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Caradoc VreichvrasCaradoc Vreichvras (Strong Arm) was king of Gwent and the Vannetais In Latin his name is rendered as Caratacus Caradoc Strong-Arm was an early ancestor of the Kings of Gwent and, as such, should be identified with Caradog ap Ynyr, mentioned in the Life of St. Tathyw. Welsh legend calls his father Llyr Marini (of the Sea), while Breton legend indicates a Caradoc the Elder. Historically speaking, it seems a man named Eliavres was his father. A possible story relating to his epithet is that Eliavres brought a son of his before St. Germanus because he suffered from a wasting sickness (polio?) and that the saint cured him miraculously. This would better suit the fact that his epithet is more correctly translated to "Strengthened Arms" then "Strong-Arm". According to Breton stories, Caradoc's main court was at Nantes, however British sources have him holding court at Caerwent but he later gave the place to St. Tathyw in which to found a monastery. Legend also has him holding court in the hillfort of Caer-Caradoc (Cary Craddock) at Sellack (in Ergyng). The truth of the matter is that he likely had two or more capitals, as he was a Breton king as well as a Welsh one. In Brittany he is believed to have conquered the Vannetais where he became a patron of St. Padarn. There is good reason to believe that Caradoc and Cerdic of Wessex are one and the same. Not only is Cerdic a Saxon pronunciation of Caradoc, but the immediate descendants of Cerdic (Creoda, Cynric, Ceawlin) are Saxon pronunciations of the children of Caradoc (Kowrda, Kydeboc, St. Kollen). Because of the relative power, geographical and temporal location, and possibly name (Strong-Arm can be twisted linguistically through translations to be Arthur) Caradoc has been put forward as a candidate for the historical King Arthur. There is further support for the British-Saxon connection by the fact that early Saxon-era royal monuments in Wessex are written in either Latin or British, such as the stone of Cunorix.
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