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 t ...
covered the eastern part of central
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. Regions included
Builth
Builth Wells (; cy, Llanfair-ym-Muallt) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of ...
and
Gwerthrynion. It is important to note it was occupied by the Irish for a few years by Banadl (usually given as 441–447 AD), and was united with Gwynedd in 854 upon the death of Cyngen ap Cadell by his nephew Rhodri.
Rulers of Powys
Kings of Powys
House of Gwertherion
*
Gwrtheyrn (
High-King
was a Japanese girl group associated with Hello! Project. The group was created to promote Morning Musume's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Cinderella'', titled . Their sound is said to have an R&B feel.
History
The group's debut ...
Vortigern), married to
Sevira, daughter of
Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus (; cy, Macsen Wledig ; died 8 August 388) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian in 383 through negotiation with emperor Theodosius I.
He was made emperor in B ...
*
Cadeyern Fendigaid (c. 430–447), reputed to be the eldest son of
Gwrtheyrn, blessed by
Saint Germanus
*
Cadell Ddyrnllwg
Cadell Ddyrnllwg (Welsh for "Cadell of the Gleaming Hilt"; born c. AD 430) was a mid-5th century King of Powys.
Cadell appears to have been driven out of his father Cadeyrn's kingdom by Irish pirates during the chaos of the Saxon insurrection i ...
(c. 447–460)
*
Rhyddfedd Frych
Rhyddfedd Frych (435? -?), sometimes called Rhyddfedd ap Categern was, according to the genealogical lists, a late 5th century Welsh ruler.
The name of his father, Categern, has led some scholars to identify him as the son of Cadeyern Fendigaid ...
(c. 480)
*
Cyngen Glodrydd (c. 500)
*
Pasgen ap Cyngen (c. 530)
*
Morgan ap Pasgen (c. 540)
*
Brochwel Ysgithrog
Brochwel son of Cyngen ( cy, Brochwel ap Cyngen, died c. 560), better known as Brochwel Ysgrithrog, was a king of Powys in eastern Wales. The unusual epithet ''Ysgithrog'' has been translated as "of the canine teeth", "the fanged" or "of the tusk" ...
(c. 550)
*
Cynan Garwyn Cynan Garwyn was king of Powys in the north-east and east of Wales, who flourished in the second half of the 6th century. Little reliable information exists which can be used to reconstruct the background and career of the historical figure. Availa ...
(?–610)
*
Selyf ap Cynan
Selyf ap Cynan or Selyf Sarffgadau (died 616) appears in Old Welsh genealogies as an early 7th-century King of Powys, the son of Cynan Garwyn.
His name is a Welsh form of Solomon, appearing in the oldest genealogies as Selim. He reputedly bore ...
(610–613)
*
Manwgan ap Selyf
Manwgan ap Selyf was an early 7th-century King of Powys, the son of Selyf Sarffgadau.
One theory asserts that when Manwgan ap Selyf came to the throne in 613 he was a young boy, which led to an invasion of Powys by Eluadd ap Glast (alias Eiludd P ...
(613)
*
Eiludd Powys
Eiludd Powys was an early 7th-century King of Powys.
He was likely the son or younger brother of Selyf "Sarffgadau" ap Cynan Garwyn. It is not known which he is as there are two accounts one in Jesus College Ms. 20 that makes him the son of Sel ...
(613–?)
*
Beli ap Eiludd (c. 655)
*
Gwylog ap Beli (695?–725)
*
Elisedd ap Gwylog
Elisedd ap Gwylog (died c. 755), also known as Elise, was king of Powys in eastern Wales, son of Gwylog ap Beli.
Little has been preserved in the historical records about Elisedd, who was an ancestor of Brochwel Ysgithrog. He appears to have recl ...
(725–755?)
*
Brochfael ap Elisedd (755?–773)
*
Cadell ap Brochfael
Cadell ap Brochfael ( en, Cadell, son of Brochfael; died c. 808), also known as Cadell Powys, was an 8th- and 9th-century king of Powys.
He was the son of Brochfael ap Elisedd, whom he succeeded to the throne c. 773.
The '' Annals of Wales'' m ...
(773–808)
*
Cyngen ap Cadell
Cyngen ap Cadell (English: Cyngen son of Cadell) or also (Concenn), was King of Powys from 808 until his death in 854 during a pilgrimage to Rome.
Biography
Cyngen was of the line of Brochwel Ysgithrog, and, after a long reign as king of Powys, h ...
(808–854) - throne usurped by Rhodri Mawr of Gwynedd and exiled to Rome where the family endured
House of Manaw
*
Rhodri Mawr
Rhodri ap Merfyn ( 820 – 873/877/878), popularly known as Rhodri the Great ( cy, Rhodri Mawr), succeeded his father, Merfyn Frych, as King of Gwynedd in 844. Rhodri annexed Powys c. 856 and Seisyllwg c. 871. He is called "King of the Britons" ...
(854–878) of Gwynedd, allegedly inheriting through his mother Nest, according to some manuscripts. Other manuscripts (eg. Mostyn manuscript 117) have his mother as Essyllt ferch Cynan (thought to be the daughter of
Cynan Dindaethwy __NOTOC__
Cynan Dindaethwy ( en, "Cynan of Dindaethwy") or Cynan ap Rhodri ("Cynan son of Rhodri") was a king of Gwynedd (reigned c. 798 – c. 816) in Wales in the Early Middle Ages. Cynan was the son of Rhodri Molwynog and ...
of Gwynedd).
*
Merfyn ap Rhodri
Merfyn ap Rhodri (died ) was a late 9th-century Aberffraw prince of Gwynedd. He is sometimes credited with ruling Powys after the death of his father Rhodri the Great in AD 878. In the accounts where he is credited as a king, he is reported to ...
(878–900) (house of Aberffraw)
*
Llywelyn ap Merfyn (900–942) (house of Aberffraw)
*
Hywel Dda
Hywel Dda, sometimes anglicised as Howel the Good, or Hywel ap Cadell (died 949/950) was a king of Deheubarth who eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllwg in 920 and shortly thereafter established Deheubart ...
(942–950) (house of Dinefwr usurped from the Aberffraw line of Manaw)
*
Owain ap Hywel (950–986) (
Mathrafal
Mathrafal near Welshpool, in Powys, Mid Wales, was the seat of the Kings and Princes of Powys probably from the 9th century until its destruction in 1213 by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
Location
On the banks of the River Banwy, just above its c ...
dynasty,
cadet branch
In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, tit ...
of the
House of Dinefwr
The Royal House of Dinefwr was a cadet branch of the Royal House of Gwynedd, founded by King Cadell ap Rhodri (reign 872–909), son of Rhodri the Great. Their ancestor, Cunedda Wledig, born in late Roman Britain, was a Sub-Roman warlord who f ...
)
*
Maredudd ap Owain
Maredudd ab Owain (died ) was a 10th-century king in Wales of the High Middle Ages. A member of the House of Dinefwr, his patrimony was the kingdom of Deheubarth comprising the southern realms of Dyfed, Ceredigion, and Brycheiniog. Upon the d ...
(986–999)
*
Llywelyn ap Seisyll
Llywelyn ap Seisyll (died 1023) was an 11th-century King of Gwynedd, Powys and Deheubarth.
Llywelyn was the son of Seisyll, a man of whom little is known. Llewelyn first appears on record in 1018, the year he defeated and killed Aeddan ap Blegy ...
(999–1023), husband of Angharad, daughter of Maredudd ab Owain
*
Rhydderch ap Iestyn Rhydderch ap Iestyn (died 1033) was king of Gwent and Morgannwg in south Wales and later took over the kingdom of Deheubarth and controlled Powys.
Comparatively little has been recorded about Rhydderch ab Iestyn in the annals. He appears to have o ...
(1023–1033)
*
Iago ap Idwal (1033–1039)
*
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn ( 5 August 1063) 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-gre ...
, invader and prince of Gwynedd (1039–1063)
Mathrafal Princes of Powys
*
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn ( owl, Bledẏnt uab Kẏn ỽẏn; AD 1075), sometimes spelled Blethyn, was an 11th-century Welsh king. Harold Godwinson and Tostig Godwinson installed him and his brother, Rhiwallon, as the co-rulers of Gwynedd ...
(1063–1075)
*
Iorwerth ap Bleddyn Iorwerth ap Bleddyn (1053–1111) was a prince of Powys in eastern Wales.
Iorwerth was the son of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn who was king of both Powys and Gwynedd. When Bleddyn was killed in 1075, Powys was divided between three of his sons, Iorwerth, Cad ...
(1075–1103 (part))
*
Cadwgan ap Bleddyn
Cadwgan ap Bleddyn (1051–1111) was a prince of the Kingdom of Powys ( cy, Teyrnas Powys) in north eastern Wales.
Cadwgan (possibly born 1060) was the second son of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn who was king of both Kingdom of Powys and Gwynedd.
The Anglo ...
(1075–1111 (part))
*
Owain ap Cadwgan
Owain ap Cadwgan (died 1116) was a prince of Powys in eastern Wales. He is best known for his abduction of Nest, wife of Gerald of Windsor.
Owain was the eldest son of Cadwgan ap Bleddyn, prince of part of Powys. He is first recorded in 1106, when ...
(1111–1116 (part))
*
Maredudd ap Bleddyn
Maredudd ap Bleddyn (1047 – 9 February 1132) was a prince and later King of Powys in eastern Wales.
Maredudd was the son of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn who was King of both Powys and Gwynedd. When Bleddyn was killed in 1075, Powys was divided between thr ...
(1116–1132)
*
Madog ap Maredudd
Madog ap Maredudd ( wlm, Madawg mab Maredud, ; died 1160) was the last prince of the entire Kingdom of Powys, Wales and for a time held the Fitzalan Lordship of Oswestry.
Madog was the son of King Maredudd ap Bleddyn and grandson of King Bledd ...
(1132–1160)
From 1160 Powys was split into two parts. The southern part was later called
Powys Wenwynwyn
Powys Wenwynwyn or Powys Cyfeiliog was a Welsh kingdom which existed during the high Middle Ages. The realm was the southern portion of the former princely state of Powys which split following the death of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys in 1160: the ...
after
Gwenwynwyn ab Owain "Cyfeiliog" ap Madog, while the northern part was called
Powys Fadog
Powys Fadog (English: ''Lower Powys'' or ''Madog's Powys'') was the northern portion of the former princely realm of Powys, which split in two following the death of Madog ap Maredudd in 1160. The realm was divided under Welsh law, with Madog's ...
after
Madog ap Gruffydd "Maelor" ap Madog.
Family tree
{{chart/end
See also
*
List of rulers of Wales
Prior to the Conquest of Wales, completed in 1282, Wales consisted of a number of independent kingdoms, the most important being Gwynedd, Powys, Deheubarth (originally Ceredigion, Seisyllwg and Dyfed) and Morgannwg ( Glywysing and Gwent). ...
External links
* The History Files
Kingdoms of the Cymru Celts – Powys
Powys, list of monarchs of
List