Kingdom of Deheubarth Teyrnas Deheubarth (Welsh) | |||||||||||
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| 920–1197 | |||||||||||
| Anthem: Unbennaeth Prydain "The Monarchy of Britain"[1][2][3] | |||||||||||
 Medieval kingdoms of Wales. | |||||||||||
| Capital | Dinefwr | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Old Welsh | ||||||||||
| Government | monarchy | ||||||||||
• 920–950 | Hywel Dda | ||||||||||
• 1081 | Rhys ap Tewdwr | ||||||||||
• 1155–1197 | Rhys ap Gruffydd | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||
• Established | 920 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1197 | ||||||||||
| Currency | ceiniog cyfreith & ceiniog cwta | ||||||||||
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| Today part of | |||||||||||
Deheubarth (Welsh pronunciation:[dɛˈhəɨbarθ];lit. 'Right-hand Part', thus 'the South')[4] was a regional name for therealms ofsouth Wales, particularly as opposed toGwynedd (Latin:Venedotia). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under theHouse of Dinefwr, but that Deheubarth itself was not considered a proper kingdom on the model of Gwynedd,Powys, orDyfed[5] is shown by its rendering inLatin asdextralis pars or asBritonnes dexterales ("the Southern Britons") and not as a named land.[6] In the oldest British writers,Deheubarth was used forall of modern Wales to distinguish it fromHen Ogledd (Y Gogledd), the northern lands whenceCunedda originated.[7]
Deheubarth was united around 920 byHywel Dda out of the territories ofSeisyllwg andDyfed, which had come into his possession. Later on, theKingdom of Brycheiniog was also added.Caerleon was previously the principal court of the area, but Hywel's dynasty fortified and built up a new base atDinefwr, nearLlandeilo, giving them their name.
After the high-water mark set by Hywel, Dinefwr was repeatedly overrun. First, by the Welsh of the north and east: byLlywelyn ap Seisyll of Gwynedd in 1018; byRhydderch ab Iestyn ofMorgannwg in 1023; byGruffydd ap Llywelyn of Gwynedd in 1041 and 1043. In 1075,Rhys ab Owain and the noblemen ofYstrad Tywi succeeded in killing their lordBleddyn ap Cynfyn.[8] Although Rhys was quickly overrun by Gwynedd andGwent, his cousinRhys ap Tewdwr – through his marriage into Bleddyn's family and through battle – reestablished his dynasty's hegemony over south Wales just in time for the second wave of conquest: a prolongedNorman invasion under theMarcher Lords. In 1093, Rhys was killed in unknown circumstances while resisting their expansion intoBrycheiniog and his sonGruffydd was briefly thrown into exile.
Following the death ofHenry I, in 1136 Gruffydd formed an alliance withGwynedd for the purpose of a revolt against Norman incursions. He took part inOwain Gwynedd andCadwaladr ap Gruffydd's victory over the Normans atCrug Mawr. The newly liberated region ofCeredigion, though, was not returned to his family but annexed by Owain.
The long and capable rule of Gruffydd's son theLord Rhys – and the civil wars that followed Owain's death in Gwynedd – briefly permitted the South to reassert the hegemony Hywel Dda had enjoyed two centuries before. On his death in 1197, though, Rhys redivided his kingdom among his several sons and none of them ever again rivalled his power. By the timeLlywelyn the Great won the wars in Gwynedd, in the first half of the 13th century, lords in Deheubarth merely appear among his clients.
Following theconquest of Wales by Edward I, the South was divided into thehistoric counties ofCardiganshire,Carmarthenshire andPembrokeshire by theStatute of Rhuddlan.
In the arena of the church,Sulien was the leader of the monastic community atLlanbadarn Fawr in Ceredigion. Born ca. 1030, he becameBishop of St David's in 1073 and again in 1079/80. Both of his sons followed him into the service of the church. At this time the prohibition against the marriage of clerics was not yet established. His sons produced a number of manuscripts and original Latin and vernacular poems. They were very active in the ecclesiastical and political life of Deheubarth. One son, Rhygyfarch (Latin:Ricemarchus) of Llanbadarn Fawr, wrote theLife ofSaint David and another, Ieuan, was a skilful scribe and illuminator. He copied some of the works ofAugustine of Hippo and may have written theLife of St. Padarn.
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The kingdom of Deheubarth was formed by the union of the kingdoms of Ceredigion, Seisyllwg and Dyfed. Ceredigion was absorbed into Seisyllwg and Dyfed was merged with Seisyllwg to form Deheubarth in 909.
House Manaw
Deheubarth was in the possession of theNormans from 1093 to 1155
From 1234 to 1283, Deheubarth was subject to the princes of Gwynedd
Lloyd history of Wales.
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51°52′36″N4°01′06″W / 51.8768°N 4.0184°W /51.8768; -4.0184
