ABSTRACT

Configuring Norman Gwynedd as an early marcher lordship, in contrast, is less satisfactory, given that ‘the March of Wales’ was barely beginning to emerge as a concept in the later eleventh century. The conquest of unambiguously non-English territories in the north-west arguably qualifies Norman Gwynedd as a principality by modern historical definitions. More work is needed on territorial patterns in the eastern part of the principality of Gwynedd, and their implications for the formation of Norman power in relation to the territorial system and patterns of exploitation that were in place earlier. North Wales was a place of cultural interaction long before the Normans came on the scene. The mixture of English and Welsh place-names in both Englefield and Bistre is testimony to centuries of English involvement beyond the Dee. A fuller comparison with other Norman principalities would require a wider frame of reference for Norman Gwynedd than has been possible there, or, perhaps, than the sources will permit.