Owain Glyndŵr

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Statue to Owain Glyndŵr in Cardiff City Hall

Owain Glyndŵr [ ˈowain glɪn'duːr ], also Owain ap Gruffydd [ ˈowain ap ˈgrɪfɪð ], engl. Owen Glendower [ glenˈdaʊəɹ ] (* around 1350, around 1354 or around 1359 near Wrexham, † around 1416 ), was the last native Welsh to hold the title of Prince of Wales . He began an uprising against English rule in Wales , which included large parts of the country, in 1400 and is considered a Welsh national hero.

origin

He was born in the 1350s to a Cambro-Norman noble family, rich by Welsh standards , the exact year of his birth is unknown. His father, Gruffydd Fychan II , was a descendant of the Princes of Powys and Lord of Glyndyfrdwy . His great-great-grandfather, Gruffydd Fychan , a lord of Powys Fadog , had lost his independence in 1282 when Wales was conquered by the English King Edward I , but his family was able to keep two estates: Glyndyfrdwy near Llangollen in Merionethshire and a lordship in Llansilin in Chirkland. There was the family's main residence in Sycharth , of which earth walls are still preserved. Glyndyfrdwy means Glyn-Dyfr-dwy, ( Welsh for gorge of the water of the Dee ), from which Owain's nickname Glyndŵr was formed, which was also Anglicised as Glendower.

His mother Elen Ferch Tomas Ap Llywelyn was a granddaughter of Llywelyn from Owain and thus descended from the Princes of Deheubarth from the Dinefwr family . She brought property in Cardiganshire into the family. His father served the Earl of Arundel as Oswestry's steward and administrator of the Ellesmere estate . Presumably his father died when Owain was 11 years old. Owain came to judge David Hanmer's household for training . Following the example of Hanmer, he later studied law at the Inns of Court in London. In 1383 he married Hanmer's daughter Margaret. Hanmer was descended from an Englishman who married in Wales; his ancestors had all married Welsh women. Hanmar married Angharad, a Welsh woman, his son married into the Tudor family, and his daughter Margaret married Owain Glyndŵr.

In 1384 Owain served as a soldier under Gregory Sais in the Welsh Marches , in 1384 he was a soldier in Berwick , in 1385 he fought under the Earl of Arundel for King Richard II in Scotland and in March 1387 under the Earl of Arundel in the English naval victory of Margate via a Flemish-French fleet. After his service as a soldier, he lived with his large family before 1400 as the model of an assimilated, wealthy Welsh on his trench-fortified estate in Sycharth or in his house in Glyndyfrdwy.

The castle hill of Sycharth, the residence of Owain Glyndŵr

Leader of a Welsh uprising

When Owain Glyndŵr wanted to mediate a long-standing quarrel with his neighbor, the English Lord Reginald Gray of Ruthin , who was hostile to the Welsh , through parliament in 1399 , Gray used his relations with the new king so that the matter was rejected. In addition, Owain was to provide troops for the king's war against Scotland. On September 16, 1400 Owain met in Glyndyfrdwy with his brother Tudur, his son Gruffydd, his brothers-in-law Gruffydd and Philip Hanmer and with the dean of St Asaph , Robert Puleston and other friends, they declared him Prince of Wales. Descended from the Powys Princes, Glyndwr had the most claim to this title of any Welsh nobles, and he called upon other disappointed nobles to support it. With the support of Welsh nobles from northeast Wales, he attacked and destroyed Grey's castle in Ruthin . The rebels then attacked other English boroughs . Owain was ostracized and dispossessed. His possessions were given to John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset , who was unable to take possession of them because of the rebellion. Although the king undertook four campaigns against Owain's rebels, the rebellion spread to much of Wales. Owain was able to defeat English troops in open battle several times, including the Battle of Bryn Glas . There he took the English nobleman Edmund Mortimer prisoner, who was not ransomed by the king. Mortimer then switched sides and married Owain's daughter Catherine. Owain now received support from France, which was at war with England . In 1404 he captured the castles of Harlech and Aberystwyth , and Owain was at the height of his power. The undisputed leader of the rebellion, he called himself Prince of Wales by the grace of God . He wanted an independent Welsh principality that would become a modern state with an independent church, two universities, and a parliament. In February 1405 he planned the partition of England with the Earl of Northumberland and his son-in-law Edmund Mortimer. As Prince of Wales, Owain was to receive Chester, Shrewsbury and Worcester, the Earl of Northumberland the north and the Midlands and Mortimer south of England. Despite the support of a French army, however, an advance to England failed in August 1405, which is considered the turning point of the uprising. Owain suffered several defeats over the next several years. At the Battle of Pwll Melyn , Owain's brother Tudur fell while his son Owain was captured and taken to the Tower of London . His brother-in-law, John Hanmer, was also captured. In 1408 Owain's allies in England were defeated by King Henry IV, and after Harlech Castle was retaken in early 1409, the rebellion had virtually failed. During the siege of Harlech, Owain's son-in-law Mortimer had died, and Owain's wife Margaret, their daughter Catherine, their son and two daughters were captured. They were taken to the Tower of London, where Owain's son Owain had died. Owain's son Gruffydd died there in 1411, Catherine and their two daughters in 1413.

Banner by Owain Glyndŵr

In 1410 Owain attacked Shropshire in what may have been a desperate attempt to end the rebellion with honor. The Welsh were defeated and three of Owain's closest confidants, including Rhys ap Tudur of Anglesey, were captured and executed. In 1412 Owain was able to capture his opponent Dafydd Gam , but after that little is known about his fate. After the death of Henry IV, the new King Henry V offered him a pardon in 1413, which Owain's son Maredudd refused for him. The exact date and place of Owain's death are unknown to this day. He probably died around 1416, according to tradition he spent the rest of his life with his daughter Alys and his son-in-law John Scudamore , a country nobleman from Herefordshire , on their estate Monnington Straddel in western Herefordshire, with the tacit tolerance of the king .

Seal of Owain Glyndŵr

Consequences and aftermath

Owain was a master of guerrilla warfare and an experienced military leader who could defeat English troops in open battle. He ruled large parts of Wales between 1402 and 1408 and remained a threat to English rule until his death. However, his rebellion ended in defeat and became a long-lasting economic, social and political catastrophe for Wales. The destruction was not over until a generation later. Even so, Owain Glyndŵr was never forgotten. Shakespeare portrays him in his drama King Henry IV as a wild, exotic, magical man. With the resurgence of Welsh nationalism in the 19th century, his life and legacy were reevaluated. The discovery of his seal and letters testified that he had truly been a national leader of importance. The Welsh nationalists had always kept him in high esteem, today he is part of everyday culture in Wales with monuments, as namesake for pubs and streets.

In the 1980s and 1990s there was a movement in Wales called "Meibion ​​Glyndŵr" ( Sons of Glyndŵr ), which tried to fight back against the growing number of secondary residences in Wales, mostly by foreigners, including many English people, in rural areas were. In some cases they even started fires to achieve their goals.

Glyndŵr as a literary figure

In addition to his role in Shakespear's drama, Owain Glyndŵr is the protagonist of numerous novels , including:

literature

Web links

Commons : Owain Glyndŵr  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BBC Wales History: Owain Glyndwr. Retrieved August 12, 2014 .
  2. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 447
  3. ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. ISBN 0-521-31153-5 , p. 174
  4. ↑ Kindler's literary dictionary . Vol. 15 Sha-Szy. Metzler, Stuttgart 2009. ISBN 978-3-476-04000-8 , p. 20
personal data
SURNAME Owain Glyndŵr
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Owain ap Gruffydd; Owen Glendower
BRIEF DESCRIPTION welsh national hero
DATE OF BIRTH between 1350 and 1359
DATE OF DEATH around 1416