Owain Cyfeiliog

Owain Cyfeiliog (* around 1130, † 1197 ), actually Owain ap Gruffydd , was a prince of the Welsh principality of Powys . He was also known as a poet. Usually, to distinguish him from his older contemporary of the same name Owain ap Gruffydd, called Owain Gwynedd von Gwynedd, the patronymic is not attached to him, but the name of his principality as a surname.

Owain was a son of Gruffydd, the eldest son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn . His uncle Madog ap Maredudd had become King of Powys after the death of his grandfather in 1132. Owain was made subordinate of Cantref Cyfeiliog in 1149 . Its territory was attacked in 1153 by Rhys ap Gruffydd , the prince of Deheubarth . Although Owain later married Rhy's daughter, the two were fierce opponents for many years. After the death of his uncle Madog in 1160, Owain became an independent ruler of Cyfeiliog, but his country was attacked by Owain Gwynedd immediately after his uncle's death. In 1163 he and his cousin Owain Fychan conquered and destroyed the royal castle of Carreghofa . To defend against the English invasion plans he belonged in 1165, like most other Welsh princes, to the alliance under Owain Gwynedd against King Henry II . The common defense of the Welsh and a continuous summer rain let the campaign of the English king fail completely. The next year Owain attacked together with Owain Fychan his uncle Iorwerth Goch and drove him from Mochnant . They divided Mochnant, the dividing line is still the border between Denbighshire and Montgomeryshire . In 1167 he returned to the policy of Madog ap Maredudd, which was friendly to England, and remained so more or less until his death. In 1167 he was attacked by Owain Gwynedd and Rhys ap Gruffydd, who captured his Cantref Caereinion and gave it to Owain Fychan, but with English help he soon recaptured it.

Owain Cyfeiliog founded the Cistercian monastery Strata Marcella in 1170 . He continued to support the English in 1173 and was a member of the Oxford Council in 1177. He was the only Welsh prince who did not support Archbishop Balduin and Giraldus Cambrensis in their calls to the crusade and was therefore excommunicated . Presumably he handed over the rule to his son Gwenwynwyn in 1195 and retired to the Strata Marcella monastery.

Family and offspring

Owain Cyfeiliog's first marriage was to Gwenllian, a daughter of Owain Gwynedd. From this marriage he had a son, Gwenwynwyn. In his second marriage he married a daughter of Rhys ap Gruffydd.

Aftermath

At a young age, Owain was also known as a feared warrior among the Anglo-Normans and was sung about in many songs. As an older prince, he was praised by Giraldus Cambrensis as a wise, just and moderate prince. In addition, he was himself a poet of a warrior play and other poems.

Web links

• David Myrddin Lloyd: Owain Cyfeiliog (c. 1130 - 1197) , Dictionary of Welsh Biography, The National Library of Wales