The
Kingdom of Dyfed was a
sub-RomanSub-Roman Britain is a term derived from archaeologists' label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity. "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the potsherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a higher...
and
early medievalThe Early Middle Ages, or Dark Ages, is a period in the history of Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It lasted from about AD 500 to 1000. The period featured raiding, migration, and conquest by Huns, Germanic peoples, Arabs, Vikings, Hungarians and others. There was frequent...
kingdom in
south-west WalesSouth Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
.
Dyfed, or in its
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
form
Demetia, was one of the ancient kingdoms of
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
prior to the
Norman ConquestThe Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman conquest of England. It was not undertaken with the fervor and intentionality of the invasion of England, and, as such, a specific date is difficult to pin down; nonetheless, it can be said that the invasion gradually played itself out...
.
The
Kingdom of Dyfed was a
sub-RomanSub-Roman Britain is a term derived from archaeologists' label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity. "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the potsherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a higher...
and
early medievalThe Early Middle Ages, or Dark Ages, is a period in the history of Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It lasted from about AD 500 to 1000. The period featured raiding, migration, and conquest by Huns, Germanic peoples, Arabs, Vikings, Hungarians and others. There was frequent...
kingdom in
south-west WalesSouth Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
.
Dyfed, or in its
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
form
Demetia, was one of the ancient kingdoms of
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
prior to the
Norman ConquestThe Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman conquest of England. It was not undertaken with the fervor and intentionality of the invasion of England, and, as such, a specific date is difficult to pin down; nonetheless, it can be said that the invasion gradually played itself out...
. It succeeded to the former
RomanThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
administrative
civitasIn the history of the Roman Empire, the Latin term civitas referred to the condition of Roman citizenship. It was also used to describe a type of settlement....
of the
DemetaeThe Demetae were a Celtic people of Iron Age Britain who inhabited modern Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales, and gave their name to the county of Dyfed.They are mentioned in Ptolemy's Geographia, as being west of the Silures...
tribe. It is thought to originally have occupied the area bounded by the rivers
TeifiThe River Teifi is a river in Ceredigion, Wales, flowing into the sea below Cardigan town. The catchment of the river is estimated to be 1,008 square kilometres yielding an average flow at Glan Teifi of 31.026 m³/s. The maximum recorded flow was 269.7 m³/s on December 17 1965...
, Gwili and
TywiWith a total length of 121 km the River Towy is the longest river flowing entirely within Wales, and is noted for its trout and salmon fishing....
, although it may have stretched as far as the
BrycheiniogBrycheiniog was a small independent kingdom of South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the powerful south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans between 1088 and 1095, though it remained...
border. This included
PembrokeshirePembrokeshire is a county in the southwest of Wales.-Geography:Pembrokeshire is a maritime county, bordered by the sea on three sides, by Ceredigion to the north east and by Carmarthenshire to the east...
and the western part of
CarmarthenshireCarmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. Its three largest towns are Carmarthen, Llanelli and Ammanford...
including the town of
CarmarthenCarmarthen is a community and the county town of Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy and lays claim to being the oldest town in Wales. In 2001, the combined population of the town's three wards was 13,760....
. It consisted of at least seven
cantrefA Cantref was a medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law.Land in medieval Wales was divided into cantrefi, which were themselves divided into smaller cymydau . The name "cantref" is derived from "Cant" and "tref"...
i:
Cemaisthumb|200px|right|Ancient Dyfed showing the cantref of Cemais and its commotesthumb|200px|right|Pembrokeshire showing the hundred of CemaisCemais was a cantref of Dyfed, and now part of Pembrokeshire, Wales...
,
Deugleddyfthumb|200px|right|Ancient [[Kingdom of Dyfed|Dyfed]] showing Deugleddyf Cantref and its "commotes"thumb|200px|right|Pembrokeshire showing Dungleddy Hundred...
,
EmlynEmlyn was one of the seven cantrefi of Dyfed, an ancient district of Wales. It subsequently became part of Deheubarth in around 950. It consisted of the northern part of Dyfed bordering on the River Teifi...
,
Cantref Gwarthafthumb|250 px|right|Location of the Cantref GwarthafCantref Gwarthaf was the largest of the seven cantrefi of Dyfed. It subsequently became part of Deheubarth in around 950. It consisted of the southeastern part of Dyfed containing most of the basin of the River Tâf.The name means "upper-most...
,
Pebidiogthumb|250px|right|The cantref of Pebidiog in ancient DyfedThe Hundred of Dewisland was a hundred in the north of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was formed by the Act of Union of 1536 and was essentially identical to the pre-Norman cantref of Pebidiog: one of the seven cantrefs of Dyfed. It means...
,
Penfrothumb|250 px|right|Location of the cantref of Penfro within ancient DyfedPenfro was one of the seven cantrefi of Dyfed. It subsequently became part of Deheubarth in around 950. It consisted of the long peninsular part of Dyfed south of the Eastern Cleddau and the Daugleddau estuary, and bordered...
and
RhosThe Hundred of Roose was a hundred in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was formed by the Act of Union of 1536 and was essentially identical to the pre-Norman cantref of Rhos. It derives its Welsh name from its position nearly surrounded by water, bounded east by the tidal Western Cleddau, south by...
. Its area was about 2284 km
2. During the 'Age of the Saints', Dyfed was said to have seven bishops: presumably one for each cantref. Later the kingdom expanded to additionally cover
Ystrad TywiYstrad Tywi is an area of south-west Wales situated on the banks of the Tywi river as it approaches the sea to join the Bristol Channel at Carmarthen. Although Ystrad Tywi was never a kingdom itself, it was a valuable territory and was fought over by the various kings of Dyfed, Deheubarth,...
, including Cydweli and
Gwyrthumb|350px|right|Map of the Lordship, showing the area detached , the area added and the Town and Franchise of Swansea. The language boundary is shown as a dotted line....
. This area was conquered by
CeredigionCeredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. In extent it is more or less identical to the historic county of Cardiganshire, and it was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later.- Geography :...
in the late 7th century to form the kingdom of
Seisyllwg
.
In the 10th century
Hywel DdaHywel Dda , was a well-thought-of king of Deheubarth in south-west Wales, who, using his cunning, eventually came to rule Wales from Prestatyn to Pembroke. As a descendant of Rhodri Mawr through his father Cadell, Hywel was a member of the Dinefwr branch of the dynasty and is also named Hywel ap...
united Dyfed and the neighbouring kingdom of
Seisyllwg
under his rule. The new kingdom became known as
Deheubarth
and covered an area roughly corresponding to the modern
preserved countyThe Preserved counties of Wales are the current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of Lieutenancy and Shrievalty. They are based on the counties created by the Local Government Act 1972 and used for local government and other purposes between 1974 and 1996.-Usage:The Local Government ...
of
DyfedDyfed is a preserved county of Wales.Dyfed was created by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974. It was formed from the administrative counties of Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and was divided into local government districts as so:...
.