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{{Short description|Early Welsh term for a ruler}}
The Welsh title '''[G]wledig''', archaically '''Gwledic''' or '''Guletic''' and [[Latinisation of names|Latinised]] ''Guleticus'', is defined as follows: "lord, king, prince, ruler; term applied to a number of early British rulers and princes who were prominent in the defence of Britain about the time of the Roman withdrawal; (possibly) commander of the native militia (in a Romano-British province)".  It was a rare title, denoting someone who ruled over a specific territory, and was used in [[Great Britain]] during the century after the end of  [[Roman Britain|Roman rule]].  There were at least three men who were given this title: [[Cunedda]], Macsen (the Welsh name for Western Roman Emperor [[Magnus Maximus]]), and [[Emrys Wledig|Emrys]] (the [[Romano-British]] war leader Ambrosius Aurelianus), although there were about ten individuals given this title in the ''[[Red Book of Hergest|Oxford Red Book of Hergest]]''.  Another known person with this title was [[Amlawdd Wledig]] (almost certainly mythological Welsh king sometimes claimed to be the maternal grandfather of King Arthur).<ref>Wade-Evans, Arthur. ''[https://archive.org/stream/welshmedievallaw00howeuoft#page/xxx/mode/2up Welsh Medieval Law]''. Page xxx. Accessed April 3, 2023.</ref><ref>Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, Part 26, Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1974, p. 1682.</ref><ref>{{cite DWB|id=s-CUNE-WLE-0380|title=CUNEDDA WLEDIG (fl. 450?), British prince|access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref>  Some sources indicate that in early [[Welsh language|Welsh]] literature, this title was given to the individual with the supreme power in Britain, but by medieval times the term had come to loosely mean "ruler" or "prince".<ref>Lewis Jones, William. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=xMUPAAAAQAAJ&dq=Wledig&pg=PA18 King Arthur in History and Legend]''. 1911. University Press. Page 17-18. Accessed April 3, 2023.</ref>
== Etymology ==
The name derives from ''gwlad'' ("country, land, region") and the suffix '-ig', a diminutive which often forms a specific noun from a more abstract one.<ref>https://www.geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html?gwledig, see specifically the second sense.</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:History of Wales]]
[[Category:Welsh royalty]]
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