Rhufoniog was a small sub-kingdom of the Dark Ages

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, and later a cantref in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

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 ...

Geography

The cantref Rhos lay between it and the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

. Sometimes the two cantrefi were linked together as "Rhos and Rhufeiniog", which roughly corresponds to the territory of the old county of Denbighshire. The rivers Elwy, Clwyd and Clywedog formed a natural border to the north and east. As today, the countryside was bleak and isolated. There were three commotes in Rhufoniog, namely Upper Aled, Lower Aled and River Aled as a border between them, and the commote Ceinmerch (also known as 'Cymeirch' or 'Ystrad') in the north-east between the River Lliwen and the River Clywedog.

History

The early history of the cantref is unclear. According to tradition, it was ruled by its eponymous founder Rhufon, the third son of the first King of Gwynedd, Cunedda, and his direct descendants from the year 445 until the year 540 when it was probably absorbed back into direct control of Gwynedd proper. It formed part of the territory of the Deceangli during the Roman occupation of Wales. Later, much of the land belonged to the bishops of Bangor and Llanelwy. By the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

Denbigh Denbigh ( ; ) is a market town and a community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. It was the original county town of the Denbighshire (historic), historic county of Denbighshire created in 1536. Denbigh's Welsh name () translates to ...

was its capital. The cantref was given to the prince Dafydd ap Gruffudd in 1277, then on his death five years later, it was given to Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln. It was merged with the cantref Rhos to form the Lordship of Denbigh. Today most of the area now lies in Denbighshire, with the western parts in Conwy.

References

* The History Files
Post-Roman Celtic Kingdoms: Rhufoniog
{{coord, 52.950, -3.275, display=title, region:GB_scale:20000 Cantrefs Commotes of Gwynedd Kingdoms of Wales 5th century in Wales 6th century in Wales 445 establishments States and territories established in the 440s 540 disestablishments States and territories disestablished in the 6th century

Geography

History

See also

References