Until 1974, Montgomeryshire was an administrative county in mid Wales, later classed as one of the thirteen historic counties of Wales. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, which in turn was named after one of William the Conqueror's main counsellors, Roger de Montgomerie, who was the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury.
A cantref was a medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law.
Powys Fadog was the northern portion of the former princely realm of Powys.
Gwent was a medieval Welsh kingdom, lying between the Rivers Wye and Usk. It existed from the end of Roman rule in Britain in about the 5th century until the Norman invasion of Wales in the 11th century. Along with its neighbour Glywyssing, it seems to have had a great deal of cultural continuity with the earlier Silures, keeping their own courts and diocese separate from the rest of Wales until their conquest by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. Although it recovered its independence after his death in 1063, Gwent was the first of the Welsh kingdoms to be overrun following the Norman conquest.
The Kingdom of Dyfed, one of several Welsh petty kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century sub-Roman Britain in southwest Wales, was based on the former territory of the Demetae. The medieval Irish narrative, The Expulsion of the Déisi, attributing the kingdom's founding to Eochaid, son of Artchorp, being forced across the Irish sea, in the 5th century; his descendants founding the line of the kings of Dyfed, down to "Tualodor mac Rígin". The Normans invaded Wales, and by 1138 incorporated Dyfed into a new shire called Pembrokeshire after the Norman castle built in the Cantref of Penfro and under the rule of the Marcher Earl of Pembroke.
Llywarch ap Llywelyn was an important medieval Welsh poet. He is also known by his bardic name, "Prydydd y Moch".
The Hundred of Cilgerran was a hundred in the north of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was formed by the Act of Union of 1536 from the commote of the pre-Norman cantref of Emlyn included by the Act in Pembrokeshire and is otherwise called in Welsh Emlyn Is Cuch, with the addition of the Cemais parish of Llantood. The area of the commote was about 106 km2: that of the hundred was 113 km2.
Cemais Is Nyfer was a mediaeval commote in the Dyfed cantref of Cemais, Wales. It consisted of the territory between the rivers Nyfer and Teifi, and comprised the parishes of Eglwyswrw, Monington, St Dogmaels, Llanfair-Nant-Gwyn, Llantood, Moylgrove and Bayvil, and parts of Nevern and Meline in what is now Pembrokeshire. Its area was about 100 km2 and its civil and ecclesiastical headquarters were at Nevern.
Cemais Uwch Nyfer was a mediaeval Welsh commote in the Dyfed cantref of Cemais, in what is now Pembrokeshire. It consisted of the territory between the Afon Nyfer and Fishguard, and its civil headquarters were at Newport.
The Cantref of Penfro was one of the seven cantrefi of the Kingdom of Dyfed. It subsequently became part of Deheubarth in around 950. It consisted of the long peninsular part of Dyfed south of the Eastern Cleddau and the Daugleddau estuary, and bordered on its landward side by Cantref Gwarthaf. The name, meaning "land's end", derives from Pen and "fro". Its area was approximately 140 square miles (360 km2).
Cantref Gwarthaf was the largest of the seven cantrefi of Dyfed in southwest Wales. It subsequently became part of Deheubarth in around 950. It consisted of the southeastern part of Dyfed containing most of the basin of the River Tâf, parts of modern-day Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire.
Mechain was a medieval cantref in the Kingdom of Powys. This cantref has also been referred to as Y Fyrnwy (Vyrnwy). Mechain may owe its name to the River Cain which flows through it on its way to join the River Vyrnwy; 'Me' or 'Mach' may signify meadows or plain, in which case Mechain would mean "Meadows of the Cain". It corresponds to the later hundred of Llanfyllin.
Cwmdauddwr is a village in Powys, Wales. It is contiguous with the town of Rhayader on the opposite side of the River Wye. The village is located on the B4518 road linking Rhayader with the Elan Valley Reservoirs.
Caerwedros was a medieval commote in the south of the Kingdom of Ceredigion. With Mebwynion, Gwynionydd and Is Coed, Caerwedros was one of three cantref Is Aeron commotes.
Townships in Montgomeryshire are divisions of the ancient parishes of the county of Montgomery. In 1539 townships were grouped together in Hundreds. The Townships which were recognised were based on the older Welsh divisions of Tref, or plural Trefi, which had formed the Welsh administrative districts of the Commote. Not all of the former Tref were recognised and some smaller trefi were amalgamated into larger townships. A township was allocated to a particular parish—that is, one of the [civil] parishes of Wales, the predecessors to today's communities of Wales. The townships were recognised as administrative districts, rather than the parishes.
Caereinion was a medieval cantref in the Kingdom of Powys, or possibly it was a commote (cwmwd) within a cantref called Llŷs Wynaf. It was divided into the manors of Uwch Coed and Is Coed.
Ystrad Marchell was a medieval commote in the cantref of Ystlyg in the Kingdom of Powys. It roughly coincides with the parish of Welshpool.
Y Gorddwr was a medieval commote in the cantref of Ystlyg in the Kingdom of Powys. It was on the eastern side of the River Severn bordering England, on the west it was bordered by two of the other commotes of Ystlyg - Deuddwr in the north and Ystrad Marchell in the south. Its Welsh name could mean "the upper water"; gor- "upper-", dŵr "water".
Deuddwr was a medieval commote (cwmwd) in the cantref of Ystlyg in the Kingdom of Powys.
