Cornovii (Midlands) - Dark Age Period

Dark Age Period

After this period, and with the relentless expansion of Anglian power in the English Midlands, the Cornovian tribal area came under the rule of the Kingdom of Pengwern. Following a period of military alliance with Mercian rulers, particularly King Penda, Pengwern was absobed by neighbouring Mercia after 642 AD. The local Cornovian people may have continued to reside in the area, perhaps as the Wrekensaete, under Mercian rule.

The site of the Roman city of Viroconium Cornoviorum is known in Old Welsh as Caer Guricon. As Caer Guricon it may have served as capital of the Kingdom of Powys during the sub-Roman period until Anglo-Saxon pressures in the form of Mercian encroachment forced the British to relocate to Mathrafal castle sometime before 717 AD. Pengwern and Powys themselves may have been later divisions of the pre-Roman Cornovii tribal territory whose civitas was Viroconium Cornoviorum. With the passage of time the lesser Magonsæte sub-kingdom also emerged in this area during the period between Powys and Mercian rule.

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