Owain Glyndŵr, Lord of Glyndyfrdwy and of Cynllaith Owain (1353 – 1415) Last Welsh Native “Prince of Wales”

Post author By Steven Wood Collins
Post date January 3, 2022
128 Comments on Owain Glyndŵr, Lord of Glyndyfrdwy and of Cynllaith Owain (1353 – 1415) Last Welsh Native “Prince of Wales”

The first Welsh overlord to style himself Prince of Wales was Owain Gwynedd (1100 – 1170). Llywelyn the Great (1172 – 1240) , his grandson, styled himself similarly.

The last independent ruler of Wales to lay claim to the title as an heir apparent was Dafydd ap Gruffydd (1238 – 1283). After King Edward I (1139 – 1307), great-grandson of Henry II Plantagenet (1133 – 1189) , conquered Wales, he executed Dafydd, thus ending the short-lived Welsh dynasty.

Edward II (1284 – 1327), Edward I’s son, was created Prince of Wales in 1301. Since then he and all other subsequent bearers of the title have been heirs-apparent to the British throne. His Royal Highness Prince Charles is the current Prince of Wales.

In 1400 Owain Glyndŵr briefly reclaimed the title of Prince of Wales after instigating and leading a popular rebellion against the English rule of Wales. Henry IV Lancaster (1366 – 1413) quashed the revolt several years later. Owain summarily ceded defeat and officially abdicated the title on behalf of himself and his heirs. Despite the failure, the fame he instantly gained as a heroic Welsh freedom fighter lives on in Wales today.

“Shake-speare” cast Glyndŵr in Henry IV, Part I as the character Owen Glendower. Through the lines of various characters, the description of his persona include:

“…irregular and wild Glendower…” (Westmoreland)

“…Against that great magician, damn’d Glendower…” (Henry IV)

“…In changing hardiment with great Glendower…” (Hotspur)

“He never did encounter with Glendower.
I tell thee
He durst as well have met the devil alone
As Owen Glendower for an enemy.” (Henry IV)

“and that devil Glendower?” (Falstaff)

“…and he of Wales that gave Amamon the bastinado, and made Lucifer cuckold, and swore the devil his true liegeman upon the cross of a Welsh hook- what a plague call you him? Poins. O, Glendower…” (Falstaff)

Owain was an agnatic descendant of Brutus of Troy, eponymous founder and 1st King of Britain (1150 – 1091 BC) , Lludd Llaw Eraint ap Beli Mawr, King of Britons (80 BC – 18 BC). and Gwrtheyrn Vortigern, King of Britons (370 – 469)

He’s ranked #423 in Hart’s Most Influential People in History – Top 500 List (125).

By Steven Wood Collins

I spent most of my life unaware of my ancestral heritage. Sure, I knew of the personal history of my more immediate relatives; but beyond that, I never had any inkling as to my ancestral heritage. Then one day many years ago my sister said to me, “I sometimes wonder about our family background.” And so my quest to discover our genealogical roots commenced.

I started building my family tree with the very basic relationships, going back in time from my grandparents, one ancestor at a time. That initial effort proved to be the hardest part of the pursuit, mainly due to my lack of expertise as a novice genealogical researcher. As I gained familiarity with the databases and how to efficiently mine them, my progress gained ever-increasing momentum. Today, The Patricians! tree (Ancestry.com) contains nearly 120,000 individuals, stretching over 135 generations, 5,800 of which are my direct ancestors in a genealogical sense.

During this trek back in time, I encountered fascinating figures in both history and obscurity. This blog contains many stories about their genealogical relationship to me (and many of you). By far and away, as a student of history, the historically obscure individuals are of particular interest to me. I cite Baron “Blue Beard” Montmorency-Laval de Rais (1405 – 1440) as an example of a historically maligned personage whose real contribution to history, as both a playwright and hero of France, has yet to be properly recognized. Another example is Earl Edward de Vere (1550 – 1604), who’s yet to gain widespread recognition as the actual author of the body of literary work wrongly ascribed to William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616).

My life-long interest in international economics and finance continues unabated. I primarily demonstrate this professional involvement as a contributor to the Long Room, the members-only international finance professionals' forum hosted by the Financial Times of London.

I'm an avid recreational scuba diver who enjoys traveling to exotic dive sites. My love of the sea and marine life gives me an unbounded appreciation and support of “green” issues, especially those devoted to the conservation of endangered species and coral reefs.

He continually posts results of his personal genealogical research to his Goodreads Authors Blog. Entitled The Patricians - The Ancestral Heritage of Steven Wood Collins, the work represents thousand of hours of his research efforts and related commentary.

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