Owain ab Edwin of Tegeingl or Owain the Traitor (Welsh : Owain Fradwr), (died 1105) [1] was lord of the cantref of Tegeingl in north-east Wales at the end of the 11th century. He was the son of Edwin ap Gronw of Tegeingl, a great-great-grandson of Hywel Dda. He sided with the Normans in their failed invasion of North Wales, and in the 1090s attempted to become ruler of Gwynedd.
His arms were gules three men's legs conjoined at the thighs in triangle argent. [2]
Little is known of Owain's father, Edwin of Tegeingl. [3] [4] However, most medieval pedigrees identify Owain's paternal grandfather as Gronwy, a descendant of Hywel Dda. [3] Owain may have been a great-great-great-grandson of Hywel Dda [4] although this is disputed. [3] His paternal grandmother is believed to have been Ethelfleda or Aldgyth, daughter of Eadwine of Mercia. [3] His mother was Iwerydd, sister of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, Prince of Gwynedd and Powys (1063–1075). [1]
Owain was Lord or Prince of the cantref of Tegeingl. [1] The cantref formed the eastern part of Perfeddwlad (or Y Berfeddwlad) on the northern coast of Wales between the River Clwyd and Deeside. The territory, originally forming part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, had been under the control of the Anglo-Saxons for several centuries and then changed hands several times between the two. [5] Owain's father, Edwin, appears to have been raised to the lordship of Tegeingl by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, [3] ruler of most of Wales between 1055 and 1063. Edwin died in 1073 [4] and Owain succeeded him as lord.
It appears that Owain made a challenge for the kingship of Gwynedd and may have succeeded in holding it for a time in the 1090s. [6] Links to previous rulers through the female line were very important in establishing a claim, and Owain's relationship with Bleddyn ap Cynfyn through his mother would have been relevant. [6]
In the 1080s and the 1090s, the Normans led by Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester made several attempts to invade and gain control of North Wales. [7] Owain ap Edwin transferred his allegiance to the Normans following the defeat of his ally Trahaearn ap Caradog, prince of Gwynedd (1075–1081), at the Battle of Mynydd Carn in 1081, a move which earned him the epithet Fradwr, traitor, among the Welsh. [3] In 1098, Owain participated in a massive invasion of North Wales by Hugh d’Avranches, with Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, [8] forcing Gruffydd ap Cynan, prince of Gwynedd (1081–1137), to retreat to Anglesey. As a result of the intervention of a Norwegian army under Magnus Barelegs, the Normans suffered a defeat and withdrew most of their forces to England. [8] Following the Norman withdrawal, Owain was left in command of a token force to control upper Gwynedd. [3] [7] Over the next three years, Gruffydd ap Cynan reasserted his control over Gwynedd and agreed terms with the Normans. [7] In the meantime, Owain deserted the Normans and led a rebellion himself. [9] He died shortly afterwards in 1105, apparently of consumption. [2] [9]
Owain Fradwr married Morfudd, daughter of Goronwy, son of Ednowain Bendew. [2]
Owain's daughter, Angharad, married Gruffudd ap Cynan, Prince of Gwynedd, [1] by whom she had three sons: Cadwallon, Owain Gwynedd (the first Welsh prince to take the title Princeps Wallensium, [10] Prince of the Welsh) and Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd.
His sons were Goronwy, Meilir, Llywelyn, Aldud, and Rhirid. [2] Goronwy was the father of the Cristin who was the second wife of Owain Gwynedd. [1] However, in 1125 a son of Gruffudd ap Cynan killed all Owain's male heirs bringing the direct line of the family to an end. [3]
Owain ap Gruffudd was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. He was called Owain the Great and the first to be styled "Prince of Wales". He is considered to be the most successful of all the North Welsh princes prior to his grandson, Llywelyn the Great. He became known as Owain Gwynedd to distinguish him from the contemporary king of Powys Wenwynwyn, Owain ap Gruffydd ap Maredudd, who became known as Owain Cyfeiliog.
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was King of Wales from 1055 to 1063. He had previously been King of Gwynedd and Powys in 1039. He was the son of King Llywelyn ap Seisyll and Angharad daughter of Maredudd ab Owain, and the great-great-grandson of Hywel Dda.
Gruffudd ap Cynan, sometimes written as Gruffydd ap Cynan, was King of Gwynedd from 1081 until his death in 1137. In the course of a long and eventful life, he became a key figure in Welsh resistance to Norman rule, and was remembered as King of all Wales. As a descendant of Rhodri Mawr, Gruffudd ap Cynan was a senior member of the princely House of Aberffraw.
The Kingdom of Gwynedd was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain.
The Kingdom of Powys was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. It very roughly covered the northern two-thirds of the modern county of Powys and part of today's English West Midlands. More precisely, and based on the Romano-British tribal lands of the Ordovices in the west and the Cornovii in the east, its boundaries originally extended from the Cambrian Mountains in the west to include the modern West Midlands region of England in the east. The fertile river valleys of the Severn and Tern are found here, and this region is referred to in later Welsh literature as "the Paradise of Powys".
Rhys ap Tewdwr was a king of Deheubarth in Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great. He was born in the area which is now Carmarthenshire and died at the battle of Brecon in April 1093.
Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd, Wales Prince of Gwynedd in 1170, was a Welsh poet and military leader. Hywel was the son of Owain Gwynedd, prince of Gwynedd, and an Irishwoman named Pyfog. In recognition of this, he was also known as Hywel ap Gwyddeles. Hywel was also known as the Poet Prince for his bardic skills.
Trahaearn ap Caradog was a King of Gwynedd. Trahaearn was a son of Caradog ap Gwyn, ruler of Arwystli, a small state, on the south-western border between Gwynedd and Powys. He was born in 1044 in Arwystli, and died in 1081 in Mynydd Carn in Pembrokeshire, at the Battle of Mynydd Carn.
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, sometimes spelled Blethyn, was an 11th-century Welsh king. Harold Godwinson and Tostig Godwinson installed him and his brother, Rhiwallon, as the co-rulers of Gwynedd on his father's death in 1063, during their destruction of the kingdom of Bleddyn's half-brother, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. He became king of Powys and co-ruler of the Kingdom of Powys with his brother Rhiwallon from 1063 to 1075. His descendants continued to rule Powys as the House of Mathrafal.
Caradog ap Gruffydd was a Prince of Gwent in south-east Wales in the time of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and the Norman conquest, who reunified his family's inheritance of Morgannwg and made repeated attempts to reunite southern Wales by claiming the inheritance of the Kingdom of Deheubarth.
Maredudd ap Bleddyn was a prince and later King of Powys in eastern Wales.
This article is about the particular significance of the century 1101–1200 to Wales and its people.
This article is about the particular significance of the century 1001–1100 to Wales and its people.
Wales in the Middle Ages covers the history of the country that is now called Wales, from the departure of the Romans in the early fifth century, until the annexation of Wales into the Kingdom of England in the early sixteenth century.
The history of Gwynedd in the High Middle Ages is a period in the History of Wales spanning the 11th through the 13th centuries. Gwynedd, located in the north of Wales, eventually became the most dominant of Welsh kingdoms during this period. Distinctive achievements in Gwynedd include further development of Medieval Welsh literature, particularly poets known as the Beirdd y Tywysogion associated with the court of Gwynedd; the reformation of bardic schools; and the continued development of Cyfraith Hywel. All three of these further contributed to the development of a Welsh national identity in the face of Anglo-Norman encroachment of Wales.
The House of Aberffraw was a cadet branch of the Kingdom of Gwynedd originating from the sons of Rhodri the Great in the 9th century. Establishing the Royal court of the Aberffraw Commote would begin a new location from which to rule Wales. The cadet branch achieved the recognised title of Prince of Wales, and were sometimes named King of Aberffraw.
The Royal House of Mathrafal began as a cadet branch of the Royal House of Dinefwr, taking their name from Mathrafal Castle, their principal seat and effective capital. Although their fortunes rose and fell over the generations, they are primarily remembered as Kings of Powys in central Wales.
Edwin of Tegeingl was a prince or lord of the cantref of Tegeingl in north-east Wales.