Owain Lawgoch :: European History

Owain Lawgoch Llywelyn Fawr (Llywelyn the Great) was the father of two ambitious sons, both of whom were destined to become intertwined in the 13th-century dynastic struggles between Wales and England. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was his father's natural son and the eldest, while Dafydd was the son of Llywelyn's wife Joan, herself the natural daughter of King John. Both sons were apparently determined to succeed their father and carry forward the country's struggle against their Norman would-be conquerors. At Llywelyn's death in 1240, contrary Welsh law and custom, Gwynedd passed to his legitimate son Dafydd, rather than being divided equally between Dafydd and his brother Gruffydd. It is thought that Llywelyn saw the practice of divided inheritance as a threat to the survival of Gwynedd, and he took extraordinary measures to ensure that Dafydd was recognized as his sole heir. As a consequence, Gruffydd spent much his life as a prisoner of his father, then his brother and later the English king, until his tragic death during an attempted escape from the Tower of London in 1244 (shown right). Despite Llywelyn's precautions, Dafydd's reign was tragically short and he died without heirs in 1246. Soon most of Wales was back under the control of the English king and his barons. Despite this tremendous setback, in less than 10 years Gruffydd's son Llywelyn, known to history as Llywelyn the Last, had managed to reclaim the dynasty of Gwynedd, gaining unprecedented recognition as "Prince of Wales" before his tragic downfall and death in 1282. With his death, and the death of his older brother Owain the same year, and his younger brother Dafydd the following year, the House of Gwynedd ended almost 500 years of rule over most of northern Wales. The princely line of Gwynedd had finally run out, extinguished forever by the ruthless King Edward I. Or had it? Little remembered is Llywelyn's youngest brother Rhodri ap Gruffydd. He apparently played no part in the dynastic struggles of the 13th century, and lived most of his life in relative obscurity and peace outside Wales, reportedly dying on his English manor c1315. Yet it was one of his descendants who was destined to make Gwynedd's final claim to the title "Prince of Wales." That person was Rhodri's grandson, Owain Lawgoch. Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri, known to history as Owain Lawgoch (Owain of the red hand) and to the French as Yvain de Galles, like his father, was born and grew up in England and had no direct associations with Wales.