Europe · The successor kingdoms
Kingdom of Powys
drawn on the map AD 540–859, 878–899, 911–946, 960–1039, 1085–1093, 1099–1168
Powys occupied east-central Wales, bordering Mercia. Its early kings include Cynan Garwyn (6th century) and Selyf ap Cynan (d. 613 at the Battle of Chester).
- Shown on the map
- AD 540–859, 878–899, 911–946, 960–1039, 1085–1093, 1099–1168 (6 periods)
- Peak area
- 6k km²
- Region
- Europe
Names and extent
Powys occupied east-central Wales, bordering Mercia. Its early kings include Cynan Garwyn (6th century) and Selyf ap Cynan (d. 613 at the Battle of Chester). The name is first attested in 828. The Pillar of Eliseg (erected c. 850 near Llangollen by King Cyngen in honour of his great-grandfather Elise/Eliseg) is a key monument, its inscription claiming descent from Vortigern and Magnus Maximus and commemorating the recovery of Powys from the English.
Kings and division
Cyngen (d. 855, the last of the old line) died on pilgrimage in Rome; Powys was then absorbed by the Second Dynasty of Gwynedd before 886. It was re-established by Maredudd ap Bleddyn c. 1124 and reached a late peak under Madog ap Maredudd (1132–1160), the last ruler of a united Powys, who took part in the Battle of Lincoln (1141). On Madog's death in 1160, and the near-simultaneous killing of his heir Llywelyn, the kingdom was permanently divided into a northern and a southern portion.
Common questions
- What was the Kingdom of Powys?
- Powys occupied east-central Wales, bordering Mercia. Its early kings include Cynan Garwyn (6th century) and Selyf ap Cynan (d. 613 at the Battle of Chester).
- When is the Kingdom of Powys shown on the map?
- The border data draws the Kingdom of Powys AD 540–859, 878–899, 911–946, 960–1039, 1085–1093, 1099–1168, in 6 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 Powys?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Kingdom of Powys covered about 6,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
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 — Powys en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powys
This entry was last updated .
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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