Creuddyn was a medieval commote

Commote

A commote , sometimes spelt in older documents as cymwd, was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix cym- and the noun bod...

 (Welsh: cwmwd) and, later, a lordship in Ceredigion

Ceredigion

Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. It was located between the rivers Ystwyth

River Ystwyth

The River Ystwyth is a river in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. Its source is a number of streams that include the Afon Diliw, located on the border of Ceredigion and Powys in the Cambrian Mountains....

 and Rheidol, and was one of the three commotes of Cantref Penweddig. The name, of Old Welsh origin, probably refers to the Pen Dinas

Pen Dinas

Pen Dinas is the name of a hill south of Aberystwyth on the coast of Ceredigion, Wales, upon which an extensive Iron Age hill fort is situated....

 hill fort

Hill fort

A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...

, anciently known as Dinas Maelor. The natural centre of the commote was Llanfihangel y Creuddyn

Llanfihangel y Creuddyn

Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, |hundred]] of Ilar, Ceredigion, West Wales, 7 miles south east from Aberystwyth, on the road to Rhayader, comprising the chapelry of Eglwys Newydd, or Llanfihangel y Creuddyn Uchaf, and the township of Llanfihangel y Creuddyn Isaf. It was also known as Lower Llanfihangel y...

 where five roads meet at the village. The name survives in the name of a rural community and church of the same name; however the modern community is much smaller than the medieval commote.

History

Several princes of Deheubarth ruled in medieval Kingdom of Ceredigion

Kingdom of Ceredigion

The Kingdom of Ceredigion was one of several Welsh kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain. Its area corresponded roughly to that of the modern county of Ceredigion. The kingdom's hilly geography made it difficult for foreign invaders to conquer. Cardigan Bay bordered to the west...

, including Creuddyn. Rhys ap Gruffydd

Rhys ap Gruffydd

Rhys ap Gruffydd or ap Gruffudd was the ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales. He is commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh Yr Arglwydd Rhys, but this title may not have been used in his lifetime...

's grandson Maelgwn Fychan (d. 1257) battled for control of the area; Gwenllian (d. 1254) died at Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn. Either Maelgwn or his grandsons Llywelyn or Rhys may have been responsible for building the large 13th century church which still stands today.