page_title: Owain Glyndŵr
section_title: Welsh revolt 1400–1415
hierarchical_section_title: Owain Glyndŵr / Welsh revolt 1400–1415
caption_attribution_description: English: Owain Glyndŵr Wall Plaque, near to Machynlleth, Powys, Wales. Owain Glyndŵr wall plaque on his parliament building in Machynlleth.Cymraeg: Plac mur Owain Glyndŵr, ar bwys Machynlleth, Powys, Cymru. Plac mur Owain Glyndŵr ar ei senedd-dŷ ym Machynlleth.
context_page_description: Owain ab Gruffydd, lord of Glyndyfrdwy, or simply Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr, was a Welsh leader who instigated a fierce and long-running yet ultimately unsuccessful war of independence with the aim of ending English rule in Wales during the Late Middle Ages. He was the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales.
  Glyndŵr was a descendant of the Princes of Powys through his father Gruffudd Fychan II, hereditary Tywysog of Powys Fadog and Lord of Glyndyfrdwy, and of those of Deheubarth through his mother Elen ferch Tomas ap Llywelyn ab Owen. On 16 September 1400, Glyndŵr instigated the Welsh Revolt against the rule of Henry IV of England. The uprising was initially very successful and rapidly gained control of large areas of Wales, but it suffered from key weaknesses – particularly a lack of artillery, which made capturing defended fortresses difficult, and of ships, which made rebel-controlled coastlands vulnerable. The uprising was eventually suppressed by the superior resources of the English. Glyndŵr was driven from his last remaining strongholds in 1409, but he avoided capture; the last documented sighting of him was in 1412.
context_section_description: In the late 1390s, a series of events began to push Owain towards rebellion, in what was later to be called the Welsh Revolt, the Glyndŵr Rising or (within Wales) the Last War of Independence. His neighbour, Baron Grey de Ruthyn, had seized control of some land, for which Glyndŵr appealed to the English Parliament. Owain's petition for redress was ignored. Later, in 1400, Lord Grey informed Glyndŵr too late of a royal command to levy feudal troops for Scottish border service, thus enabling him to call the Welshman a traitor in London court circles. Lord Grey was a personal friend of King Henry IV. The English Courts refused to hear, or at the very least, delayed the case. However, an alternative source states that Glyndŵr was under threat because he had written an angry letter to Lord Grey, boasting that 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 Glyndŵr would hang for the admission of theft and treason contained within the letter. The deposed king, Richard II, had support in Wales, and in January 1400 serious civil disorder broke out in the English border city of Chester after the public execution of an officer of Richard II.
  These events led to Owain formally assuming his ancestral title of Prince of Powys on 16 September 1400 at his Glyndyfrdwy estate. With a small band of followers which included his eldest son, his brothers-in-law, and the Bishop of St Asaph in the town of Corwen, possibly in the church of SS Mael & Sulien, he launched an assault on Lord Grey's territories. After a number of initial confrontations between King Henry IV and Owain's followers in September and October 1400, the revolt began to spread. Much of northern and central Wales went over to Owain. Henry IV appointed Henry Percy – the famous "Hotspur" – 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 ap Tudur and Gwilym ap Tudur, sons of Tudur ap Gronw (forefather of King Henry VII of England). Both the Tudurs were pardoned after their capture of Edward I’s great castle at Conwy. In June, Owain scored his first major victory in the field at Mynydd Hyddgen on Pumlumon. Retaliation by Henry IV on the Strata Florida Abbey followed, but eventually led to Henry's retreat.
  In 1402, the English Parliament issued the Penal Laws against Wales, designed to establish English dominance in Wales, but actually pushing many Welshmen into the rebellion. 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 Sir Edmund Mortimer at the Battle of Bryn Glas, where Mortimer was captured. 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'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. It is also in 1402 that mention of the French and Bretons helping Owain was first heard. The French were certainly hoping to use Wales as they had used Scotland: as a base from which to fight the English.
  In 1403 the revolt became truly national in Wales. Royal officials reported that Welsh students at Oxford University were leaving their studies to join Owain, and Welsh labourers 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 Welsh archers and experienced men-at-arms left English service to join the rebellion.
  In 1404, Owain held court at Harlech and appointed Gruffydd Yo
caption: A plaque at Machynlleth commemorates Owain Glyndŵr's 1404 parliament
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