View source for Owain Lawgoch

{{Short description|14th-century Welsh soldier of fortune}}

{{wn|Owain|[[Tomas ap Rhodri|Tomas]]|[[Rhodri ap Gruffudd|Rhodri]]}}
{{Infobox pretender
| name               = Owain Lawgoch
| image              = File:Seal_of_Yvain_de_Galles.png
| caption            = Seal of Yvain de Galles (12 August 1376); from a receipt of wages for fighting in south-west France, paid by [[Charles V of France]].<ref name=siddons/>{{efn|On the seal is a shield, couché, quarterly, [[Coat_of_arms_of_the_Prince_of_Wales#Independent_native_Prince_of_Wales|in each quarter a lion rampant]], surmounted by a helm in profile with a crest of two curved (?bull's) horns. Arms of quartered lions were employed by the last rulers of Gwynedd.<ref name=siddons/> In field on each side there is a flowering branch. Its legend is of lombardic letters, reading (based on compiling the reading from other impressions from the same matrix) [LE] SEE[L YVAIN DE GALLES].{{sfn|Siddons|1985|pages=236-7}}}}
| birth_date         = {{circa|1330}}
| birth_place        = Probably [[Tatsfield]], [[Surrey]], [[England]]
| death_date         = July 1378
| death_place        = [[Mortagne-sur-Gironde]], [[France]]
{{Infobox person
| embed = yes
| death_cause = [[Assassination]]
| burial_place      = Church of Saint Leger, Cognac
}}
|title = No title as such claimed, but sought [[List_of_rulers_of_Gwynedd|his ancestors]]' patrimony, whom he called [[King of Wales|'Kings of Wales']]
|throne = [[Principality of Wales|Wales]]
|pretend from = 1366
| predecessor  = [[Madog ap Llywelyn]] {{resize|(1294-5)}}
| successor    = [[Owain Glyndŵr]] {{resize|(1400-15)}}
| king         = [[Edward of Woodstock]] {{resize|(1343-76)}}
|relationship = Last male-line descendant of [[Llywelyn ab Iorwerth]]
| house = [[House of Aberffraw]]
{{Infobox person
| embed = yes
| father =[[Tomas ap Rhodri]]
| mother = Cecilia
}}
{{Infobox royal
| embed = yes
| full name = {{langx|cy|Owain ap Tomas ap Rhodri}}<br/>[[English language|English]]: Owen of Wales<br/>{{langx|enm|Owain ap Thomas Retherik}}<br/>{{langx|frm|Y(e)vain de Galles}}
| occupation = Mercenary
}}
{{Infobox military person
| embed = yes
| battles_label = Conflicts<br><br><br>Battles
| battles       = [[Hundred Years' War]]<br>[[Castilian Civil War]]<br>[[Gugler War]]<hr>[[Battle of Poitiers]]? {{resize|(1356)}}
}}
}}

'''Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri''' ({{IPA|cy|ˈou̯ai̯n ap ˈtɔmas ap ˈr̥ɔdrɪ}}, {{circa|1330}}{{snd}}July 1378), commonly known as '''Owain Lawgoch''' ({{IPA|cy|ˈou̯ai̯n ˈlaːu̯ɡoːχ}}, {{gloss|red-handed Owain}}), was a [[Wales|Welsh]] soldier who served in [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Lombardy]], [[France]], [[Alsace]], and [[Switzerland]]. He led a [[Free Company]] fighting for the French against the [[English Army|English]] in the [[Hundred Years' War]]. As a politically active descendant of [[Llywelyn the Great]] in the male line, he was a claimant to the title of [[List of rulers of Gwynedd|Prince of Gwynedd]] and of [[Wales]].

==Genealogy==

Owain was a [[Lineal descendant|lineal direct descendant]] of the Welsh Prince [[Llywelyn the Great]], through his illegitimate son [[Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ab Iorwerth|Gruffudd]] (d. 1244). His grandfather was a member of the Welsh Royal [[House of Gwynedd]], and Owain was very aware of his dynastic hereditary claim as the last living male of Llywelyn's family.<ref name=Pierce/>{{sfn|Fisher|2010|pages=14/5, 30/1}} Following the death of Prince [[Llywelyn the Last]] in 1282 and the execution of his brother and successor as the final Prince of Gwynedd [[Dafydd ap Gruffudd]] in 1283, the Welsh kingdom paid [[fealty]] to and accepted English rule. Llywelyn's daughter [[Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn]] was committed to a [[nunnery]] at [[Sempringham Priory|Sempringham]], while the sons of Dafydd were kept in [[Bristol Castle]] until their deaths. Another of Llywelyn's brothers, [[Rhodri ap Gruffydd]], renounced his rights in Gwynedd and spent much of his life in England as a royal pensioner. His son Thomas inherited lands in England in [[Surrey]], [[Cheshire]] and [[Gloucestershire]].<ref name=Carr/>

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.<ref name=Carr /> Owain, his only son, was born in [[Surrey]], where his grandfather had acquired the [[Manorialism|manor]] of [[Tatsfield]].<ref name=Pierce/><ref name=history/>{{efn|Tatsfield, a small village only 17 miles from the centre of London, still has Welsh place names e.g. Maesmawr Road ({{langx|en|Great Field Road}})}} Owain entered the military service of [[Philip IV of France]] and lived the majority of his life in [[Continental Europe|mainland Europe]].<ref name=history/> Thomas died in 1363 and Owain returned from abroad to [[Montgomeryshire]] and proclaimed his patrimony as the [[Prince of Wales]].<ref name=history/> He was also in Britain during 1365. Owain left again for France in March 1366 and was in French service by 1369 (hostilities in the war were suspended between 1360 and 1369), but for adhering to the enemy he had his lands in Wales and England confiscated.<ref name=Pierce/><ref name=Walker/>

==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 Poitiers (1356)|Battle of Poitiers]], but there is no other evidence to support this.{{sfn|Owen|1900|page=52}} He was however deprived of his English lands in 1369, suggesting he was 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.<ref name=Carr /><ref name=Walker /> His French name was {{lang|fr|Yvain de Galles}} ('Owain of Wales').<ref name=Walker /><ref name=Pierce/>

Owain was the captain of a company consisting largely of Welshmen,<ref name=Turvey /> many of whom remained in French service for many years.<ref name="Davies Revolt of Owain Glyndwr"/> The second in command of this company was Ieuan Wyn, known to the French as {{lang|fr|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]]{{sfn|Owen|1900|page=16}} and others, and gained the support of [[Charles V of France]].<ref name="Davies Revolt of Owain Glyndwr"/>

Welsh soldiery and longbowmen who had fought for [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] in his campaigns in North Wales remained armed and sold their services to the English kings in their battles in [[Scotland]] and at [[Battle of Crécy|Crecy]] and Poitiers. Ironically, the [[Normans|Norman]] attempt to conquer Wales set in train events that reignited Welsh identity and raised up new Welsh military leaders such as Owain, claiming descent from the ancient Princes of Wales.<ref name="Davies Age of Conquest"/>

{{blockquote|text=
{{lang|fr|Evain de Gales}}, to all those to whom these letters shall come, Greeting. The kings of England in past times having treacherously and covetously, tortuously and without cause and by deliberate treasons, slain or caused to be slain my ancestors, kings of Wales, and others of them have put out of their country, and that country have by force and power appropriated and have submitted its people to divers services, the which country is and should be mine by right of succession, by kindred, by heritage, and by right of descent from my ancestors the kings of that country, and in order to obtain help and succour to recover that country which is my heritage. I have visited... the most puissant and renowned sovereign Charles, by the grace of God king of France, dauphin of Vienne, and have shown unto him my right in the aforesaid country and... [he] has granted me his aid and the assistance of his men-at-arms and fleet in order to recover the said realm, which is my rightful heritage, as has been said...  I herewith have made and entered into, for me my heirs and successors and for all my country and subjects for ever, with my said lord the king of France for him and his successors and for all their country and subjects, a good and firm treaty, union and alliance, by which I will aid and assist them by my person, my subjects and my country, to the utmost of my power and loyalty against all persons alive or dead.{{sfn|Edwards|1900|pages=61-2}}
|multiline=yes
|title=Owain's declaration of 10 May 1372, translation by Owen Edwards.
}}
===Owain after the treaty of Bruges===
Owain first attacked the island of [[Guernsey]],<ref name=Pierce/> and was still there when a message arrived from Charles ordering him to abandon the expedition in order to go to [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] to seek ships to attack [[La Rochelle]].<ref name=Carr /><ref name=history/> Owain defeated an English and Gascon force at [[Soubise, Charente-Maritime|Soubise]] later that year, capturing [[Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester|Sir Thomas Percy]] and [[Jean III de Grailly, captal de Buch|Jean de Grailly]], the [[Captal de Buch]]. Another invasion of Wales was planned in 1373 but had to be abandoned.{{sfn|Owen|1900|page=67}} In 1374 he fought at Mirebau and at Saintonge. In 1375 Owain was employed by [[Enguerrand VII de Coucy|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.<ref name=Carr /><ref name=Walker />

==Assassination==

{{multiple images|image1=Mortagne siege.jpg|caption1=A depiction of Owain's death at [[Mortagne-sur-Gironde|Mortagne]] from a medieval manuscript. Owain is pictured as killed by an arrow, rather than by an assassin's knife|image2=Arms of Owain Glyndŵr.svg|caption2=Coat of Arms of Lawgoch}}
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.<ref name=Walker /> 


In 1377 there were reports that Owain was planning another expedition, this time with help from Castile. The alarmed English government sent an agent, the Scot John Lamb, to assassinate Owain, who had been given the task of besieging [[Mortagne-sur-Gironde]] in [[Poitou]].<ref name=Pierce/><ref name=Carr /> Lamb gained Owain's confidence and became his [[squire]], which allowed him to stab Owain to death in July 1378, something Walker described as 'a sad end to a flamboyant career'.<ref name=bbc/><ref name=Walker /> 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, on his passage to England to explain certain affairs to the Lord the King and his Council. In money paid to his own hands, in discharge of 20''l''., which the Lord the King commanded to be paid him. By writ of privy seal, &c., — 20''l''."{{sfn|Devon|1837|page=209}}{{R|Cymmrodorion}} Owain was buried at the church of St Leger, near [[Cognac, France]].<ref name=Pierce/><ref name=history/>

With the assassination of Owain Lawgoch the senior line of the [[House of Aberffraw]] became extinct.<ref name=Carr /><ref name="Davies Age of Conquest"/> The title "Prince of Wales" was later claimed by [[Owain Glyndŵr]] by "right of inheritance".<ref>{{harv|Edwards|1900|p=16}}</ref><ref>{{harv|Siddons|1991|p=287}}</ref>

==Owain in legend==
*The 20th-century reprint of [[Le Morte d'Arthur]] introduced by [[John Rhys]] tells of Owain Lawgoch (Owen of [[Cardiganshire]]), a man of untold riches and 7 feet tall with a red right hand living in a [[Snowdonia]] (Eryri) cave:<ref>{{harv|Malory|1906}}</ref>
{{blockquote|This Owen is Henry the Ninth,
Who lives in the land of strangers.}}

*The name [[Owain]] in [[Welsh folklore]] is a fabled name of the "son of destiny", to which Owain aspired. The prophecy was repeated by Owain Glyndŵr two decades after Owain Lawgoch's death. The next time, Owain's fame and reputation have endured to date.<ref name=Turvey/>

*Several legends grew around Owain, of which one version from [[Ceredigion|Cardiganshire]] runs as follows. Dafydd Meurig of [[Betws 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 (213 cm) 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".<ref name=Carr />

*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.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

*In Guernsey, Owain is remembered as {{em|Yvon de Galles}}. He and his [[Crown of Aragon|Aragonese]] 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 they 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.<ref>{{harv|de Garis|1986}}</ref>

*A memorial to Owain Lawgoch at his death location was unveiled [[Mortagne-sur-Gironde]] in 2003.<ref name="bbc">{{harv|BBC|2003}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=<ref name=Pierce>{{harv|Pierce|1959}}</ref><ref name=Carr>{{harv|Carr|1995|pages=103–106}}</ref><ref name=Walker>{{harv|Walker|1990|pages=165–167}}</ref><ref name="Davies Revolt of Owain Glyndwr">{{harv|Davies|1997|pages=86–87}}</ref><ref name="Davies Age of Conquest">{{harv|Davies|2000|page=436}}</ref><ref name=Turvey>{{harv|Turvey|2010|pp=115–116}}</ref><ref name=history>{{harv|Jones|2014}}</ref><ref name=Cymmrodorion>{{harv|Owen|1901}}</ref>
<ref name=siddons>{{harvnb|Siddons|1982|pages=543-4}}</ref>}}

===Notes===
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha|}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |first=Anthony D.|last= Carr |title=Owen of Wales: The End of the House of Gwynedd |publisher=[[University of Wales Press]] |year=1991 |isbn=0-7083-1064-8 }}
*{{cite book|last=Carr|first=Anthony D.| title=Medieval Wales |date=1995 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |location=[[Basingstoke]]|isbn=0312125097}}
*{{cite news |title=French memorial to Welsh Prince |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/3147267.stm |work=BBC News |agency=BBC |date=15 August 2003|ref={{harvid|BBC|2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040616043045/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/3147267.stm |archive-date=16 June 2004 |access-date=19 March 2025}}}}
<!--D-->
*{{cite book|last=Davies|first=Rees R.|author-link=Rees Davies|title=The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415|date=2000|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=[[Oxford]]|edition=2|isbn=0198208782}}
*{{cite book|last=Davies|first=Rees. R|title=The Revolt of Owain Glyndwr|date=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0198205081}}
*{{cite book| title=Folklore of Guernsey|first=Marie |last=de Garis|year=1986|asin=B0000EE6P8}}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Devon |editor-first=Frederick |date=1837 |title=Issues of the exchequer; being a collection of payments made out of His Majesty's revenue, from King Henry III to King Henry VI inclusive |location=London |publisher=John Murray |page=209 |url=https://archive.org/details/b29340135/ |access-date=19 March 2025}}
<!--F-->
*{{cite book| title=Royal Wales| first=Deborah| last=Fisher| chapter=Welsh Pretenders: Owain Lawgoch and Owain Glyndwr|isbn=978-0-7083-2214-7|year=2010|publisher=[[University of Wales Press]] }}
<!--J-->
*{{cite book|title=The History of Wales|author-first=John Graham |author-last=Jones| page=|isbn=978-1783161690|date=17 October 2014|publisher =[[University of Wales Press]]}}
<!--M-->
*{{Cite wikisource |title=Le Morte d'Arthur/Introduction|pages=VIII, XV|author-link=Thomas Malory|author-first=Thomas|author-last=Malory|year=1906|editor=[[Ernest Rhys]]|orig-year=1485}}
<!--O-->
*{{cite journal|first=Edward|last=Owen|journal=The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion |location=[[London]] | title=Owain Lawgoch: a Rejoinder|url=https://journals.library.wales/view/1386666/1386667/2#?cv=111&m=&h=The%20Transactions%20of%20the%20Honourable%20Society%20of%20Cymmrodorion%201901&xywh=-360%2C622%2C3414%2C1633|pages=98-113| year=1901}}
<!--P-->
*{{cite DWB|id=s-OWAI-APT-1378| title=OWAIN ap THOMAS ap RHODRI (' Owain Lawgoch '; died 1378), a soldier of fortune and pretender to the principality of Wales|first=Thomas Jones|last=Pierce|year=1959}}
<!--S-->
*{{cite journal |last=Siddons |first=Michael |date=1982 |title=Welsh Seals in Paris |journal=Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies |volume=29 |publisher=University of Wales Press |pages=531-44}}
*{{cite journal |last=Siddons |first=Michael |date=1985 |title=Welsh Seals in Paris - Additions and Corrections |journal=Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies |volume=32 |publisher=University of Wales Press |pages=233-241}}
*{{cite book |last1=Siddons |first1=Michael Powell |title=The Development of Welsh Heraldry volume 1|date=1991 |publisher=National Library of Wales (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru) |isbn=978-88-88048-12-3 |language=en}}
<!--T-->
*{{cite book |title=Twenty-One Welsh Princes|editor-first=Roger|editor-last=Turvey|isbn=9781845272692|year=2010|publisher=[[Gwasg Carreg Gwalch]]}}
*{{cite book|last=Walker|first=David|title=Medieval Wales|date=1990|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=[[Cambridge]]|isbn=0521311535}}
{{refend}}

==Succession==
{{S-start}}
{{s-pre}}
{{s-bef|before='''English title:'''[[Edward the Black Prince|Edward of Woodstock]] (1343-76)<br/>'''Pretender title:''' [[Madog ap Llywelyn]] (1294-5)}}
{{s-tul|title=Prince (King) of Wales|years=1366-78}} 
{{s-aft|after= '''English title:'''[[Richard II of England|Richard II]] (1376-77)<br/>'''Pretender title:''' [[Owain Glyndwr]] (1400-15)}}
{{S-end}}

==See also==
*[[Kingdom of Gwynedd]]
*[[House of Aberffraw]]
*[[House of Gwynedd]]
*[[Madog ap Llywelyn]]
*[[Owain Glyndwr]]

==External links==
*{{cite journal|first=Owen|last=Edwards|url=https://archive.org/details/transactionsofho00hono/page/n5/mode/2up|title=Owain Lawgoch - Yeuain de Galles: Some Facts and Suggestions |journal=Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion|access-date=8 November 2024|date=1900|pages=6-105}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owain Lawgoch}}
[[Category:1330s births]]
[[Category:1378 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:14th-century Welsh military personnel]]
[[Category:Monarchs of Gwynedd]]
[[Category:Welsh mercenaries]]
[[Category:House of Aberffraw]]
[[Category:House of Gwynedd]]
[[Category:People of the Hundred Years' War]]
[[Category:14th-century Welsh monarchs]]
[[Category:Welsh princes]]
[[Category:Medieval mercenaries]]