Owain Glyndŵr

0:02Hello and welcome to Dead Funny History. I'm Greg Jenner, I'm a historian and I want to tell you about someone uncool, Owain Glyndur. Now, if you're Welsh, you might know him as a 15th century revolutionary hero. His story is full of twists, battles, and poems about how nice it was to stay at his house. What rhymes with lovely guest towels? Owain was born around the year 1359, near Wrexham. Did someone say Wrexham? Back off, Ryan Reynolds. This is my show. Both sides of Owain's family were very posh. After his dad died, he was fostered by a rich lawyer called David Hamner and he got a fancy law job in London.

0:43Less... Give me freedom! And more... Give me a mock of frappe, yeah? By 1383, he'd had enough of London life. But this isn't when he became an icon of Welsh independence. No, and live with a good life, yeah? He married David Hamner's daughter. She was called Mared. And they moved back to his castle in Wales. And then Welsh independence? No, I'm off to join the English military. Owain spent years fighting for the English king, Richard II. But then, in 1387, his foster dad, David Hamner, died. And Owain went back to Wales again. Now, if this were Hollywood, here would be the perfect moment for our hero to emerge, ready to fight.

1:31With great power comes great responsibility. I was Batman. But it was more like... I'd just chill out in my castle for ten years, actually. Owain and Mared had nine children, and other Welsh nobles loved hanging out with the Glindoras. One of them, a guy called Yolo Goc, even wrote a poem about what good hosts they were. You don't get that on Come Dine With Me. Their starters were great, their puddings divine, Then we sang karaoke. I give them a nine. But there was one guy who was definitely not writing nice poems about Owen. Lord Grey de Ruthen, Owen's neighbour. Howdy! Yay! Oh, and arch-enemy.

2:14Boo! The English king that Owen had fought for, Richard II, had been booted off the throne. Ah! And replaced with King Henry IV, who was personal friends with Owen's nemesis neighbour, Lord Grey de Ruthen. and who set about making Owain look bad in front of the new king. Your Majesty, Owain farted. You smell dead, dead, majesty. Ah, but majesty, he who said the rhyme did the crime. In 1400, Lord Greater Ruthen played a trick on Owain and didn't tell him about a command from the king and this created rumours in London that poor Owain was a traitor. And that wasn't his only bad neighbour behaviour.

2:58Lord Grey also seized a load of Owen's land. Aye, that's my edge. And my field. Oh, I'll write to the king. But Henry IV's parliament ignored Owen's pleas for help, even after all of that lovely military service. Rude. So that was the point where Owen went... That's it. I'm fighting back. I'm Welsh Batman. To be fair, bad neighbour behaviour can be enough to push anyone into battle mode.

3:34It wasn't just a fence dispute gone wrong, though. Lots of Welsh people had really liked King Richard II and weren't keen on the new king, Henry. When one of Richard II's officers was put to death in Chester, near Wales, that was the last straw for a lot of Welsh people. You wouldn't suppose the Welsh's favourite king? You wouldn't kill one of his main guys? You wouldn't ignore a perfectly reasonable complaint about my terrible neighbour? Let's rebel! Orwine's posh family meant he was entitled to call himself a Welsh prince. So, in September 1400, he took up the title of Prince of Powys. For the honour of Glyndwr, I have the Powys!

4:24Yes! And his followers proclaimed him Prince of Wales. Hang on, today doesn't Prince of Wales just mean next in line to the King of England? Yes, and it's been that way since the 13th century. So this meant there was already a Prince of Wales, King Henry IV's son, the future Henry V. So Owain declaring himself Prince of Wales threatened the royal order. While many historians believe Owain didn't actually start this rebellion, and he quickly became the figurehead of the movement, like Katniss in The Hunger Games. I volunteer as a tribute. Well, if Katniss was extremely mad at her neighbour. Doris, fetch my longbow.

5:04In response, Henry IV sent a super soldier to fight Owain. His nickname was Harry Hotspur, because he was so fast at attacking, his horse-riding spurs got hot. But Owain still won this pretty major battle of Maneth Hothgen, Annoyed, King Henry made Parliament issue the Penal Laws Against Wales, which was meant to punish and dominate the Welsh. But this just made people even angrier. More rebellion it is, lads! In 1402, Oenglindor captured his nemesis, Lord Greater Ruthen, and held him hostage for a year. You're keeping me prisoner for a year? Isn't that a bit petty when you have a rebellion to do?

5:44You should have thought of that before you were a bad neighbour. Now this really worked out for Owen. King Henry IV paid a ransom of 10 ,000 marks for Lord Grey's freedom. And this made Owen think... Taking hostages is fun and profitable. I'm just going to make that my whole thing now. So after defeating more English troops at the Battle of Brynglas, Owen captured their leader, Sir Edmund Mortimer. Oh, sorry about this, Eddie. I take hostages now. But Edmund's ransom hit a snag. Henry, my love, I'll swap you 10 ,000 marks for Edmund Mortimer. 10 ,000 marks for a guy I hate and who is actually quite powerful and threatens my throne?

6:28Keep him. Yep, Henry refused to pay for poor Edmund. But at least Owain was a famously good host. And whether it was the great B &B experience or if Owain's rebelliousness was just infectious, Edmund thought... Henry was well harsh. I'm team Owain now. Can I marry your daughter as a signing bonus? Yep. They went from captor and prisoner to BFFs and in-laws at breakneck speed. But Owain didn't get all of his allies by taking them hostage. I do not have enough guest towels for that. Owain also asked for help from France, who weren't on great terms with England. Nations with a bone to pick with England, assemble!

7:11And that's not all. loads of Welsh people were leaving England to join Owain, including labourers and craftsmen. I can make weapons for Wales. Archers, who until now had been serving the English army. I can fight for Wales. And even Welsh students ditching their Oxford degrees to join Owain's rebellion. I can join the debate club for Wales. It's the thought that counts. In 1403, Owain even managed to bag the famous warrior, Harry Hotspur, from the English side. Yay! Except he was almost immediately killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury. Oh! Yeah, sorry. Despite that setback, things were going well for Owain, and England and Wales had a massive break-up.

7:58To court a wise woman, we are never, ever, ever getting back together. In 1404, Owen Glyndour called his first Welsh Parliament and announced his new vision for Wales. Launching the I Wales 12 with a new parliament, a separate church, two universities and Cwraith Hwyl. A return to traditional Welsh laws. But does it have a headphone socket? I wish you'd focus on the bigger picture. In February 1405, Owen teamed up with Edmund Mortimer and Hotspur's dad to negotiate something called the Tripartite Indenture. Ooh, fancy. This was their plan to divide England and Wales between the three of them. It was apparently inspired by the stories of a famous wizard you may have heard of.

8:53Merlin. That's right. Owen Glyndor was a big fan of stories about Merlin, who has very strong Welsh roots. Harry Hotspur actually got annoyed about it, at one point complaining that Owen wouldn't stop talking... Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies. Oh, bless. Looks like Owen was a massive fantasy nerd, tragically missing out on Comic-Con by a mere 600 years. Sweet Warhammer cosplay. What? Sorry, I don't know what that is. In 1405, France signed a treaty promising that they would help Wales. So at last, the French-Welsh army took up positions against the English army. Gladiators, ready! And then nothing happened for eight days.

9:39And then, for no confirmed reason, Welsh and French soldiers retreated. Gladiators, go whom, I guess? After so much promise, 1405 saw lots of Welsh defeats. France said, Au revoir! And they left Owen to it. Also, the English changed their tactics. Instead of full-on battles, they cut off Wales' supply and trade routes. No one loading there, mate. Unfortunately for Owen, this really worked. Oh, could this get any worse? It could. Sorry. In 1409, both of Owen's big castles at Aberystwyth and Harlech surrendered. And then things got a lot sadder for Owen. His kidnapped victim turned best buddy, Edmund Mortimer, died in battle.

10:28And then his wife, Mare, and two of their daughters were imprisoned in the Tower of London, where they all eventually died a few years later. Poor Owain. Despite being homeless and hunted by the English, he continued to fight, this time for both Wales and for his wife. He was like a Welsh medieval John Wick. Those who cling to death live. Those who cling to Merlin are just really cool guys, not nerds at all, actually. In 1412, Oinglindur led one of the final successful raids on the English and captured a really important Welsh supporter of King Henry IV and then ransomed him, you know, for old times' sake.

11:14Oh, I love ransoming people. Well, a Diapier frontman was the last thing I ever did. And that was the last thing that Owain ever did. Well, that is the last trace of Owain that historians can find. He was never captured and never seen again, dead or alive. Oh, that really is big Merlin energy for me. King Henry IV died in 1413 and his famous son, King Henry V, offered royal pardons to the Welsh leaders. But even with the heat off, Owen Glyndur never resurfaced. He had vanished. Maybe he really was a wizard. Or really good at hide and seek. Either way, a new mythology was born. There are loads of folk tales about Owen and what happened to him after he disappeared from history.

12:07From the late 1800s, he became a mythical heroic figure in Wales, a saviour waiting to return to liberate his people. I think he'd be happy that today Wales is his own government, a thriving culture, and that from Hollywood to anime, the whole world shares his love of Merlin and Welsh wizards. Wow, it's just like Hal's moving castle. No word of a lie. I don't know what that is either. So how much do you remember from today's speedy history lesson? Let's find out. Pencils are the ready. Question one. What mythical wizard was Owen kind of obsessed with? Múlin. Question two. Name one of Owain's two claimed princely titles.

12:53Prince of Poes or Prince of Wales. And question three. What was the name of Owain's wife? Páred. Well done. Join us next time for another snappy history lesson. And if you're a grown-up and want to learn more about Owain Glyndur, listen to our episode of You're Dead to Me with Dr Catherine Herlock. Thanks for listening. Bye. This was a BBC Studios audio production for Radio 4. Dead Funny History was written by Gabby Hutchinson-Crouch, Athena Kublenu and Dr Emma Neguse. It was hosted by me, Greg Jenner, and performed by Malian Rees and John Luke Roberts. The script consultant was Dr Catherine Herlock.