Kingdom of Powys

Kingdom of Powys
Teyrnas Powys
5th century–1160
Banner of the Mathrafal House of Powys Coat of arms
Anthem Unbennaeth Prydain "The Monarchy of Britain"
Medieval kingdoms of Wales.
Capital		Caer Guricon, Pengwern, Mathrafal, Welshpool
Languages		Welsh
Religion		Celtic Christianity
Government		Monarchy
King
•	6th century	Brochwel Ysgithrog
•	d. 616	Selyf ap Cynan
•	d. 755	Elisedd ap Gwylog
•	1063 - 1075	Bleddyn ap Cynfyn
•	1116 - 1132	Maredudd ap Bleddyn
•	1132 - 1160	Madog ap Maredudd
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	end of Roman rule in Britain	5th century
•	Division (Between Fadog and Wenwynwyn)	1160
Currency		ceiniog cyfreith & ceiniog cwta
Preceded by Succeeded by sub-Roman Britain Powys Wenwynwyn Powys Fadog
Demonym: Powyssi; Powysian ^

The Kingdom of Powys was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Based on the Romano-British tribal lands of the Ordovices in the west and the Cornovii in the east, its boundaries originally extended from the Cambrian Mountains in the west to include the modern West Midlands region of England in the east. The fertile river valleys of the Severn and Tern are found here, and this region is referred to in later Welsh literature as "the Paradise of Powys".

The name Powys is thought to derive from Latin pagus 'the countryside' and pagenses 'dwellers in the countryside', also the origins of French "pays" and English "peasant". During the Roman Empire, this region was organised into a Roman province, with the capital at Viroconium Cornoviorum (modern Wroxeter), the fourth-largest Roman city in Britain. An entry in the Annales Cambriae concerning the death of King Cadell ap Brochfael says that the land later called Powys was originally known as Ternyllwg.

Throughout the Early Middle Ages, Powys was ruled by the Gwerthrynion dynasty, a family claiming descent jointly from the marriage of Vortigern and Princess Sevira, the daughter of Magnus Maximus. Archaeological evidence has shown that, unusually for the post-Roman period, Viroconium Cornoviorum survived as an urban centre well into the 6th century and thus could have been the Powys capital. The Historia Brittonum, written around AD 828, records the town as Caer Guricon, one of his "28 British Towns" of Roman Britain. In the following centuries, the Powys eastern border was encroached upon by English settlers from the emerging Anglian territory of Mercia. This was a gradual process, and English control in the West Midlands was uncertain until the late 8th century.