Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

1278, Gruffudd Fychan gave Anian II, Bishop of St. Asaph, the manor of Llandegla in Iâl; but after this he was deprived of his lordship of Iâl by Edward I, who granted it to John, Earl of Warren and Surrey, cheque or and azure, by a charter dated at Rhuddlan, October 7, 1282.

In 1283, at the request of John, Earl of Warren, the king confirmed the lordship of Glyndyfrdwy to Gruffudd Fychan, as we learn from the following charters.

"The king to all his bailiffs and faithful, etc. Know, that at the requisition of our beloved and faithful John de Warrene, Earl of Surrey, we have granted to Gruffudd Fychan, son of Madog, permission to hold the territory of Glyndyfrdwy from us during our pleasure. But that the said Gruffudd Fychan shall make out for us his letters patent, by which he shall assert that he holds those lands by no other right than our pleasure. Given at Rhuddlan, Feb. 12, 1283, 11 Edw. 1."2

On July 22, 1284, the king sent another charter, stating that an error had been made in the previous document, asserting that Gruffudd, the son of Gruffudd of Bromfield, only held his lands by right of the king's pleasure; and, in this second charter, he tells all whom it may concern, that, out of his favour, he has granted to Gruffudd, the son of Gruffudd of Bromfield, and his heirs, the power to hold their lands "per Baronium", as their ancestors held them, and that they might have in their lands "liberas furcas", i.e., the power of executing criminals; and “ visum franciplegii", the view of frank pledge. And that, in all their courts, all causes might be pleaded which should be pleaded in the court of a baron. "Et quod possint in Curiis suis placitare omnia placita que ad Curiam Baronis pertinent placitanda, et

3

1 Llyfr Coch Asaph.

2 Rotuli Walliæ, 11 Edw. I, memb. 3.

3 Frank pledge. The pledge or surety anciently given by all freemen for their truth towards the king and his subjects. "Visus franci plegii", view of, etc., is the office which the sheriff in his county court, or the bailiff in his hundred, performs in looking to the king's peace, and seeing that every man is in some "plegii”.

amerciamenta percipere et habere debent et hactenus rationabiliter placita illa placitare et amerciamenta percipere consueverunt." We grant, also, to the said Gruffudd, the power to chase the game on his own lands and in his woods, and to capture them of whatsoever kind they may be, and to carry them away without let or hindrance from ourself or our heirs, our justiciaries, or our foresters. In testimony of which, this is attested by the king at Caernarvon, July 22, in the twelfth year of his reign, sent by the king himself, by John de Haveringe, by his letters patent. ("Teste Rege apud Karnarvan, xxij die Julii, per ipsum Regem nunciante Johanne de Haveringe, per literas suas patentes.")1

Gruffudd Fychan, I Baron of Glyndyfrdwy by English tenure, married Margaret, eldest daughter of Gruffudd ab Cadwgan ab Meilur Eyton, Lord of Eyton, Erlisham, and Borisham, ermine, a lion rampant azure, armed and langued gules, by whom he had, besides a daughter, Margaret, wife of Gruffudd, Lord of Rûg, eldest son of Owain ab Bleddyn ab Owain Brogyntyn, a son and heir,

2

MADOG AP GRUFFUDD, II Baron of Glyndyfrdwy, and Lord of Cynllaith Owain, who died November 11, 1306. He married Gwenllian, daughter of Ithel Fychan, Lord of Mostyn in Tegeingl, ab Ithel Llwyd ab Ithel Gam, Lord of Mostyn, who bore azure, a lion statant argent, son of Maredudd ab Uchdryd ab Edwyn ab Goronwy, Prince of Tegeingl, by whom he had a daughter, Janet, who married John Croft of Croft Castle, Lord of Croft in Herefordshire, and a son and heir,

GRUFUDD OF RHUDDALLT, III Baron of Glyndyfrdwy. He married in 1304 Elizabeth, daughter of John l'Estrange, Lord Strange of Knockyn Castle, gules, two lions passant argent, by whom he had issue, one son, Gruffudd Fychan, of whom presently; and a daughter, Isabel, wife of Goronwy ab Gruffudd of Penllyn, ab Madog ab Iorwerth ab Madog ab Rhirid Flaidd, Lord of Penllyn.

1 Rotuli Wallic, 12 Edw. I, m. 5.

2 Brut y Tywysogion, Llyfr Coch o Hergist.

Gruffudd had likewise two illegitimate daughters, Margaret, who married Madog ab Llywelyn ab Gruffudd ab Iorwerth Fychan, ancestor of the Traffords of Trafford in Esclusham; and Lucy, wife of Y Badi of Rhuddallt, ab Madog ab Iorwerth Goch, second son of Madog ab Llywelyn, Lord of Eyton.

Gruffudd of Rhuddallt was succeeded by his son and heir,

GRUFFUDD FYCHAN, IV Baron of Glyndyfrdwy, and Lord of Cynllaith Owain. He married Elen, daughter and coheiress of Thomas ab Llywelyn ab Owain, heir of the Sovereign Princes of South Wales, ab Maredudd ab Owain ab Gruffudd ab Yr Arglwydd Rhys ab Gruffudd ab Rhys ab Tudor Mawr, Prince of South Wales, gules, a lion rampant in a border indented or, armed and langued gules, by whom he had issue three sons-1, Owain de Glyndwr, his successor, of whom presently; 2, Tudor, Lord of Gwyddelwern in Glyndyfrdwy, who was born about 1362. He was upwards of twenty-four years of age on September 3, 1386, when, under the designation of "Tudor de Glyndore", he appeared as a witness in the Scrope and Grosvenor controversy, and slain in battle at Mynydd y Pwll Melyn, in Brecknockshire, on March 11, 1405, in the wars of Owain de Glyndwr. He married Maud, daughter and heiress of Ieuaf ab Adda ab Hywel ab Ieuaf ab Adda ab Awr of Trefor, in Nanheudwy. (Her mother was Gwenhwy far, daughter and heir of Robert ab Robert, sable, a chevron inter three mullets argent.) By Maud, Tudor had issue an only daughter and heiress, named Lowri, who married, first, Robert ab Robin ab Gruffudd Goch, Lord of Rhôs, who bare argent, a griffin segreant, with wings erect gules. Gruffudd Goch was the son of Madog ab Tudor ab Cynwrig ab David ab Rhys ab Edryd ab Ionathal, Prince of Abergeleu, who died in the year 850, ab Iasseth ab Carwed ab Maredudd, Lord of Is Dulas.1 Lowri married, secondly, Gruffudd ab Einion of Gwyddelwern, ab Gruffudd ab Llywelyn ab Cynwrig ab Os1 Lewys Dunn, vol. ii, 353.

2 Ibid.

bern Wyddel, of Cors y Gedol (ermine, a saltire gules, a crescent or for difference); and, 3, Gruffudd, who had an only daughter and heiress, Eva, ux. David ab Gruffudd ab Caradog ab Thomas ab Roderig ab Owain Gwynedd.1

Gruffudd Fychan had, likewise, four daughters-1, Lowri, ux. Robert Puleston of Emral, Esq. (sable, three molets argent); 2, Isabel, ux. Adda ab Iorwerth Ddû, of Llys Pengwern, ancestor of the Mostyn family; 3, Morfudd, who married, first, Sir Richard Croft of Croft Castle, in Herefordshire, Knt.; and, secondly, David ab Ednyfed Gam of Llys Pengwern, by whom she had no issue; and, 4, Gwenllian, ux. Gruffudd Fychan ab Gruffudd ab Madog.

Gruffudd Fychan was succeeded by his eldest son,

OWAIN GLYNDYFRDWY,2 or, as he is generally called, Owain Glyndwr, or, as he wrote it himself, Glyndourdy, was born in the year 1349. He received a liberal education, and entered at the Inns of Court in London, where he studied until he became a barrister. It is probable that he quitted his profession, for we find that he was appointed esquire of the body to Richard II, whose fortunes he followed to the last, and was taken with him at Flint Castle. The Messrs. Owen and Blakeway, in their History of Shrewsbury, state that it was into the family of Henry of Bollingbroke, Duke of Hereford (France and England, a label ermine), afterwards Henry IV, that he he became an esquire. He was knighted by King Richard, and was married, early in life, to Margaret, daughter of Sir David Hanmer of Hanmer, in Maelor Saesneg, Knt., one of the Justices of the King's Bench; by her he had five sons, Gruffudd, Madog, Maredudd,

1 Cae Cyriog MS.

2 This account of Owain Glyndwr, with the exception of the documents and other statements, taken from other sources, to which reference is made, is taken almost exclusively from Williams's Lives of Eminent Welshmen.

3 Henry de Bollingbroke married Mary, daughter and co-heiress of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, Lord Constable, who died in 1371. Azure, a bend argent, inter two cottises, and six lions rampant

or.

Thomas, and John, and five daughters. Most of the sons fell during the war on various fields of battle. On September 3, 1386, he appeared in the celebrated controversy between Sir Richard le Scrope, Knt., and Sir Robert Grosvenor, Knt., as to whom the right to bear the shield emblazoned azure, a bend or, should appertain. He then stated in his deposition that he was twenty-seven years of age and more. It happened afterwards that Reginald, Lord Grey de Ruthin, whose lordship adjoined that of Glyndyfrdwy, had by force taken possession of a certain common, called Croesau, which Owain Glyndyfrdwy, in the former reign, had recovered from him by course of law. Owain laid the case before Parliament, but Henry, espousing the cause of Lord Grey, his suit was dismissed. This injury was aggravated by another; Reginald purposely detained the writ that had been issued to summon Owain and the other barons to join Henry IV in his expedition against the Scots. Lord Grey misrepresented the absence of Owain to the king as an act of wilful disobedience, and afterwards treacherously took possession of his lands under pretence of forfeiture. More temperate measures were recommended by John Trevor, Bishop of St. Asaph, who knew well the feelings of the Welsh towards the king, and the influence and abilities of Owain; but his advice was rejected, and he was told there could be no fear about such a barefooted rabble as the Welsh. The Welsh, however, who were strongly attached to the cause of Richard II, thought the present a favourable opportunity for freeing themselves from the oppressive yoke of the English, and they rose up in arms, and chose Glyndyfrdwy for their chief, both on account of his attachment to the king (Richard II), and his hereditary claim to the principality of Wales. That this was the fact, is corroborated by the circumstance of no personal mention being made of Owain Glyndyfrdwy in King Henry's first proclamation against the rebellion of the Welsh, dated September 19, 1400. In the summer of 1400, he attacked the estates of his enemy, Lord Grey of Ruthin,

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »