The Kingdom of Rheinwg () was a Brittonic kingdom in wales, which is often thought to have been a union of the kingdoms of

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales, covering the modern counties Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. It is mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed w ...

and

Brycheiniog Brycheiniog was an independent kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans ...

Guy, B. (2019) Rheinwg: The Lost Kingdom of South Wales

History

Rheinwg emerged during the early medieval period as a territorial designation for the expanded

kingdom of Dyfed The Kingdom of Dyfed (), one of several Welsh petty kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century sub-Roman Britain in southwest Wales, was based on the former territory of the Demetae (modern Welsh ''Dyfed''). The royal line was founded by Irish ...

, which incorporated

by the 8th century. The union originated under

Cloten of Dyfed and Brycheiniog Cloten was the king of Dyfed and Brycheiniog in Southern Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wal ...

(fl. c. 650 CE), who married Ceindrych, heiress of Brycheiniog, consolidating both regions under a single dynasty. This union persisted until the early 8th century, when

Rhain ap Cadwgan Rhain ap Cadwgan (; died ) was an 8th-century kings of Dyfed, king of Kingdom of Dyfed, Dyfed and Brycheiniog in Wales of the Early Middle Ages. He succeeded his father Cadwgan, who succeeded his father Caten ap Cloten of Dyfed and Brycheiniog, ...

(d. c. 740) ruled the combined realm. The kingdom’s territorial integrity was challenged by Seisyll of Ceredigion, who annexed

Ystrad Tywi Ystrad Tywi (, ''Valley of the river Towy'') is a region of southwest Wales situated on both banks of the River Towy (), it contained places such as Cedweli, Carnwyllion, Loughor, Llandeilo, and Gwyr (although this is disputed). Although ...

(a region of Dyfed) c. 710 CE. The remaining territories of Dyfed and Brycheiniog were subsequently termed Rheinwg, likely named after Rhain ap Cadwgan. By the 12th century, Rheinwg’s geographic scope had become obscure, with later scholars misinterpreting its boundaries. According to the

Annales Cambriae The (Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later ...

Rheinwg was devastated by

Offa of Mercia Offa ( 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of ...

in 797.https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Annals_of_Wales_A , year 796

Kings of Rheinwg

* Tewdws ap Rhain *

Cynan Garwyn Cynan Garwyn was king of Powys in the north-east and east of Wales, who flourished in the second half of the 6th century. Little reliable information exists which can be used to reconstruct the background and career of the historical figure. Availa ...

Citations

References

Bartrum, P.C. (1993). A Welsh Classical Dictionary : People in History and Legend up to about A.D. 1000. The National Library of Wales. Bromwich, R. (2014). Trioedd Ynys Prydein. 4th ed. University of Wales Press, pp.75–76, 162, 508–509. Davies, J. (2007). A History of Wales. London: Penguin, pp.3-5. Green, E.T. (1911). Meeting at Gogerddan. Transactions and archaeological record, Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society, 1(1), pp.24–26. Guy, B. (2019) Rheinwg: The Lost Kingdom of South Wales (https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/api/core/bitstreams/d538ef2f-383d-4ca0-99f2-0327ed90f27f/content) Lloyd, Sir John Edward (1912). https://archive.org/details/ahistorywalesfr00lloygoog ''Bartrum, Peter C.'
A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about A.D.1000
National Library of Wales, 1993. p.633. Cymmrodor : — Cymmrodorion Society., 1892. — P. 141. Phillimore, E. (1888–1897). Notes on Welsh historical texts. Y Cymmrodor, 9–12 Medieval history of Wales Kingdoms of Wales Dyfed

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Former subdivisions of Wales

{{Wales-hist-stub