Many Of Which Are At This Time In The Possession Of
The English And Franks.
For the country now called Shropshire
formerly belonged to Powys, and the place where the castle of
Shrewsbury stands bore the name of Pengwern, or the head of the
Alder Grove.
There were three royal seats in South Wales:
Dinevor, in South Wales, removed from Caerleon; Aberfraw, (9) in
North Wales; and Pengwern, in Powys.
Wales contains in all fifty-four cantreds. The word CANTREF is
derived from CANT, a hundred, and TREF, a village; and means in the
British and Irish languages such a portion of land as contains a
hundred vills.
There are four cathedral churches in Wales: St. David's, upon the
Irish sea, David the archbishop being its patron: it was in
ancient times the metropolitan church, and the district only
contained twenty-four cantreds, though at this time only twenty-
three; for Ergengl, in English called Urchenfeld, (10) is said to
have been formerly within the diocese of St. David's, and sometimes
was placed within that of Landaff. The see of St. David's had
twenty-five successive archbishops; and from the time of the
removal of the pall into France, to this day, twenty-two bishops;
whose names and series, as well as the cause of the removal of the
archiepiscopal pall, may be seen in our Itinerary. (11)
In South Wales also is situated the bishopric of Landaff, near the
Severn sea, and near the noble castle of Caerdyf; bishop Teilo
being its patron.
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