Gwent, kingdom of
Gwent, kingdom of. A post-Roman kingdom situated between the rivers Wye and Usk that took its name from the Roman town of Caerwent, and lasted until Norman incursions in the late 11th cent., though it had been incorporated with Glywysing in the kingdom of Morgannwg from the 8th cent. From 1070 the Norman conquerors quickly created several marcher lordships in more accessible parts; native dynasties survived elsewhere, even acknowledging the overlordship of the lord Rhys of Deheubarth and, in the 13th cent., of the princes of Gwynedd. The new county of Monmouth (1536) was old Gwent together with the marcher lordship of Newport (formerly Gwynllwg); it took its name from one of the larger lordships and survived until 1974, when Gwent reappeared with only minor border adjustments.
Ralph Alan Griffiths
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Gwent, kingdom of
