Kingdom of Glywysing

Glywysing was, from the sub-Roman period to the Early Middle Ages, a petty kingdom in south-east Wales. Its people were descended from the Iron Age tribe of the Silures, and frequently in union with Gwent, merging to form Morgannwg. Name and early history Glywysing is said in medieval Welsh tradition to be named after Glywys, supposedly an early king of the region. In reality, the name probably comes from Glevum, the Roman name for what is now Gloucester, via a Latin name *Glevenses ('people of Glevum') or *Glevensis ('person from Glevum'). Thus the name suggests that the kingdom was named after invaders or migrants, or a particular ruler, from Glevum. According to 12th-century sources, after the death of Glywys, the kingdom was divided into three cantrefs named for his sons: Penychen, Gwynllwg, and Gorfynydd. These were typically ruled together by the head of the family and sometimes treated as appenage subkingdoms.