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| Hereford
in the early medieval period |
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The 6th and 7th Centuries
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Ergyng and St
Dyfrig
After the
withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain in
410 AD, new smaller political entities took the
place of the centralised structure. A kingdom of
Ergyng (or Ercic) seems to have been based on,
and named after, the old town of Ariconium and
covered what is now southern Herefordshire. To
the west of Ergyng, the town of Venta (Caerwent)
gave its name to the kingdom of Gwent. Beyond
Gwent, Glywysing occupied modern
Glamorganshire. |
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The early medieval kingdoms of
south-western Britain at a time when the terms
'England' and 'Wales' were
unknown.
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North of Gwent, Ewias, may
have originally been a small kingdom before it
became a commote of Gwent. To the north and
north-west of modern Herefordshire the precursor
of the Kingdom of Powys was probably centred on
Viroconium (Wroxeter) the tribal city of the
Cornovii.
Ergyng presumable had a
Christian Church from Roman times. However, the
outstanding figure in the history of the church
of Ergyng is St Dyfrig, or Dubricius. Dyfrig
seems to have emerged from the local
Romano-British population and is said to have
been born at Lann Ebrdil (Madley) in the 5th
century. He began his activities at the time
when the British kingdoms had a 70-year respite
from Germanic incursions following their victory
at Mons Badonicus (legend says under Arthur) in
around 500AD. Dyfrig founded large teaching
monasteries, first at Henn Lann Dyfrig
(Llanfrother near Hoarwithy) and subsequently at
Mochros (Moccas). A bishopric seems to have been
based at St Constantine's Church at Garthbenni
(Hentland in Goodrich parish) by
500AD.
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King Erb
In the early 6th
century Ergyng seems to have been part of a
large kingdom which also included Gwent &
Glywysing. The ruler of this land, King Erb,
died in around AD 555, and his kingdom was
divided amongst his sons -
King
Peibio
Peibio becoming king of
Ergyng. Peibio was later called 'the dribbler'
but this may be an error based on the similarity
between the old Welsh word for dribbling and the
word for leprosy. If Peibio did suffer from
leprosy, so did many other people - it would be
many centuries before leprosy disappeared from
the British Isles. |
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Moccas Church - Moccas was the site of
the second, and greater, of St Dyfrig's
monasteries. The earlier name was Mochros - 'pig
moor' in Welsh.
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In the east of Britain, in
popular imagination,
Germanic invaders were
overrunning the Romanised
native people. There
has been a lot of speculation
about the numbers of
the Germanic Anglo-Saxons
who come to Britain.
DNA analysis of modern
populations suggests
that very few invaders
arrived in Britain in
this period. Whatever
the bloodlines of the
people actually were,
there is sufficient
documentary evidence
to indicate that, at
the time, the English
believed themselves
to be invaders and the
British/Welsh agreed
with them.
Powys seems to have lost
its eastern territories
(in modern Shropshire)
to an expanding Mercia,
the Anglian kingdom
based in the midlands.
In 577 the English defeated
the British at the Battle
of Dyrham, and captured
Bath, Cirencester and
Gloucester.
Pont
Y Saeson
The British king Tewdrig's
victory at the Battle
of Pont y Saeson on
the lower Wye in around
620 or 630 stopped their
advance and South Wales
was never again to be
seriously threatened
by the English peoples.
Meurig of Glywysing
In Ergyng, King Peibio was
followed by Cinuin and
Gwyddgi, who were followed
in turn by Gwrgan. Gwrgan
is the last person recorded
as King of Ergyng, and
probably died in about
645. Gwrgan's daughter,
Onbraust, married Meurig
of Glywysing/Gwent,
and their son Athrwys
became king of both
kingdoms.
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