In the Early Middle Ages Laugharne was the main settlement in the area and home to the Lords of Laugharne. It was a commote of Gwarthaf, the largest of the seven cantrefi of the Kingdom of Dyfed in southwest Wales, later to be ruled by the Princes of Deheuberth. In 1093, Deheubarth was seized by the Normans following Rhys ap Tewdwrs death. In the early 12th century, grants of lands were made to Flemings by King Henry I when their country was flooded. In 1116, when Gruffydd ap Rhys (the son and heir of Rhys ap Tewdwr) returned from self-imposed exile, the king arranged for the land to be fortified against him; according to the "Brut y Tywysogyon", Robert Courtemain constructed a castle at Laugharne in that year (this is the earliest reference to any castle at or near Laugharne). Courtemain may be the "Robertus cum tortis manibus" () mentioned in the Book of Llandaff, as one of a number of specifically named Norman magnates within the vicinity of the Llandaff diocese, who received a letter from Pope Callixtus II complaining about deprivations they had inflicted on diocesan church property; in the letter, the Pope warns he would confirm Bishop Urban's proclamations against them, if they do not rectify matters. The "Brut" states that Courtemain appointed a man named Bleddyn ap Cedifor as castellan; Bleddyn was the son of Cedifor ap Gollwyn, descendant and heir of the earlier kings of Dyfed (as opposed to those of Deheubarth). The castle was originally known as Abercorran Castle. When Henry I died, Anarchy occurred, and Gruffydd, and his sons, Lord Rhys in particular, gradually reconquered large parts of the former Deheubarth.