|
 Gwrtheyrnion
(Guorthigirniaun)
This tiny
post-Roman
region was located in central
Wales, between
Builth to the south and
Powys to the north. It seems to
have been part of Vortigern's ancestral lands, and it bears his name in its
Welsh form - Gwrtheyrnion (or Gwerthrynion, the modern spelling), which was
rendered into Latin for the Historia Brittonum as Guorthigirniaun or
Guorthegirnain (the latter is sometimes shown as ending in an 'm', but this
would never have happened. It could be a transcription error, either by
earlier clerics or modern scholars). Gwrtheyrnion's key town was Rhaeadr Gwy
(perhaps better known as Rhayader). This later formed the county town of Sir
Faesyfed (the historic country of Radnorshire).
Although detail about Vortigern is hard to come by, and is open to much
speculation, it seems likely that he became the supreme authority in
post-Roman Britain
by the second decade of the fifth century AD. Tradition states that he
subsequently devolved authority in the land of the
Pagenses (early Powys) to his sons,
handing each of them control of a portion in the form of
Gwent,
Builth and Guorthigirniaun. His
second son, Cadeyrn Fendigaid, succeeded him in the Pagenses itself, ruling
in his name during much of his lifetime. Guorthigirniaun seems to have been
governed entirely by Builth and was subject to its rule. Normally that would
suggest that the son of Vortigern who inherited it either did not survive
long or did not produce an heir to inherit his territory, but in this case
the son who held Builth was the same one who held Gwrtheyrnion.
 So
however it happened in detail, Builth's rulers were Gwrtheyrnion's rulers,
and all of them could trace their descent to Vortigern. Unfortunately
information on the region is extremely patchy. In its early days it seems
to have been regarded as a principality. By the time that charters and the
like were being signed it often appears as a cwmwd (or cymwd
in those early documents). This was a later, smaller sub-division of the
original smallest unit of territory, the cantref. The medieval
Middle Welsh form of this word, was cymwt which transferred into
English as 'commote', used to refer to a secular division of land rather
than a principality.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Edward Dawson,
from A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest,
John Edward Lloyd, 1912, from The Description of Penbrokshire (Volume
3 Issue 1 of the Cymmrodorion record series), George Owen, from the
Historia Brittonum (The History of the Britons), Nennius (J A
Giles, Ed & Trans, 1841, published as part of Six Old English
Chronicles (Henry G Bohn, London, 1848)), and from the Life of St
Germanus of Auxerre, Constantius of Lyon.) |
mid-400s |
The principality of Gwrtheyrnion seems to have been formed by now, and
possibly as early as AD 425 or so, when Vortigern is presumed to devolve
regional authority to his sons while he governs the island of Britain.
The minor kingdom of Maelienydd is also formed, although a little later.
It consists of what seems to be a cantref - a standard division
of territory - that is detached from the
Pagenses (early Powys).
Gwrtheyrnion borders it to the west and Powys surrounds it to the north,
east (truncated by Offa's Dyke about three hundred years later), and
south.
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The history of Gwrtheyrnion in central Wales prior to the early
modern period is shrouded in mist, with only a few brief
glimpses of half-seen events
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|
455 |
By
now the newly arrived
Jutish
foederati have seen how weak are the
British defences
and begin a takeover of the kingdom of
Ceint, aided by the
many older foederati settlements in key areas of the land. As the east
of the island is engulfed by the chaos of the foederati revolt, later
tradition (mostly contained within the Historia Brittonum) states that
High King Vortimer is poisoned while Vortigern flees to the province of
Guorthegirnain, so called from his own name, where he conceals himself with
his wives: but Germanus follows him with all the clergy of the
British Church, and upon
a rock prays for his sins during forty days and forty nights. Vortigern
returns to battle briefly before fleeing again and being put to death by
Ambrosius Aurelianus. |
c.455 - c.760 |
One
of the results of the messy situation in the east and the death of Vortigern
is that Gwrtheyrnion now passes to his sole surviving (legitimate) son.
Nennius states that this is 'granted' by Ambrosius Aurelianus, but it is
probably little more than a rubber stamp. Pascent governs the principality
directly from Builth, although
he has probably already exercised regional control over it from the point
at which it had first been divided from the
Pagenses. In fact, it would seem
that Pacent is already deceased by this time and that it is his son, Braciat,
who now governs Built and Gwrtheyrnion - a fine detail that may have been
lost to some chroniclers. |
