View source for Owain Gwynedd

{{Short description|King of Gwynedd from 1137 to 1170}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2021}}
{{use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox royalty
| native_lang1 = Welsh
| image        = Owain Gwynedd (PB02299).jpg
| caption      = Depiction by Hugh Williams, 1909
| succession   = [[List of rulers of Gwynedd|King of Gwynedd]]
| reign        = 1137–1170
| predecessor  = [[Gruffudd ap Cynan]]
| successor    = [[Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd]]
| spouse       = Gwladus ferch Llywarch<br>[[Cristin verch Goronwy|Cristin ferch Goronwy]]
| issue        = '''Amongst others:'''<br/>[[Rhun ab Owain Gwynedd|Rhun]] <br/>[[Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd|Hywel]]<br/>[[Iorwerth Drwyndwn|Iorwerth]]<br/>[[Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd|Maelgwn]]<br/>[[Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd|Dafydd]] <br/>[[Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd|Rhodri]]<br/>[[Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd|Cynan]]<br/> [[Madoc|Madog]]
| issue-link   = #Heirs and successors
| full name    = 
| title        = King of Gwynedd<br>[[Prince of Wales|Princeps Walliae]]
| house        = [[House of Aberffraw|Aberffraw]]
| royal anthem = 
| father       = [[Gruffudd ap Cynan]]
| mother       = [[Angharad ferch Owain]]
| birth_date   = {{circa|1100}}
| birth_place  = [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]], [[Wales]]
| death_date   = 23 or 28 November {{death year and age|1170|1100}}
| death_place  = 
| place of burial = [[Bangor Cathedral]]
}}

'''Owain ap Gruffudd''' ({{circa|lk=no|1100}} – 23 or 28 November 1170) was [[List of rulers of Gwynedd|King of Gwynedd]], [[Wales in the High Middle Ages|North Wales]], from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father [[Gruffudd ap Cynan]]. He was called '''Owain the Great''' ({{langx|cy|Owain Fawr}}){{sfn|Lloyd|2004|p=94}} and the first to be styled "[[Prince of Wales]]" and the "[[Prince of Wales|Prince of the Welsh]]". He is considered to be the most successful of all the North Welsh princes prior to his grandson, [[Llywelyn ab Iorwerth]] (Llywelyn the Great). He became known as '''Owain Gwynedd''' ({{langx|wlm|Owain Gwyned}}, "Owain of Gwynedd") to distinguish him from the contemporary [[list of rulers of Wales|king]] of [[Powys Wenwynwyn]], Owain ap Gruffydd ap Maredudd, who became known as [[Owain Cyfeiliog]].{{sfn|Lloyd|2004|p=93}}<ref name=GwyneddDWB/>

== Early life ==
Owain Gwynedd was a member of the [[House of Aberffraw]], the senior branch of the dynasty of [[Rhodri Mawr]] (Rhodri the Great). His father, [[Gruffudd ap Cynan]], was a strong and long-lived ruler who had made the principality of [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]] the most influential in [[Wales]] during the sixty-two years of his reign, using the island of [[Anglesey]] as his power base. His mother, [[Angharad ferch Owain]], was the daughter of [[Owain ab Edwin of Tegeingl]].<ref name=Dictionary/> Owain Gwynedd was the second son of Gruffydd and Angharad. His elder brother, Cadwallon, was killed in fighting in Powys in 1132 against [[Meirionnydd]].<ref name=GwyneddDWB/>

Owain is thought to have been born on Anglesey about the year 1100, he was [[Gruffudd ap Cynan]]'s second child, grandchild of Owain ab Edwin of Tegeingl via his mother Angharad ferch Owain.<ref name=GwyneddDWB/> By about 1120 Gruffydd had grown too old to lead his forces in battle and Owain and his brothers [[Cadwallon ap Gruffudd|Cadwallon]] and later [[Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd|Cadwaladr]] led the forces of Gwynedd against the Normans and against other Welsh princes with great success. His elder brother Cadwallon was killed in a battle against the forces of [[Kingdom of Powys|Powys]] in 1132, leaving Owain as his father's heir. Owain and Cadwaladr, in alliance with [[Gruffydd ap Rhys]] of [[Deheubarth]], won a major victory over the [[Normans]] at [[Crug Mawr]] near [[Cardigan, Ceredigion|Cardigan]] in 1136<ref name=France>{{cite book |author=John France |date=1999 |title=Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades, 1000–1300 |page=191 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1wF7uX-pA54C&q=facts+about+the+battle+of+crug+mawr |isbn=9781857284676 |publisher=Psychology Press |access-date=15 February 2019}}</ref> and annexed [[Ceredigion]] to their father's realm.

== Accession to the throne and early campaigns ==
On behalf of his father, Gruffudd ap Cynan, Gwynedd directed military operations to the "[[cantref]]s of [[Meirionnydd]], [[Rhos (North Wales)|Rhos]], [[Rhufoniog]] and [[Dyffryn Clwyd]] to Gwynedd proper", and it was against the Normans, with [[Gruffydd ap Rhys]] he secured a victory at the [[Battle of Crug Mawr]] and the temporary occupation of [[Kingdom of Ceredigion]].<ref name=GwyneddDWB/> On Gruffudd's death in 1137, Owain inherited a portion of a well-established kingdom, but had to share it with Cadwaladr. In 1143 Cadwaladr was implicated in the murder of [[Anarawd ap Gruffydd]] of [[Deheubarth]], and Owain responded by sending his son [[Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd]] to strip him of his lands in the north of [[Ceredigion]].<ref name=Dictionary/> Though Owain was later reconciled with Cadwaladr, from 1143, Owain ruled alone over most of [[North Wales]]. In 1155 Cadwaladr was driven into exile.

Owain took advantage of [[The Anarchy]], a civil war between [[Stephen, King of England]], and the [[Empress Matilda]], to push Gwynedd's boundaries further east than ever before.<ref>{{cite book |first=R. R. |last=Davies |title=Conquest, Coexistence and Change, Wales 1063–1415 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1987 |volume=2 |series=The History of Wales |isbn=9780198217329 |page=229}}</ref> In 1146 he captured [[Mold Castle]] and about 1150 captured [[Rhuddlan]] and encroached on the borders of [[Powys]]. The prince of Powys, [[Madog ap Maredudd]], with assistance from [[Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester]], gave battle at [[Coleshill, Flintshire|Coleshill]], but Owain was victorious.<ref>{{cite DWB|id=s-MADO-APM-1160|title=MADOG ap MAREDUDD (died 1160), king of Powys}}</ref><ref name=Dictionary/>

== War with King Henry II ==
All went well until the accession of King [[Henry II of England]] in 1154. Henry invaded Gwynedd in 1157 with the support of [[Madog ap Maredudd]] of Powys and Owain's brother Cadwaladr.<ref name=Dictionary/> The invasion met with mixed fortunes. Henry's forces ravaged eastern Gwynedd and destroyed many churches thus enraging the local population.<ref name=GwyneddDWB/> The two armies met at [[Battle of Ewloe|Ewloe]]. Owain's men ambushed the royal army in a narrow, wooded valley, routing it completely with King Henry himself narrowly avoiding capture.<ref name=Gwynedd1>{{cite web |url=http://www.buildinghistory.org/primary/gerald2.shtml |title=Gerald of Wales, Itinirum Cambrae |website=Buildinghistory.org |date=2010-03-16 |access-date=2013-03-01}}</ref> The fleet accompanying the invasion made a landing on [[Anglesey]] where it was defeated. Ultimately, at the end of the campaign, Owain was forced to come to terms with Henry, being obliged to surrender Rhuddlan and other conquests in the east.

Forty years after these events, the scholar [[Gerald of Wales]], in a rare quote from these times, wrote what Owain Gwynedd said to his troops on the eve of battle:

<blockquote>"My opinion, indeed, by no means agrees with yours, for we ought to rejoice at this conduct of our adversary; for, unless supported by divine assistance, we are far inferior to the English; and they, by their behaviour, have made God their enemy, who is able most powerfully to avenge both himself and us. We therefore most devoutly promise God that we will henceforth pay greater reverence than ever to churches and holy places".<ref name=Gwynedd1/></blockquote>

Madog ap Maredudd died in 1160, enabling Owain to regain territory in the east. In 1163 he formed an alliance with [[Rhys ap Gruffydd]] of Deheubarth to challenge English rule. King Henry again invaded Gwynedd in 1165,<ref name=Dictionary/> but instead of taking the usual route along the northern coastal plain, the king's army invaded from [[Oswestry]] and took a route over the [[Berwyn range|Berwyn hills]]. The invasion was met by an alliance of all the Welsh Princes, with Owain as the undisputed leader. However, apart from a small melee at the [[Battle of Crogen]], there was little fighting, for the Welsh weather came to Owain's assistance as torrential rain forced Henry to retreat in disorder. The infuriated Henry mutilated a number of Welsh hostages, including two of Owain's sons. 

Owain wrote two letters to [[Louis VII of France]], describing himself as "King of Wales" and "King of the Welsh".<ref>{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/struggleformaste00davi/page/214/mode/2up |title=The struggle for mastery |year=2004 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780140148244 |url-access=registration}}</ref> In the last of his letters to Louis VII of France, he offered to become a vassal of the French king and assist in attacking Henry if the French would make war on him. This time Owain styled himself {{lang|la|Waliarum Princeps}} (Prince of Wales){{efn|Literally Prince of Waleses, asserting his overlordship over North and South Welsh Kingdoms.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pryce |first=Huw |date=1998 |title=Owain Gwynedd And Louis VII: The Franco-Welsh Diplomacy of the First Prince of Wales |url=https://journals.library.wales/view/1073091/1083764/4 |journal=Welsh History Review |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–28}}</ref>}}, the first time he or anyone is known to have used such a title.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Malone |first1=Patricia |title="Se Principem Nominat": Rhetorical Self-Fashioning and Epistolary Style in the Letters of Owain Gwynedd |journal=Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium |date=2008 |volume=28 |pages=169–184 |jstor=41219622 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41219622.pdf |access-date=9 June 2023 |issn=1545-0155}}</ref>  

At the time, the word ''prince'', deriving as it did from the Latin ''princeps'', meant "first person, chief leader; ruler, sovereign."  It wasn't until the 14th century that it came to mean "heir to the throne".<ref>{{cite web |title=prince |url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=prince |website=Etymonline |access-date=6 April 2025}}</ref> Thus, Owain, by designating himself [[princeps]], was calling himself the principal ruler of Wales.

Henry did not invade Gwynedd again, and Owain was able to regain his eastern conquests, recapturing [[Rhuddlan Castle]] in 1167 after a siege of three months.<ref name=Dictionary/>

== Disputes with the church and succession ==
The last years of Owain's life were spent in disputes with the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Thomas Becket]], over the appointment of a new [[Bishop of Bangor]]. When the see became vacant Owain had his nominee, Arthur of Bardsey, elected. The archbishop refused to accept this, so Owain had Arthur consecrated in [[Ireland]]. The dispute continued, and the see remained officially vacant until well after Owain's death. He was also put under pressure by the Archbishop and the [[Pope Alexander III]] to put aside his second wife, [[Cristin verch Goronwy]], who was his first cousin, this relationship making the marriage invalid under church law. Despite being [[Excommunication|excommunicated]] for his defiance, Owain steadfastly refused to put Cristin aside. Owain died in 1170, and despite having been excommunicated was buried in [[Bangor Cathedral]] by the local clergy. The annalist writing [[Brut y Tywysogion]] recorded his death "after innumerable victories and unconquered from his youth".

He is believed to have commissioned ''The Life of Gruffydd ap Cynan'',<ref>{{cite book |author=Arthur Jones |title=The history of Gruffydd ap Cynan |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1910 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028052482/page/n11/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/gruffydd.html |website=maryjones.us |title=Gruffydd}}</ref> an account of his father's life. Following his death, civil war broke out between his sons. Owain was married twice, first to Gwladus ferch Llywarch ap Trahaearn, by whom he had two sons, [[Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd]] and [[Iorwerth Drwyndwn]], the father of [[Llywelyn ab Iorwerth]] (Llywelyn the Great), then to Cristin, by whom he had three sons including [[Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd]] and [[Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd]]. He also had a number of illegitimate sons, who by [[Welsh law]] had an equal claim on the inheritance if acknowledged by their father.

== Heirs and successors ==
[[File:Coat of arms of Owain Gwynedd.svg|thumb|150px|right|There is no evidence Owain used a coat of arms during his life, but later antiquarians [[Attributed arms|retroactively attributed]] to Owain Gwynedd the [[blazon]]: ''Vert, three eagles displayed in fess Or''.]]

Gwynedd was married, firstly to Gwladus daughter of Llywarch ap Trahaearn and then his cousin Cristin verch Goronwy.<ref name=GwyneddDWB/><ref>{{cite DWB|id=s-TRAH-APC-1081|title=TRAHAEARN ap CARADOG (died 1081), king of Gwynedd}}</ref> Owain had originally designated [[Rhun ab Owain Gwynedd]] as his successor. Rhun was Owain's favourite son,<ref name=Dictionary/> and his premature death in 1146 plunged his father into a [[Bipolar disorder|deep melancholy]], from which he was only roused by the news that his forces had captured Mold Castle. Owain then designated [[Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd]] as his successor, but after his death, Hywel was first driven to seek refuge in [[Ireland]] by Cristin's sons, Dafydd and Rhodri, then Hywel was killed at the battle of [[Pentraeth]] when he returned with an Irish army. Dafydd and Rhodri split Gwynedd between them, but a generation passed before Gwynedd was restored to its former glory under Owain's grandson [[Llywelyn ab Iorwerth]] (Llywelyn the Great).

According to legend, one of Owain's sons was Prince [[Madoc]] of Wales (Madog), who is popularly supposed to have fled across the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and colonised [[North America|America]]; this tradition is part of the [[Pre-Columbian transoceanic contact theories]].

Altogether, the prolific Owain Gwynedd is said to have had the following children from two wives and at least four mistresses:
* [[Rhun ab Owain Gwynedd]] (illegitimate in Catholic custom, but legitimate successor in Welsh law);
* [[Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd]] (illegitimate in Catholic custom, but legitimate successor in Welsh law);
* [[Iorwerth Drwyndwn|Iorwerth mab Owain Gwynedd]] (the "flat nosed" from first wife Gwladys ferch Llywarch);
* [[Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd]] (from first wife Gwladys ferch Llywarch) Lord of [[Anglesey|Môn]] (1169–1173);
* Gwenllian ferch Owain Gwynedd;
* [[Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd]] (from second wife Cristin ferch Goronwy);
* [[Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd]], Lord of [[Anglesey|Môn]] (1175–1193) (from second wife Cristin ferch Goronwy);
* Angharad ferch Owain Gwynedd;
* Margaret ferch Owain Gwynedd;
* [[Iefan ab Owain Gwynedd]];
* [[Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd]], Lord of [[Meirionnydd]] (illegitimate);
* Rhirid ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate);
* [[Madoc|Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd]] (illegitimate) (speculative/legendary);
* Cynwrig ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate);
* Gwenllian II ferch Owain Gwynedd (also shared the same name with a sister);
* Einion ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate);
* Iago ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate);
* Ffilip ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate);
* Cadell ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate);
* Rotpert ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate);
* Idwal ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate);
* Other daughters.

== Fiction ==
Owain is a recurring character in the [[Brother Cadfael's Penance|Brother Cadfael]] series of novels by [[Edith Pargeter|Ellis Peters]], often referred to, and appearing in the novels ''[[Dead Man's Ransom]]'' and ''[[The Summer of the Danes]]''. He acts shrewdly to keep Wales' borders secure, and sometimes to expand them, during the civil war between King Stephen and Matilda, and sometimes acts as an ally to Cadfael and his friend, Sheriff Hugh Beringar. Cadwaladr also appears in both these novels as a source of grief for his brother. Owain appears as a minor character in novels of [[Sharon Kay Penman]] concerning Henry II and [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]] (''[[When Christ and His Saints Slept]]'' and ''[[Time and Chance (Penman novel)|Time and Chance]]''). Her focus with respect to Owain is on the fluctuating and factious relationship between England and Wales.

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=GwyneddDWB>{{harv|Pierce|1959}}</ref>
<ref name=Dictionary>{{harv|Lee|1895}}</ref>
}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ageofowaingwyned00barbuoft |title=The age of Owain Gwynedd. An attempt at a connected account of the history of Wales from December 1135 to November 1170 |year=1908 |location=Newport, Wales |first=Paul |last=Barbier}}
* {{cite book |last=Lloyd |first=John Edward |title=A History of Wales: From the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SNjftiNMZdEC&pg=PR8 |date=2004 |publisher=Barnes & Noble |isbn=978-0-7607-5241-8}}
* {{cite book |title=The Welsh Trilogy |first=Sharon Kay |last=Penman |author-link=Sharon Kay Penman 
|url=https://sharonkaypenman.com/books-by-sharon-kay-penman/welsh-trilogy-books/ |publisher=[[Ballantine Books]]}}
* {{cite DNB|wstitle=Owain Gwynedd|volume=42|pages=391–395}}
* {{cite DWB|id=s-OWAI-GWY-1100|title=Owain Gwynedd (c. 1100–1070), King of Gwynedd|first=Thomas Jones|last=Pierce|year=1959}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Aberffraw]]||c. 1100|23 or 28 November|1170|[[House of Gwynedd]]}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Gruffudd ap Cynan]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prince of Gwynedd]]|years=1137–1170}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd]]}}
{{S-end}}
{{Rulers of medieval Wales}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owain Gwynedd}}
[[Category:House of Aberffraw|Owain]]
[[Category:Monarchs of Gwynedd]]
[[Category:People excommunicated by the Catholic Church]]
[[Category:1100s births]]
[[Category:1170 deaths|Owain Gwynedd, Prince of Gwynedd]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:12th-century Welsh monarchs]]
[[Category:Welsh princes]]
[[Category:Welsh people of Irish descent]]