Glyndŵr (Glendower), Owain (c.1359-c.1415), self-styled prince of Wales. A wealthy landowner in north-east Wales, his father was descended from princes of Powys and his mother from princes of Deheubarth. Owain was a well-to-do gentleman and became a retainer (by 1387) of the lord of Chirk, Richard Fitzalan, earl of Arundel. By 1400 conditions in Wales were ripe for rebellion.

Glyndŵr took the lead partly because of personal grievances against Lord Grey of Ruthin and Henry IV. He was proclaimed prince of Wales by friends and relatives on 16 September 1400, and attacked Grey's estates close to the English border. Owain advanced into central and south Wales following a victory in the Plynlimmon mountains (1401); his capture of Lord Grey (April) and the uncle of Edmund Mortimer, earl of March and claimant to the English throne (22 June), was a political coup, especially when the captive Mortimer married Owain's daughter. Owain sought allies among other rebels, especially the Percy family and the earl of March's supporters, though Henry IV's victory at Shrewsbury (21 July 1403) was a set-back. Owain focused on south Wales, capturing several castles, as well as Aberystwyth and Harlech (1404). He negotiated the treaty of Paris with Charles VI of France (14 July 1404), and he ‘and his hill-men’ held assemblies at Machynlleth, Harlech, and Pennal (1404-6) where ambitious plans were laid for an independent principality. Although French troops landed in Milford Sound to assist him, 1405-6 saw significant reverses, and his French and Percy allies faded away. Following a raid in Shropshire in 1410, Owain disappeared; he refused a pardon from Henry V in 1415 and may have died soon afterwards.

A Dictionary of British History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.