Owain Glyndwr
Mid WalesBorn in 1355
Died in 1416
Owen Glendower, or Owain Glyndwr, was the last Welsh Prince of Wales, a national hero for his leadership of a lengthy nationalist rebellion.
Glendower was born in Montgomeryshire c.1355 into a Welsh marcher family of distinction, descended from Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last nominally independent Welsh ruler.
The young Glendower lived and studied with David Hanmer, a prominent Anglo-Welsh lawyer later his father-in-law when Owen married Margaret Hanmer in 1383.
In his early years Glendower was no rebel, doing further legal study in Westminster, fighting in Scotland and France for Richard II and Henry IV between 1384 and 1387, after which he lived peaceably on his estates until 1400, moving between his great houses at Sycharth and Glyndyfrdwy and siring many children – 15 legitimate and numerous illegitimate.
Injustice drove Owen to rebellion. His neighbour Lord Grey grabbed hereditary Glendower land; appeals to Henry IV proved fruitless, and Grey by the ruse of not communicating a call-to-arms to Owen dubbed him traitor.
The fruits of Henry’s usurpation - discontent at new and execution of old officials – prepared the ground for rebellion. Owen was proclaimed Prince of Wales on September 16 1400, and recruited support.
Henry Percy (Hotspur) was sent to crush the rising but eventually allied with Owen. Anti-Welsh legislation helped increase rebel numbers. In 1402 Lord Grey was captured, the ransom paid by Henry IV financed campaigning and ruined Grey. The same year Edmund Mortimer, sent against Owen, was captured and became an ally, marrying Owen’s daughter after Henry’s refusal to ransom this potential dynastic rival. In 1403 Mortimer fought but lost the Battle of Shrewsbury.
By 1404 Owen was strong enough – the English in Wales penned into a few fortified places - to hold a Parliament, mapping his vision of a Welsh state. Support from France – formalised in 1405 - and independent Brittany confirmed his success, but this was the highpoint of the Last War of Independence. In 1409 Owen’s wife, two daughters, and three granddaughters were captured and sent to the Tower of London: all were dead by 1415.
Owen was reduced to guerrilla warfare. Henry V used clemency to weaken rebel strength. But Owen was never captured, possibly living his remaining years disguised as a priest on an estate in Monnington, Herefordshire, belonging to one of his sons-in-law, probably dying there c.1416.
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