Free Republic

The medieval era is full of mysterious events, occurrences, and places, with sometimes even entire kingdoms becoming entirely shrouded in the unknown. We will be examining one of these kingdoms today, Pengwern, whose impact on both the history of Wales and the history of England has seemingly only been slight, with this Welsh kingdom's base on the Wrekin in Shropshire, its only known king, Cynddylan, seems to have succeeded in only antagonising his English neighbours of Mercia and Northumbria. However, the fascinating Welsh history of this realm has largely eluded us for the past 1000 years, and today I'd like...

Archaeologists are launching a new dig to try to unearth the secrets of a 9th Century stone monument on a prehistoric mound. Bangor and Chester university experts will begin excavations at the Pillar of Eliseg near Llangollen, Denbighshire... Last year excavations focussed on the mound, which was identified as an early Bronze Age cairn. It followed on from one in the 18th Century. Professor Nancy Edwards from Bangor University told BBC Radio Wales: "...This year we are going back to the cairn to one particular trench because we discovered evidence last year of the dig into the top of the...

A new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland has identified the likely burials of up to 65 British Kings and senior royals... Prior to the study, only one post-Roman burial of an indigenous British monarch from the Dark Ages has been identified (although nine Anglo-Saxon royal graves have been found on previous excavations).Archaeologists now suggest that 20 probable royal burial complexes each containing up to five graves (with a further 11 burial complexes under consideration) have been identified that appear to date from the fifth and sixth centuries AD.During this period, the east...

"... both Irish and Welsh sources portrayed it as a tribal migration of the Irish Dessi or Deisi headed by their own king and, from the Irish viewpoint, a suitable 'expulsion' saga was adduced. The direct line of Irish rulers of Welsh Dyfed went on into the 7th and 8th centuries. An interesting mix arose; by 400 Irish and British were fully differing languages, and additionally Christians from both nations used different scripts (Latin and Ogham) for their memorials. Irish never replaced British in Wales the way it did in Scotland, but relative numerical strengths do not necessarily explain why;...

...The hoard of copper alloy coins, dating from the 3rd Century, was unearthed in Montgomery, Powys, several weeks ago. About 900 were found by a member of a Welshpool metal detecting club, with the rest of the discovery made with help from archaeologists. The exact location is being kept secret to protect the site. The Powys coroner will determine whether they qualify as treasure. Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT), which helped unearth the coins, said the discovery had the potential to reveal more about Roman life in mid Wales in the late 3rd Century. The find in Montgomery is a few...