Beli I of Alt Clut

Beli I was a ruler of Alt Clut, the Brittonic kingdom later known as Strathclyde, some time in the 7th century. Very little is known of him, but his family appears to have been very well connected in northern Britain.

The Harleian genealogies name Beli as the son of Neithon, his predecessor as king, and the father of Eugein I, his successor.^[1] Beli map Neithon is probably identifiable as the Beli who was the father of Bridei III of the Picts, as the Elegy for Bruide mac Bili attributed to Adomnán calls Bridei mac rígh Ala Cluaithe ("son of the King of Alt Clut").^[2][3] The Historia Brittonum says that Bridei was the fratruelis or maternal first cousin of Ecgfrith of Northumbria,^[4] indicating that Beli's wife might have been of the Northumbrian nobility, though Bridei must have had some Pictish connection to become king of Fortriu.^[2] The Annales Cambriae entry for 627 refers to the death of a certain Belin, who may be identified with Beli map Neithon.^[2][5] He was certainly dead by 642, the year Irish sources record King Oan or Hoan of Alt Clut (apparently Beli's son Eugein) fighting the Battle of Strathcarron.^[2]

Notes

1. Harleian genealogy 5.
2. MacQuarrie, p. 9.
3. Clancy, p. 115
4. Historia Brittonum, ch. 57.
5. Annales Cambriae, 627

References

• Clancy, Thomas Owen (Ed.) (1998). The Triumph Tree: Scotland's Earliest Poetry, 550–135. Canongate Books. ISBN 0-7083-1386-8.
• MacQuarrie, Alan (1993). "The Kings of Strathclyde". In A. Grant; K. Stringer. Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 10–19.