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alte' p' dicionis cont'a regiam magestatem n'ram p' p'fatum Oswini f'ce et p'petrate nob' forisf'ca' existunt et que ad p'sens valorem trescentar' marcar' p' annu' p' estimac'o'nem ut dicit' non excedunt. Hend' et tenend' om'ia man'ia t'ras et tent' p'd'ca una cum regaliis regalitatibz feodis militum advocacoibs et p'ronatib, om'imodor' b'n'ficior' eccl'iasticor' franchesiis lib'tatibg costumis Wardis maritagiis releviis releviis escaetis forisf'turis chaceis parcis Warernis Wrecco maris et om'ibz aliis p' ficuis et commoditatibz quibus cumq' ad p'dca mandia t'ras et ten' spectantibg sine p'tinentibz p'fato Comiti et heredibz suis de nob' et heredibz n'ris p' s'uicia inde debita et consueta adeo lit're plene et integre sicut p'd'cus Oswinus ea h'uit et tenuit aliquo tempore p't'ito absq' aliquo nob' vel heredibg inde reddendo donac'o'e et concessione p' nos nup' eidem Comiti de Castris man'iis t'ris et ten' que fuerunt Radi' de Lumley Chivaler r'one forisf'cure ejusdem Rob'ti que valent p' annu' eidem comiti trescentas et sexaginta libras aut quadam annuitate viginti librar' p' Ric'm nup' Regem Angl' sed'm post conquestum eidem Comiti p'nomine Comitis Som's de exitibus Com' Som's p' manus vu' ibidem p'cipiend' seu quadam alia annuitate sexaginta et ses librar' tresdecim solidar' et quatuor denarior 'p' p'fatum nup' Rege eidem Comiti de exitibg honoris de Walynford p'cipiend' aut officio Cam' ar' Angl' cujus valor non est c'tus eo q'd casualis existit f'cis non obstantibz. In cujus, etc. T. R. apud Westm' viij die Novemb'r. P' ip❜m Regem.

In 1401, Henry IV assembled a Parliament to Westminster, when the deliberate voice of the assembled representatives ordained that no one whole born in Wales. should purchase lands upon the Marches or borders; that they should neither bear office nor armour, and that such as dwelt in franchised towns should produce sureties for their good behaviour.1 The next act of his reign he followed up the same stringent ordinances, by decreeing that no Englishman should be convicted in Wales, and that no minstrels should be suffered to gather the people together.2

The king then advanced to Anglesey, and plundered the Franciscan monastery of Llanvaes, slew some of the

1 Statutes of the Realm, 2 Henry IV, chap. xi.

2 4th Hen. IV, 1402, chaps. xxvi to xxxiv.

monks, and took the rest away with him; but he afterwards restored them to liberty, taking care, however, to place Englishmen in their room, as the Franciscans. were well known to have been firm adherents to the cause of Owain. Henry at last withdrew his army, not being able to follow Owain, who retreated with his troops to the mountains of Snowdon. At the suggestion of Prince Henry, a free pardon was offered to the Welsh of several counties, which brought over to the king's authority thirty-two of the principal adherents; but Glyndyfrdwy's army was, nevertheless, receiving constant additions by the great resort of his countrymen, not only from every part of Wales, but also from England, whither they had removed for the sake of education, or were engaged and settled in various professions. In the summer of 1401, Glyndyfrdwy marched to Pumlumon, which he made the base of his future operations, and thence proceeded to lay waste the surrounding country. He sacked Montgomery, burned the suburbs of Welshpool, destroyed Abbey Cwmhir, and took the castle of Radnor, where he beheaded the garrison to the number of sixty. The Flemings who had been planted in Pembrokeshire suffered so much from him that they raised a force of 1,500 men, and marched so expeditiously, that they surrounded Owain and his forces on Mynydd Hyddgant before he was aware of their approach. Hemmed in on every side, he broke through their ranks, and 200 of the Flemings lay dead on the field. Henry, alarmed at his success, led another army into Wales, and destroyed the abbey of Strata Florida, or Ystrad Flûr, in Ceredigion, and ravaged the country; but he was obliged to make a disgraceful retreat, his army being exhausted by famine and disease. Another expedition in the same year, commanded by the king in person, met with the

same success.

In 1402, the occurrence of a comet was interpreted by the bards as an omen most favourable to Owain, and their predictions instilled spirit into the minds of his countrymen. His next action was fought against Lord Grey

de Ruthin, whom he took prisoner, and kept long in captivity, nor did he give him his liberty until he had paid the large ransom of 10,000 marks, and bound himself to observe a strict neutrality; and, immediately after his release, for his better security, he married Jane, the third daughter of Owain. Being now freed from his English enemies, Owain turned his arms against those of his own countrymen who adhered to the English king, and burned their mansions, and ravaged their estates; the cathedral of Bangor, and the cathedral, palace, and canons' houses of St. Asaph were destroyed at his command; the bishop of St. Asaph, however, John Trevor,1 sided with Owain afterwards, and was confirmed by him in his see. It was at this time that Henry, irri

1 John Trevor became Bishop of St. Asaph in 1395. He obtained permission to hold in commendam with his bishopric, as some of his predecessors had done, the livings of Pool, Cegidfa (Guilsfield), and Meivod. Notwithstanding this, he proved ungrateful to the king, Richard II, for, in 1399, when that unfortunate monarch was a prisoner in his diocese, at the castle of Flint, under the power of Henry, Duke of Hereford, the bishop was prevailed upon to pronounce the sentence of deposition against the king in favour of the usurper; and he was also sent ambassador into Spain to justify the proceedings of Henry IV to that court. But at his return in 1403, he found his countrymen in arms against the usurpation of Henry, under Owain Glyndyfrdwy, who, on account of the bishop's zeal, had burnt down his cathedral church, and episcopal palace, and also the canons' houses, to the ground, because they were disaffected to his cause. The bishop joined Owain, and became one of his most trusted adherents, for which he was deprived of the revenues of his see. It was at this time that Henry promulgated the unjust and tyrannical laws above-mentioned. Bishop Trevor had strongly opposed these laws, and had very rationally set forth the danger of disgusting so irritable a people, to whom the English Lords in Parliament made the insolent answer, "Se de illis scurris nudipedibus non curare”. The bishop died in Paris, whither he had been sent by Owain upon an embassy to procure aid from the King of France, and he was buried there in the Abbey of St. Victoire, with the following epitaph, in which Herefordensis has been inserted by mistake for Assavensis. "In Capella Infirmarii Abbatiæ S. Victoris Parisiensis, Hic jacet Reverendus in Christo Pater, Johannes, Episcopus Herefordensis in Wallia, qui obiit, A.D. 1410. Die Veneris 10 Mensis Aprilis, cujus anima feliciter requiescat in pace. Amen." Williams's Lives of

Eminent Welshmen.

tated at the spirited resistance of the Welsh to his government, had promulgated a set of impolitic laws, which tended to give the highest offence to the Welsh, and separate their interests from those of the English. According to these laws, "the Welsh were prohibited from purchasing lands, from holding any corporate office, and from bearing arms within any city, borough, or market town; in all lawsuits between an Englishman and a Welshman, the former should be convicted only by the judgment of English justices, or the verdict of all the English burgesses, or by inquests of English boroughs and towns of the lordships in which the respective suits lay; all English burgesses who were married to Welshwomen were disfranchised; all Welshmen were forbidden to assemble together for conference without licence from the local authorities and in their presence. No provisions or arms were to be received into Wales without special permission from the king or his council. No Welshman was allowed to have the charge of any castle, fortress, or place of defence, even though he might be its owner, nor to execute the offices of lieutenant, justice, chancellor, treasurer, chamberlain, sheriff, steward, coroner, or any other office of trust, any patent or licence to the contrary notwithstanding. Moreover, the Welshmen were forbidden to bring up their children as scholars, or to apprentice them to any occupation within any town or borough in the realm". These enactments remained. in force till the 21 James I (1624).

The king being determined on another expedition into Wales, issued orders for the army to meet at Lichfield; but, in the meantime, Owain obtained a great victory, June 22, over Sir Edmund Mortimer, at Pilleth Hill, near Knighton, in Radnorshire, where 1,100 of Mortimer's followers were slain, and himself taken prisoner. Sir Edmund was uncle to Edward Mortimer, the young Earl of March, then about ten years of age, whose title to the crown of England having been acknowledged by the Parliament, he himself was kept in close custody at 1 History of Wales, by Jane Williams.

Windsor. In consequence of this relationship, it may be supposed that Henry took no steps for his ransom, and Mortimer, finding Owain inclined to favour the right of his nephew, sided with him, and brought on the alliance with the Percies. Henry finding that his own safety demanded his utmost exertion, instead of assembling one army at Lichfield, determined to raise three separate divisions, and to attack the Welsh from three quarters at the same time. It was arranged that the king should muster the first division at Shrewsbury. Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, Regent of France (gules, a fess inter six cross crosslets or), Edmond Stafford, Earl of Stafford (or, a chevron gules), and others, were to assemble the second at Hereford, while Prince Henry was to take the command of the third at Chester. We learn from a letter of the prince, dated at Shrewsbury in May, that he led his army and burnt Owain's chief palace at Sycharth, in the parish of Llansilin, in Cynllaith, and then went to Glyndyfrdwy, where he burnt the house in his park, and then, after burning and ravaging, not only Glyndyfrdwy, but also Edeyrnion, they returned through Powys to Shrewsbury. It is to Sycharth that Iolo Goch's magnificent description appertains.

In the meantime Owain was ravaging Glamorgan on account of the defection of the inhabitants from his cause; he burned the houses of the bishop and archdeacon of Llandaff, set fire to Caerdiff and Abergavenny, "and demolished the castles of Penlline, Llandough, Flemingston, Dunraven of the Butlers, Tal y Van, Llanbleddian, Llanguirn, Malefant, and that of Penmark; and burnt many of the villages and churches about them. He burnt also the churches of Llanfrynach and Aberthin; and many houses at Llantwit Major, and other places, the men of which would not join him. But many of the country people collected round him with one accord, and they demolished castles and houses innumerable, laid waste and quite fenceless the lands, and gave them in common to all. They took away from the powerful and rich, and distributed the plunder among the weak and indigent. Many of the higher order and

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