Archgallo

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for biographies. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "Archgallo" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Archgallo" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Archgallo (Welsh: Arthal map Morydd) was a legendary king of the Britons as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth.^[1] He ruled from 339BC.^[2] He was the second son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus.^[3]

Archgallo began as an evil king bent on destroying the nobles and undoing all his brother had done. He gained a fortune of stolen wealth from the nobles. This caused the nobles to rebel and they deposed Archgallo and replaced him with his brother, Elidurus.^[3]

Archgallo wandered throughout the neighbouring countries for five years without friends or a home until he returned to Britain. While he was wandering in the Forests of Calaterium, his brother, Elidurus, found him and embraced him as a brother. He took him to a nearby city and hid him in a room. For a year, Elidurus faked sickness and required all the nobles of the kingdom to visit him. Once there, Elidurus demanded each pledge their allegiance to Archgallo again or they would be beheaded. They complied and after the last had pledged, Elidurus took Archgallo to York and removed his own crown and reinstated Archgallo's kingship. This story is told by William Wordsworth in his poem Artegal and Elidure.^[3]

During Archgallo's second reign, he ruled peacefully and faithfully never reverting to his former ways. For ten years he gave the deserved their proper wealth and administered justice throughout the realm. Finally, he fell into a coma and died. He was buried in Leicester and succeeded by Elidurus. Two of Archgallo's sons would later become kings of Britain; Marganus II and Enniaunus.^[3]