Dinefwr

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Dinefwr
Administration

Status:	Borough
HQ:	Llandeilo

History
Created:	1974
Abolished:	1996
Succeeded by:	Carmarthenshire

Dinefwr was a local government district of Dyfed, West Wales from 1974 to 1996. It was named after Dinefwr Castle which was the royal capital of the Kingdom of Deheubarth and one of the three principal royal courts of Wales.

It was formed by the merger of the borough of Llandovery, the urban districts of Ammanford, Cwmamman and Llandeilo along with Llandeilo Rural District, from the administrative county of Carmarthenshire. In 1996 the district became part of a new Carmarthenshire unitary authority.

[edit] Princely House of Dinefwr

With the death of Rhodri Mawr, the kingdom of Gwynedd passed to his eldest son Anarawd ap Rhodri. Rhodri's second son Cadell ap Rhodri, however, looked outside Gwynedd's traditional borders and took possession of the Dark Ages kingdom of Dyfed by the late 9th century, establishing his capital at the citadel of Dinefwr. Cadell ap Rhodri's descendants are designated Dinefwr after the citadel from which they would rule Dyfed. The Dinefwr dynasty under king Hywel Dda would unite Dyfed and Seisyllwg into the kingdom of Deheubarth in the early 10th century. The Dinefwr dynasty would rule in Deheubarth until their conquest by the Anglo-Normans in the 13th century. This branch would compete with House Aberffraw for supremacy and influence in Wales through-out the 10th, 11th, and 12th century, with Powys variously ruled between them. Eventually, a cadet branch of Dinefwr would establish itself in Powys by the mid 11th century, designated Mathrafal after the castle there.