kingdom · British Isles

Kingdom of Rhos

450 CE – 900 CE (approx.) · capital Deganwy

Early kingdom of the north Welsh coast east of the Conwy, guarded by the fortress of Deganwy, which became a cantref of Gwynedd.

Origins

Rhos lay between the River Conwy and the Clwydian hills, on the coast of modern Conwy county. Welsh tradition linked it with the sons of Cunedda, and in the 6th century Gildas denounced Cuneglasus, often identified as a king of Rhos, as the charioteer of the Bear's Stronghold, possibly the hillfort of Bryn Euryn near Colwyn Bay.

Rule and society

The fortress of Deganwy, on twin hills above the Conwy estuary, was associated with Maelgwn Gwynedd and with the rulers of Rhos, and excavation has found imported Mediterranean pottery of the 5th and 6th centuries. The kingdom was closely tied to the Kingdom of Gwynedd and its kings were probably a junior branch of Maelgwn's dynasty.

Decline and legacy

In 822, according to the Annales Cambriae, the Mercians destroyed Deganwy and took control of Powys. Rhos was later firmly part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd as a cantref of the Perfeddwlad, contested with English kings, until the conquest of 1283.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

More states of British Isles →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Rhos. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-rhos
MLA
“Kingdom of Rhos.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-rhos. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Rhos.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-rhos.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Rhos’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-rhos (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻