Brycheiniog
Encyclopedia
Brycheiniog was a small independent petty kingdom
Petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is one of a number of small kingdoms, described as minor or "petty" by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it...

 in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

 in the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...

. It often acted as a buffer state
Buffer state
A buffer state is a country lying between two rival or potentially hostile greater powers, which by its sheer existence is thought to prevent conflict between them. Buffer states, when authentically independent, typically pursue a neutralist foreign policy, which distinguishes them from satellite...

 between England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

 to the east and the powerful south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 between 1088 and 1095, though it remained Welsh
Culture of Wales
Wales has a distinctive culture including its own language, customs, holidays and music.Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red Welsh Dragon, but other national emblems include the leek and daffodil. The Welsh words for leeks and daffodils Wales has a distinctive culture including...

 in character. It was transformed into the Lordship of Brecon and was roughly coterminous with the historic county of Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire , also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, and a former administrative county.-Geography:...

. To its south was the Kingdom of Morgannwg.

The main legacy of the kingdom of Brycheiniog is etymological. It has lent its name to Brecknockshire (Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

: Sir Frycheiniog, the shire of Brycheiniog) and Brecon
Brecon
Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...

 (known as Aberhonddu in Welsh).

Origins

The kingdom of Brycheiniog was probably founded by Irish raiders in the late fifth century, very likely the Uí Liatháin
Uí Liatháin
The Uí Liatháin were an early kingdom of Munster in southern Ireland. They belonged the same kindred as the Uí Fidgenti, and the two are considered together in the earliest sources, for example The Expulsion of the Déisi...

, whose power had grown great in Wales until they were reduced by the sons of Cunedda
Cunedda
Cunedda ap Edern , was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd.-Background and life:The name Cunedda derives from the Brythonic word , meaning good hound. His genealogy is traced back to Padarn Beisrudd, which literally translates as Paternus of the...

, as reported in the Historia Brittonum. Traditionally, it was founded by (and named after) a Hiberno-Welsh prince named Brychan
Brychan
Brychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog in South Wales.-Life:Celtic hagiography tells us that Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and his wife, Marchel, heiress of the Welsh kingdom of Garthmadrun , which the couple later inherited...

 out of the old Welsh kingdom of Garth Madrun (believed to have been centred on Talgarth
Talgarth
Talgarth is a small market town and community in southern Powys , Mid Wales, with a population of 1,645. Notable buildings in the town include its 14th-century parish church and 13th century Pele Tower, located in the town centre, now home to the Tourist Information and Resource Centre...

) in the mid 5th century, though this event is shrouded in legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

. Brychan was a son of Anlach, an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 settler who had peacefully taken control of the area by marrying Marchel, the heiress of Garth Madrun. Tradition says that Brychan fathered an extremely large number of children, many becoming saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

s in Wales and Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

. Brychan's eldest son, Rhain Dremrudd, founded a dynasty which ruled the kingdom uninterrupted until the mid 7th century.

Union with Dyfed

In the 7th century, the inheritance of a woman, Ceindrych, brought the kingdom into the hands of Cloten of Dyfed and Brycheiniog
Cloten of Dyfed and Brycheiniog
Cloten was the king of Dyfed and Brycheiniog in southern Wales. Already the king of Dyfed, he married Princess Ceindrech of Brycheiniog c.650, briefly uniting the two kingdoms; they would be divided again after his son's reign....

. The union with Dyfed lasted for about a century, though parts of Brycheiniog may have been granted out as lordships for younger sons. The invasion of Seisyll of the Kingdom of Ceredigion
Kingdom of Ceredigion
The Kingdom of Ceredigion was one of several Welsh kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain. Its area corresponded roughly to that of the modern county of Ceredigion. The kingdom's hilly geography made it difficult for foreign invaders to conquer. Cardigan Bay bordered to the west...

 in the mid 8th century separated the kingdoms.

Dependency

During the year 848 the men of Brycheiniog slew King Iudhail of Gwent. In the 880s, King Elisedd of Brycheiniog was forced by the depredations of Anarawd of Gwynedd and the sons of Rhodri the Great
Rhodri the Great
Rhodri the Great was King of Gwynedd from 844 until his death. He was the first Welsh ruler to be called 'Great', and the first to rule most of present-day Wales...

 to pledge homage to Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself...

 and make his kingdom a vassal of Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...

. Such an alliance may well have been due to Viking pressure, for in the spring of 896 Brycheiniog, Gwent and Gwynllwg were devastated by the Norsemen who had wintered at Quatford near Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England, along the Severn Valley. It is split into Low Town and High Town, named on account of their elevations relative to the River Severn, which separates the upper town on the right bank from the lower on the left...

 that year. According to Asser, another reason for Elisedd seeking the protection of King Alfred was that his realm was being brought under pressure from an expansionist Gwynedd.

Brycheiniog appears to have been under the influence of both Hywel Dda
Hywel Dda
Hywel Dda , was the well-thought-of king of Deheubarth in south-west Wales, who eventually came to rule Wales from Prestatyn to Pembroke. As a descendant of Rhodri Mawr, through his father Cadell, Hywel was a member of the Dinefwr branch of the dynasty and is also named Hywel ap Cadell...

 of Deheubarth and Athelstan of England in the early tenth century. In the early summer of 916 Æthelflaed (bef.871-918), the daughter of King Alfred and widow of Earl Æthelred of Mercia (bef.865-911), invaded Brycheiniog and on 19 June stormed the royal llys in Brecenan Mere Llangorse lake
Llangorse Lake
Llangorse Lake is the largest natural lake in south Wales, and is situated in the Brecon Beacons National Park, near to the town of Brecon and the village of Llangors....

. There she captured the queen of the land and 34 others. Who was king of Brycheiniog at this time is uncertain, but Tewdwr ab Elise was certainly ruling between 927 and 929. It was therefore probably either his wife or mother who was captured. Tewdwr is found witnessing a charter at the English royal court in 934.

After Tewdwr no more kings of Brycheiniog are recorded. Brycheiniog was divided between the three sons of Gruffudd of Brycheiniog in the mid-eleventh century.

The Norman conquest

The land of Brycheiniog was conquered between 1070 and 1093. In 1070 William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford
William Fitzosbern, 1st Earl of Hereford
William FitzOsbern , Lord of Breteuil, in Normandy, was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England...

 invaded the kingdom and defeated three kings of South Wales, but no king of Brycheiniog. King Bleddyn of Brycheiniog, who was alleged to be ruling at the time of the Norman conquest and was said to have been defeated by Bernard de Neufmarché
Bernard de Neufmarché
Bernard of Neufmarché was "the first of the original conquerors of Wales." He was a minor Norman lord who rose to power in the Welsh Marches before successfully undertaking the invasion and conquest of the Kingdom of Brycheiniog between 1088 and 1095. Out of the ruins of the Welsh kingdom he...

, appears in no historical source before the fifteenth century. By 1088 Bernard de Neufmarché mentioned 'all the tithes of his lordship which he had in Brycheiniog in the woods and plains' as well as Glasbury
Glasbury
Glasbury , also known as Glasbury-on-Wye, is a village in Powys, Wales which lies at an important crossing point on the River Wye, connecting the former counties of Brecknockshire and Radnorshire. The village is just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park, north of the Black Mountains. The...

. This suggests that he already thought himself lord of Brycheiniog. In April 1093 he defeated and killed the king of Deheubarth, Rhys ap Tewdwr
Rhys ap Tewdwr
Rhys ap Tewdwr was a Prince of Deheubarth in south-west Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great...

 while he was building a castle at Brecon
Brecon
Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...

. The Welsh Annales clearly state that Rhys was killed 'by the French who were inhabiting Brycheiniog'. In other words the Normans were already living there and the kingdom had already been destroyed. The kingdom was subsumed within the lordship of Brecon
Brecon
Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...

, ruled by Bernard's descendants.

Revolt

By 1136 an opportunity arose for the Welsh to recover lands lost to the Marcher lords after Stephen de Blois had displaced his cousin Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...

 from succeeding her father to the English throne the previous year, sparking the Anarchy
The Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...

 in England. The usurpation and conflict it caused eroded central authority in England. The revolt began in south Wales, as Hywel ap Maredudd, lord of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire
Brecknockshire , also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, and a former administrative county.-Geography:...

), gathered his men and marched to Gower, defeating the Norman and English colonists there in the Battle of Llwchwr
Battle of Llwchwr
The Battle of Llwchwr was a battle fought between Welsh and Norman forces between Loughor and Swansea on New Year's Day 1136.- Background :...

. Inspired by Hywel of Brycheiniog's success, Gruffydd ap Rhys
Gruffydd ap Rhys
Gruffydd ap Rhys was Prince of Deheubarth, in Wales. His sister was the Princess Nest ferch Rhys.-Early life:Following the death of Gruffydd's father Rhys ap Tewdwr in 1093, Deheubarth was taken over by the Normans, and Gruffydd spent much of his early years in exile in Ireland.In 1113 Gruffydd...

, Prince of Deheubarth, hastened to meet with Gruffydd I of Gwynedd, his father-in-law, to enlist his aid in the revolt. However, with Gruffydd ap Rhys' absence the Normans increased their incursions into Deheubarth. Gruffydd ap Rhys' wife Gwenllian
Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd
Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd was Princess-consort of Deheubarth in Wales, and married to Gruffydd ap Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth. Gwenllian was the daughter of Gruffydd ap Cynan , Prince of Gwynedd, and a member of the princely Aberffraw family of Gwynedd. Gwenllian was the sister of Prince Owain...

, Princess of Deheubarth, gathered a host for the defense of her country.

Historical References

  • Remfry, P.M., Castell Bwlch y Dinas and the Families of Fitz Osbern, Neufmarché, Gloucester, Hereford, Braose, Fitz Herbert (ISBN 1-899376-79-8)
  • Remfry, P.M., Annales Cambriae. A Translation of Harleian 3859; PRO E.164/1; Cottonian Domitian, A 1; Exeter Cathedral Library MS. 3514 and MS Exchequer DB Neath, PRO E (ISBN 1-899376-81-X)

External links

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