Cedewain (or Cydewain) was a medieval

cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divided into ''cantrefi'', which were ...

in the

Kingdom of Powys The Kingdom of Powys ( cy, Teyrnas Powys; la, Regnum Poysiae) 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 ...

. It possibly consisted of the

commote A commote (Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')''Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales ...

s (''cymydau'') of Cynan, Hafren and Uwch Hanes. Other sources give the commotes as Cedewain, Eginlle and Ceri. It lay at the south of the kingdom, bordering with the cantrefi of

Caereinion Caereinion (fort of Einion) 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. It lay towards the south of the ki ...

and

Ystlyg Ystlyg ( en, possibly curve or open country) was a medieval cantref in the Kingdom of Powys. It lay at the east of the kingdom on the border with England. It consisted of the commotes (''cymydau'') of Deuddwr in the north, Ystrad Marchell in the ...

to the north across the river Rhiw, and the cantrefi of

Arwystli 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 hundre ...

(subject to disputes between Powys and

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

) and

Maelienydd Maelienydd, sometimes spelt Maeliennydd, was a cantref and lordship in east central Wales covering the area from the River Teme to Radnor Forest and the area around Llandrindod Wells. The area, which is mainly upland, is now in Powys. During the M ...

(originally an independent kingdom) to the south. Its easterly border, which was the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

, faced England.

Bettws Cedewain Bettws Cedewain ( cy, Betws Cedewain), also known as Bettws Cedewen, is a small village and community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. It lies in a sheltered valley on the banks of the River Bechan, some north of Newtown, on the B4389 road. T ...

takes its name from the cantref. The lords of Cedewain resided at

Dolforwyn Castle Dolforwyn Castle ( cy, Castell Dolforwyn) is a Welsh medieval castle above the village of Abermule, Powys. The fortification was established by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Gwynedd in the late 13th century. It is sited on a wooded ridge comm ...

. Maredudd ap Rhobert was Lord of Cedewain and Chief Counsellor of Wales when he died in 1244 after joining the religious order at

Strata Florida Abbey Strata Florida Abbey ( cy, Abaty Ystrad Fflur) () is a former Cistercian abbey situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The abbey was founded in 1164. is a Latinisation of the Welsh ; 'Valley of ...

. Knighton was attacked by 'the lords of Ceri and Cydewain' in 1260, but the following year saw the death of Owain ap Maredudd, Lord of Cydewain, nephew of Maredudd ap Rhobert. In early 1278, his daughter Angharad claimed Cydewain in litigation as Owain's heir, stating that Owain's enemy,

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...

, had taken possession of it immediately after her father's death.Llywelyn ap Gruffudd: Prince of Wales, page 183, J. Beverley Smith, University of Wales Press In 1330-1331 Maredudd ap Madog and Owain ap Madog petitioned

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

for a judgement on the ownership of Cedewain, which was then under the king's control. They claimed to be the rightful heirs to the cantref and that it was seized from their ancestors by the Marcher Lord family of the Mortimers. They said that Roger Mortimer had allowed them to keep some land between the River Severn and Ceri (the northern commote of Maelienydd), but

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and ...

had seized that too.

References

{{reflist Cantrefs History of Powys