The Lay of The Land

By the time of Cadfarch [ca. 850 AD], the reigns of power had been taken by several family groups.  Family dynasty had become the "norm" and developed into larger political units.

Gwynedd, a region which took its name from the tribe of the Venedotae, had settled the area to the northwest. [Cunedda and his boys are given credit for this.]

Powys was the dynasty along the upper eastern borders of what was to become Wales.  A branch of this dynasty came to be known as Rhwny Gwy a Hafren (between Wye and Severn) which becomes one branch of my own Welsh family tree.

Eliseg, in whose memory the still-existing monument, the Eliseg Pillar, helped re-establish the claims of Powys.  It is in the valley of the Dee that Cadfarch had his family.  It would have been around the time under the rule of Rhodri Mawr (Rhodri The Great, 844-878 AD) that the family began its settlement in this area.

The drawing to the right shows a general outline of the main "kingdoms" of Wales during its early period.  The southern sections were more divided into various kingdoms, but were about to see their rise under the grandson of Rhodri Mawr.   Fighting, fighting, war, war... Cadfarch's name would describe the time.