Aberffraw was one of the three 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 wer ...

s on the island of

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

, north

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 ...

, in the

Kingdom of Gwynedd The Kingdom of Gwynedd (Medieval Latin: ; Middle Welsh: ) was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. Based in northwest Wales, ...

. It lay on the western side of the island on

Caernarfon Bay Caernarfon Bay (occasionally Caernarvon Bay) is an inlet of the Irish Sea defined by the Llŷn peninsula and Anglesey. The gentle coastline surrounding it is home to villages including Nefyn, Pistyll, Trefor, Llithfaen , and Clynnog Fawr on ...

. Its administrative centre was

Aberffraw Aberffraw is a village and community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey ( cy, Ynys Môn), in Wales, by the west bank of the Afon Ffraw (Ffraw River). The community includes Soar and Dothan. Located near the A4080 and the neares ...

, ancient seat of the Princes of Gwynedd. The cantref consisted of the two

cwmwd 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 W ...

s of Llifon and

Malltraeth Malltraeth (origin: ''Mall'' (corrupt, blasted, desolate, + ''Traeth'' (beach))) is a small village in the southwest of Anglesey, in the community of Bodorgan. It is now at the end of a large bay, which used to extend much further inland, alm ...

See also