Owain Lawgoch
Seal of Yvain de Galles (12 August 1376)[a]
Prince of Wales (in pretence)
Pretence	10 May 1372–July 1378
Predecessor	Madog ap Llywelyn
Successor	Owain Glyndŵr
Contended	Edward the Black Prince
Died	July 1378 (1378-08) Mortagne,Aquitaine,France
Cause of death	Assassination
Burial	Church of Saint Léger,Mortagne-sur-Gironde
Names Welsh:Owain ap Tomas ap Rhodri English: Owen of Wales Middle English:Owain ap Thomas Retherik Middle French:Y(e)vain de Galles
House	Second Dynasty of Gwynedd
Father	Tomas ap Rhodri
Mother	Cecilia
Occupation	Mercenary captain
Military career
Conflicts Battles	Hundred Years' War Castilian Civil War Gugler War Battle of Poitiers?(1356)

Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri (Welsh pronunciation:[ˈou̯ai̯napˈtɔmasapˈr̥ɔdrɪ]; died July 1378), commonly known asOwain Lawgoch (Welsh pronunciation:[ˈou̯ai̯nˈlaːu̯ɡoːχ],'red-handed Owain'), was aWelsh soldier who served inLombardy,France,Alsace, andSwitzerland. He led aFree Company fighting for the French against theEnglish in theHundred Years' War. As a politically active descendant ofLlywelyn the Great in the male line, he was a claimant to the title ofPrince of Gwynedd and ofWales.

Owain was alineal direct descendant of the Welsh PrinceLlywelyn the Great, through his illegitimate sonGruffudd (d. 1244). His grandfather was a member of the Welsh RoyalHouse of Gwynedd, and Owain was very aware of his dynastic hereditary claim as the last living male of Llywelyn's family.^[2][3] Following the death of PrinceLlywelyn the Last in 1282 and the execution of his brother and successor as the final Prince of GwyneddDafydd ap Gruffudd in 1283, the Welsh kingdom paidfealty to and accepted English rule. Llywelyn's daughterGwenllian ferch Llywelyn was committed to anunnery atSempringham, while the sons of Dafydd were kept inBristol Castle until their deaths. Another of Llywelyn's brothers,Rhodri ap Gruffydd, renounced his rights in Gwynedd and spent much of his life in England as a royal pensioner. His son Thomas inherited lands in England inSurrey,Cheshire andGloucestershire.^[4]

Rhodri was content to end his life as a country gentleman in England, and though his son Thomas ap Rhodri used the four lions of Gwynedd on his seal he made no attempt to win his inheritance.^[4] Owain, his only son, was born inSurrey, where his grandfather had acquired themanor ofTatsfield.^[2][5][b] Owain entered the military service ofPhilip IV of France and lived the majority of his life inmainland Europe.^[5] Thomas died in 1363 and Owain returned from abroad toMontgomeryshire and proclaimed his patrimony as thePrince of Wales.^[5] He was also in Britain during 1365. Owain left again for France in March 1366 and was in French service by 1369 (hostilities in the war were suspended between 1360 and 1369), but for adhering to the enemy he had his lands in Wales and England confiscated.^[2][6]

The year in which Owain entered the service of the king of France is uncertain.Froissart claims that he fought on the French side at theBattle of Poitiers, but there is no other evidence to support this.^[7] He was however deprived of his English lands in 1369, suggesting he was in the service of the French as leader of afree company when the period of truce between France and England following theTreaty of Brétigny ended and hostilities resumed in 1369.^[4][6] His French name wasYvain de Galles ('Owain of Wales').^[6][2]

Owain was the captain of a company consisting largely of Welshmen,^[8] many of whom remained in French service for many years.^[9] The second in command of this company was Ieuan Wyn, known to the French asle Poursuivant d'Amour, a descendant ofEdnyfed Fychan, Seneschal of Gwynedd under Owain's ancestors. Owain also received financial support while in France from Ieuan Wyn's father,Rhys ap Robert. While in French service Owain had good relations withBertrand du Guesclin^[10] and others, and gained the support ofCharles V of France.^[9]

Welsh soldiery and longbowmen who had fought forEdward I in his campaigns in North Wales remained armed and sold their services to the English kings in their battles inScotland and atCrecy and Poitiers. Ironically, theNorman attempt to conquer Wales set in train events that reignited Welsh identity and raised up new Welsh military leaders such as Owain, claiming descent from the ancient Princes of Wales.^[11]

Evain de Gales, to all those to whom these letters shall come, Greeting. The kings of England in past times having treacherously and covetously, tortuously and without cause and by deliberate treasons, slain or caused to be slain my ancestors, kings of Wales, and others of them have put out of their country, and that country have by force and power appropriated and have submitted its people to divers services, the which country is and should be mine by right of succession, by kindred, by heritage, and by right of descent from my ancestors the kings of that country, and in order to obtain help and succour to recover that country which is my heritage. I have visited... the most puissant and renowned sovereign Charles, by the grace of God king of France, dauphin of Vienne, and have shown unto him my right in the aforesaid country and... [he] has granted me his aid and the assistance of his men-at-arms and fleet in order to recover the said realm, which is my rightful heritage, as has been said... I herewith have made and entered into, for me my heirs and successors and for all my country and subjects for ever, with my said lord the king of France for him and his successors and for all their country and subjects, a good and firm treaty, union and alliance, by which I will aid and assist them by my person, my subjects and my country, to the utmost of my power and loyalty against all persons alive or dead.^[12]

Owain first attacked the island ofGuernsey,^[2] and was still there when a message arrived from Charles ordering him to abandon the expedition in order to go toCastile to seek ships to attackLa Rochelle.^[4][5] Owain defeated an English and Gascon force atSoubise later that year, capturingSir Thomas Percy andJean de Grailly, theCaptal de Buch. Another invasion of Wales was planned in 1373 but had to be abandoned.^[13] In 1374 he fought at Mirebau and at Saintonge. In 1375 Owain was employed byEnguerrand de Coucy to help win Enguerrand's share of the Habsburg lands due to him as nephew of the former Duke of Austria. However, during theGugler War they were defeated by the forces ofBern and had to abandon the expedition.^[4][6]

In May 1372 in Paris, Owain announced that he intended to claim the throne of Wales. He set sail fromHarfleur with money borrowed from Charles V.^[6]

In 1377 there were reports that Owain was planning another expedition, this time with help from Castile. The alarmed English government sent an agent, the Scot John Lamb, to assassinate Owain, who had been given the task of besiegingMortagne-sur-Gironde inPoitou.^[2][4] Lamb gained Owain's confidence and became hissquire, which allowed him to stab Owain to death in July 1378, something Walker described as 'a sad end to a flamboyant career'.^[14][6] The Issue Roll of the Exchequer dated 4 December 1378 records "To John Lamb, an esquire from Scotland, because he lately killed Owynn de Gales, a rebel and enemy of the King in France, on his passage to England to explain certain affairs to the Lord the King and his Council. In money paid to his own hands, in discharge of 20l., which the Lord the King commanded to be paid him. By writ of privy seal, &c., — 20l."^[15][16] Owain was buried at the church of St Leger, nearCognac, France.^[2][5]

With the assassination of Owain Lawgoch the senior line of theHouse of Aberffraw became extinct.^[4][11] The title "Prince of Wales" was later claimed byOwain Glyndŵr by "right of inheritance".^[17][18]

• The 20th-century reprint ofLe Morte d'Arthur introduced byJohn Rhys tells of Owain Lawgoch (Owen ofCardiganshire), a man of untold riches and 7 feet tall with a red right hand living in aSnowdonia (Eryri) cave:^[19]

This Owen is Henry the Ninth,Who lives in the land of strangers.

• The nameOwain inWelsh folklore is a fabled name of the "son of destiny", to which Owain aspired. The prophecy was repeated by Owain Glyndŵr two decades after Owain Lawgoch's death. The next time, Owain's fame and reputation have endured to date.^[8]

• Several legends grew around Owain, of which one version fromCardiganshire runs as follows. Dafydd Meurig ofBetws Bledrws was helping to drive cattle from Cardiganshire toLondon. On the way, he cut himself a hazel stick and was still carrying it when he encountered a stranger on London Bridge. The stranger asked Dafydd where he had cut the stick, and ended up accompanying him back to Wales to the place where the stick had been cut. The stranger told Dafydd to dig under the bush, and this revealed steps leading down to a large cave illuminated by lamps, where a man seven feet tall (213 cm) with a red right hand was sleeping. The stranger told Dafydd that this was Owain Lawgoch "who sleeps until the appointed time; when he wakes he will be king of the Britons".^[4]

• The quarry reservoir atAberllefenni inGwynedd was once known as Llyn Owain Lawgoch, and there is a story linking him with the nearby mansion, Plas Aberllefenni, recorded in "Trem Yn Ol" by J. Arthur Williams.^{[citation needed]}

• In Guernsey, Owain is remembered asYvon de Galles. He and hisAragonese mercenaries have been absorbed into the island's folklore as an invasion of diminutive but handsome fairies from across the sea. The story goes that the shipwrecked king of the fairies was found unconscious on a Guernsey shore by a girl named Lizabeau. When he awoke, he fell in love with her and carried her across the sea to be his queen. However, the other fairies soon decided that they wanted Guernsey brides, and they invaded the island. The men of the island fought bravely but were slaughtered wholesale, except for two men who hid in an oven. The fairies then took Guernsey wives, which is said to be the reason for the typical Guernseyman's dark hair and short stature.^[20]

• A memorial to Owain Lawgoch at his death location was unveiledMortagne-sur-Gironde in 2003.^[14]

Coat of arms of Owain Lawgoch

Notes The arms of Owain Lawgoch on his seals bear lions rampant, but his arms on his banners, held in the parish church of Berne until their destruction in the eighteenth century by French troops, bore lions passant, and were of the colours of the arms of the earlier princes of Gwynedd.[21][22] Crest Two curved horns arising from the helmet.[22] Escutcheon Quarterly, in each quarter a lion rampant.[22] Supporters Two lions rampant gardant.[22]

• 1378 deaths
• 14th-century Welsh military personnel
• Welsh mercenaries
• House of Aberffraw
• People of the Hundred Years' War
• 14th-century Welsh monarchs
• Welsh princes
• Medieval mercenaries

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