Cyfeiliog

Cyfeiliog (Welsh pronunciation: [kəˈvɛiljɔɡ]) was a medieval commote in the cantref of Cynan of the Kingdom of Powys.

[1] Other sources refer to Cyfeiliog as a cantref in its own right, possibly as a result of Cynan being renamed for the largest commote within it.

It bordered the cantrefi of Penllyn in the north, Caereinion in the east and Arwystli in the south-east.

[3] After the death of Madog ap Maredudd – the last prince of the whole of Powys – and his eldest son and heir in 1160, the kingdom was divided up between his surviving sons Gruffydd Maelor, Owain Fychan and Owain Brogyntyn, his nephew Owain Cyfeiliog and his half-brother Iorwerth Goch.

He joined the Welsh alliance under Owain Gwynedd to resist the invasion of Henry II in 1165, but he changed his allegiance later and gradually gained control over a much larger area in the south of Powys, in particular by acquiring the territories of Iorwerth Goch and Owain Fychan.