Kingdom of Gwynedd (Guynet)

The Viking invasions of Wales, it was named the Cambro-Norse era spanning the years 850s to 1100s. The emergence of the Royal House of Aberffraw and the prequel to the Norman invasion of the British Isles (Wikipedia articles linked). The Cambro-Norse (Welsh-Scandinavian) era began with the Viking invasion of the British Isles from the 9th century onwards for 200 years. The medieval invasive forces were from northern Scandinavia and they raided and pillaged for centuries, this was after the Anglo-Saxons invaded in the 5th century continuously by integrating into English Kingdoms. By the 850s, the Kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys in North Wales had been subjugated by the English Kingdom of Mercia aided by the Saxons for a century. However, everything was about to change. By the decade of the 870s, the Second Dynasty of Gwynedd as the Royal House of Aberffraw was emerging as a new dynasty in Gwynedd. Rhodri the Great (Welsh: Mawr) was the King of Wales and the King of the Britons. He had...

Wales' Norman-built stone castles and English  expansion.   Llywelyn the Great's expedition during 1215, and Welsh built castles. (Wikipedia articles linked). Castles in Wales had been originally built with wood, but they did not last long. Some of these fortifications were adapted from pre-existing  hillforts , and these forts were built using the natural earthworks from the local vicinity, but, in some cases, the fortifications constructed would have a  motte and bailey . For a generation after the  Norman invasion of Wales  in the 1080s, Norman castles were built in the Kingdom of Gwynedd, such as  Aberlleiniog Castle  on Anglesey which was similar to previous fortifications, however this time they were built with stone and capable of withstanding the harsh terrain of Northern Europe.  The Norman fortifications were a few centuries before the new era of castle building which became known as the  Ring of Iron  (1277-1320s) e.g. Ca...