Kingdom of Gwent

Gwent was a medieval Welsh kingdom lying between the rivers Wye and Usk, in the country of the later Monmouthshire. It arose after the end of Roman rule in Britain, in about the fifth century, as a successor state to the pre-Roman Silures, and it took its name from the civitas capital Venta Silurum, the town that became Caerwent, the fort of Venta. Old Welsh genealogy names Caradoc Freichfras as founder, and tradition moved his court from Caerwent to Portskewett in about the sixth century. Saints such as Dubricius and Cadoc christianised the area from the fifth century on. Kings like Tewdrig, mortally wounded repelling a pagan Saxon invasion, and his son Meurig held the throne, at times united by marriage with the neighbouring Glywysing; from about 942 the union was called Morgannwg under Morgan Hen, who had submitted to Athelstan of England as long ago as 931. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn ended the kingdom's separate existence in 1055, and although Caradog ap Gruffudd restored it after 1063, the Normans overran Gwent once they had invaded Britain. By Caradog's death in 1081 the land was divided into the marcher lordships of Abergavenny, Caerleon, Monmouth, Striguil and Usk, whose stone castles still stud the county.