Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Howel Vychan

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613940Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 28 — Howel Vychan1891Thomas Frederick Tout

HOWEL Vychan, that is, Howel the Little (d. 825), Welsh prince, is said to have been son of Rhodri, a reputed descendant of Cunedda and king of Gwynedd or North Wales. But Rhodri died in 754, and nothing is heard of Howel or of his brother Cynan whom the tenth-century genealogy of Owain ab Howel Dda makes son of Rhodri, until over fifty years later. Possibly they were Rhodri's grandsons, who emerge from obscurity when the downfall of the Mercian overlordship gave Welsh kings a better chance to attain to power. In 813 there was war between Howel and his brother Cynan, in which Howel conquered. It apparently arose from Cynan driving Howel out of Anglesey, and resulted in Howel's restoration in 814. In 816 Howel was again expelled, but the Saxons invaded Snowdon and slew Cynan. This probably brought Howel back again. He died in 825. The name Vychan comes from a late authority.

[Annales Cambriæ; Brut y Tywysogion.]

T. F. T.