Cantref

{{Short description|Medieval Welsh land division}} thumb|right|Cantrefi of Medieval Wales A '''cantref''' ({{IPAc-en|"|k|ae|n|t|r|E|v}} {{respell|KAN|trev}}; {{IPA|cy|ˈkantrɛ(v)}}; plural '''cantrefi''' or '''cantrefs'''; also rendered as ''cantred'')<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Chambers Dictionary|publisher=Chambers|year=2003|isbn=0-550-10105-5|edition=9th|chapter=cantred}}</ref> was a medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law.

==Description== Land in medieval Wales was divided into ''cantrefi'', which were themselves divided into smaller ''cymydau'' (commotes).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rees |first1=William |title=An Historical Atlas of Wales from Early to Modern Times |date=1951 |publisher=Faber & Faber}}</ref> The word ''cantref'' is derived from ''cant'' ("a hundred") and ''tref'' ("town" in modern Welsh, but formerly used for much smaller settlements). The ''cantref'' is thought to be the original unit, with the commotes being a later division. ''Cantrefi'' could vary considerably in size: most were divided into two or three commotes, but the largest, the ''Cantref Mawr'' (or "Great Cantref") in Ystrad Tywi (now in Carmarthenshire) was divided into seven commotes.

==History== [[File:Jesus-College-MS-111 00179 90r (cropped) Cantrefi a Chymydau Cymru.jpg|thumb|List of hundreds (left) and ''cantrefi'' (right) from the Red Book of Hergest pre-1285]] The antiquity of the ''cantrefi'' is demonstrated by the fact that they often mark the boundary between dialects. Some were originally kingdoms in their own right; others may have been artificial units created later.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Davies |first1=John |first2=Nigel |last2=Jenkins |first3=Menna |last3=Baines |first4=Peredur I. |last4=Lynch |title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |date=2008 |pages=113 |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6}}</ref>

Cantrefi were of particular importance in the administration of Welsh law. Each ''cantref'' had its own court, which was an assembly of the ''uchelwyr'', the main landowners of the ''cantref''. This would be presided over by the king if he happened to be present, or if he was not present, by his representative. Apart from the judges there would be a clerk, an usher and sometimes two professional pleaders. The ''cantref'' court dealt with crimes, the determination of boundaries, and inheritance. The commote court later took over many of the functions of the ''cantref'' court, and in some areas the names of the commotes are much better known than the name of the ''cantref'' of which they formed parts.

==The Cantrefi of Wales== {| class="wikitable" |- !Deheubarth!!Kingdom of Gwent!!Kingdom of Gwynedd!!Kingdom of Powys!!Morgannwg!!Rhwng Gwy a Hafren |- | *Penweddig *Is Aeron *Uwch Aeron *Cemais *Pebidiog *Rhos *Deugleddyf *Penfro *Gwarthaf *Emlyn *Y Cantref Mawr *Y Cantref Bychan *Eginog

|valign="top"| *Ergyng *Ewias *Gwent Is-coed *Gwent Uch-coed

|valign="top"| *Arllechwedd *Cemais *Aberffraw *Rhosyr *Arfon *Llŷn *Dunoding *Rhos *Rhufoniog *Dyffryn Clwyd *Tegeingl

|valign="top"| *Penllyn *Powys Fadog **Maelor **Swydd y Waun **Ystlyg *Powys Wenwynwyn **Arwystli **Cedewain **Cyfeiliog **Caereinion **Mechain **Mochnant

|valign="top"| *Gorfynydd *Gwynllwg *Gŵyr *Penychen *Senghenydd

|valign="top"| *Gwrtheyrnion *Elfael *Maelienydd *Buellt |}

==Lost Cantrefi== {{see also|Cantre'r Gwaelod|Cantref Coch}} {{multiple image |perrow = 2 |total_width = 400 |align = right |direction = |image1 = Submerged forest at Ynyslas, Ceredigion.jpg |image2 = Symonds Yat Rock View.JPG |footer = The remains of an ancient submerged forest along the western coast of Wales (long associated with Cantre'r Gwaelod) and the banks of the river Wye, the ancient western boundary of Cantref Coch. |footer_align = left }}

''Cantre'r Gwaelod'' is an ancient sunken kingdom said to have occupied a tract of fertile land lying in Cardigan Bay. First mentioned in the Black Book of Carmarthen, the cantref is a recurring topic in Welsh literature and Welsh mythology. In one version of the story, Seithenyn, a prince of the kingdom, is a notorious drunk and it was through his negligence that the sea swept through the open floodgates, flooding the land forever.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gwyndaf |first=Robin|title=Welsh folk tales/Chwedlau gwerin Cymru |year=1989|publisher=National Museum Wales/Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru|location=Cardiff|isbn=978-0-7200-0326-0|edition=2|chapter=34. Cantre'r Gwaelod, Dyfed}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cantre'r Gwaelod – The Lost Land of Wales|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/wales/w_mid/article_1.shtml|work=Legacies - UK History Local to You|publisher=BBC|access-date=4 January 2012}}</ref>

''Cantref Coch'' is associated with the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, and defined as the land between the River Severn and the River Wye. It was traditionally part of the kingdom of Ergyng but would, in later times, be recorded as part of the kingdoms of Gwent and Morgannwg. The Cantref was annexed into the Kingdom of England in 926 by king Æthelstan.{{sfnm|1a1=Stenton|1y=1971|1pp=340-41|2a1=Foot|2y=2011|2p=163}}

==Citations== {{Reflist}}

==References== {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book | last = Foot | first = Sarah | title=Æthelstan: The First King of England|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven, Connecticut| year = 2011 |isbn= 978-0-300-12535-1}} *{{Citation |last= Fulton |first=Helen|title=Mapping the Marches of Wales |publisher=The University of Bristol |publication-date=2018|publication-place=Bristol |url=https://mappingwelshmarches.ac.uk/}} *{{Citation |year=2005 |editor-last=Koch|editor-first=John T.|title=Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-Clio|publication-date=2006|isbn=978-1-85109-440-0}} *{{Citation |last=Lloyd |first=John Edward|author-link=John Edward Lloyd |year=1911 |title=A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest |volume=I |edition=2nd |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co|publication-date=1912|publication-place=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NYwNAAAAIAAJ}} *{{Citation |last= RCAHMW |author-link=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales|title=Mapping the Historic Boundaries of Wales: Commotes and Cantrefs |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |publication-date=2017|publication-place=Aberystwyth |url=https://rcahmw.gov.uk/mapping-the-historic-boundaries-of-wales-commotes-and-cantrefs}} * {{cite book|author-link=Frank Stenton|last=Stenton|first= Frank|year=1971|title=Anglo-Saxon England|publisher= Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, UK|edition=3rd|isbn=978-0-19-280139-5}} {{Refend}}

==Further study== *{{cite book |translator-last=Owen |translator-first=Aneurin |editor-last=Kocourek|editor-first=Albert|editor2-last=Wigmore|editor2-first=John H. |contribution=Laws of Howel Dda|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l7UcAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA519 |title=Sources of Ancient and Primitive Law |publisher=Little, Brown, and Company|year=1915|place=Boston |pages=519–553}} *{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Hubert |authorlink=Hubert Lewis (jurist) |editor-last=Lloyd|editor-first=John Edward|editor-link=John Edward Lloyd |title=The Ancient Laws of Wales |publisher=Elliot Stock|year=1889|place=London |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientlawswale00lewigoog}} *{{cite book|editor-last=Probert|editor-first=William|title=The Ancient Laws of Cambria |publisher=E. Williams|year=1823|place=London |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientlawscamb00probgoog}} *{{cite book |first=G. Melville |last=Richards |title=Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units, Medieval and Modern |place=Cardiff |publisher=University of Wales Press |year=1969}} *{{cite book |last=Seebohm |first=Frederic|author-link=Frederic Seebohm (historian) |orig-year=1895 |edition=2nd |title=The Tribal System in Wales |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co|year=1904|place=London |url=https://archive.org/details/tribalsysteminw01seebgoog}}

Cantref