Owain Lawgoch
Encyclopedia
Owain Lawgoch, full name Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri (c. 1330 - July 1378), was a Welsh soldier who served in Spain, France, Alsace and Switzerland. He led a Free Company
fighting for the French against the English in the Hundred Years' War
. As the last politically active descendant of Llywelyn the Great
in the male line, he was a claimant to the title of Prince of Gwynedd
and of Wales
.
in 1282 and the execution of his brother and successor Dafydd ap Gruffudd in 1283, Gwynedd paid fealty to and accepted English rule. Llywelyn's daughter Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn was committed to a nunnery at Sempringham, while the sons of Dafydd were kept in Bristol castle until their deaths. Another of Llywelyn's brothers, Rhodri ap Gruffydd, spent much of his life in England. By his second wife, Katherine, he had a son, Thomas, the father of Owain.
Rhodri was content to end his life as a country gentleman in England, and though his son Thomas ap Rhodri used the four lions of Gwynedd on his seal he made no attempt to win his inheritance. Owain, his only son, was born in Surrey
, where his grandfather had acquired the manor of Tatsfield
. Tatsfield, a small village only 17 miles from the centre of London, still has Welsh place names e.g. Maesmawr Road (trans: Large Field Road). Thomas died in 1363 and Owain returned from abroad to claim his patrimony in 1365. Owain Lawgoch was in French service by 1369 and his lands in Wales and England were confiscated.
, but there is no evidence to support this. He was certainly in the service of the French as leader of a Free Company when the period of truce between France and England following the Treaty of Brétigny ended and hostilities resumed in 1369.
Owain's company consisted largely of Welshmen. The second in command of this company was Ieuan Wyn, known to the French as le Poursuivant d'Amour, a descendant of Ednyfed Fychan
, Seneschal of Gwynedd under Owain's ancestors. Owain also received financial support while in France from Ieuan Wyn's father, Rhys ap Robert
. While in French service Owain had good relations with Bertrand du Guesclin
and others and gained the support of Charles V of France
.
Welsh soldiery and longbowmen who had fought for Edward I in his campaigns in North Wales remained armed and sold their services to Norman kings in their battles in Scotland at Crecy and Poitiers. Ironically, the Norman attempt to conquer Wales set in train events which reignited Welsh identity and raised up new Welsh military leaders such as Owain claiming descent from the ancient Princes of Wales. The campaigns of Edward I and his successors proved ultimately to be a disaster for the Anglo-Normans when a Welsh army under Henry Tudor twice invaded England successfully in the 15th century finally destroying the Anglo-Norman dynasty in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth.
Owain made his first attempt to claim his inheritance in late 1369. A fleet was prepared in Harfleur
at King Charles's expense to invade Wales under Owain's command and set sail just before Christmas. However, storms forced it to return to port after a few days. Owain served with Bertrand du Guesclin in Maine
and Anjou
in 1370 and in 1371 he and his company were in the service of the town of Metz
.
In May 1372 in Paris, Owain announced that he intended to claim the throne of Wales. He set sail from Harfleur
with money borrowed from Charles V. Owain first attacked the island of Guernsey
, and was still there when a message arrived from Charles ordering him to abandon the expedition in order to go to Castile
to seek ships to attack La Rochelle
. Owain defeated an English and Gascon force at Soubise later that year, capturing Sir Thomas Percy and Jean de Grailly
, the Captal de Buch. Another invasion of Wales was planned in 1373 but had to be abandoned when John of Gaunt launched an offensive. In 1374 he fought at Mirebau and at Saintonge. In 1375 Owain was employed by Enguerrand de Coucy
to help win Enguerrand's share of the Habsburg lands due to him as nephew of the former Duke of Austria. However, during the Gugler War they were defeated by the forces of Bern and had to abandon the expedition.
In 1377 there were reports that Owain was planning another expedition, this time with help from Castile. The alarmed English government sent a spy, the Scot Jon Lamb, to assassinate Owain, who had been given the task of besieging Mortagne sur Mer in Poitou
. Lamb gained Owain's confidence and became his chamberlain, which gave him the opportunity to stab Owain to death in July 1378. The Issue Roll of the Exchequer dated 4 December 1378 records "To John Lamb, an esquire from Scotland, because he lately killed Owynn de Gales, a rebel and enemy of the King in France ... £20". This of course was actually the King of England (who claimed the right to the Crown of France). Owain was buried in the church of Saint-Léger in Mortagne and Ieuan Wyn took over the command of his company.
After the assassination of Owain Lawgoch the remaining heirs of the House of Gwynedd kept a low profile until John Wynn, 1st Baronet asserted his pedigree in the 17th Century. No other person would proclaim themselves Prince of Wales until Owain Glyndŵr
("Owain IV") in 1400.
runs as follows. Dafydd Meurig of Bettws Bledrws was helping to drive cattle from Cardiganshire to London
. On the way he cut himself a hazel stick, and was still carrying it when he encountered a stranger on London Bridge. The stranger asked Dafydd where he had cut the stick, and ended up accompanying him back to Wales to the place where the stick had been cut.
The stranger told Dafydd to dig under the bush, and this revealed steps leading down to a large cave illuminated by lamps, where a man seven feet tall with a red right hand was sleeping. The stranger told Dafydd that this was Owain Lawgoch "who sleeps until the appointed time; when he wakes he will be king of the Britons".
The quarry reservoir at Aberllefenni
in Gwynedd
was once known as Llyn Owain Lawgoch and there is a story linking him with the nearby mansion, Plas Aberllefenni, recorded in "Trem Yn Ol" by J. Arthur Williams.
In Guernsey, Owain is remembered as Yvon de Galles. He and his Aragon
ese mercenaries have been absorbed into the island's folklore as an invasion of diminutive but handsome fairies from across the sea. The story goes that the shipwrecked king of the fairies was found unconscious on a Guernsey shore by a girl named Lizabeau. When he awoke, he fell in love with her and carried her across the sea to be his queen. However, the other fairies soon decided that they wanted Guernsey brides, and invaded the island. The men of the island fought bravely but were slaughtered wholesale, except for two men who hid in an oven. The fairies then took Guernsey wives, which is said to be the reason for the typical Guernseyman's dark hair and short stature.
Free company
A free company or free lance was a late medieval army of mercenaries acting independently of any government, and thus "free". They were not called "free" because their services were gratis, rather they sold their services to the highest bidder...
fighting for the French against the English in the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
. As the last politically active descendant of Llywelyn the Great
Llywelyn the Great
Llywelyn the Great , full name Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, was a Prince of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually de facto ruler over most of Wales...
in the male line, he was a claimant to the title of Prince of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
and of Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Genealogy
Following the death of Llywelyn the LastLlywelyn the Last
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd or Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf , sometimes rendered as Llywelyn II, was the last prince of an independent Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England....
in 1282 and the execution of his brother and successor Dafydd ap Gruffudd in 1283, Gwynedd paid fealty to and accepted English rule. Llywelyn's daughter Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn was committed to a nunnery at Sempringham, while the sons of Dafydd were kept in Bristol castle until their deaths. Another of Llywelyn's brothers, Rhodri ap Gruffydd, spent much of his life in England. By his second wife, Katherine, he had a son, Thomas, the father of Owain.
Rhodri was content to end his life as a country gentleman in England, and though his son Thomas ap Rhodri used the four lions of Gwynedd on his seal he made no attempt to win his inheritance. Owain, his only son, was born in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, where his grandfather had acquired the manor of Tatsfield
Tatsfield
Tatsfield is a village of some 1800 inhabitants located in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, and 16 miles south south-east of Charing Cross in London...
. Tatsfield, a small village only 17 miles from the centre of London, still has Welsh place names e.g. Maesmawr Road (trans: Large Field Road). Thomas died in 1363 and Owain returned from abroad to claim his patrimony in 1365. Owain Lawgoch was in French service by 1369 and his lands in Wales and England were confiscated.
Family tree
Military career
The year in which Owain entered the service of the king of France is uncertain. Froissart claims that he fought on the French side at the Battle of PoitiersBattle of Poitiers (1356)
The Battle of Poitiers was fought between the Kingdoms of England and France on 19 September 1356 near Poitiers, resulting in the second of the three great English victories of the Hundred Years' War: Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt....
, but there is no evidence to support this. He was certainly in the service of the French as leader of a Free Company when the period of truce between France and England following the Treaty of Brétigny ended and hostilities resumed in 1369.
Owain's company consisted largely of Welshmen. The second in command of this company was Ieuan Wyn, known to the French as le Poursuivant d'Amour, a descendant of Ednyfed Fychan
Ednyfed Fychan
Ednyfed Fychan , full name Ednyfed Fychan ap Cynwrig, was a Welsh warrior who became seneschal to the Kingdom of Gwynedd in Northern Wales, serving Llywelyn the Great and his son Dafydd ap Llywelyn...
, Seneschal of Gwynedd under Owain's ancestors. Owain also received financial support while in France from Ieuan Wyn's father, Rhys ap Robert
Rhys ap Robert
Rhys ap Robert was a Welsh nobleman. A descendant of the progenitor of the Tudor dynasty, Ednyfed Fychan , he attained several positions in the administration of north Wales, including co-constable of Flint Castle in north Wales by 1349, escheator of Caernarfonshire from 1347 to 1350, and rhaglaw...
. While in French service Owain had good relations with Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin , known as the Eagle of Brittany or the Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death...
and others and gained the support of Charles V of France
Charles V of France
Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...
.
Welsh soldiery and longbowmen who had fought for Edward I in his campaigns in North Wales remained armed and sold their services to Norman kings in their battles in Scotland at Crecy and Poitiers. Ironically, the Norman attempt to conquer Wales set in train events which reignited Welsh identity and raised up new Welsh military leaders such as Owain claiming descent from the ancient Princes of Wales. The campaigns of Edward I and his successors proved ultimately to be a disaster for the Anglo-Normans when a Welsh army under Henry Tudor twice invaded England successfully in the 15th century finally destroying the Anglo-Norman dynasty in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth.
Owain made his first attempt to claim his inheritance in late 1369. A fleet was prepared in Harfleur
Harfleur
-Population:-Places of interest:* The church of St-Martin, dating from the fourteenth century.* The seventeenth century Hôtel de Ville .* Medieval ramparts * The fifteenth century museums of fishing and of archaeology and history....
at King Charles's expense to invade Wales under Owain's command and set sail just before Christmas. However, storms forced it to return to port after a few days. Owain served with Bertrand du Guesclin in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
and Anjou
Anjou
Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
in 1370 and in 1371 he and his company were in the service of the town of Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
.
In May 1372 in Paris, Owain announced that he intended to claim the throne of Wales. He set sail from Harfleur
Harfleur
-Population:-Places of interest:* The church of St-Martin, dating from the fourteenth century.* The seventeenth century Hôtel de Ville .* Medieval ramparts * The fifteenth century museums of fishing and of archaeology and history....
with money borrowed from Charles V. Owain first attacked the island of Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
, and was still there when a message arrived from Charles ordering him to abandon the expedition in order to go to Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
to seek ships to attack La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
. Owain defeated an English and Gascon force at Soubise later that year, capturing Sir Thomas Percy and Jean de Grailly
Jean III de Grailly, captal de Buch
Sir Jean III de Grailly, Captal de Buch KG , son of Jean II de Grailly, Captal de Buch, Vicomte de Benauges, and Blanch de Foix...
, the Captal de Buch. Another invasion of Wales was planned in 1373 but had to be abandoned when John of Gaunt launched an offensive. In 1374 he fought at Mirebau and at Saintonge. In 1375 Owain was employed by Enguerrand de Coucy
Enguerrand VII de Coucy
Enguerrand VII de Coucy, KG , also known as Ingelram de Coucy, was a 14th century French nobleman, the last Sieur de Coucy, and the son-in-law of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...
to help win Enguerrand's share of the Habsburg lands due to him as nephew of the former Duke of Austria. However, during the Gugler War they were defeated by the forces of Bern and had to abandon the expedition.
In 1377 there were reports that Owain was planning another expedition, this time with help from Castile. The alarmed English government sent a spy, the Scot Jon Lamb, to assassinate Owain, who had been given the task of besieging Mortagne sur Mer in Poitou
Poitou
Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century....
. Lamb gained Owain's confidence and became his chamberlain, which gave him the opportunity to stab Owain to death in July 1378. The Issue Roll of the Exchequer dated 4 December 1378 records "To John Lamb, an esquire from Scotland, because he lately killed Owynn de Gales, a rebel and enemy of the King in France ... £20". This of course was actually the King of England (who claimed the right to the Crown of France). Owain was buried in the church of Saint-Léger in Mortagne and Ieuan Wyn took over the command of his company.
After the assassination of Owain Lawgoch the remaining heirs of the House of Gwynedd kept a low profile until John Wynn, 1st Baronet asserted his pedigree in the 17th Century. No other person would proclaim themselves Prince of Wales until Owain Glyndŵr
Owain Glyndwr
Owain Glyndŵr , or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by William Shakespeare as Owen Glendower , was a Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales...
("Owain IV") in 1400.
Owain in legend
A number of legends grew around Owain, of which one version from CardiganshireCeredigion
Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...
runs as follows. Dafydd Meurig of Bettws Bledrws was helping to drive cattle from Cardiganshire to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. On the way he cut himself a hazel stick, and was still carrying it when he encountered a stranger on London Bridge. The stranger asked Dafydd where he had cut the stick, and ended up accompanying him back to Wales to the place where the stick had been cut.
The stranger told Dafydd to dig under the bush, and this revealed steps leading down to a large cave illuminated by lamps, where a man seven feet tall with a red right hand was sleeping. The stranger told Dafydd that this was Owain Lawgoch "who sleeps until the appointed time; when he wakes he will be king of the Britons".
The quarry reservoir at Aberllefenni
Aberllefenni
Aberllefenni is a village in the south of Gwynedd, Wales. It lies in the valley of the Afon Dulas.Part of the ancient county of Merionethshire, it is the location of Foel Grochan, a slate quarry which together with Hen Chwarel and Ceunant Ddu formed the Aberllefenni Slate Quarry, which extracted...
in Gwynedd
Gwynedd
Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
was once known as Llyn Owain Lawgoch and there is a story linking him with the nearby mansion, Plas Aberllefenni, recorded in "Trem Yn Ol" by J. Arthur Williams.
In Guernsey, Owain is remembered as Yvon de Galles. He and his Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
ese mercenaries have been absorbed into the island's folklore as an invasion of diminutive but handsome fairies from across the sea. The story goes that the shipwrecked king of the fairies was found unconscious on a Guernsey shore by a girl named Lizabeau. When he awoke, he fell in love with her and carried her across the sea to be his queen. However, the other fairies soon decided that they wanted Guernsey brides, and invaded the island. The men of the island fought bravely but were slaughtered wholesale, except for two men who hid in an oven. The fairies then took Guernsey wives, which is said to be the reason for the typical Guernseyman's dark hair and short stature.