The Kingdom of Ceredigion was one of several

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century

post-Roman Britain Sub-Roman Britain is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the end of Roman rule and the Anglo-Saxon settlement. The term was originally used to describe archaeological remains found in 5th- and 6th-century AD sites that hin ...

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay ( cy, Bae Ceredigion) is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geograp ...

to the west and the surrounding hilly geography made it difficult for foreign invaders to conquer. Its area corresponded roughly to that of the county of

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

.Lloyd, J.E., ''A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest'' Ceredigion transparently means "the people of Ceredig."Ceredigion, A Wealth of History

History

Tradition found in the work of

Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...

, a 9th-century Welsh chronicler, traces Ceredigion's foundation to Ceredig, son of

Cunedda Cunedda ap Edern, also called Cunedda ''Wledig'' ( 5th century), was an important early Welsh people, Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the Royal dynasty of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd, one of the very oldest of western Europe. Name The n ...

.Davies, John, ''A History of Wales According to Nennius, Cunedda migrated with his sons and followers from the

Hen Ogledd Yr Hen Ogledd (), in English the Old North, is the historical region which is now Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands that was inhabited by the Brittonic people of sub-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages. Its population spo ...

(southern Scotland) in the 5th century. In pre-Roman, and possibly Roman times, a part of southern

was in the territory of the

Demetae The Demetae were a Celtic people of Iron Age and Roman period, who inhabited modern Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales, and gave their name to the county of Dyfed. Classical references They are mentioned in Ptolemy's ''Geograp ...

and possibly part of that of the Ordovices. In post-Roman times, however, there is no evidence that the Kingdom of Dyfed included any part of Ceredigion. Modern Ceredigion corresponds almost exactly to the ancient kingdom of Ceredigion. This name is derived from an adjective Cereticianus, itself a derivative of the proper name Cereticus (Cere- dig), known as the son of Cunedda. Though modern Ceredigion corresponds very closely to the old kingdom of Ceredigion, yet it would appear that, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, certain places in Carmarthenshire, situated in the Vale of Cothi, in Cantref Mawr, and far south of the county boundary of the

Teifi , name_etymology = , image = File:Llyn Teifi - geograph.org.uk - 41773.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Llyn Teifi, the source of the Teifi , map = , map_size = , map_caption ...

, were sometimes spoken of as being in Cardiganshire (Ceredigion). The ''Chronicon'' of

Adam of Usk Adam of Usk ( cy, Adda o Frynbuga, c. 1352–1430) was a Welsh priest, canonist, and late medieval historian and chronicler. His writings were hostile to King Richard II of England. Patronage Born at Usk in what is now Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy) ...

states that the cwmwd of Caio (properly Cynwyl Caio) was situated "''in Comitatu di Cardikan''." In the Charter of

Talley Abbey Talley Abbey ( cy, Abaty Talyllychau) is a ruined former monastery of the Premonstratensians ("White Canons") in the village of Talley in Carmarthenshire, Wales, six miles (10 km) north of the market town of Llandeilo. It lies in the River ...

, Brechfa is also spoken of as "''Lanteilau Brechfa apud Keredigaun''." These statements may be simply mistakes, or they may be echoes of the fact that the kings of Ceredigion conquered Y

Cantref Mawr Cantref Mawr was a cantref in south-west Wales. It was of strategic importance in medieval Wales as the location of the main seat of the princes of Deheubarth at Dinefwr. ''Cantref Mawr'' means "The Great Cantref". Each cantref in medieval Wale ...

in, the eighth century. The same authority on Welsh topography also deals with the statement given in the Life of St. Carannog, that the

River Gwaun A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wa ...

, which flows into the sea at Abergwaun (

Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two pa ...

), formed the southern boundary of the kingdom, and shows that in an older version of the same, the Teifi is represented more correctly as the southern boundary. The substitution of the Gwaun for the Teifi, is due to the inclusion, in 1291, of the deaneries of Cemaes and Emlyn with Ceredigion, in the

Archdeaconry of Cardigan This is a list of archdeacons of Cardigan. The Archdeacon of Cardigan is the priest in charge of the archdeaconry of Cardigan, an administrative division of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The archdeaconry comprises the five deaneries o ...

History

References

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading