Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant is a village, community and an ecclesiastical parish in the extreme north of Powys, Wales; about 9 miles west of Oswestry and 12 miles south of Llangollen, on the B4580. It lies near the foothills of the Berwyn mountains on the river Rhaeadr. At the top end of the valley is the Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall, one of the Seven Wonders of Wales in the old rhyme. One mile north of the town is the hill Moel Hen-fache. The community includes the hamlet of Llanarmon Mynydd Mawr.
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".
The Maelor is an area of north-east Wales along the border with England. It is now entirely part of Wrexham County Borough. The name Maelor is an old Welsh word: it can be translated as "land of the prince", from mael ("prince") and llawr.
A commote was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix cym- and the noun bod. The English word "commote" is derived from the Middle Welsh cymwt.
Madog ap Maredudd was the last prince of the entire Kingdom of Powys, Wales. He held for a time, the FitzAlan Lordship of Oswestry, family of the Earls of Arundel, of Arundel Castle. His daughter married Lord Rhys, Prince of Wales.
Powys Fadog was the northern portion of the former princely realm of Powys. The princes of Powys Fadog would build their royal seat at Castell Dinas Brân, and their religious center at Valle Crucis Abbey. Some of its lordships included those of Maelor, Mochnant, Glyndyfrdwy, Yale, and Bromfield and Yale. Following the division of Powys, their cousin branch, the princes of Powys Wenwynwyn, would build Powis Castle.
Gruffydd Maelor was Prince of Powys Fadog in Wales. He is known as Gruffydd Maelor I to distinguish him from his grandson, Gruffydd Maelor II, Lord of Dinas Bran.
Madog ap Gruffudd, or Madog ap Gruffudd Maelor, was Prince of Powys Fadog from 1191 to 1236 in north-east Wales, and Lord of Powys. He was the founder of Valle Crucis Abbey in the Lordship of Yale.
Ial or Yale was a commote of medieval Wales within the cantref of Maelor in the Kingdom of Powys. When the Kingdom was divided in 1160, Maelor became part of the Princely realm of Powys Fadog, and belonged to the Royal House of Mathrafal. Yale eventually merged with another commote and became the Lordship of Bromfield and Yale, later a royal lordship under the Tudors and Stuarts.
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.
Hughes of Gwerclas were a native Welsh royal family descended from prince Owain Brogyntyn the illegitimate but acknowledged son of prince Madog ap Maredudd by a daughter of the "Maer du" or "black mayor" of Rûg in Edernion. His father granted to him and his successors the Cantref of Edeyrnion and the Lordship of Dinmael. These areas were both remote frontier lands situated between Powys and the neighbouring ascendant Kingdom of Gwynedd. From the earlier part of the 12th Century both lordships usually paid homage to Gwynedd.
Owain Brogyntyn ap Madog was prince of Powys and the third and illegitimate son of king Madog ap Maredudd, the last king of a united Kingdom of Powys. He was the son of Madog by the daughter of the Maer du or "black mayor" of Rûg in Edeyrnion however some sources cite his mother as Susanna making him legitimate instead. He was the brother of Gruffydd Maelor the ancestor of Owain Glyndŵr. Presumably Owain Brogyntyn would have been raised by his mother at Rûg in Edeyrnion. He was acknowledged by his father and granted by him the lordship of Edeyrnion and also Dinmael. It is quite possible that he inherited some of these lands through his maternal grandfather, the Maer Du, which were confirmed and perhaps extended by his father the king of Powys. At some point he also came into possession of Castle Brogyntyn on the English borders at Selattyn close to Oswestry.
The Battle of Crogen is an engagement said to have taken place in Wales during Henry II of England's summer 1165 campaign against an alliance of Welsh kingdoms led by King of Gwynedd, Owain Gwynedd. Later Welsh chronicles recorded that a detachment of Welsh troops inflicted a number of casualties on the Anglo-Norman army in the Ceiriog Valley; Henry subsequently abandoned the campaign after an attempt to cross the Berwyn Mountains was thwarted by severe weather.
Arwystli was a cantref in mid Wales in the Middle Ages, located in the headland of the River Severn. It was chiefly associated with the Kingdom of Powys, but was heavily disputed between Powys, Gwynedd, and the Norman Marcher Lords for hundreds of years, and was the scene of many skirmishes between those groups. Like many other cantrefs and subdivisions, it was divided up by the Laws in Wales Acts in the 16th century.
Cyfeiliog was a medieval commote in the cantref of Cynan of the Kingdom of Powys. Cynan also contained the commote of Mawddwy. Other sources refer to Cyfeiliog as a cantref in its own right, possibly as a result of Cynan's being renamed for the largest commote within it.
Owain Fychan ap Madog was styled Lord of Mechain Is Coed and one of the sons of Madog ap Maredudd. His mother was Susanna, daughter of Gruffudd ap Cynan.
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.
Penllyn was a medieval cantref originally in the Kingdom of Powys but annexed to the Kingdom of Gwynedd. It consisted of the commotes of Edeyrnion, Dinmael, Penllyn is Treweryn and Penllyn uwch Treweryn.
