Benda was the son of King Dagread and the king of Kaedwen. He led the negotiations with Gedovius at Lan Exeter. Under the treaty signed there, later known as the First Treaty of Lan Exeter, official documents relating to Caingorn and Malleore would reference Benda as the king until his death.
He was also the father of Elen, Deirdre, and possibly had an illegitimate daughter, Aideen, who ran away to Kovir. He was greeted as "grandfather" by Gemma when he and Radovid III arrived for the treaty negotiations.
At one point he was willing to risk relations and break diplomatic ties when he saw how badly Elen was being treated by her husband, Corbett, the king of Cintra. However, his daughter stayed in Cintra's court for her son's sake.
He was also the one to break the news to Margrave Edmund Thyssen and King Videmont of Aedirn about Baldwin's birth (their mutual grandson) as their children, Esteril Thyssen and Agnes of Aedirn, had eloped together against their parents' wishes.
Notes
- As Benda appears to take part in several different events that stretch over several family lines (Gedovius and later Gedovius' great-grandson, Esteril) it's possible Benda was the name for several different Kaedwenian kings. He could just be very old though.
- In Crossroads of Ravens, it's indicated that by 1230, only one Benda has ruled and it was many years ago (as nothing is stated to note a separate Benda, like the First, the younger, etc.)
- The Kovir War, during which Benda ruled Kaedwen according to The Tower of the Swallow, appears to have happened during the reign of Dagread as indicated in Crossroads of Ravens, which is an apparent contradiction regardless of whether Benda is assumed to be the name of one or two kings.
- One possible explanation is a period of coregency of both father and son, similar to how King of Poland Sigismund I the Old had his son crowned as king and the two reigned together for 19 years.
- When Benda actually reigns after Dagread is further contradicted in Crossroads of Ravens, as it's noted Eoin became king after Dagread died, and presumably Miodrag after him in 1222. Otherwise, this would have only left a small window open for Benda to rule, presumably after 1194 and before 1222 - a much smaller timeframe than expected given all previous information about him from the Dynastic descriptions that spanned several generations of families.
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