Sevira (a Vulgar Latin spelling of the Classical Latin name Severa) was a purported daughter of the Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus and wife of Vortigern.[1][2] She was mentioned on the fragmentary, mid-ninth century C.E. Latin inscription of the Pillar of Eliseg near Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbighshire, Wales.[3][4]
The inscription was commissioned by Cyngen ap Cadell (died 855), king of Powys, in honour of his great-grandfather Elisedd ap Gwylog (reign 725–755), who is here claimed to be a descendant of "Britu son of Vortigern, whom Germanus blessed, and whom Sevira bore to him, daughter of Maximus the king, who killed the king of the Romans."[3]
The Pillar of Eliseg inscription is the only known source for a daughter of Magnus Maximus named Sevira (or Severa).
Further reading edit
- Bartrum, Peter C. "SEVERA daughter of MAXIMUS.", in A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about A. D. 1000, p. 236. National Library of Wales, 1993. Emended 2009, p. 672.
- Charles-Edwards, T. M., Wales and the Britons, 350-1064, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013, p. 414ff.
References edit
- ^ Charles-Edwards, Thomas M. (12 July 2022), "Origin Legends in Ireland and Celtic Britain", Origin Legends in Early Medieval Western Europe, Brill, pp. 46–74, ISBN 978-90-04-52066-0, retrieved 10 April 2024
- ^ Sullivan, Tony (2023). "The Early Anglo-Saxon Kings": 1–240.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b Edwards, Nancy (September 2009). "Rethinking the pillar of Eliseg". The Antiquaries Journal. 89: 143–177. doi:10.1017/S0003581509000018. ISSN 1758-5309.
- ^ Guy, Ben (8 August 2018). "Constantine, Helena, Maximus: on the appropriation of Roman history in medieval Wales, c. 800–1250". Journal of Medieval History. 44 (4): 381–405. doi:10.1080/03044181.2018.1488150. ISSN 0304-4181.
External links edit
- The Pillar of Eliseg inscription on the Celtic Inscribed Stone Project website. Archived 10 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
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