| Owain Glyndŵr | |
|---|---|
 A nineteenth-century illustration of Owain Glyndŵr based on the design of his great seal | |
| Prince of Wales (in pretence) | |
| Pretence | 16 September 1400–c. 1416[a] |
| Predecessor | Owain Lawgoch |
| Successor | No further Welsh claimants |
| Contended | Henry of Monmouth |
| Born | Owain ap Gruffudd Fychan c. 1359 or earlier Sycharth,Cynllaith, Wales |
| Died | c. 1416(1416-00-00) (aged 56–57) |
| Spouse | Margaret Hanmer |
| Issue among others | |
| House | Lleision |
| Father | Gruffudd Fychan |
| Mother | Elen ferch Tomas ap Llywelyn |
| Signature |  |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | England(1385-1400) Wales(1400-c. 1416) |
| Conflicts Battles | 1385 invasion of Scotland Hundred Years' War Glyndŵr rebellion See list |
Owain ap Gruffudd Fychan orOwain Glyndŵr[b] (Welsh pronunciation:[ˈoʊainˈɡlɨ̞nduːr],c. 1359 – c. 1416) was a Welsh aristocrat, soldier and military commander in thelate Middle Ages, who led a15-year-long Welsh revolt with the aim of endingEnglish rule inWales. He was an educated lawyer, forming the first Welsh parliament under his rule, and was the last native-born Welshman to claim the titlePrince of Wales.
During the year 1400, Owain, a Welsh soldier andLord of Glyndyfrdwy, had a dispute with a neighbouringEnglish Lord, the event which spiralled into a national revolt pitted common Welsh countrymen and nobles against the English military. In response to therebellion, discriminatorypenal laws were implemented against the Welsh people; this deepened civil unrest and significantly increased support for Owain across Wales. Then, in 1404, after a series of successful castlesieges and several battlefield victories for the Welsh, Owain gained control of most ofWales and held a parliament inMachynlleth in the presence of envoys from France with representatives from the entirety of Wales. Military aid was given to the rebellion fromFrance,Brittany, andScotland. Owain claimed in thePennal Letter of 1406 that he would build two universities, one in North Wales and one in South Wales as well as reinstate the supposed ancient archbishopric of St Davids, thereby establishing independent Welsh church.
The war continued, and over the next several years, the English gradually gained control of large parts of Wales. By 1409 Owain's last remainingcastles ofHarlech andAberystwyth had been captured by English forces. Owain refused two royal pardons and retreated to the Welsh hills and mountains with his remaining forces, where he continued to resist English rule by usingguerrilla warfare tactics, until his disappearance in 1415, when he was recorded as having died by one of his followers,Adam of Usk.
Owain was never captured or killed, and he was also never betrayed despite being a fugitive of the law with a large bounty. InWelsh culture he acquired a mythical status alongsideCadwaladr,Cynon ap Clydno andKing Arthur as a folk hero –Y Mab Darogan (Welsh for 'the foretold son'). InWilliam Shakespeare's playHenry IV, Part 1 he appears as the characterOwen Glendower as a king rather than a prince.
Owain ap Gruffudd Fychan was born in or before 1359 at the court ofSycharth inCynllaith, located in the northeastern reaches of theWelsh Marches close to the border with England.[1] Owain's fatherGruffudd Fychan was descended from a younger brother ofLlywelyn Fychan ap Gruffudd, the last lord ofNorthern Powys who was killed in theEdwardian conquest of Wales alongsideLlywelyn ap Gruffudd.[2][3] Gruffudd Fychan was baron of Glyndyfrdwy (or Glyndŵr) and Cynllaith in his own right. Owain's father was dead by 1370, which left his mother Elen ferch Tomas a widow whilst he was still a boy.[4][5] Owain's mother was from Iscoed,Ceredigion, and was a descendant ofGruffudd, eldest son of theLord Rhys, prince ofDeheubarth.[6][7][8] Through his father, Owain could boast senior, if remote, ancestry fromMadog ap Maredudd ofPowys.[9] However, his mother's lineage granted him descent from theSecond Dynasty ofGwynedd no fewer than in three discrete instances, as her ancestors had married daughters ofGruffudd ap Cynan, Tomas apRhodri, andLlywelyn ab Iorwerth, whose daughterAngharad ferch Llywelyn was both Owain's progenitor and the daughter ofJoan, whose father in turn wasKing John.[10][11] This direct tripartite descent from all three of the major dynasties of pre-Conquest Wales made Owain a unique figure in late fourteenth century Wales.[12][13][7][c] This peculiar attribute is commented upon by the poetIolo Goch, who sang to Owain a poem before his rebellion celebrating his ancestry and encouraging him to demand his legal rights under English rule to Powys as the senior representative of its old dynasty.[22][23]
The young Owain ap Gruffudd Fychan was possibly fostered at the home ofDavid Hanmer, a rising lawyer shortly to be a justice of the King's Bench, or at the home ofRichard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel. Owain is then thought to have been sent to London to study law at theInns of Court, as a student inWestminster, London,[24][25] for over a period of seven years. He was possibly in London during thePeasants' Revolt of 1381.[26] By 1384, he was living in Wales and married to David's daughter,Margaret Hanmer;[27] their marriage took place, perhaps in 1383, in St Chad's Church,Hanmer in north-east Wales.[28] Although other sources state that they were married in the 1370s.[29] They started a large family and Owain established himself as thesquire of his ancestral lands atSycharth and Glyndyfrdwy.[30]
Owain joined the king's military service in 1384 when he undertook garrison duty under the Welshman Sir Gregory Sais on the English–Scottish border atBerwick-upon-Tweed. His surname Sais, meaning 'Englishman' in Welsh, refers to his ability to speak English, not common in Wales at the time.[31] In August 1385, he served KingRichard II under the command ofJohn of Gaunt, again inScotland.[1][32][33] Then, in 1386, he was called to give evidence at theHigh Court of Chivalry,[25] in theScrope v Grosvenor trial atChester on 3 September that year. In March 1387, Owain fought as asquire toRichard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel,[1] where he saw action in the English Channel at the defeat of a Franco-Spanish-Flemish fleet off the coast ofKent during theBattle of Margate. Upon the death in late 1387 of his father-in-law, Sir David Hanmer, knighted earlier that same year by the then King of England, Richard II, Owain returned to Wales as executor of his estate.[34] Owain next served as a squire to Henry Bolingbroke (later KingHenry IV),[1] son of John of Gaunt, at the shortBattle of Radcot Bridge in December 1387.[25] From 1384 until 1388 he had been active in military service and had gained three full years of military experience in different theatres, and had witnessed some key events and noteworthy people at first hand.[35]
King Richard was distracted by a growing conflict with theLords Appellant from this time on. Owain's opportunities were further limited by the death of Sir Gregory Sais in 1390 and the sidelining of FitzAlan, and he probably returned to his stable Welsh estates,[citation needed] living there quietly for ten years during his forties. ThebardIolo Goch, himself a Welsh Lord, visited Owain in Sycharth in the 1390s and wrote a number of odes to Owain, praising his host's liberality andwriting of Sycharth, "Very rarely was a bolt or lock to be seen there."[36][37]
In the late 1390s, a series of events occurred which cornered Owain, and forced his ambitions towards a rebellion. The events would later be called the "Welsh Revolt", "the Glyndŵr Rising" (within Wales), or the "Last War of Independence". His neighbour,Baron Grey of Ruthin, had seized control of some land, for which Owain appealed to theEnglish Parliament; however, Owain's petition for redress was ignored. Later, in 1400, Lord Grey did not inform Owain in time about a royal command to levy feudal troops for Scottish border service, thus enabling him to call Owain a traitor in London court circles.[38] Lord Grey had stature in the royal court of Henry IV. The law courts refused to hear the case, or it was delayed because Lord Grey prevented Owain's letter from reaching the King, which would have repercussions.[39] Sources state that Owain was under threat because he had written an angry letter to Lord Grey, boasting that lands had come into his possession, and he had stolen some of Lord Grey's horses; and believing Lord Grey had threatened to "burn and slay" within his lands, he threatened retaliation in the same manner. Lord Grey then denied making the initial threat to burn and slay, and replied that he would take the incriminating letter to Henry IV's council and that Owain would hang for the admission of theft and treason contained within the letter.[40] The deposed king, Richard II, had support in Wales, and in January 1400 serious civil disorder broke out in the English border city ofChester after the public execution of an officer of Richard II.[41][42]
Wales during the Glyndŵr rebellion (1400–1415). Click on the icons for details. Important battle Castle garrisoned by English forces Castle unsuccessfully besieged by Welsh forces Castle possibly sacked by Welsh forces Castle sacked or occupied by Welsh forces (dates held)
Welsh campaign of 1400
Welsh campaign of 1403
Franco-Welsh campaign of 1405
Possible route of 1405 campaignAt Sycharth, in Glyndyfrdwy on 16 September 1400, in front of his immediate family, his in-laws,Welsh people fromBerwyn, friends fromNorth-East Wales, theDean of St Asaph totalling 300 men, Owain Glyndŵr prophecised that he was the person to save his people from the English invasions, and proclaimed himself the Prince of Wales. The following day, he instigated a15-year rebellion against the rule ofHenry IV. Then came a number of initial confrontations between Henry IV and Owain's followers in September and October 1400, as the revolt began to spread around North Wales.[43] Owain was immediately proclaimed Prince of Wales by his followers and subsequently launched an assault on Lord Grey's territories, burningRuthin. They continued toDenbigh,Rhuddlan,Flint,Holt,Oswestry andWelshpool, all of which were seen as English towns in Wales.[44] The initial revolt got the attention of the King of England after letters were sent asking for military assistance to combat the Welsh rebels.[45] Much of northern and central Wales went over to Owain, and from then on, he would only make an appearance to attack his enemy, his army using effectiveguerrilla warfare tactics against the English occupying territories.[25][46]
OnGood Friday (1 April) 1401, 40 of Glyndwr's men who were led by his cousins,Rhys ap Tudur and Gwilym ap Tudur, tookConwy Castle inNorth Wales. In response, King Henry IV appointedHenry Percy (Hotspur) to bring the country to order. A month later, the King and the English parliament issued an amnesty on 10 March which applied to all rebels with the exception of Owain and his cousins, theTudurs; however, both the Tudurs were eventually pardoned after they gave up Conwy Castle on 28 May that same year. Hotspur won a battle atCadair Idris two days later, but that was to be his final service for the King of England, as he retired his command as leader of the English troops after dealing with Owain.[1][47] During that time in the spring of 1401, Owain appears in South Wales.[1]
In June, Owain scored his first major victory in the field atMynydd Hyddgen onPumlumon; however, retaliation by Henry IV onStrata Florida Abbey was to follow in October that same year.[1][48] The rebel uprising had occupied all of North Wales; labourers seized whatever weapons they could, and farmers sold their cattle to buy arms. Secret meetings were held everywhere, and bards "wandered about as messengers of sedition." Henry IV heard of a Welsh uprising atLeicester; Henry's army wandered North Wales toAnglesey and drove outFranciscan friars who favoured Richard II. All the while Owain, who was in hiding, had his estate at Sycharth forfeited by the King toJohn Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset on 9 November 1400.[1] By autumn, Gwynedd and Ceredigion (which temporarily submitted to England for a pardon) and Powys adhered to the rising against the English rule by supporting the rebellion.[1] Owain's attempts at stoking rebellion with help from the Scottish and Irish were quashed, with the English showing no mercy and hanging some messengers.[citation needed]
As a response to the situation of warfare in Wales, theEnglish Parliament between 1401 and 1402 enactedpenal laws against the Welsh, designed to coerce submission in Wales, but the result was to create resentment that pushed many Welshmen into the rebellion.[49] In the same year, Owain captured his archenemy Baron Grey de Ruthyn. He held him for almost a year until he received a substantial ransom from Henry. In June 1402, Owain defeated an English force led by SirEdmund Mortimer nearPilleth (theBattle of Bryn Glas), where Mortimer was captured. Owain offered to release Mortimer for a large ransom but, in sharp contrast to his attitude to de Grey, Henry IV refused to pay. Mortimer's nephew could be said to have had a greater claim to the English throne than Henry himself, so his speedy release was not an option. In response, Mortimer negotiated an alliance with Owain and married one of Owain's daughters.[25][1][50] It is also in 1402 that mention of the French and the people ofFlanders helping Owain's daughter Janet, who was negotiating on the continent for her father for two years until 1404.[51]
News of the rebellion's success spread across Europe, and Owain began to receive naval support fromScotland andBrittany. He also received the support of KingCharles VI of France, who agreed to send French troops and supplies to aid the rebellion.[52] In 1403 Glyndwr had amassed an army of 4,000 in his firstdivision, and 12,000 soldiers in total. A Welsh army including a French contingent assimilated into forces mainly fromGlamorgan and theRhondda Valleys region commanded by Owain Glyndŵr, his senior generalRhys Gethin and Cadwgan, Lord of Glyn Rhondda, defeated a large English invasion force reputedly led by King Henry IV himself at theBattle of Stalling Down inGlamorgan.[53][54]
Owain, facing years on the run, finally lost his estate in the spring of 1403, when Prince Henry as usual marched into Wales unopposed and burnt down Owain's houses at Sycharth and Glyndyfrdwy, as well as thecommote ofEdeirnion and parts ofPowys. Owain continued to besiege towns and burn down castles; for 10 days in July that year, he toured the south and southwest of Wales until all of the south joined arms in rebelling against English rule. These actions induced an internal rebellion against the King of England, with the Percys joining the rising.[1][55] It is around this stage of Owain's life thatHywel Sele, a cousin of the Welsh prince, attempted to assassinate Glyndŵr at theNannau estate.[1][56]
In 1403, the revolt became truly national in Wales. Royal officials reported that Welsh students atOxford andCambridge Universities were leaving their studies to join Owain,[1][49] and also that Welsh laborers and craftsmen were abandoning their employers in England and returning to Wales. Owain could also draw on Welsh troops seasoned by the English campaigns in France and Scotland. Hundreds of Welsharchers and experiencedmen-at-arms left the English service to join the rebellion.[57][1]
In 1404, Owain's forces tookAberystwyth Castle andHarlech Castle,[25] then continued to ravage the south by burningCardiff Castle. Then, a court was held atHarlech andGruffydd Young was appointed as the WelshChancellor. There had been communication toLouis I, Duke of Orléans in Paris to try (unsuccessfully) to open the Welsh ports to French trade.[1]
By 1404, no less than four royal military expeditions into Wales had been repelled, and Owain had solidified his control of the nation. In 1404, he and his supporters held parliaments atMachynlleth andHarlech.[58] He also planned to build two national universities (one in the south and one in the north), to re-introduce the traditionalWelsh laws of Hywel Dda, and to establish an independent Welsh church. There were envoys from other countries including France, Scotland, and theKingdom of León (in Spain). In the summer of 1405, four representatives from everycommote in Wales were sent to Harlech.[59]
In February 1405, Owain negotiated theTripartite Indenture with Edmund Mortimer andHenry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. The Indenture agreed to divide England and Wales among the three of them.[25] Wales would extend as far as the riversSevern andMersey, including most ofCheshire,Shropshire andHerefordshire. TheMortimer Lords of March would take all of southern and western England and thePercys would take the north of England.[60][61][e]Although negotiations with the lords of Ireland were unsuccessful, Owain had reason to hope that the French and Bretons might be more welcoming. He dispatchedGruffudd Yonge and his brother-in-law John Hanmer (Margaret's brother) to negotiate with the French. The result was a formal treaty that promised French aid to Owain and the Welsh. The immediate effect seems to have been that joint Welsh and Franco-Breton forces attacked and laid siege toKidwelly Castle. The Welsh could also count on semi-official fraternal aid from the Duchy of Brittany and from Scotland.[62] Scots and Frenchprivateers were operating around Wales throughout Owain's war. Scottish ships had raided English settlements on theLlŷn Peninsula in 1400 and 1401. In 1403, a Breton squadron defeated the English in the Channel and devastatedJersey,Guernsey andPlymouth, while the French made a landing on theIsle of Wight. By 1404, they were raiding the coast of England, with Welsh troops on board, setting fire toDartmouth and devastating the coast ofDevon.[citation needed]
1405 was the "Year of the French" in Wales. A formal treaty between Wales and France was negotiated. On the continent, the French pressed the English as the French army invaded the English PlantagenetAquitaine.[63] Simultaneously, the French landed in force atMilford Haven inwest Wales, burnedHaverfordwest, and attempted to capturePembroke Castle before they were bought off.[1] The combined forces of French and Welsh took Carmarthen, which Owain had captured in 1403 but lost again. The occupants were given safe passage out, and they burned the town walls. Enguerrand de Monstrelet, a later chronicler gives an uncorroborated account of a march through Herefordshire and on intoWorcestershire toWoodbury Hill, ten miles fromWorcester. They met the English army and took positions from which they daily and viewed each other from a mile without any major action for eight days. Then, both sides seeming to find engagement too risky, departed.[64]
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By 1405, most French forces had withdrawn after politics inParis shifted towards peace, with theHundred Years' War continuing between England and France.[65] On 31 March 1406, in St Peter ad Vincula church atPennal, Owain wrote a letter to be sent to Charles VI of France. Owain's letter requested to maintain military support from the French to fend off the English in Wales. Owain suggested that in return, he would recogniseBenedict XIII ofAvignon as thePope. The letter sets out the ambitions of Owain for an independent Wales with its own parliament, led by himself as Prince of Wales. These ambitions also included the return of thetraditional law ofHywel Dda, rather than the enforced English law, establishment of an independent Welsh church as well as two universities, one in south Wales, and one in north Wales.[66] Following this letter, senior churchmen and important members of society flocked to Owain's banner and English resistance was reduced to a few isolated castles, walled towns, andfortified manor houses.[59]
Owain's Great Seal and a letter handwritten by him to the French in 1406 are in theBibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. This letter is currently held in the Archives Nationales in Paris. Facsimile copies involving specialist ageing techniques and moulds of Owain's seal were created by theNational Library of Wales and presented by the heritage ministerAlun Ffred Jones to six Welsh institutions in 2009.[67] The royal great seal from 1404 was given to Charles IV of France and contains images and Owain's title –[68]
Latin:Owynus Dei Gratia Princeps Walliae –
"Owain, by the grace of God, Prince of Wales".
Glyndwr referred to himself as the "Prince of Wales" and claimed his "right of inheritance" in these letters[69]
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In early 1405, the Welsh forces, who had until then won several easy victories, suffered a series of defeats. Owain's brother, LordTudur ap Gruffudd, a commander during the war, died at theBattle of Pwll Melyn in May 1405. English forces landed in Anglesey from Ireland and would over time push the Welsh back until the resistance in Anglesey formally ended toward the end of 1406.[32]
Following the intervention of French forces, battling continued for years. In 1406 Prince Henry restored fines and redemption for Welsh soldiers so they could choose their own fate. Prisoners were taken after the battle and castles were restored to their original owners. In the same year a son of Owain died in battle. By 1408 Owain had taken refuge in the North of Wales, having lost his ally from Northumberland.[1]
Despite the initial success of the revolution, in 1407 the superior numbers, resources, and wealth that England had at its disposal began to turn the tide of the war, and the much larger and better-equipped English forces gradually began to overwhelm the Welsh. In times of war, the English changed their strategy.[citation needed] Rather than focusing on punitive expeditions as favoured by his father, the young Prince Henry adopted a strategy of economic blockade. Using the castles that remained in English control, he gradually began to retake Wales while cutting off trade and the supply of weapons. By 1407, this strategy was beginning to bear fruit, and by 1408, the English regained Aberystwyth and then marched northHarlech Castle, which also surrendered during the cold winter into 1409. Edmund Mortimer died during the siege, and Owain's wife Margaret along with two of his daughters (includingCatrin) and three of Mortimer's granddaughters were captured on the fall of the castle and imprisoned in theTower of London. They were all to die in the Tower in 1413 and were buried atSt Swithin, London Stone.[70] Before his downfall, Owain was considered the wealthiest of all Welshmen.[71]
Owain managed to escape capture by disguising himself as an elderly man, sneaking out of the castle and slipping past the English military blockade in the darkness of the night.[citation needed] Owain retreated to the Welsh wilderness with a band of loyal supporters; he refused to surrender and continued the war with guerrilla tactics such as launching sporadic raids and ambushes throughout Wales and the English borderlands.[72]
Owain remained free, but he had lost his ancestral home and was a hunted prince. He continued the rebellion, particularly wanting to avenge his wife. In 1410, Owain led a raid into rebel-controlledShropshire,[25] and in 1412, he carried out one of the final successful raids. With his most faithful soldiers, he cut through the King's men in an ambush inBrecon, where he captured, and later ransomed, a leading Welsh supporter of King Henry,Dafydd Gam ('Crooked David').[73] This was the last time that Owain was seen alive by his enemies, although it was claimed he took refuge with theScudamore family.[74] In the autumn, Owain'sAberystwyth Castle surrendered, while he was away fighting,[75] but by then things were changing. Henry IV died in 1413, and his sonHenry V began to adopt a more conciliatory attitude towards the Welsh. Royal pardons were offered to the major leaders of the revolt and other opponents of his father's regime.[76][page needed] As late as 1414, there were rumours that theHerefordshire-basedLollard leader SirJohn Oldcastle was communicating with Owain, and reinforcements were sent to the major castles in the north and south.[citation needed]
On 21 December 1411, the King of England issued pardons to all Welsh except their leader and Thomas of Trumpington (until 9 April 1413, from which Owain was no longer excepted).[1] Owain ignored offers of a pardon on many different occasions, his followers continued to be punished for crimes of war until the 1410s. His death was recorded by a former follower in the year 1415.[77]
Nothing certain is known of Owain after 1412.[25] Despite enormous rewards being offered, he was neither captured nor betrayed. He ignored royal pardons, and it is thought he died in 1415, and certainly by 1417.Adam of Usk, a one-time supporter of Owain, and writing after the fact, made the following entry in his Chronicle for the year 1415:
"he was buried at night by his followers. But his burial was detected by his opponents; so he was re-buried. But where his body lies is unknown."[78]
Owain may have lived his last days atKentchurch in southHerefordshire, the home of the Scudamore family.[77] The poetLewys Glyn Cothi wrote an elegy for Gwenllian, an illegitimate daughter of Owain, where it was mentioned that at the time of the Welsh War of independence, the whole of Wales was under Owain's command, with fortydukes as the prince's allies, and that later in life he supported 62 female pensioners.[79]
There are many folk tales of Owain donning disguises to gain an advantage over opponents during the rebellion,[80] and after his disappearance, there has been persistent speculation that the Welsh religious poet,Siôn Cent, the familychaplain of the Scudamore family,[81] was Owain Glyndŵr in disguise.[82]
Although the location of his burial is unknown, there has long been speculation where Owain's final resting place may be. In 1875, the Rev.Francis Kilvert wrote in his diary that he saw the grave of "Owen Glendower" in the churchyard atMonnington on Wye "[h]ard by the church porch and on the western side of it ... It is a flat stone of whitish-grey shaped like a rude obelisk figure, sunk deep into the ground in the middle of an oblong patch of earth from which the turf has been pared away, and, alas, smashed into several fragments."[83][page needed] Another nearby location is suggested by Adrien Jones, the president of the Owain Glyndŵr Society, who stated, "Four years ago we visited a direct descendant of Owain, a John Skidmore, atKentchurch Court, nearAbergavenny. He took us to Mornington Straddle inHerefordshire, where one of Owain's daughters, Alice, lived. Mr. Skidmore told us that he (Owain) spent his last days there and eventually died there... It was a family secret for 600 years, and even Mr Skidmore's mother, who died shortly before we visited, refused to reveal the secret. There's even a mound where he is believed to be buried at Mornington Straddle."[84]
The historianGruffydd Aled Williams suggests in a 2017 monograph that the burial site is in the Kimbolton Chapel near Leominster, the present parish church of St James the Great which used to be the chapelry ofLeominster Priory, based upon a number of manuscripts held inthe National Archives. Although Kimbolton is an unexceptional and relatively unknown place outside of Herefordshire, it is closely connected to the Scudamore family.[85]
Owain marriedMargaret Hanmer, also known by her Welsh name Marred ferch Dafydd, and together they had five or six sons and four or five daughters. Also, Owain had some illegitimate children out of wedlock.[25][1][87][88]
All of Owain and Margaret's sons from their marriage were either taken prisoner and died in confinement, ordied in battle and had no issue. Gruffudd was captured inGwent by Prince Henry, imprisoned inNottingham Castle, and later taken to theTower of London in 1410. Maredudd was recorded as communicating withJohn Talbot and the English Crown on 24 February 1416, and receiving a royalpardon in 1421, but dying a few years later.[1][88]
Upon Owain's disappearance and death, his eldest (oldest child with descendants) daughter Alice came to be known as theLady of Glyndyfrdwy andCynllaith, and heiressde jure of the Principalities ofPowys,South Wales andGwynedd. During 1431, she successfully went to court inMeirionydd to regain her inheritance as the heiress of Sycharth in Glyndyfrdwy againstJohn, Earl of Somerset, who had been granted Owain's forfeited lands by the King of England in 1400. Alice's descendants married into the Scudamore family and her direct descendant John Lucy Scudamore married the daughter ofHarford Jones-Brydges in the early 19th century, and whose daughter in 1852 married the son ofEdward Lucas from theCastleshane estate inIreland. Another daughter, Jane, married Henry,Lord Grey de Ruthin without issue. Then, Janet married into the noble family ofCroft Castle in Herefordshire, whose descendants today are titled theCroft Baronets. Whilst Margaret married a knight from Monnington, also in Herefordshire.[1][89]
Owain's illegitimate children with other women includedIeuan, Myfanwy and Gwenllian, whilst it is debated whether his son David was born out of wedlock. Ieuan became Owain's only male descendant to have children. Like his other illegitimate kin, they remained in Wales and married locally into Welsh families. Gwenllian became the wife of Philip ab Rhys abCenarth, and died nearSt Harmon in Powys (Radnorshire).[90]
Iolo Goch wrote of Owain's wife, Margaret:[91]
The best of wives.
Eminent woman of a knightly family,Her children come in pairs,
A beautiful nest of chieftains.
InWelsh culture Owain acquired a mythical status alongside other medievalkings such asCadwaladr,Cynon ap Clydno andKing Arthur. He was perceived as a folk hero awaiting a call to return and liberate his people in the classic Welsh mythical role –Y Mab Darogan ('the foretold son'). The myth was that one day after a thousand years of servitude under English rule, a 'Son of Prophecy' would return the Welsh people as rulers of the island ofGreat Britain.[92][93] Also, inWelsh folklore, the nameOwain has been connected to a legend of the 'son of destiny'. His claim as the Prince of Wales was similar to that of another distant relative from the Gwynedd dynasty. It was another Owain,Lawgoch (Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri) who proclaimed his patrimony a few decades earlier, when he attempted to regain his family stature with aid from the King of France in a Franco-Welsh alliance from the late 1360s, until his assassination in 1378.[94]
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Owain is now remembered as a national hero and numerous small groups have adopted his symbolism to advocateindependence for Wales or Welsh nationalism. For example, during the 1980s, a group calling itselfMeibion Glyndŵr ("the Sons of Glyndŵr") claimed responsibility for the burning of English holiday homes in Wales.[104]
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6 April 1875
| Titles in pretence | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — Prince of Wales 1400 – c. 1416 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
Media from Commons
