Owain Glyndwr

Owain Glyndwr was a Welsh ruler and was also the last person who was a native Welshman to hold the title of Price of Wales. Glyndwr attempted to revolt against the purpose of the English ruling Wales, although this was highly unsuccessful. Despite the revolt being generally unsuccessful the battle did last for a significant amount of time.

Glyndwr is recognised heavily within the culture of both Wales and England, he also features within numerous Shakespeare plays. He was featured in Henry IV which was a Shakespeare play, this showed him as an exotic and wild man who was interested by magic and ran his life in line with his emotions.

To this day Glyndwr is still a major part of Welsh society and numerous celebrations are held in honour of his name and the work he did for Wales. These is a sculpture of the individual outside the City Hall in Cardiff, this was created by Alfred Turner.

In the year 2000 there were mass celebrations all over Wales in order to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the Glyndwr rising. One of the most recognised achievements that relates to Glyndwr was him being voted 23rd in a 100 Greatest Britons poll in 2002.

The individual was born around 1354 to a very rich family who owned a large amount of land within the Welsh Marches. This area is on the border between England and Wales, it was a very expensive area. At times it was questioned whether it was land which was the property of England or Wales.

In 1382 he became a member of the English kings military service and in his role he operated numerous different duties. One of the main duties which he held whilst in the military was garrison duty.

The main reason for Owain being celebrated today is due to his part in the Welsh revolt. Numerous different events lead to him declaring the revolt, one of the significant matters was when his neighbour Baron Grey de Ruthyn seized control of some of his land. He attempted to claim this back but the English Parliament rejected it, numerous other pieces of land were also claimed by the neighbor.

The revolt was highly extensive and Welsh troops were ploughed in to attempting to take control. The battle was long but very unsuccessful and due to this the English Parliament remained control of the land. Despite this Owain continues to be praised.