Ceredigion

## Kingdom of Ceredigion

**Ceredigion** was a Kingdom in Wales whose territory roughly aligns with the modern county of Ceredigion. It was ruled by King Boddw ap Serwyl as of AD 540

Founded in AD 424, this small coastal kingdom was situated on the Bay of Cardigan. According to tradition, Ceredigion was originally part of the territory governed by the Gododdin chief, Cunedda, after he was invited by Magnus Maximus to settle in north-west Wales. Cunedda granted the land to Ceretic as his own kingdom, and it was named after him. The earliest form of that name may have been Ceretica. Ceredigion means 'the people/followers of Ceretic'.

Situated along the western coast of Wales, its territory corresponded roughly to that of the modern county of Ceredigion which includes the towns of Aberaeron, Aberystwyth, Cardigan, Lampeter, Llanddewi brefi, New Quay, and Tregaron, and it is where the rivers Severn and Wye have their sources. The Cambrian Mountains covered much of the east of the kingdom and its hilly geography made it difficult for foreign invaders to conquer. As a coastal kingdom, its creation was a good strategic move as it sealed the vulnerable coastal gap between Dyfed to the south and Gwynedd to the north, thereby preventing any further Irish gains in Wales. For part of its length the River Teifi formed the border between Ceredigion and Dyfed.

## History

Ceredigion was founded in AD 424 by Ceretic, its lands was granted to Ceretic by Cunneda. His reign was quite unknown except for two of his sons dying or fleeing to become St. Carannog after facing with a prospect of ruling a Kingdom plagued by Irish raiders who were always a problem for Ceredigion. Ceretic ruled from AD 424 to AD 453.

Not much was known about his successors' reign but those successors' names are Usai and Serwyl. Their reigns spanned AD 453 to AD 490 and AD 490 to AD 525 respectively.

The current King of the Kingdom of Ceredigion is King Boddw ap Serwyl. He has recognized that Ceredigion will be utterly unable to be any sort of military power, only maintaining a self-defense force; he had chosen to develop Ceredigion diplomatically and economically, obtaining friendly relations with Demetia via bethrothal in AD 431 and issuing land reforms, land grants and cultivation projects, collecting censuses and welcoming refugees and migrants.

## Situation

### Geopolitical

Ceredigion was a minor nation in Welsh and Brythonnic Politics, mostly staying on the sidelines while keeping friendly relations with it's neighbors.

### Military

Ceredigion was a minor military power, weaker than all of its neighbors and constant raids by the Irish making that fact abundantly clear, Ceredigion had set up a coast guard but they serve no more purpose than to alert ground forces of raiders.

### Economical

Taking advantage of the rich plains that dominate Ceredigion, it had grown to become an agricultural center through acceptance of war refugees and migrants which were attracted to generous benefits and rights to them who settled down, various land reforms and land grants to fully maximize the use of Ceredigions' land; While it isn't exactly an exporter, it certainly is well-off in terms of agriculture, predictions of population growth and migrations to Ceredigion are reasonable predictions at the time.

### Political

Ceredigion had always been ruled by Ceretic and his descendants who were the monarchs of Ceredigion, a century of rule had solidified the position of Ceretics' descendants as rulers of the land for many decades to come.

Ceredigions' upper class of nobles were mostly Welshmen who are locals of the area whose ambitions were usually aligned with the King of Ceredigion though with minor disagreement (such as the land reform), They still like other nobles looked out for their interests first.

The other camp of upper-classmen were war refugees and migrants from other parts of Brittania who were brought to Ceredigion via the countrys' generous benefits and rights for both groups, mostly from Dumnonia due to it being the closest location to Ceredigion that experienced a major war, They were quite productive members of Ceredigion and was a major part to Ceredigions' economic rise, They had one clear Pan-Brythonic agenda though, coming from other parts of Brittania and naturally having symphaty for them, they advocated for the King of Ceredigion to aid Britons in wars against foreigners in whatever way is possible and appropriate at the time. They were mostly artisans, mechants and burghers with them making a sizable portion of Ceredigioni artisan, merchant and burgher populations with a local Welsh majority.

Ceredigions' Clergy were Celtic Christians and had remained so since Ceredigions' founding and are unlikely to change without external pressure.

## Diplomacy

At 540 AD, Ceredigion had various diplomatic connections and relations, summarized as

### Enemies

-Irish Raiders [Near-constant raids] (From AD 530 to AD 540 there were no Irish raids, an irregularity considering near-constant raids)