Rhosyr was the name of one of the three medieval cantrefs (meaning ''a hundred towns'') 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, 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, th ...

. It lay on the southern side of the island facing the Menai Strait which separates Anglesey from the mainland. There are indications that Rhosyr existed as far back as the 6th century and the period of St Caffo and King

Maelgwn Gwynedd Maelgwn Gwynedd ( la, Maglocunus; died c. 547Based on Phillimore's (1888) reconstruction of the dating of the ''Annales Cambriae'' (A Text).) was king of Gwynedd during the early 6th century. Surviving records suggest he held a pre-eminent position ...

. The cantref stretched inland from the Menai Strait to the tidal Maltreath estuary, controlling the dry land route through Anglesey, hence held a strategic position.Rhosyr: Its History and Topography in the Age of the Welsh Princes, pp. 8-10 The township of Rhosyr, in the south of the cantref, was of military importance for controlling access to the Menai Strait. ''Rhosyr: Its History and Topography in the Age of the Welsh Princes'', pp. 13-14

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{{reflist Cantrefs History of Anglesey

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