Beli Mawr - Beli Son of Manogan

Beli Son of Manogan

Another Beli from medieval Welsh literature, who first appears in the 9th c. Historia Brittonum and is often confused or conflated with Beli Mawr in both medieval and modern sources, is Beli son of Manogan (also spelled Mynogan). This Beli is actually derived from the historical pre-Roman, British king of the Catuvellauni tribe, Cunobelinus and his son Adminius (or Amminius). Via a series of textual corruptions that span several different popular books from Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, the names of Cunobelinus and his son Adminius were combined and then jumbled, giving way to the new Welsh literary characters Beli and Manogan:

1. Adminio, Cunobellini Brittannorum regis filio (Suetonius, Caligula, Ch. 44)
2. Minocynobellinum Britannorum regis filium (Orosius, Historia Adversus Paganos, vii 5.5)
3. Bellinus, filius Minocanni (Historia Brittonum, ch. 19)

Thus, although Beli became a separate personage in medieval pseudohistory from Cunobelinus (Welsh Cynfelyn, Shakespeare's Cymbeline), he was generally presented as a king reigning in the period immediately before the Roman invasion; his "son" Caswallawn is the historical Cassivellaunus.