystrad Clud, was one of the early medieval kingdoms of the celtic people called the Britons in the Hen Ogledd, the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The kingdom developed during the post-Roman period...
and King Gwallawc Marchawc Trin of ElmetElmetElmet was an independent Brythonic kingdom covering a broad area of what later became the West Riding of Yorkshire during the Early Middle Ages, between approximately the 5th century and early 7th century. Although its precise boundaries are unclear, it appears to have been bordered by the River...
. They were initially extremely successful in driving back the Angles from Bryneich territory, forcing them to vacate Din Guardi – possibly the capital - around 590 and besieging them on Ynys Metcaut (now called LindisfarneLindisfarneLindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...
). However, Morcant grew envious of the successes of Urien, and perhaps became uneasy about the prospects of a greatly empowered Rheged after the Angles had been defeated. Treacherously, he had Urien assassinated by a man called Llofan Llaf Difo and the alliance of the Britons of the North collapsed. The Angles broke out from their containment and retook most of the lands they had held before the war to expel them had begun.