Europe · The successor kingdoms
Kingdom of Morgannwg
drawn on the map AD 540–1055
Morgannwg (modern Glamorgan) was the name adopted from the late 10th century for the kingdom of Glywysing in south-east Wales. It took its name from Morgan Hen ab Owain ("Morgan the Old," d. 974), who united Gwent and Glywysing (942–974) and in 931 submitted to Æthelstan at Hereford.
- Shown on the map
- AD 540–1055
- Peak area
- 3k km²
- Region
- Europe
Names and origin
Morgannwg (modern Glamorgan) was the name adopted from the late 10th century for the kingdom of Glywysing in south-east Wales. It took its name from Morgan Hen ab Owain ("Morgan the Old," d. 974), who united Gwent and Glywysing (942–974) and in 931 submitted to Æthelstan at Hereford.
Norman conquest
After Morgan's death the union fragmented. The last native king, Iestyn ap Gwrgant (r. c. 1081–1090/93), was deposed by the Anglo-Norman lord Robert Fitzhamon in the 1090s, who established the Lordship of Glamorgan in the lowland Vale, while Iestyn's descendants held on as Lords of Afan in the uplands. The popular tale that Iestyn invited Norman help against Rhys ap Tewdwr (via Einion ap Collwyn) and then cheated them is a late, semi-legendary embellishment; only Fitzhamon's conquest itself is securely historical.
Common questions
- What was the Kingdom of Morgannwg?
- Morgannwg (modern Glamorgan) was the name adopted from the late 10th century for the kingdom of Glywysing in south-east Wales. It took its name from Morgan Hen ab Owain ("Morgan the Old," d. 974), who united Gwent and Glywysing (942–974) and in 931 submitted to Æthelstan at Hereford.
- When is the Kingdom of Morgannwg shown on the map?
- The border data draws the Kingdom of Morgannwg AD 540–1055. 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 Morgannwg?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Kingdom of Morgannwg covered about 3,000 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 — Kingdom of Morgannwg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Morgannwg
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).
See the Kingdom of Morgannwg in its world
Open the atlas at AD 798 and every neighbour, rival and successor is on screen with it — then drag the slider and watch what happens next.
Open the map at AD 798 →