Glywysing

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Kingdom of Glywysing
Teyrnas Glywysing
5th century–c. 1055
(intermittently in union with Gwent/in Morgannwg)
Medieval Wales.JPG
Medieval kingdoms of Wales, showing Glywysing in the south
Capital Cardiff
Common languages Old Welsh
Religion
Celtic Christianity
GovernmentMonarchy
Historical era Middle Ages
 Formed after Roman withdrawal from Britain
Late 5th century
 Various unions with Gwent
6th century–c. 745
 Union in Morgannwg
(under Morgan Hen ab Owain)
942–974
 Union as part of Wales
(under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Wales)
1055–1063
 Union in Morgannwg
1063–1074
 Becomes Morgannwg
(under Caradog ap Gruffydd)
1075
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Roman SPQR banner.svg Roman Britain
Blank.png Kingdom of Morgannwg
Kingdom of Morgannwg Blank.png

Glywysing was, from the sub-Roman period to the Early Middle Ages, a petty kingdom in south-east Wales. Its people were descended from the Iron Age tribe of the Silures, and frequently in union with Gwent, merging to form Morgannwg.

Contents

Name and early history

Glywysing is said to be named after Glywys, a real or legendary early monarch, whose name may continue that of the Romano-British *Glevenses, the territory and citizens of Glevum (modern Gloucester). [1] According to 12th-century sources, after the death of Glywys, the kingdom was divided into three cantrefs named for his sons: [2] Penychen, Gwynllwg, and Gorfynydd. These were typically ruled together by the head of the family and sometimes treated as appenage subkingdoms.

Location

The borders changed over time, but it is generally thought that its lands originally lay between the Afon Llwyd and either the River Loughor, or the River Neath. At times they expanded eastwards in union with both Gwent and Ergyng. The Gower had either returned or was inherited from Dyfed to Glywysing by 928 prior to the reign of King Morgan the Old. [3] Today the area of Glywysing is known as Glamorgan.

Morgannwg

First under King Morgan the Generous (fl. c.630-730) until the end of the reign of his descendant Ithel (d. c. 745), and later again under King Morgan the Old (r. 942-74), the kingdom merged with Gwent and changed its name to Morgannwg or Gwlad Morgan in honour of the Morgan Kings. [3] [4] During such unions Glywysing and Gwent seem to have been together or occasional sub-kingdoms or principalities of the Kingdom of Morgannwg. [3]

After the death of Morgan the Old, Gwent and Glywysing were separated again from 974 to 1055, but Glywysing alone was often referred to as Morgannwg. Both areas were conquered by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in about 1055, subsequently King of Wales, but on Gruffydd's death in 1063, Glywysing was regained by the native lineage under Caradog ap Gruffudd. [3] Morgannwg, the union between Gwent and Glywysing, was reconstituted. How this occurred is unclear; possibly the Kings of Glywysing were also Kings of Morgannwg and the Kings of Gwent were semi-independent under-Kings, or vice versa. [3]

Norman conquest

With Gwent increasingly overrun by the Norman conquest of Wales, the last native King of Morgannwyg and Glywysing was Iestyn ap Gwrgan (1081–1090), who was subsequently deposed by Robert Fitzhamon. Iestyn's sons became Lords of Afan, while Owain ap Caradog ap Gruffudd contented himself with Gwynllwg and founded the line of the Lords of Caerleon. [3]

The name Morgannwg is still used in Wales for the former Marcher Lordship and county of Glamorgan (itself a corruption of the term Gwlad Morgan) and its successor counties

List of rulers

Glywysing

Glywysing is ruled by the Kings of Gwent until Rhys ap Ithel

Iestyn was the last ruler of an independent Morgannwg, which was thereafter in the possession of the Normans and became the lordship of Glamorgan

Related Research Articles

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was King of Wales from 1055 to 1063. He had previously been King of Gwynedd and Powys in 1039. He was the son of King Llywelyn ap Seisyll and Angharad daughter of Maredudd ab Owain, and the great-great-grandson of Hywel Dda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deheubarth</span> Term for the medieval realms of southern Wales

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Powys</span> 400s–1160 kingdom in east-central Wales

The Kingdom of Powys was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. It very roughly covered the northern two-thirds of the modern county of Powys and part of today's English West Midlands. More precisely, and based on the Romano-British tribal lands of the Ordovices in the west and the Cornovii in the east, its boundaries originally extended from the Cambrian Mountains in the west to include the modern West Midlands region of England in the east. The fertile river valleys of the Severn and Tern are found here, and this region is referred to in later Welsh literature as "the Paradise of Powys".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhys ap Tewdwr</span>

Rhys ap Tewdwr was a king of Deheubarth in Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great. He was born in the area which is now Carmarthenshire and died at the battle of Brecon in April 1093.

Gruffydd ap Rhydderch was a king of Gwent and part of the kingdom of Morgannwg in south Wales and later king of Deheubarth.

Caradog ap Gruffydd was a Prince of Gwent in south-east Wales in the time of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and the Norman conquest, who reunified his family's inheritance of Morgannwg and made repeated attempts to reunite southern Wales by claiming the inheritance of the Kingdom of Deheubarth.

Rhydderch ap Iestyn was king of Gwent and Morgannwg in south Wales and later took over the kingdom of Deheubarth and controlled Powys.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Gwent</span> Kingdom in South Wales

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.

Morgannwg was a medieval Welsh kingdom formed via the merger of the kingdoms of Glywysing and Gwent.

This article is about the particular significance of the century 1001–1100 to Wales and its people.

Penychen was a possible minor kingdom of early medieval Wales and later a cantref of the Kingdom of Morgannwg. Penychen was one of three cantrefi that made up the kingdom of Glywysing, lying between the rivers Taff and Thaw, the other two being Gwynllwg and Gorfynydd. According to tradition, these cantrefi were created on the death of Glywys, the first king of Glywysing, when the kingdom was divided between his three sons: Pawl, Gwynllyw and Mechwyn. But our knowledge of the early history of the kingdom is very uncertain, being mainly sourced from medieval documents and traditional pedigrees.

Rhys ap Rhydderch was the brother of Gruffydd ap Rhydderch, king of Deheubarth from 1044 to 1055. Both were the sons of Rhydderch ab Iestyn, who had been able to take over the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth from 1023 to 1033.

Owain ap Hywel was a king of Glywysing and Gwent in southeastern Wales.

Meurig ab Ithel or Idwal was an 8th-century king of part of Glywysing in southern Wales.

Morgan ap Hywel was Lord of Gwynllwg in Wales from about 1215 until his death in 1245, and for many years laid claim to the lordship of Caerleon, which had been seized by the Earl of Pembroke. For most of his life he was at peace with the English, at a time when there were periodic revolts by Welsh leaders against their rule. He may have participated in a crusade between 1227 and 1231.

Owain ap Caradog, known as Owain ‘Wan’ was the son and heir of King Caradog ap Gruffydd of Morgannwg, who contested the Kingdom of Deheubarth and was killed in the Battle of Mynydd Carn in 1081. Owain contented himself by ruling the former sub-kingdom and later Lordship of Gwynllwg, while the title of King of Morgannwg went to his relative Iestyn ap Gwrgant, who was subsequently deposed c. 1090 as part of the Norman conquest of Wales. In spite of this Owain continued to hold onto territories between the Rhymney and Usk, and may, probably with some struggle, have held onto some or all of Caerleon, where in 1086 the Domesday book records that a small colony of eight carucates of land was held by Turstin FitzRolf, standard bearer to William the Conqueror at Hastings, under the overlordship of William d'Ecouis, a magnate with lands in Herefordshire, Norfolk and other counties. Also listed on the manor were three Welshmen with as many ploughs and carucates, who continued their Welsh customs.

Morgan ab Owain was a Welsh king and Lord of Caerleon. He was a son of Owain Wan and thus a grandson of Caradog ap Gruffydd, the last Welsh king of Gwent.

Iorwerth ab Owain was a Welsh prince of Gwynllŵg and Lord of Caerleon.

References

  1. Koch, John T. Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia ABC-CLIO Ltd (15 March 2006) ISBN   978-1-85109-440-0 p. 1312
  2. Carver, Martin The cross goes north: processes of conversion in northern Europe, AD 300–1300 Boydell Press; New edition (26 Jan 2006) ISBN   978-1-84383-125-9 p. 125
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ashley, Mike (1998) The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens (Carol & Graf)
  4. Lloyd, John E. A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest, Vol. 1, p. 274. Longmans, Green, & Co. (London), 1911. Accessed 22 Feb 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kessler, P. L. "Kingdoms of Cymru Celts - Cernyw / Glywyssing". The History Files. Retrieved 3 October 2022.

53°14′N4°1′W / 53.233°N 4.017°W / 53.233; -4.017