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Owain Glyndwr (sometimes anglicised as Owen Glendower) (1359 - 1416?) was the last Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales, and was a descendant of the princes of Powys.
Owain inherited property in the north of Wales: he was the claimant through his mother
to the lands of Rhys ap Gruffydd. He is believed to have studied
law in London before serving with the forces of Henry Bolingbroke, an opponent of King
Richard II of England, who later seized the throne and
became King Henry IV.
On his return to Wales, he found that England's oppressive rule had paralysed the Welsh economy and aroused popular
resentment. He married Margaret Hanmer, whose father, Sir David Hanmer, a
judge, came of an English family that was totally integrated with the local population. They settled down to a peaceful and
prosperous family life, but Owain was regarded by many as the man most likely to revive Welsh hopes of self-government.
In September 1400, a year after Bolingbroke usurped the throne, Glyndwr's feud with a neighbour, Reynold, Lord Grey of Ruthin,
touched off an insurrection in north Wales. The insurgency quickly became a national struggle for Welsh independence.
Glyndwr formed strategic alliances with Henry's most powerful opponents. In 1402 he captured Edmund Mortimer, uncle of the 5th Earl of March and a claimant to the English throne. When the king
refused to ransom Mortimer, Owain secured his support and married him off to one of his own daughters. He then allied himself
with the Percy family (Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, Sir Henry
"Hotspur" Percy, and Thomas Percy, 2nd Earl of Worcester). The defeat of the Percys at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 (in which Owen did not take part) was a temporary setback for the
Welsh leader.
By 1404 he had gained control of most of Wales. Styling himself prince of Wales, he
established an independent Welsh Parliament at Machynlleth and began to
formulate his own foreign and ecclesiastical policies.
In 1405 the tide of battle turned decisively against him. The failure of an expedition
from France on his behalf (1405-6) weakened him. The recapture by the English of
Aberystwyth (1408) and Harlech (1409) under Prince Henry, later Henry V, left him powerless. His allies in England were crushed. He
was, however, active in guerrilla fighting as late as 1412. The actual date and place of
his death is not known.
A movement known as Meibion Glyndwr (The sons of Glyndwr) grew up in Wales during the 1980s and 1990s, campaigning against
the increasing number of second homes bought by outsiders in rural areas. Their methods included arson.
Fiction
Glendower is the subject of several historical novels, including:
Bibliography
- J.E. Lloyd, Owen Glendower. Although written in 1931, this book is still considered a classic.
- Rees R. Davies, The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr. Oxford: University Press, 1995. ISBN 0192853368
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