Owain Glyndŵr - the last Prince of Wales

The 'Prince of Wales' is a title that is commonly associated with the current royal family, with the children of English monarchs tending to inherit the title. At the time of writing, the current holder is Prince William, with him having inherited it   when his father became King. But centuries it was a title that was reserved for someone who was Welsh. 

In today's episode, Mags tells the story of Owain Glyndŵr, the last, ever, Welsh Prince of Wales. 

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Transcript

 Hello and kroeso, welcome to this week's episode of Welsh Mysteries and Histories, and actually, welcome back to some of you. Kay and I were notified that we've had over 750 downloads of our podcast, and honestly, thank you all so much for listening, it means the absolute world to us. I also want to give Kay a shout out for her Polish pronunciation on last week's episode about Jerzy Stradzała, definitely not the easiest name to pronounce, and she did a great job.

If you've listened before, you'll know me, but if you're new here, I'm Mags, Kay's co host and the non Welsh one, and this week on the mystery, and now history, side. And because it is the 16th of September, we are going to be talking about the history and legend of one of Wales most famous sons. Indeed, considered one of Wales mabd arogan, a son of prophecy, Owain Sources will be available in the show notes.

As a side note, if you hear any noise in the background, it's because I am still recording from home and I have recently moved onto a narrowboat, so I apologise in advance if you hear any geese honking, or the tinkle of a cat's collar, or a train rumbling past. I will try and edit it all out, but I'm still not that great with editing.

And my formal Welsh classes will be starting later this month, so you can all look forward to an improvement in my pronunciation. Yeah.

Awain

Glyndwr, or Owen Glendower if you really want to anglicise it, is known as the last Welsh Prince of Wales. As you may know, future kings of England are known as the Prince of Wales, and a fun fact, King Charles actually studied Welsh in Aberystwyth when he was the Prince of Wales. Glyndwr was said to have the mind of a hero and the heart of a patriot.

ready to burst with indignation at the miseries of his country. He led a rebellion, sometimes called an insurrection, a revolt or an uprising, that could have been in the movie Braveheart, and he left us with a bit of a mystery. Well, actually, two mysteries. The first one being why exactly he rebelled against the English crown.

And first, we're going to take a look into his life before what is called the rebellion. Owain Glyndwr was born in 1349. Or 1354. Or maybe 1355? The most commonly given date for his birth is the 28th of May, 1354. And as one would guess with a legendary figure, there are stories surrounding his birth. One of the most famous is that his father's horses were standing up to their fetlocks in blood in their stables when he was born.

I don't know. Which I find a little bit ominous, and slightly creepy. Another story, that is also said of Edmund Mortimer, is that he would cry at the sight of a weapon, and only stop when he was allowed to touch it. Again, slightly creepy. Such legends are attached to Glyndwr's birth, that they even made it into a Shakespeare play, Henry IV, Part 1.

And the quote goes like this, The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes. The goats ran from the mountains.

Which is to say that stories tell of a comet passing through the heavens and storms surrounding Glyndwr's birth. There are some later strange weather events recorded in history, but none during the years most commonly associated with his birth, which could hint at his birthday actually being later.

Because he was a royal ward, he was sent to study law at Westminster, although written records only begin in 1422, so there cannot be any definite confirmation. At that time, entrance to university was at the age of 11 or 12 for the nobility, and he may have attended Oxford or Cambridge for a little while.

Glindor quickly became the squire of the body for the future Henry IV, called Henry Bolingbroke. However, tradition states that he was in the personal service of Richard II as his reign came to a close, despite there being a lack of written evidence for it. Glyndŵr may have been about 18 when 10 year old Richard II became king.

In 1383, Glyndŵr returned to Wales and married Margaret Hanmer, also known as Marred or Margaret, and they had six sons and seven daughters. Three of his sons, Griffith, Madog, and Meredyth, fought for him during the war. The other three, John, David and Thomas, disappear from history and were possibly killed during the war.

His daughters were Isabel, Janet, Margaret, Catherine, Elizabeth, who might just be Isabel under another name, and Jane. He's also rumoured to have an illegitimate daughter, Alice, who plays a role later on in the story. In 1385, Glyndwr served in the army, fighting in the Scottish war. Glyndwr was a baronet, a Welsh baron, who held his lands as tyrpennaeth, a tenant in chief, and military service was a condition for him to keep his lands.

This meant that when his lord Arendelle mustered him to arms, he had to go, or he risked losing his land. In 1387, he was appointed as a Joint Administrator of the Hanmer Lands for the lifetime of Angorad, the widow of Sir David Hanmer, his mother in law. It seems that he had semi retired from military life at this time, and focused on running his estates, and apparently brewing his own beer and whisky.

He was, however, mustered to fight in the Irish campaign of 1394 under Richard II, which subjugated a number of Irish chieftains to the English. By 1397, Richard II had destroyed the power of the Lord's appellant and executed Glyndwr's neighbour, Lord Arendelle. Lord Oxford was exiled and Gloucester was smothered.

Warwick was exiled. Richard replaced these lords with men loyal to him, who were mockingly called his duquettes, and there came a challenge to Richard's throne in the shape of Henry Bolingbroke. Now, you might be asking yourself, why did a seemingly loyalist Welshman Well, Henry IV, aka the usurper, was crowned on the 13th of October, 1399, and his reign did not start well for him, nor for Glindor.

When Arendelle had been executed, a neighbour of Glindor's called Reginald de Grey began trying to take his lands from him. This started as him buying estates in Dufresne Cloyde and then petitioning the king to grant him lands belonging to Glindor. Under Richard II's rule, these lands had been found to belong to Glindor, but in the spring of 1400, Glindor was asked to make concessions to Grey.

This is looked at in history as a potential cause for Glindor's sudden interest in independence. In 1400, Lord Grey commanded the General Musta to fight for the new king in Scotland, and he delayed summoning Glyndwr's men until the last moment, making it impossible for Glyndwr to keep to the condition of his barony.

Glyndwr's estates were forfeit until he could prove his loyalty to the king, as refusing or failing to respond to an order from the king was deemed treason. When the king returned from Scotland, he tasked Lord Grey with bringing Glyndwr to justice. Justice by order of the king, you might think. Grey had other ideas.

He arranged to meet Glyndwr with an agreed number of armed men. Thirty. Grey set off to meet Glyndwr with this number of men, but had a second armed group follow one behind, coming through the woodlands of the manor. One of Glyndwr's men, Iologoch, noticed the men coming on to the manor, and told Glyndwr of it.

In Welsh. Byron, England. And Glyndŵr made an excuse to the non Welsh speaking Grey and left the negotiations, barely escaping when Grey's men attacked his house. Side note, another fantastic reason to learn Welsh so your enemies won't understand you. On September 16th, 1400, Glyndŵr raised the flag of war.

An actual standard, like a real flag, that was raised was probably the Black Lion Rampant, which was later replaced with the Golden Dragon. By proclaiming himself Prince of Wales at Codrowen, on Glyndwr's ancestral lands, and overlooking an Iron Age hillfort, where, in 1165, the Princes of Gwynedd halted an invasion by Henry II.

It is believed that Glyndwr chose this date because it was the birthdate of Prince Hal, the current English Prince of Wales. The news quickly spread across Wales in the social media way of that time. By the Bards. who spurred men to join up to the cause quickly, and legislation began being enacted to ban bards and their poetry in Wales.

There had been a series of harsh taxation policies on the Welsh, and there were few opportunities for advancement for Welsh laymen. Welshmen were prohibited by law from holding office in any English town or borough, or from buying land there, and resentment had been growing against the English settlers.

Something that can be seen echoed more recently when English holiday homes in Wales were set on fire. Between the 18th and the 24th of September 1400, Hruthyn and the border towns were burned. Hruthyn was a target because it had been given to an earlier Lord Reginald Grey, who had used the architect behind the iron ring of castles to strengthen and extend his castle, and Glyndwr was not particularly happy with the Grey family, for obvious reasons.

The burning of Hruthyn was the signal for the rising to begin. And begin it did, with Oswestry, Denby, Cridlon, Flint, Haworden, Holt, and Welshpool the next to fall to the flames. Oswestry, Hanbridge, and Chester were burnt down so often they were nicknamed burnt towns. And after the 23rd of September, Glyndwr's men melted back into the hills whence they came, having lost not a single man trying to take the castles.

and having hit the Grey family right in the finances. Henry IV responded immediately, returning from Scotland and setting out with a great army from Shrewsbury, reaching Bangor in early October and quickly executing eight Welshmen without trial, including one Goronwy Ab Tudor of Anglesey. And if you recognise the name, it is indeed the name of the ancestors of that Tudor family.

Henry had Goronwy hanged, drawn and quartered, and sent the parts of his body to Bristol, Ludlow, Hereford and Chester as a warning to the Welsh. And while Henry was busy in north west Wales being counter attacked, Glyndwr and his men were still in north east Wales attacking border towns, even though Henry had offered them pardons that same October 1400.

Another story of Glyndwr is that of his famous mountain escape. The story goes that Glyndwr came to the home of Rhysgog Eredi, Red Rhys of Snowdon. And yes, Eredi is the actual name of that mountain. And Hafad Garegog. Rhys had tasked one of his men with keeping a watch on the Colwyn Valley, and within a short time, his watchman fulfilled his duty and galloped back to the house to warn of an oncoming force of men.

Dressing themselves in old hats and cloaks to disguise themselves as servants, Rhys and Owain made for the hillside behind the house, being chased by soldiers and splitting up on the rocks. When Rhys hat came flying off and showed off his red hair, the soldiers all went after Glyndwr, who made for the pass of Aberglaslyn.

He was cut off by the captain of the soldiers, and made instead for Moelhebog, the Bear Hill of the Hawk, where he dodged the men chasing him onto the next mountain, Moel Irogov. Now named after the cave that sheltered him that night, and for the next six months. Rhys Goch kept him supplied with food in his hiding spot, for those next six months.

And yes, if you visit Wales today, there is a rock climbing route that follows the path that he is thought to have taken. Glyndwr's actions had severe repercussions for the Welsh, with laws being passed in February of 1401, following petitions from English landowners in the borders. One such law made the Welsh collectively responsible for any wartime damage and made them accountable for the cost of that damage.

The Welsh civil service was broken up. Welshmen could not be chief foresters, chancellors, constables of castles, among other roles. All of these jobs were given to the English. The Welsh could not marry the English and all court proceedings were now to be in English. This legislation backfired a little as now the Welsh had nothing to lose.

And Glindor gained support rather than losing it. Welsh scholars at Oxford and Cambridge even left their studies to come and join Glindor's cause. And fighting broke out across Wales. Glindor used his battle experience to fight the English in a guerrilla warfare style in the valleys. Wales was also the origin of the six foot longbow known as the most formidable weapon of its time, and this weapon was well suited to Glindor's tactics.

And the fight was to continue for around 14 years. This was no small rebellion. This was an all out war for independence. Glindor was crowned a wine the fourth on the 21st of June, 1404, in front of a crowd that included envoys from Scotland, France and Castile. Glindor convened his first parliament. And the Welsh state had its own legal system, administration and treasury and Glindor stated his intention of Wales having a fully independent senate, parliament, a Welsh church and two national universities in the north and in the south.

This coronation was possible because Glindor was at what historians would call the height, the zenith of his campaign. He had support from France, England's eternal frenemy, who joined him on an invasion of England in 1403. But it simply was not to be. In 1406, Glyndŵr lost the support of Scotland. His men began defecting to the English side, and the Duc d'Orléans died in 1407, losing him the support of the French.

Aberystwyth Castle, which had become the seat of Glyndŵr's government, fell on the 3rd of September, 1408, after 16 long months of bombardment. And I do recommend a visit to the ruins should you ever find yourself in Aberystwyth, although the castle fell to ruin in 1649 and not during the war that we're discussing today.

Harlech fell in February 1409 after being besieged since 1407. It is said that 1500 crossbow bolts are known to have been fired during the sieges of these two towns. In 1409, in what is known as the Last Great Raid, Glyndŵr and his faithful men, including some from Scotland and France, and the Tudors Rhys and Edniferd of Anglesey, made one final effort to really make the English suffer.

They took to the border towns again, causing panic in the burnt town of Oswestry, and made for Shropshire, taking no loot on the way. Glyndŵr lost Rhys and Edniferd ab Tudor and Philip Scudamore when they were injured and captured in Welshpool, and subsequently executed by beheading. The violence in Anglesey that erupted a little later was considered to have been caused by the execution of the Tudor brothers, and it seems like the wind was taken out of the sails of the war, as allies did not keep to their agreements and returned to fight their own battles in their own lands.

And what became of Glindor, you may ask? Alwine Glindor disappeared between 1410 and 1415. He was offered pardons, which went unanswered, And there are theories on how he spent his last years, one of which being that he lived with his illegitimate daughter Alice, passing himself off as a Franciscan friar.

Another is that the mound at Monington Stratholme is Glindor's burial place. I, for one, am partial to the legends and stories, and best like the story that lays a wine Glindor to rest in a cave with his men, ready to rise at the hour of Wales's greatest need. T. P. Ellis, writing in 1923, tells us, He passed away like a mist on his own mountains, With his mission unfulfilled.

No man knows when he died. No man knows where he was laid to rest. There is no monument to him, save the memory of him, Enshrined in his people's hearts. May it live there forever. A greater soul, a nobler spirit, Never dwelt among these mountains. He rebelled against tyranny. oppression, economic exploitation, and against that outlook, common enough even today, which would make his land and the welfare of his people of little account.

Glyndwr's disappearance did not stop the repercussions that the Welsh were to face for daring to dream of independence. They were not given citizenship, could not have what was known as responsible jobs, nor serve on juries. Welshmen went to fight for the French and Scottish wars instead of working their lands, which had been ravaged.

If merchants were robbed in Wales and their property not returned within a week, so called justice could be enacted on any Welshman they could get their hands on. And a Welshman's word meant nothing against an Englishman in a court of law. The Welsh continued to be viewed as enemies for centuries. and viewed as lesser, including to modern times where derogatory jokes are still being told.

It wasn't until 1948 that the Parliamentary Act declaring Glyndŵr a prescribed traitor was repealed. Wales got its own Senate in 1999. As I mentioned in the Capel Celyn episode, Welsh national spirit runs strong even to this day. And one thing that T. P. Ellis got wrong is that there are in fact monuments to Glyndŵr.

For example, the statue of Glyndŵr unveiled in 2007 that stands 4. 5 metres tall on a plinth of Welsh granite. A marble statue of him stands at Cardiff City Hall. And so, if you find yourselves visiting Wales and wanting to get a feel for Arwain Glyndŵr's history, there are quite a few places that you can visit.

such as Erwain Glyndŵr's Parliament House in Macynlleth, which is not the original building used in his 1404 senate, but local tradition states that the stones used do come from the original building. Pennell Church is the site of the last senate meeting held by Glyndŵr. You can visit Erwain's motte, overlooking the Glyndŵr's burnt mansion in Carog, and his old estate.

You can also visit Cardiff Castle, The remains of Kimmer Abbey. There's also a plaque commemorating Owain's victory at the Battle of Hithcombe in 1401. You can also visit Whittington Castle in Shropshire, and Carrickkenning Castle, as well as Carnarvon Castle. You could honestly plan a whole road trip based around Glyndwr and his history in Wales.

I do recommend visiting Wales on the 16th of September to really get a feel for him. It is Owain Glyndwrday commemorating the 1400 declaration of Owain as the Prince of Wales. You might have missed it this year because it is on the day that this episode comes out, but next year go to Wales and visit!

And if you really can't make it to Wales for Glyndwrday, why not just have a glass of whiskey or beer in his honour, and the honour of those that fell fighting for an independent Wales with him. I hope that you've enjoyed this episode of Welsh Mysteries and Histories and learning about Ylwain Glyndŵr with me, and that you'll join Kei and myself on another episode.

Once again, special thanks to my Welsh whisperer who is helping me out with my pronunciation, Cwil Fawr, and see you next time. Mhm. Music Music Music Music You did enjoy this episode.

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