Owain Glyndŵr

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Owain Glyndŵr (Pronounced IPA: ['owain glɨn'dur]), or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by Shakespeare into Owen Glendower (c. 1359 – c. 1416) and crowned as Owain IV of Wales, was the last native Welsh person to hold the title Prince of Wales. He instigated an ultimately unsuccessful but long running revolt against English rule of Wales.

Glyndŵr was a descendant of the Princes of Powys from his father Gruffydd Fychan II, hereditary Tywysog of Powys Fadog and Lord of Glyndyfrdwy, and of those of Deheubarth through his mother Elen ferch Tomas ap Llywelyn. On September 16, 1400, Glyndŵr instigated the Welsh Revolt against the rule of Henry IV of England. Although initially successful, the uprising was eventually put down - Glyndŵr was last seen in 1412 and was never captured, nor tempted by Royal Pardons and never betrayed. His final years are a mystery.

Glyndŵr has remained a notable figure in the popular culture of both Wales and England, portrayed in Shakespeare's play Henry IV (as Owen Glendower) as a wild and exotic man ruled by magic and emotion ("at my nativity, The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, Of burning cressets, and at my birth The frame and huge foundation of the earth Shaked like a coward." - Henry IV Part 1, Act 3, scene 1). In the late 19th century the "Young Wales" movement recreated him as the father of Welsh nationalism, revising the historical image of him as a purely local leader and joining him in popular memory as a national hero on a par with King Arthur.

In 2000, celebrations were held all over Wales to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the Glyndŵr rising. Owain has since been voted in at 23rd in a poll of 100 Greatest Britons in 2002.

Contents 1 Early life 1.1 The Fall of Richard II 1.2 The Dispute with De Grey 2 The Welsh Revolt, 1400–1415 2.1 The Revolt Spreads 2.2 Tripartite Indenture and the Year of the French 2.3 The Rebellion Founders 3 Disappearance and Legacy 3.1 The Aftermath of Rebellion in Wales 3.2 Modern Legacy 4 Fiction 5 Bibliography 6 External links

[edit] Early life

Glyndŵr was born in c.1354 (possibly 1359) to a prosperous landed family, part of the Anglo-Welsh gentry of the Welsh Marches (the border between England and Wales) in northeast Wales. This group moved easily between Welsh and English societies and language, occupying important offices for the Marcher Lords while maintaining their position as uchelwyr — nobles descended from the pre-conquest Welsh Royal dynasties — in traditional Welsh society. His father, Gruffydd Fychan II, Hereditary Tywysog of Powys Fadog and Lord of Glyndyfrdwy, died some time before 1370 leaving Glyndŵr's mother Elen ferch Tomas ap Llywelyn of Deheubarth a widow and Owain a young man of maybe 16 years at most. Owain probably had an elder brother called Madog but he may have died young.

The young Owain ap Gruffydd was fostered at the home of David Hanmer, a rising lawyer shortly to be a Justice of the Kings Bench. Owain is then thought to have been sent to London to study law at the Inns of Court. He probably studied as a legal apprentice for seven years; enough to get a good grasp of the law as a landowner but not enough to be known as a "Man of Law". He was probably in London during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. By 1383 he had returned to Wales, where he married David Hanmer's daughter, Margaret, started his large family and established himself as the Squire of Sycharth and Glyndyfrdwy with all the responsibilities that entailed.

Glyndŵr entered the English King's military service in 1384 when he undertook garrison duty under the renowned 'Welshman' Sir Gregory Sais, or Sir Degory Sais, on the English-Scottish border at Berwick-on-Tweed. In 1385 he saw action under Richard II in his French wars as his scutifer (shield bearer) and later that year served King Richard under the command of John of Gaunt again in Scotland. In 1386 he was called to give evidence in the Scrope v. Grosvenor trial at Chester. In 1387, Owain was in southeast England under Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel in the Channel at the defeat of a Franco-Spanish-Flemish fleet off the coast of Kent. Upon the death of his father-in-law Sir David Hanmer in late 1387, knighted earlier that very year by King Richard, Glyndŵr returned to Wales as executor of his estate. He then served as a squire to Henry Bolingbroke (later King Henry IV), son of John of Gaunt, at the short, sharp Battle of Radcot Bridge in December 1387. He had gained three years concentrated military experience in different theatres and seen at first hand some key events and people.

King Richard was distracted in growing conflict with the Lords Appellant from this time on. Glyndŵr's opportunities were further limited by the death of Sir Gregory Sais in 1390 and the sidelining of Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel and he gladly returned to his stable Welsh estates, living there quietly for ten years during his forties. The bard Iolo Goch ("Red Iolo"), himself a Welsh Lord, visited him throughout the 1390s and wrote a number of odes to Owain, praising Owain's liberality, and writing of Sycharth "Rare was it there/to see a latch or a lock."

[edit] The Fall of Richard II

In the late 1390s, a series of events occurred that began to push Owain towards rebellion. In the last decade of the 14th century, Richard II had launched a bold plan to consolidate his hold on his Kingdom and break the power of the magnates who constantly threatened his authority. As part of this plan, Richard began to shift his power base from the southeast and London towards the establishment of a new Principality around the County of Cheshire and systematically built up his power in nearby Wales. Wales was ruled through a patchwork of semi-autonomous feudal states, Bishoprics, shires, and territory under direct Royal rule. Richard eliminated his rivals and took their land or gave it to his favourites. As he did so, he raised an entire class of Welsh people to fill the new posts created in his new fiefdoms. For these people, the final years of the reign of Richard II were full of opportunities. In contrast, to his English magnates, it was a further sign that Richard was dangerously out of control.

In 1399, the exiled Henry Bolingbroke, heir to the Dukedom of Lancaster, returned to reclaim his lands. Henry raised an army and marched to meet the King. Richard hurried back from Ireland to deal with Henry Bolingbroke. They met in Wales, at Conwy Castle, to discuss the restitution of Henry's lands. Whatever was intended, the meeting ended when Richard was arrested, deposed and imprisoned, first at Chester, then at Pontefract Castle in West Yorkshire. Parliament quickly made Henry Bolingbroke Regent and then King. Richard died under mysterious circumstances in Pontefract Castle, shortly after the failed Epiphany Rising of English Nobles, but his death was not generally known for some time. In Wales, people like Owain were asked for the first time in their life to decide their loyalties. The Welsh were traditionally supporters of King Richard, who had succeeded his father, The Black Prince, as Prince of Wales. With Richard removed the opportunities for advancement for Welsh people were suddenly severely limited. Many Welsh people seem to have been uncertain where this left them and their future.

[edit] The Dispute with De Grey

The revolt began as an argument with Owain's English neighbour. Successive holders of the title Baron Grey de Ruthyn of Dyffryn Clwyd were English landowners in Wales with a reputation for being anti-Welsh. Owain had been engaged in a long-running land dispute with them. In 1399, he appealed to Parliament to resolve the issue and under King Richard the court found for him, he won. Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn — a good friend of the new king — used his influence to have that decision overturned. Owain appealed. It was rejected without a hearing even being granted. Furthermore, de Grey deliberately withheld a Royal Summons for Owain to join the new King’s Scottish campaign. Technically, as a tenant-in-chief to the English King, Owain was obliged to provide troops, as he had done in the past. By not responding to the hidden summons Owain unwittingly committed treason. King Henry declared Owain a traitor, his estates forfeit. He urged de Grey to deal with Owain. De Grey broke personal assurances and used force, his intent clear, and left Owain with no recourse other than flight, seemingly confirming his guilt, then open revolt.

[edit] The Welsh Revolt, 1400–1415

On 16 September 1400, Owain acted, and was proclaimed Prince of Wales by a small band of followers which included his eldest son, his brothers-in-law, and the Dean of St. Asaph. This was a revolutionary statement in itself. Owain’s men quickly spread through north-east Wales. By September 19, the De Grey stronghold of Ruthin Castle was attacked and almost destroyed. Denbigh, Rhuddlan, Flint, Hawarden, and Holt followed quickly afterward. On 22 September the town of Oswestry was so badly damaged by Owain's raid that it had to be re-chartered. By the 24th Owain was moving south attacking Powis Castle and sacking Welshpool. Simultaneously, the Tudor brothers from Anglesey launched a guerrilla war against the English. The Tudors were a prominent Anglesey family who were closely associated with King Richard. Gwilym Tudur and Rhys ap Tudur had been Captains of Welsh archers in Richard's campaigns in Ireland. They quickly swore allegiance to their cousin, Owain Glyndŵr.

King Henry IV, on his way north to invade Scotland, turned his army around and by 26 September he was in Shrewsbury ready to invade Wales. In a lightning campaign, Henry led his army around North Wales. He was harassed constantly by bad weather and the attacks of Welsh guerrillas. By October 15, he was back in Shrewsbury Castle with little to show for his efforts.

In 1401, the revolt began to spread. The whole of northern and central Wales went over to Owain. Multiple attacks were recorded on English towns, castles, and manors throughout the North. Even in the south in Brecon and Gwent reports began to come in of banditry and lawlessness by groups calling themselves the Plant Owain – the Children of Owain. King Henry IV appointed Henry Percy – the famous ‘Hotspur’, legendary warrior son of the powerful Earl of Northumberland – to bring the country to order. Hotspur issued an amnesty in March which applied to all rebels with the exception of Owain and his cousins, Rhys and Gwilym, sons of Tudur ap Gronw of Penmynydd, (forefather of King Henry VII of England). Most of the country was mightily relieved and agreed to pay all the usual taxes, but the Tudors knew that they needed a bargaining chip if they were to lift the dire threat hanging over them. They coolly decided to capture Edward I’s great castle at Conwy. Although the Conwy Castle garrison amounted to just fifteen men-at-arms and sixty archers, it was well stocked and easily reinforced from the sea; and in any case, the Tudors only had forty men. They needed a cunning plan. On Good Friday, which also happened to be 1 April – All Fool’s Day – all but five of the garrison were in the little church in the town when a carpenter appeared at the castle gate, who according to Adam of Usk’s Chronicon, ‘feigned to come for his accustomed work’. Once inside, the Welsh chippy attacked the two guards and threw open the gate to allow the gang to rush in. Although Hotspur arrived from Denbigh with 120 men-at-arms and 300 archers, he knew it would take a great deal more to get inside so formidable a fortress and, forced to negotiate, he finally gave the Tudors their Pardon.

Owain also scored his first major victory in the field. In June, at Mynydd Hyddgen on Pumlumon. Owain and his army of four hundred were camped at the bottom of the Hyddgen Valley when fifteen hundred English and Flemish settlers from Pembrokeshire (little England beyond Wales), charged down on them. Owain rallied his army and fought back, killing 200 and making prisoners of the rest. The situation was sufficiently serious for the King to assemble another punitive expedition. This time he attacked through central Wales. From Shrewsbury and Hereford Castle, Henry IV's forces drove through Powys toward the Strata Florida Abbey. The Cistercian house was known to be sympathetic towards Owain and Henry intended to remind them of their loyalties and prevent the revolt from spreading any further south. After terrible weather and constant harassment by the Plant Owain he reached Strata Florida. Henry was in no mood to be merciful. After a two-day drinking session, his army partially destroyed the abbey and executed monks suspected of pro-Owain loyalties. However, he failed to engage Owain's forces in any large numbers. Plant Owain harassed him and engaged in hit-and-run tactics on his supply chain but refused to fight in the open. Henry's army was forced to retreat. As he did so the weather turned. The army was nearly washed away in floods and Henry, sleeping in his armour, almost died when his tent was blown down. Wet, starving, and dejected, they returned to Hereford Castle with nothing to claim for their efforts.

The English saw that if the revolt prospered it would inevitably attract disaffected supporters of the deposed King Richard. They were concerned about the potential for disaffection in Cheshire and were increasingly worried about the news from North Wales. Hotspur complained that he was not receiving sufficient support from the King and that the repressive policy of Henry was only encouraging revolt. He argued that negotiation and compromise could persuade Owain to end his revolt. In fact, as early as 1401, Hotspur may have been in secret negotiations with Owain and other leaders of the revolt to attempt to negotiate a settlement. The core Lancastrian supporters would have none of this. They struck back with anti-Welsh legislation designed to establish English dominance in Wales. The laws actually codified common practices that had been at work in Wales and along the Welsh Marches for many years. The laws included prohibiting any Welshman from buying land in England, from holding any senior public office in Wales, from bearing arms, from holding any castle or defending any house, no Welsh child was to be educated or apprenticed to any trade, no Englishman could be convicted in any suit brought by a Welshman, Welshmen were to be severely penalised when marrying an Englishwoman, any Englishman marrying a Welshwoman was disenfranchised and all public assembly was forbidden. These laws sent a message to any of those who were wavering that the English viewed all the Welsh with equal suspicion. Many Welshmen who had tried to further their careers in English service now felt pushed into the rebellion as the middle ground between Owain and Henry disappeared.

In the same year, 1402, Owain captured his arch enemy, Reynald or Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn in an ambush in January at Ruthin. He was to hold him for a year until he received a substantial ransom from King Henry. Paying back this debt effectively ruined de Grey financially. In June 1402 Owain's forces encountered an army led by Sir Edmund Mortimer, the uncle of the Earl of March, at Bryn Glas in central Wales. Mortimer's army was badly defeated and Mortimer was captured. It is reported that the Welsh women following Owain’s army, killed the wounded English soldiers and mutilated the bodies of the dead, supposedly in revenge for plundering and rape by the English soldiery the previous year. Glyndŵr offered to release Mortimer for a large ransom but, in sharp contrast to his attitude to de Grey, Henry IV refused to pay. Mortimer could be said to have had a greater claim to the English throne than himself so his speedy release was not an option. In response, Sir Edmund negotiated an alliance with Owain and married one of Owain's daughters, Catrin.

It is also in 1402, that mention of the French and Bretons helping Owain were first heard. The French were certainly hoping to use Wales as they had used Scotland as a base from which to fight the English. French privateers began to attack English ships in the Irish Sea and provide weapons to the Welsh. French and Breton freebooters were also active in Owain's attacks.

[edit] The Revolt Spreads

1403 marks the year when the revolt became truly national in Wales. Owain struck out to the west and the south. Recreating Llywelyn the Great's campaign in the west, Owain marched down the Tywi Valley. Village after village rose to join him. English manors and castles fell or their inhabitants surrendered. Finally, Carmarthen, one of the main English power-bases in the west, fell and was occupied by Owain. Owain then turned around and attacked Glamorgan and Gwent. Abergavenny Castle in Gwent was attacked and the walled town burned. Owain pushed on down the valley of the River Usk to the coast, burning Usk and taking Cardiff Castle and Newport Castle. Royal officials report that Welsh students at Oxford University were leaving their studies for Owain and Welsh labourers and craftsmen were abandoning their employers in England and returning to Wales in droves. Owain could also draw on the seasoned troops from the English campaigns in France and Scotland. Hundreds of Welsh archers and experienced men-at-arms left English service to join the rebellion.

In the north of Wales, Owain's supporters launched a second attack on Caernarfon Castle (this time with French support) and almost captured it. In response, Henry of Monmouth (the son of Henry IV and the future King Henry V) attacked and burned Owain's homes at Glyndyfrdwy and Sycharth. Hotspur defected to Owain, raised his standard in revolt in Cheshire, a bastion of support for King Richard II, and challenged his cousin Henry's right to the throne. Henry of Monmouth, then only 16, turned to the north to meet Hotspur. On July 21, Henry arrived in Shrewsbury just before Hotspur, forcing the rebel army to camp outside the town. Henry forced the battle before the Earl of Northumberland had also managed to reach Shrewsbury. Thus, Henry was able to fight before the full strength of the rebels was present and on ground of his own choosing. The battle lasted all day, Henry was badly wounded in the face by an arrow but continued to fight alongside his men. When the cry went out that Hotspur had fallen, the rebels' resistance began to falter and crumble. By the end of the day, Hotspur was dead and his rebellion was over. Over 300 knights had died and up to 20,000 men were killed or injured.

In 1404, Owain captured and garrisoned the great western castles of Harlech and Aberystwyth. Anxious to demonstrate his seriousness as a ruler, he held Court at Harlech and appointed the devious and brilliant Gruffydd Young as his Chancellor. Soon afterwards he called his first Parliament (or more properly a "Cynulliad" or "gathering") of all Wales at Machynlleth where he was crowned Owain IV of Wales and announced his national programme. He declared his vision of an independent Welsh state with a parliament and separate Welsh church. There would be two national universities (one in the south and one in the north) and return to the traditional law of Hywel Dda. Senior churchmen and important members of society flowed to his banner. English resistance was reduced to a few isolated castles, walled towns, and fortified manor houses.

[edit] Tripartite Indenture and the Year of the French

Owain demonstrated his new status by negotiating the "Tripartite Indenture" with Edmund Mortimer and the Earl of Northumberland. The Indenture agreed to divide England and Wales between the three of them. Wales would extend as far as the rivers Severn and Mersey including most of Cheshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire. The Mortimer Lords of March would take all of southern and western England and Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester, would take the north of England. Most historians have dismissed the Indenture as a flight of fantasy. However, it must be remembered that in early 1404 things looked very positive for Owain. Local English communities in Shropshire, Herefordshire and Montgomeryshire had ceased active resistance and were making their own treaties with the rebels. It was rumoured that old allies of King Richard II were sending money and arms to the Welsh and the Cistercians and Franciscans were funneling funds to support the rebellion. Furthermore, the Percy rebellion was still viable; even after the defeat of the Percy Archbishop Scrope in May In fact the Percy rebellion was not to end until 1408 when the Sheriff of Yorkshire defeated Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland at Bramham Moor. Thus, far from a flight of fantasy, Owain was capitalising on the political situation to make the best deal he possibly could.

Things were improving on the international front too. Although negotiations with the Scots and the Lords of Ireland were unsuccessful, Owain had reasons to hope that the French and Bretons might be more welcoming. Quickly Owain dispatched Gruffydd Young and his brother-in-law, John Hanmer, to France to negotiate a treaty 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 to Kidwelly Castle. The Welsh could also count on semi-official fraternal aid from their fellow Celts in the then independent Brittany and Scotland. Scots and French privateers were operating around Wales throughout Owain’s war. Scots ships had raided English settlements on the Llyn Peninsula in 1400 and 1401. In 1403 a Breton squadron defeated the English in the Channel and devastated Jersey, Guernsey and Plymouth while the French made a landing on the Isle of Wight. By 1404 they were raiding the coast of England, with Welsh troops on board, setting fire to Dartmouth and devastating the coasts of Devon.

1405 was the "Year of the French" in Wales. On the continent the French pressed the English as the French army invaded English Aquitaine. Simultaneously, the French landed in force at Milford Haven in west Wales. They had left Brest in July with more than twenty-eight hundred knights and men-at-arms led by Jean de Rieux, the Marshal of France. Unfortunately, they had not been provided with sufficient fresh water and many warhorses had died. They did though bring modern siege equipment. Joined by Owain's forces they marched inland and took the town of Haverfordwest but failed to take the castle. They then moved on and retook Carmarthen and laid siege to Tenby. What happened next is something of a mystery. The Franco-Welsh force marched right across South Wales (according to local tradition) and invaded England. They marched through Herefordshire and on into Worcestershire. They met the English army west of Great Witley, just ten miles from Worcester, with King Henry IV's army arrayed on Abberley Hill facing south towards Owains army facing north on the defensive Iron Age hill fort of Woodbury Hill, still known locally as Owain's Hill. The armies took up battle positions daily and viewed each other from a mile without any major action for eight days. Neither initiated battle. Then, for reasons that have never been clear, both sides withdrew. King Henry's strategy was to prolong the stand off and weaken and intimidate the Welsh army. The Welsh and French army cut off from resupply withdrew at nightfall back through Wales.

More French were to arrive as the year went on but the high-point of French involvement had passed. The main theory why both sides withdrew from their positions and headed homewards is as follows. The English force on home ground, well supplied and inside England, were able to lay 'siege' to their opponents by surrounding them, thereby preventing vital supplies of food and drink reaching the "invading" Franco-Welsh army. This, slowly but surely, weakened both the body and spiritual resolve of the Welshmen in continuing the struggle isolated so deep into their enemy's territory. It is fascinating to postulate what the result of a full and decisive battle here may have been at this stage.

[edit] The Rebellion Founders

By 1406, most French forces had withdrawn after politics shifted in Paris toward the peace party. Even Owain's so-called "Pennal Letter", in which he promised King Charles VI of France and Avignon Pope Benedict XIII to shift the allegiance of the Welsh Church from Rome to Avignon, produced no effect. The moment had passed.

There were other signs the revolt was encountering problems. Early in the year Owain’s forces suffered defeats at Grosmont and Usk at the Battle of Pwll Melyn. Although it is very difficult to understand what happened at these two battles, it appears that Henry of Monmouth or possibly Sir John Talbot defeated substantial Welsh raiding parties led by Rhys Gethin (“Swarthy Rhys”) and Owain’s eldest son, Gruffudd ab Owain Glyndwr. The exact date and order of these battles is subject to dispute. However, they may have resulted in the death of Rhys Gethin at Grosmont and Owain's brother, Tudur, at Usk and the capture of Gruffudd. Gruffudd was sent to the Tower of London and after six years died in prison. King Henry also showed that the English were engaged in more and more ruthless tactics. Adam of Usk says that after the Battle of Pwll Melyn near Usk, King Henry had three hundred prisoners beheaded in front of Usk Castle. John ap Hywel, Abbot of the nearby Llantarnam Cistercian monastery, was killed during the Battle of Usk as he ministered to the dying and wounded on both sides. More serious for the rebellion, English forces landed in Anglesey from Ireland. Over the next year they would gradually push the Welsh back until the resistance in Anglesey formally ended toward the end of 1406.

At the same time, the English were adopting a different strategy. Rather than focusing on punitive expeditions favoured by King Henry IV, the young Henry of Monmouth 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. In March, 1,000 men from all over Flintshire appeared before the Chief Justitiar of the county and agreed to pay a communal fine for their adherence to Glyndŵr. Gradually the same pattern was repeated throughout the country. In July the Earl of Arundel’s north-east Lordship around Oswestry and Clun submitted. One by one the Lordships began to surrender. By midsummer, Owain’s castle at Aberystwyth was under siege. That autumn Aberystwyth Castle surrendered. In 1409 it was the turn of Harlech Castle. Last minute desperate envoys were sent to the French for help. There was no response. Gruffydd Young was sent to Scotland to attempt to coordinate action but nothing was to come of that either. Harlech Castle fell in 1409. Edmund Mortimer died in the final battle and Owain’s wife Margaret along with two of his daughters (including Catrin) and three of his Mortimer granddaughters were taken prisoner and incarcerated in the Tower of London. They were all to die in the Tower before 1415.

Owain remained free but now he was a hunted guerilla leader. The revolt continued to splutter on. In 1410, Owain readied his supporters for a last raid deep into Shropshire. Many of his most loyal commanders were present. It may have been a last desperate suicide raid. Whatever was intended, the raid went terribly wrong and many of the leading figures still at large were captured. Rhys Ddu ("Black Rhys") of Cardigan, one of Owain’s most faithful commanders, was captured and taken to London for execution. A chronicle of the time states that Rhys Ddu was: "...laid on a hurdle and so drawn forth to Tyburn through the City and was there hanged and let down again. His head was smitten off and his body quartered and sent to four towns and his head set on London Bridge." Philip Scudamore and Rhys ap Tudur were also beheaded and their heads displayed at Shrewsbury and Chester (no doubt to discourage any further thoughts of rebellion).

In 1412, Owain captured, and later ransomed, a leading Welsh supporter of King Henry's, Dafydd Gam ("Crooked David"), in an ambush in Brecon. These were the last flashes of the revolt. This was the last time that Owain was seen alive by his enemies. As late as 1414, there were rumours that the Herefordshire based Lollard leader, Sir John Oldcastle, was communicating with Owain and reinforcements were sent to the major castles in the north and south. Outlaws and bandits left over from the rebellion were still active in Snowdonia.

But by then things were changing. King Henry IV died in 1413 and his son King Henry V began to adopt a more conciliatory attitude to the Welsh. Royal Pardons were offered to the major leaders of the revolt and other opponents of his father's regime. In a symbolic and pious gesture, the body of deposed King Richard II was interred in Westminster Abbey. In 1415 Henry V offered a Pardon to Owain, as he prepared for war with France. There is evidence that the new King Henry V was in negotiations with Owain's son, Maredudd ab Owain Glyndŵr, but nothing was to come of it. In 1416 Maredudd was himself offered a Pardon but refused. Perhaps his father Owain was still alive and he was unwilling to accept it while he lived. He finally accepted a Royal Pardon in 1421, suggesting that Owain Glyndŵr was finally dead. There is some evidence to suggest, in the poetry of the Welsh Bard Llawdden for example, that a few diehards continued to fight on even after 1421 under the leadership of Owain's son-in-law Phylib ap Rhys.

The Annals of Owain Glyndwr taken from the medieval manuscript Panton MS. 22 finish in the year 1422. The last entry regarding the prince reads:

1415 - Owain went into hiding on St Matthew's Day in Harvest (September 21), and thereafter his hiding place was unknown. Very many said that he died; the seers maintain he did not.

[edit] Disappearance and Legacy

Nothing certain is now known of Owain after 1412. Despite enormous rewards being offered, he was never captured nor betrayed. He ignored Royal Pardons. Tradition has it that he either died and was buried at his estate in Sycharth or on the estates of his daughters' husbands — Kentchurch in south Herefordshire or Monnington in west Herefordshire, ironically both in England. Owain's daughter, Alys, had married, secretly, Sir John Scudamore, the King's appointed Sheriff of Herefordshire. Somehow he had weathered the rebellion and remained in office. It was rumoured that Owain finally retreated to their home at Kentchurch. In his book "The Mystery of Jack of Kent and the Fate of Owain Glyndŵr", Alex Gibbon argues that the folk hero Jack of Kent, also known as Siôn Cent – the family chaplain of the Scudamore family – was in fact Owain Glyndŵr himself. Gibbon points out a number of similarities between Siôn Cent and Glyndŵr (including physical appearance, age, education, character) and claims that Owain spent his last years living with Alys passing himself off as an aging Franciscan friar and family tutor. There are many folktales of Glyndŵr donning disguises to gain advantage over opponents during the rebellion.

A grandchild of the Scudamore's was Sir John Donne (d. 1503) of Kidwelly, a successful Yorkist courtier, diplomat and soldier, who after 1485 made an accommodation with his fellow-Welshman Henry VII. Through the Donne family many prominent English families are then descended from Owain, including the De Vere family, successive holders of the title Earl of Oxford and the Cavendish family as Duke of Devonshire.

In 2006 The Owain Glyndwr Society's president Adrien Jones said: "Four years ago we visited a direct descendant of Glyndwr, [Sir John Scudamore], at Kentchurch Court, near Abergavenny. "He took us to Monnington Straddel, in Herefordshire, where one of Glyndwr's daughters, Alice [Alys], had lived. [He] told us that he (Glyndŵr) spent his last days there and eventually died there. It was a family secret for 600 years and even [Sir John]'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 Monnington Straddel." [1]

Owain Glyndŵr is reported to have sired the following children:

• Gruffudd ab Owain Glyndŵr
• Madog ab Owain Glyndŵr
• Maredudd ab Owain Glyndŵr
• Tomas ab Owain Glyndŵr
• Siôn ab Owain Glyndŵr
• Dafydd ab Owain Glyndŵr
• Ieuan ab Owain Glyndwr
• Alys ferch Owain Glyndŵr
• Margaret ferch Owain Glyndŵr
• Isabel ferch Owain Glyndŵr
• Jonet ferch Owain Glyndŵr
• Catrin ferch Owain Glyndŵr
• Elizabeth ferch Owain Glyndŵr
• Gwenllian ferch Owain Glyndŵr
• Jane ferch Owain Glyndŵr

Owain Glyndwr is also reported to have had the following siblings:

• Gruffudd ap Gruffudd Fychan, probably pre-deceased Owain
• Tudur ap Gruffudd Fychan, Lord of Gwyddelwern
• Isabel ferch Gruffudd Fychan
• Margaret ferch Gruffudd Fychan
• Lowri ferch Gruffudd Fychan

[edit] The Aftermath of Rebellion in Wales

By 1415, full English rule was returned to Wales. The leading rebels were dead, imprisoned, or impoverished through massive fines. Scarcely a parish or family in Wales, English or Welsh, had not been affected in some way. The cost in loss of life, physical destruction, and ruined lives was enormous. Wales, already a poor country on the border of England, was further impoverished by pillage, economic blockade and communal fines. Reports by travellers talk of ruined castles, such as Montgomery Castle and Abbeys such as Strata Florida Abbey and Abbeycwmhir. Grass grew in the market squares of many towns such as Oswestry and Welsh commerce had almost ground to a halt. Land that had previously been productive was now empty wasteland with no tenants to work the land. As late as 1492, a Royal Official in lowland Glamorgan was still citing the devastation caused by the revolt as the reason why he was unable to deliver promised revenues to the King.

Many prominent families were ruined. In 1411, John Hanmer pleaded poverty as the reason why he could not pay the fines imposed on him. The Tudors no longer lorded it over Anglesey and northwest Wales as they had done throughout the late 14th century. The family seemed finished until the third Tudor brother, Maredudd, went to London and established a new destiny for the family. Others eventually surrendered and made peace with the new order. The redoubtable Henry Dwn who with the French and Bretons had laid siege to Kidwelly Castle in 1403 and 1404 made his peace and accepted a fine. Somehow he avoided paying a penny. For many years after his surrender and despite official proscriptions, he sheltered rebels on the run, levied fines on 200 individuals that had not supported him, rode around the county with his retinue, and even plotted the murder of the King’s justice. Nevertheless, his grandson fought alongside Henry V in 1415 at the Battle of Agincourt. Others could not fit into the new order. An unknown number of Owain’s supporters went into exile. Henry Gwyn ("White Henry") — heir to the substantial Lordship of Llansteffan — left Wales forever and was to die in the service of the King of France facing his old comrades at Agincourt. Gruffydd Young was another permanent exile. By 1415 he was in Paris. He was to live another 20 years being first Bishop of Ross in Scotland and later of Hippo in North Africa.

[edit] Modern Legacy

Owain is perhaps best remembered outside Wales as the caricatured Welshman of 'Owen Glendower' in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part One who claims to be able to "call spirits from the vasty deep". In common with the myth of Merlin this places Owain as a druidic mystic and - bluntly - a windbag: all too familiar stereotypes of the Welsh to this day.

After Owain's death, there was little resistance to English rule until, in the 16th century, the Tudor dynasty, whilst allowing Welshmen to become more prominent in English society, saw Owain's revolt as a catastrophe for Wales. In "Henry IV" Shakespeare portrays him as wild and exotic; a man ruled by magic and emotion in sharp contrast to the logical and reasonable Hotspur. It was not until the late 19th century that Owain's reputation was to be revived. The "Young Wales" movement recreated him as the father of Welsh nationalism. The discovery of Owain's Great Seal and his letters to the French in the Bibliotheque Nationale helped revise historical images of him as a purely local leader. In the First World War, the Welsh Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, unveiled a statue to him in Cardiff town hall and a postcard showing Owain at the Battle of Mynydd Hyddgen was sold to raise money for wounded Welsh soldiers. Folk memory in Wales had always held him in high regard and almost every parish has some landmark or story about Owain.

He joined the long list of failed resistance to English rule in the British Isles, was remembered as a national hero on a par with King Arthur and numerous small groups have adopted his symbolism to advocate independence or nationalism for Wales. For example, during the 1980s, a group calling themselves "Meibion Glyndwr" claimed responsibility for the burning of English holiday homes in Wales. However, perhaps ironically, Glyndŵr was part English himself. Welsh legend states that when Wales is threatened again then he will rise from the his unknown resting place in order to lead the defence of Wales, quite like the legend of King Arthur. The creation of the National Assembly for Wales brought him back into the spotlight and in 2000 celebrations were held all over Wales to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the rising. Stamps were issued with his likeness and streets, parks, and public squares were named after him throughout Wales. Owain’s personal standard — the quartered arms of Powys and Deheubarth rampant — began to be seen all over Wales, especially at rugby union matches against the English. An energetic campaign exists to make September 16, the date Owain raised his standard, a national holiday in Wales. An annual award for achievement in the arts and literature, the Glyndŵr Award, is named after him. In 2007, popular Welsh musicians the Manic Street Preachers wrote a b-side entitled '1404' based on Owain Glyndwr. The song can be found on the CD single for Autumnsong (CD1). A statue of Owain Glyndŵr on horseback was installed in 2007 in The Square in Corwen, Denbighshire to commemorate his life and his lasting influence on the region. The waymarked long distance footpath Glyndwr's Way runs through Mid Wales near to his homelands.

Preceded by Owain III

Titular Prince of Wales 1400-c.1416

Succeeded by Vacant

[edit] Fiction

As well as in Shakespeare, Glyndŵr, has been featured in a number of works of literature and is the subject of several historical novels, including:

• John Cowper Powys: Owen Glendower
• Martha Rofheart: Cry 'God for Glendower' (1973)
• Edith Pargeter: A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury
• Malcolm Pryce: A Dragon to Agincourt - Y Lolfa ISBN 0-86243-684-2

He is also a character in Shakespeare's Henry IV, part 1 and was the hero of James Hill's UK TV movie Owain, Prince of Wales, broadcast in 1983 in the early days of Channel 4/S4C.

He also has a small role as a past Knight of the Word and a ghost who serves the Lady in Terry Brooks' Word/Void trilogy. In the books, he is John Ross' ancestor.

For a study of the various ways Glyndŵr has been portrayed in Welsh-language literature of the modern period, see E. Wyn James, Glyndŵr a Gobaith y Genedl: Agweddau ar y Portread o Owain Glyndŵr yn Llenyddiaeth y Cyfnod Modern (Aberystwyth: Cymdeithas Lyfrau Ceredigion, 2007).

[edit] Bibliography

• J.E. Lloyd, Owen Glendower. Although written in 1931 this book is still considered a classic.
• R. Rees Davies, The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr (1995) Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-285336-8
• Geoffrey Hodge, Owain Glyn Dwr: The War of Independence in the Welsh Borders (1995) Logaston Press ISBN 1-873827-24-5
• Family of Owain Glyndŵr. http://www.gbnf.com/genealog3/maytree/html/d0140/I08621.HTM
• Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition, Charles Mosley Editor-in-Chief, 1999. pp.714, 1295
• Jon Latimer, Deception in War, (2001), John Murray, pp.12-13.

[edit] External links

• Glyndwr and the War of Welsh Liberation 1400-1415
• The Owain Glyndwr Society
• Two letters of Owain Glyndwr, from Adam of Usk
• "Glyndwr flag flies at city castle" – BBC News 12 September 2005
• "Glyndwr's burial mystery 'solved'" – BBC News
• Owain at 100 Welsh Heroes
• Medieval Soldier:Soldier of the Month December 2007