13 Facts About Coel Hen

Coel, called Coel Hen and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages.

Coel Hen was said to be the father of Saint Helena and through her the grandfather of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great.

The legendary "King Coel Hen" is sometimes supposed to be the historical basis for the popular nursery rhyme "Old King Cole", but this has been said to be unlikely.

Coel Hen's name is thus sometimes given as "Coel Godebog" or "Coel Hen Godebog".

Coel Hen appears in the Harleian genealogies and the later pedigrees known as the Bonedd Gwyr y Gogledd at the head of several post-Roman royal families of the Hen Ogledd.

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Coel Hen was considered to be the father-in-law of Cunedda, founder of Gwynedd in North Wales, by his daughter Gwawl.

Judging by the genealogical references, Coel Hen must have controlled a large part of the Hen Ogledd.

Coel Hen meets Asclepiodotus in battle and kills him, thus taking the kingship of Britain upon himself.

Afraid of the Romans, Coel Hen meets Constantius and agrees to pay tribute and submit to Roman laws as long as he is allowed to retain the kingship.

Coel Hen, fearing that these Northern peoples would unite against his domain south of Hadrian's Wall, sent raiding parties across his northern border to stir up discord between them.

Coel Hen merely succeeded in pushing the two even closer together, and they began to attack the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde.

Coel Hen declared all out war and moved north to expel the invaders.

Coel Hen was first buried in a mound there before being removed to the church at Coylton.