Tuesday 7 October 2014

OWAIN GLYNDWR, OWAIN IV 'TYWYSOG CYMRU' THE LAST TRUE PRINCE OF WALES.


 
 
   
1 October 18:58
I have supported this because I believe in the cause and I believe Kathryn Gibson has done a great job preserving one of our nations most important treasures. However I agree with the sentiments of Llysgenhadaeth Cenedl Glyndŵr. Llywelyn was not the last ruling prince. He was only the last to be recognised by England. By the same reckoning he was also the first native prince in centuries because England never recognised his predecessors.

It is also the reason the England never accepted him as Llywelyn II (of Wales) or III (of Gwynedd) because they didn't recognise his predecessors. Llywelyn III was succeeded by his brother Dafydd III between 1282-1283. Like his brother, he also was murdered by officers of the English Crown. As such the royal line then passed to his eldest son Llywelyn III (Wales) IV (Gwynedd). Llywelyn III spent his reign imprisoned in Bristol castle along with his brother Owain II who succeeded him upon his death as the Prince of Wales. Upon Owain II's death, with no male heir of his own, under Welsh law the line then went to his his cousin, his father's brother's son Tomas I. Upon the death of Tomas I, the line passed to his son Owain III, better known as Owain Lawgoch.

Owain set up government in the channel islands and also raised the first Royal Welsh Navy. He brought Wales into alliance with France during the Hundred Year's War against England. He also had a private army that became famous across the continent for liberating many lands from oppressive rulers from the Catalans to the Swiz. He, like so many of his predecessors was murdered by an agent of the English Crown, the Scottish spy John Lamb who had turned his back on his own king to join the English Secret Service.

With Owain III murdered, so was all hope of a liberation of Wales. Gwynedd line of Cunedda was extinct. thus under Welsh law the nation had to look to another house. the strongest houses were those of the House of Mathafral (Gwynedd and Powys) and the House of Dinifwr (Deheubarth, Gwynedd and Powys) claiming descent from the same lines as the House of Aberffraw. Thus the strongest candidate to be the next monarch was the Head of the House of Mathafral, the rightful king of Powys Gruffudd Fychan II becoming Gruffydd III of Wales. He never sought power yet those who recognised him as their rightful and lawful monarch were the same ones who put their hope in his son Owain ap Gruffudd to restore the natural rights and liberties of Cymru and the Cymry. This man was Owain IV of Wales better known as Owain Glyndwr. Recognising him as the true king of the Britons and successor of Owain III, the Welsh prince who fought well for France and his father, King Charles VI of France along with Duke John VI of Brittany whose House off Monfort had often come to the aide of the Welsh cousins in the past, now worked with Wales to secure her liberty.

Although the Bretons and French did help Glyndwr in the Welsh war of independence the Welsh eventually have to secure it on their own when tensions broke out at home leading to the Battle of Brest in Brittany and the civil war which followed in France. The Bretons eventually switched allegiance to England and Burgundy.

With the demise of Glyndwr and the loss again of Welsh sovereignty, Wales fell into a sorrowful state, lacking leadership. Disillusioned, many Welshmen admitted defeat and accepted pardons from King Henry and joined England and Brittany in their war against France. Welsh bowman would go on to prove integral for England colonising France. But the tides soon turned. God sent a lowly maid girl to stand up to the might of the English elite. She was soon wrongfully killed by an English inquisition who accused her of heresy purely because they were embarrassed that they were humiliated by a young peasant girl. She was later recognised as a saint. As her martyrs death inspired the French to drive the English out of France.

With France now all under French rule again (even extended their territories). England fell into chaos and civil war. Wales, with no leadership of her own. Glyndwr truly being the last prince had to look on in despair. They looked for a new saviour, a Mab Darogon (Son of Destiny) to deliver the ancient rights and liberties of Cymru and the Cymry once more. They saw the chaos in England during the War of the Roses as the perfect opportunity to take back their land. But this was a hopeless cause without a leader.

Once again they looked to Brittany for a saviour. Many of those who remained loyal to Owain IV sojourned in Brittany in exile following the collapse of native rule in Wales. One man they believed could save them was Harri Tudur. Born in Wales, son of Edmwnd Tudur who was the son of Cathrine of Valais, Queen of France and grandson of Maredudd Tudor, cousin of Owain IV and his most loyal subject. Harri Tudur seemed perfect. he was a claimant of the Welsh and French thrones, both enemies of ruling England. He had influence in the Breton court of Duke Francis the only independent realm of the Britons. Their sister nation. And so, when Duke Francis gave Harri permission to raise a Breton army and landed in Wales the Welsh were eager to join him in a war to liberate the nation. Wales once more had a prince and this time he was going to take the fight into the heart of England to Bosworth Field. He won and marched to London and took the throne of England.

What had happened? The great liberator of Wales Harri Tudur was now King Henry VII of England. But Harri was also a claimant of the English throne on his mother's side. He was not the great hope Wales was expecting. He was not the Second Arthur. He was not the great Prince of Destiny. He was in fact the father of a new house. A Germano-Celtic house that was to strip Wales of any surviving signs of nationhood and incorporate her into England, which was completed by his son. It was these traitorous Germano-Celts that would go on to be instrumental to forming the British state and empire where Wales would be left behind.

Glyndwr truly marked the end of an era. With his all came the fall of our nation and it would lead to a new age. An age of the British empire. An age where our nation lacked a prince of her won. A prince in the true sense of the word meaning a leader. Yet the empire, built by those Germano-Celts has now fallen. The British state is in turmoil. Now is the time or a Mab Darogon. A Son of Destiny. Wales needs a new Prince. A true leader. One who will restore the ancient liberties of Cymru and the Cymry. Who will take that mantle? Who will carry on what Llywelyn built up. Who will carry on where Glyndwr left off? Llywelyn was not the last prince, Glyndwr was. But the time has come or a new prince. Remember, this need not be a royal prince, but it needs to be a leader, a true prince. Is their any such person who can leader Wales now, in her time off need? One who will take advantage of the British state in turmoil?