Prologue
The Golden Dragon of Wales:
A Glyndwr Rebellion TL
Yr Ddraig Aur Cymru
A Glyndwr Rebellion TL
Yr Ddraig Aur Cymru
Prologue:
The story of Glyndŵr’s War, also known as the War of Welsh Independence and the Tripartite War, began not in 1400, when the first stirrings of Welsh rebellion were unleashed by Glyndŵr across north Wales, but many years earlier in 1384 when a young Owain Glyndŵr travelled north to guard the Scottish border at Berwick-on-Tweed with his elder brother Tudur. This was start of his career in the English army and the following year he took, or rather attempted to take, a step up the ladder to knighthood by joining the army of Richard II in its campaign northwards against the Scots. It was abundantly clear that Glyndŵr had acquired a taste for the adventure of a military career and the opportunity for acquiring both fame and a fortune that it afforded. Thus, it can come as no surprise that in 1387 Glyndŵr joined the retinue of the Earl of Arundel and helped to defeat a French fleet at the Battle of Margate, thus ending the threat of a French invasion from a time at least. The future looked bright for Glyndŵr to establish himself as first a knight of the land and then a prominent military commander in England’s armies. After all, he had the friendship of England’s most powerful Earl and had played a part in the Earl’s hugely popular victory over France. But this all went out the window when he suddenly, and very surprisingly, withdrew from the Earl of Arundel’s retinue that had been preparing for an invasion of France. The reason for this sharp change in attitude has been lost to time, but Glyndŵr’s withdrawal from Arundel’s retinue marked the end of the Welshman’s once promising military career and made it impossible for Glyndŵr to ever achieve the rank of knight.
The castle at Berwick-on-Tweed
From that point onwards, Glyndŵr returned to his estates in his homeland and did not stray from them until he was proclaimed Prince of Wales on 16th September 1400. Nonetheless, Glyndŵr’s short-lived adventures in the English army had provided him with was a firm grounding in military matters and experience of warfare that would stand him in good stead during the war that bears his name. He had served under the Welsh hero and battle-hardened warrior, Sir Gregory Sais, whilst garrisoning the Scottish border and under the prominent Earl of Arundel during, perhaps, his finest moment and had thus learnt from the best before returning home.
The estates that Glyndŵr returned to in 1387, and from which his war against the English crown in 1400, were three in number and were moderately prosperous, at least by Welsh standards. First came Sycharth, his family home and the seat of his lands, second was a collection of lands in the Dee valley around Corwen and Glyndyfrdwy which held the Cistercian abbey of Valle Crucis which had been established by Glyndŵr’s ancestors and would go on to be the final resting place for Glyndŵr and many of his descendants, finally came lands in region of Iscoed and Gwynionydd which were some distance from his home at Sycharth. At this point it is important to note that Glyndŵr was the descendent of the Princely Houses of both Powys and Deheubarth and, perhaps fortunately, his estates were places steeped in the past glories of these most illustrious of Welsh houses. Whilst residing at Sycarth, Glyndŵr mixed with both born and bred Welshmen, the so-called ‘barwniaid’ or barons of Wales, and also minor English lords from the Marches, it was many of these nobles that formed the core of Glyndŵr’s friends and allies after his crowning as Prince of Wales, but at the tome were little more than drinking and hunting companions.
Sycharth, Glyndŵr's family home
Glyndŵr was by no means the wealthiest of lords nor the most prestigious but nonetheless he, at the aged of around 45 in 1400, had enjoyed a successful career, though perhaps not as successful as he had once hoped, in the English army and had a relatively comfortable life in his estates. Despite this, it is hard to imagine that Glyndŵr would not have had thoughts of bitterness and resentment at having been passed over for knighthood, unlike many of his companions after his part in the victory against the French in 1387, and also for a Stewardship in the March of Wales by his one time friend Earl of Arundel. To make matters worse, Glyndŵr also had a long running land dispute with his English neighbour, the Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn. Whilst it is certain that these feelings of resentment played a part in his motivation to rebel, it must also be remembered that Glyndŵr, as a Welshman through and through, had been exposed to the legends of the Welsh people, the tales of Welsh heroes like Llywellyn the Great, and most importantly to the dreams of an independent Wales. Nobody expected anyone to even attempt to achieve this impossible dream, but Glyndŵr was foolish enough to try.
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Welcome to my latest TL on the rise of the Principality of Wales and the Welsh national hero, Owain Glyndwr. This is the first TL I've written in some time so excuse any rustiness in the writing and do please comment, but most importantly, I hope you enjoy it!
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