Powys Fadog

Powys Fadog, or Northern Powys, was the northern portion of the Kingdom of Powys after that kingdom was divided in 1160 on the death of Prince Madog ap Maredudd. Under Welsh inheritance custom the realm was split between Madog's nephew Owain Cyfeiliog, who received the south, and Madog's son Gruffydd Maelor I, who received the north. Gruffydd's share included the cantref of Maelor and the commote of Yale, and he later added Nanheudwy, Cynllaith, Glyndyfrdwy and Mochnant. The northern realm became known as Powys Fadog, meaning Madog's Powys, after Madog ap Gruffudd, who ruled from 1191 to 1236. Its princes had their seat at Castell Dinas Brân and their religious centre at Valle Crucis Abbey. Powys Fadog balanced between the rising power of Gwynedd and the English crown, shifting alliances as pressure mounted. In the final Anglo-Welsh war of 1277 Madog II was forced to submit to Edward I, and the principality was partitioned and absorbed into the English Marcher lordships. Its line ended with the conquest of Wales, but its name and castle remain part of the Welsh borderland.