When is the Kingdom of Gwynedd shown on the map?

The border data draws the Kingdom of Gwynedd AD 540–921, 960–1093, 1099–1284, in 3 separate periods. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.

How large was the Kingdom of Gwynedd?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Kingdom of Gwynedd covered about 23,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Europe · The successor kingdoms

Kingdom of Gwynedd

drawn on the map AD 540–921, 960–1093, 1099–1284

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Shown on the map: AD 540–921, 960–1093, 1099–1284 (3 periods)
Peak area: 23k km²
Region: Europe

Names and origin

Gwynedd (Latin Venedotia) was the pre-eminent kingdom of north-west Wales, its "chief court" at Aberffraw on Anglesey. Its foundation legend attributes it to Cunedda, said in the Historia Brittonum to have migrated from Manaw Gododdin (around the Firth of Forth) with his sons to expel Irish settlers, 146 years before Maelgwn's reign. Modern scholarship treats this migration story with great caution: the account is 9th-century, no contemporary or archaeological evidence supports a northern folk-migration, and the fact that Cunedda's "sons" are eponyms of later Gwynedd provinces suggests the genealogy was constructed to legitimise the dynasty and unify Roman and native traditions. The first securely attested king is Maelgwn Gwynedd (fl. c. 520–547), denounced by Gildas.

Rulers and high points

Cadwallon ap Cadfan allied with Penda and killed Edwin of Northumbria at Hatfield Chase (633) before his own death (634). Rhodri Mawr ("the Great," d. 878) united much of Wales. The kingdom peaked under the House of Aberffraw in the 13th century: Llywelyn ab Iorwerth ("Llywelyn the Great," d. 1240) dominated Wales, and his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was recognised as Prince of Wales by the Treaty of Montgomery (1267). Conflict with Edward I led to the Treaty of Aberconwy (1277) and then the Edwardian conquest of 1282–83: Llywelyn was killed on 11 December 1282; his brother Dafydd ap Gruffudd continued resistance until captured and executed (hanged, drawn and quartered) at Shrewsbury in 1283. The Statute of Rhuddlan (1284) reorganised the conquered lands into shire counties under English administration while permitting some Welsh legal custom.

Significance

Gwynedd was the last bastion of Welsh independence; its fall in 1282–84 ended native Welsh princely rule, commemorated later in the myth of the "last prince" and the Glyndŵr rising of 1400–15.

Common questions

What was the Kingdom of Gwynedd?: Gwynedd (Latin Venedotia) was the pre-eminent kingdom of north-west Wales, its "chief court" at Aberffraw on Anglesey. Its foundation legend attributes it to Cunedda, said in the Historia Brittonum to have migrated from Manaw Gododdin (around the Firth of Forth) with his sons to expel Irish settlers, 146 years before Maelgwn's reign.
When is the Kingdom of Gwynedd shown on the map?: The border data draws the Kingdom of Gwynedd AD 540–921, 960–1093, 1099–1284, in 3 separate periods. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
How large was the Kingdom of Gwynedd?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Kingdom of Gwynedd covered about 23,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Who ruled the Kingdom of Gwynedd?: Cadwallon ap Cadfan allied with Penda and killed Edwin of Northumbria at Hatfield Chase (633) before his own death (634). Rhodri Mawr ("the Great," d. 878) united much of Wales.
How did the Kingdom of Gwynedd end?: Gwynedd was the last bastion of Welsh independence; its fall in 1282–84 ended native Welsh princely rule, commemorated later in the myth of the "last prince" and the Glyndŵr rising of 1400–15.

Sources

This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each kingdom as the primary basis, with Encyclopædia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, national heritage bodies (Historic Environment Wales and Scotland, the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust), museum sources and the Dictionary of Irish Biography, read against the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Bede and the Irish annals with their own biases. The article this entry is anchored on:

Wikipedia — Kingdom of Gwynedd en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Gwynedd

This entry was last updated 27 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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