Medieval Welsh Land Organisation
The basic unit of land was the tref - a small village or settlement. In theory, 100 trefi made up a cantref (literally, "one hundred settlements"), and half or a third of a cantref was a cymwd although in practice the actual numbers varied greatly. The plural of cantref is cantrefi. Together with the cantrefi, commotes were the geographical divisions through which defence and justice were organised. In charge of a commote would be a chieftain probably related to the ruling Prince of the Kingdom. His court would have been situated in a special tref, referred to as a maerdref. Here the bonded villagers who farmed the chieftain's estate lived, together with the court officials and servants. Commotes were further divided into maenorau or maenolydd.
Read more about this topic: Commote
Famous quotes containing the words medieval, welsh, land and/or organisation:
“Our medieval historians who prefer to rely as much as possible on official documents because the chronicles are unreliable, fall thereby into an occasionally dangerous error. The documents tell us little about the difference in tone which separates us from those times; they let us forget the fervent pathos of medieval life.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)
“The populations of Pwllheli, Criccieth,
Portmadoc, Borth, Tremadoc, Penrhyndeudraeth,
Were all assembled. Criccieth’s mayor addressed them
First in good Welsh and then in fluent English,”
—Robert Graves (1895–1985)
“But they who give straight judgements to strangers and to those of the land and do not transgress what is just, for them the city flourishes and its people prosper.”
—Hesiod (c. 8th century B.C.)
“It is because the body is a machine that education is possible. Education is the formation of habits, a superinducing of an artificial organisation upon the natural organisation of the body.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)