Rhwng Gwy a Hafren

Rhwng Gwy a Hafren (meaning "between Wye and Severn") was a region of medieval Wales lying between the kingdom of Powys to the north and the kingdom of Brycheiniog to the south, on the Welsh Marches. It was bounded by the rivers Wye ("Gwy") and Severn ("Hafren"), hence its name.

History

In 1093 much of the territory was divided up between the Marcher Lords including Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury, Ralph de Mortimer, Philip de Braose and others. Norman authority suffered a serious reverse within fifty years with the emergence of Cadwallon ap Madog and his younger brother Einion Clud as rulers of Elfael and Maelienydd.

In 1165 Cadwallon and Einion Clud combined forces and marched with the rest of independent Wales to join the massed Welsh army under the leadership of Owain Gwynedd at Corwen, which humbled the army of Henry II of England. In 1175 these two brothers had journeyed to Gloucester with many of their compatriots of south Wales, as allies of the Lord Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheubarth.

Throughout the 13th Century the territory as described was gradually re-occupied by the English Marcher Lords with castle after castle being lost. Descendants of Cadwallon and Einion Clud are recorded as holdings client fortresses in the area up until the 1240s when they changed allegiance to support Llywelyn the Great and later his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. The territory was annexed by the latter in 1267 as part of the terms of the Treaty of Montgomery.

Following the defeat of the last native Prince of Wales at the hands of Edward I of England in 1282, most remaining native landowners in the area were dispossessed. The county of Radnorshire was formed out of the area under the various Tudor Government of Wales Acts in the 16th Century. Welsh language speakers formed the majority of the population until the end of the 19th Century.

uggested kingdom of Cynllibiwg

P. M. Remfry attempts to identify Rhwng Gwy a Hafren with the supposed extinct kingdom of Cynllibiwg, but his views have not found acceptance with historians in Wales. One of the earliest references to the region as 'Rhwng Gwy a Hafren' is by Giraldus Cambrensis. Remfry argues that this shows that the name of Cynllibiwg, last used in the 1090s in the Red Book of the Exchequer and Domesday Book, had been lost after the conquest of the district by Ralf de Mortimer of Wigmore Castle and William de Braose of New Radnor. Remfry further suggests that the 'kingdom' was briefly re-established in the 1170s by which time its original name had apparently been forgotten; it is certainly never referred to as 'Cynllibiwg' in medieval Welsh sources, and Remfry's theory has yet to be accepted.

References

*Remfry, P.M., "The Native Welsh Princes of Rhwng Gwy a Hafren, 1066 to 1282" [M.Phil Thesis, 1989, Aberystwyth]
*Remfry, P.M., "The Political History of Abbey Cwmhir, 1176 to 1282 and the Families of Elystan Godrydd, Mortimer and the Princes of Gwynedd" (ISBN 1-899376-47-X)
*Davies, S., "Welsh Military Institutions 633-1283" [UWP, 2003]