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26 It was thought that there should be one king over the whole people,but it was very rarely that every part of Wales obeyed one king. The country was divided into smaller kingdoms. In many ways Gwynedd was the most powerful. It was very easy to defend; for it was made up of the island of Mon (Anglesey), the promontory of Lleyn, and the mountain mass of Snowdon. Its steep side was thus towards England,and its cornlands and pastures on the further side. It was also the home of the family of Cunedda, from Maelgwn to the last Llywelyn.

Powys was the Berwyn country. Ceredigion was the western slope of the Plinlimmon range; the eastern slopes had many smaller, but very warlike, districts. Deheubarth contained the pleasant glades and great forests of the Towy country. Dyved was the peninsula to the west; the southern slopes of the Beacons were Morgannwg and Gwent.

Howel the Good found that the laws of the various parts differed in details, and he gave different versions to the north, the south-west,and the south-east. But the law and life of the whole people, if we only look at important features, are one.