Kingdom of Gwent

Origins

Gwent took its name from Venta Silurum, Caerwent, the Roman capital of the Silures. After Roman rule ended a kingdom formed in the land between the Usk and the Wye, with traditions of a founder named Caradog Freichfras. Its kings were often the same as those of the Kingdom of Glywysing, the two realms passing between branches of one dynasty.

Rule and society

The Llandaff charters record grants by its kings to churches and show a landscape of royal estates and small monasteries. Brochfael ap Meurig submitted to Alfred of Wessex, according to Asser. The kingdom lay on the English border, and its rulers alternately fought and allied with the Mercians and later the English kings, while the fertile Usk valley and coastal levels provided its wealth.

Decline and legacy

Gruffudd ap Llywelyn seized Gwent in the 1050s. After the Norman Conquest William FitzOsbern built Chepstow Castle from 1067 and pushed west. Its last king, Caradog ap Gruffudd, was killed at the battle of Mynydd Carn in 1081, and Gwent became Norman marcher lordships, later Monmouthshire.