Powys Wenwynwyn

Powys Wenwynwyn, also called Southern Powys, was a Welsh lordship of the central Middle Ages. It took shape in 1160 after the death of Madog ap Maredudd and the killing of his heir Llywelyn, when the former kingdom of Powys was divided: the northern portion passed to Gruffydd Maelor and became Powys Fadog, while the southern portion under Owain Cyfeiliog was later named after his son Gwenwynwyn ab Owain. The realm lay in the upper Severn valley and the Welsh Marches, and its rulers balanced between the princes of Gwynedd and the kings of England. Gwenwynwyn seized Arwystli in 1197, lost his lands to Llywelyn the Great in 1212, and was restored in 1215, when he made Welshpool his new seat; defeated again in 1216, he fled to England and died there. His son Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn submitted to Henry III in 1241 and later regained the lordship. In 1283 Owain ap Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn surrendered the principality to Edward I at the Parliament of Shrewsbury and received it back as a free baron of England, ending its independent existence; the date is uncertain because his father lived until 1286.