| Owain ap Gruffudd is managed by the Wales Project. Join: Wales Project Discuss: wales_project |
Preceded by Madog ap Maredudd |
Prince of Southern Powys 1160–1195 |
Succeeded by Gwenwynwyn ab Owain |
Owain ap Gruffydd (c. 1130 - 1197) was a prince of the southern part of Powys and a poet. [1]
Owain was the son of Gruffydd ap Maredudd and nephew of Madog ap Maredudd, the last prince of the whole of Powys. [1]
Owain ap Gruffydd Cyfelliog was son of Geyffydd ap Maredudd Lord of Mawddy & his wife Gwerfyl of Caer ([1125]-1195). [2]
The Dictionary of National Biography called Owain "the offspring of an irregular union of his father with Gwervyl, daughter of Urgen ab Howel. [3]
Owain married first Gwenllian ferch Owain Gwynedd (who died in 1170) ap Gruffudd ap Cynan ab Iago ab Idwal ap Meurig ab Idwal Foel ab Anarawd ap Rhodri Mawr. [3]
Owain married firstly Gwenllian of Gwynedd, illegitimate daughter of Owain King of Gwynedd & his mistress ---. [2]
Owen Cyveilioc is said to have married Gwenthlian, the daughter of Prince Owen Gwyneth, by whom he had one son Wenwynwyn, who inherited his patrimony entire, except the commot of Llannerchhudol, and the lordship of Bronjarth, which were bestowed by Owen upon his natural son, Caswalhon Maeleri, for life, and afterwards reverted to Wenwynwyn, or his son. [4]
Owain married secondly Gwenllian ferch Ednywain ab Eginir ap Gollwyn ap Tangno[3]
Owain married secondly a daughter of Rhys ap Gruffydd. [2]
Madog gave his nephew Owain the commote of Cyfeiliog to rule in 1147. On Madog's death in 1160 Owain became the ruler of most of southern Powys.[1]
The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales records that "Madog son of Maredudd built the castle of Oswestry" in 1148 and "gave Cyveiliog to his nephews Owain and Meurug, the sons of Gruffudd son of Maredudd". [2]
In 1149 or 1159 Madog ap Maredudd ap Bleddyn ap Cynfyn granted his nephews Owain ap Gruffudd and Meurig ap Gruffudd the district of Cyfeiliog. This included most of the middle valley of the Dovey (or Dyfi) and corresponded to western portions of modern Montgomeryshire. [3]
Owain was also a notable poet. Although only one of his poems has been preserved, this one, Hirlas Owain is commonly rated as one of the finest Welsh poems of this period. In the poem, Owain's bodyguard are gathered at his court following a raid in 1155 to free his brother Meurig from prison in Maelor. The mission accomplished, Owain calls for the drinking horn to be passed to each member of his bodyguard in turn, with words of praise for each one. There is a more somber note when he remembers two of his men who fell in the fighting and grieves for their loss.[1]
Owain also appears in the romance of Fulke FitzWarin as a knight who strikes Fulk with a spear.
On 29 Sep 1158, he was paid five marks in silver out of the treasury of King Henry II of England. [4]
Prince of Southern Powys 1160. He abdicated. [2]
When Madog ap Maredudd died in 1160 and Llywelyn his son was killed shortly after, Owain, who had adopted the name Owain Cyfeiliog, succeeded to the lordship of all of Powys. [3]
In 1162 he lost his residence, Tafolwern Castle in Cyfeiliog, in a war with Hywel ab Ieuaf ap Cadwgon ab Elystan Glodrydd, but he had revenge the next year.
He was allied with the English until 1165, when Norman pressure caused him to switch his alliance and support Owain Gwynedd and Yr Arglwydd Rhys in resisting an invasion by King Henry Ii of England. [3]
It is said that Owain Cyfeiliog distinguished himself in the battle of Crogen, where Henry II suffered great losses, but the DNB, and English source, credits the weather and food shortages in causing Henry's withdrawal. In any event, Henry did not return. [3]
He is recorded as having been in alliance with the other Welsh princes to withstand the invasion of 1165 by king Henry II of England. Thereafter he usually followed a policy of supporting the English crown. [1]
The alliance was continued in 1166 against Iorwerth of Mochnant, but the next year Owain Gwynedd and Yr Arglwydd Rhys turned against Owain Cyfeiliog, who then sought support from his English marcher friends and Norman forces. [3]
In 1170 he gave land for the founding of the abbey of Strata Marcella. In 1188 however he refused to meet or support Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury and Giraldus Cambrensis when they journeyed around Wales to raise men for a crusade, and was excommunicated as a result.[1]
In May, 1177 he and all the Welsh chieftains attended the "great council" at Oxford, and all of them took oaths of allegiance to King Henry II as their overlord. [3]
According to Gerald Cambrensis he was responsible for the murder of his nephew Owain ap madog in 1186; the deed was done by his sons Gwenwynwyn and Cadwallon. [3]
In 1188 Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, excommunicated Owain Cyfeiliog because the prince had failed to join all the other Welsh princes in meeting the archbishop during the course of his crusading tour. [3]
In 1195 Owain handed the rule of his realm to his son Gwenwynwyn ab Owain and retired to the abbey of Strata Marcella, where he died and was buried two years later.[1]
Owen Cyveilioc died in 1197 at a very advanced age. He founded the monastery at Ystread Marchell. “His designation of Cyveilioc or Kevelioc, as it was usually written by the English, was taken from the commot or lordship of that name, in the south-western part of the present county of Montgomery, which contains the parishes of Darowen, Kemmes, Llanbrinmare, Llanwrin, Machynlleth, and Penegoes. [5]
Owain was buried at the Abbey of Strata Marcella - located at Ystrad Marchell on the west bank of the River Severn near Welshpool in Powys. He was the founder of the Abbey in 1170, as a daughter house of the abbey at Whitland. By the 13th century Strata Marcella became the largest Cistercian abbey in Wales with a nave 200 feet long. Welsh rebellion in the 15th century heavily damaged the Abbey and it never fully recovered. The Abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1536 and its stone was used to build several local churches. Today earthworks cover its ruins beside the River Severn. [6] [7]
The ruins of Owain's castle are still to be seen at Tafolwern in Cyveilioc.
Owen was a distinguished bard, and lived in the Augustan age of Welsh poetry. Owain was the most eloquent of the Welsh princes and conspicuous for the good management of his territory. [5]
Cawley names two children of Owain & his first wife: Gwenwynwyn and Caswallon:[2] Boyer, following Bartrum, names only Gwenwynwyn as the child of Owain's first wife.
Gwenwynwyn: Child of Owain and his first wife Gwenllian ferch Owain Gwynedd
Children of Unidentified Mother [3]
Boyer presents two children of Owain -- a son Cadwallon and daughter Meddivus -- whose mother is unidentified.
Constance
A daughter Constance is shown in the Visitation of Cheshire [9] and is mentioned in both Carl Boyer [3] and Peter Cotgreave. [10]
Two major Welsh leaders named Owain were contemporaries -- but they are different people!
He is usually known as Owain Cyfeiliog to distinguish him from another contemporary ruler, Owain ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd known as Owain Gwynedd. [1]
Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, Volume 3, page 4188. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
See Also:
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Owain is 32 degrees from Herbert Adair, 25 degrees from Richard Adams, 27 degrees from Mel Blanc, 30 degrees from Dick Bruna, 27 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 40 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 25 degrees from Sam Edwards, 25 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 30 degrees from Marty Krofft, 24 degrees from Junius Matthews, 24 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 28 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
A > ap Gruffudd > Owain ap Gruffudd
Categories: Cyfeiliog cwmwd, Powys Wenwynwyn cantref | Malpas Name Study | Kingdom of Powys | Wales Project Pre 1500 Managed Profiles | Wales Project Pre 1500 Managed Profiles - 12th Century | Estimated Birth Date