Glendower

Glendower, Owen (Owain Glyndwr), Welsh chieftain, was born about 1359, and died about 1416. He claimed descent from the princes of North Wales, where he had large estates. He studied English law at Westminster, and served in the Scottish campaign of Richard II. Early in the reign of Henry IV. he assumed the title of Prince of Wales, and headed a national rising against the English. Owen soon had to go into hiding, and was excepted from the pardon issued by Henry in 1400; but next year he appeared in South Wales, and also attacked Carnarvon. In 1402 he defeated and captured Sir Edmund Mortimer, who soon after married his daughter and became his ally. By the end of 1403 all Wales had risen against Henry IV., and Glendower had the Percies as allies. Next year he concluded a treaty as "Prince of Wales" with Charles VI. of France, and summoned a Welsh Parliament. He was, however, soon after defeated by Prince Henry, and one of his sons was taken prisoner. A French force landed at Pembroke in the same summer, but effected little; and Glendower during the next few years suffered many losses, and was generally on the defensive. His last days are obscure. Though Henry V. was willing to pardon him, he refused to treat, and is believed to have died of starvation. Accounts of him are to be read in Tyler's History of Henry V., Wylie's History of Henry IV., and Pauli's Geschichte von England. Shakespeare portrays him as a man of great musical talent, but a great braggart (King Henry IV., Part 1).