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Birth:          1087 of Caernarvonshire, Wales
Death:          23 Nov 1170 Caernarvonshire, Wales
Burial:         Bangor Cathedral, Is Gwyrfai, Caernarvonshire, Wales

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owain_Gwynedd
Owain ap Gruffudd (c.?1100 – 23 or 28 November 1170) was King of Gwynedd, North 
Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. 
He was called "Owain the Great" (Welsh: Owain Mawr) [1] and the first to be styled 
"Prince of Wales".[2] He is considered to be the most successful of all the North 
Welsh princes prior to his grandson, Llywelyn the Great. He became known as Owain 
Gwynedd (Middle Welsh: Owain Gwyned, "Owain of Gwynedd") to distinguish him from 
the contemporary king of Powys Wenwynwyn, Owain ap Gruffydd ap Maredudd, who 
became known as Owain Cyfeiliog.[3]
Early life[edit]

Owain Gwynedd was a member of the House of Aberffraw, the senior branch of the 
dynasty of Rhodri the Great. His father, Gruffudd ap Cynan, was a strong and long-
lived ruler who had made the principality of Gwynedd the most influential in Wales 
during the sixty-two years of his reign, using the island of Anglesey as his power base. 
His mother, Angharad ferch Owain, was the daughter of Owain ab Edwin of Tegeingl. 
Owain Gwynedd was the second son of Gruffydd and Angharad. His elder brother, 
Cadwallon, was killed in fighting in Powys in 1132.

Owain is thought to have been born on Anglesey about the year 1100. By about 1120 
Gruffydd had grown too old to lead his forces in battle and Owain and his brothers 
Cadwallon and later Cadwaladr led the forces of Gwynedd against the Normans and 
against other Welsh princes with great success. His elder brother Cadwallon was 
killed in a battle against the forces of Powys in 1132, leaving Owain as his father's 
heir. Owain and Cadwaladr, in alliance with Gruffydd ap Rhys of Deheubarth, won a 
major victory over the Normans at Crug Mawr near Cardigan in 1136 and annexed 
Ceredigion to their father's realm.

Accession to the throne and early campaigns[edit]

On Gruffydd's death in 1137, therefore, Owain inherited a portion of a well-established 
kingdom, but had to share it with Cadwaladr. In 1143 Cadwaladr was implicated in the 
murder of Anarawd ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth, and Owain responded by sending his 
son Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd to strip him of his lands in the north of Ceredigion. 
Though Owain was later reconciled with Cadwaladr, from 1143, Owain ruled alone 
over most of north Wales. In 1155 Cadwaladr was driven into exile.

Owain took advantage of the Anarchy, a civil war between Stephen, King of England, 
and the Empress Matilda, to push Gwynedd's boundaries further east than ever 
before.[4] In 1146 he captured Mold Castle and about 1150 captured Rhuddlan and 
encroached on the borders of Powys. The prince of Powys, Madog ap Maredudd, with 
assistance from Earl Ranulf of Chester, gave battle at Coleshill, but Owain was 
victorious.
Heirs and successors[edit]

Owain had originally designated Rhun ab Owain Gwynedd as his successor. Rhun was 
Owain's favourite son, and his premature death in 1146 plunged his father into a deep 
melancholy, from which he was only roused by the news that his forces had captured 
Mold castle. Owain then designated Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd as his successor, but 
after his death Hywel was first driven to seek refuge in Ireland by Cristina's sons, 
Dafydd and Rhodri, then killed at the battle of Pentraeth when he returned with an 
Irish army. Dafydd and Rhodri split Gwynedd between them, but a generation passed 
before Gwynedd was restored to its former glory under Owain's grandson Llywelyn the 
Great.

According to legend, one of Owain's sons was Prince Madoc, who is popularly 
supposed to have fled across the Atlantic and colonised America.

Altogether, the prolific Owain Gwynedd is said to have had the following children from 
two wives and at least four mistresses:
Rhun ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate in Catholic custom, but legitimate successor in 
Welsh law)
Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate in Catholic custom, but legitimate successor in 
Welsh law)
Iorwerth ab Owain Gwynedd (the "flat nose", also called Edward in some sources, 
from first wife Gwladys (Gladys) ferch Llywarch)
Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd,(from first wife Gwladys (Gladys) ferch Llywarch) Lord of 
Môn (1169–1173)
Gwenllian ferch Owain Gwynedd
Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd (from second wife Cristina (Christina) ferch Gronw)
Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd, Lord of Môn (1175–1193) (from second wife Cristina 
(Christina) ferch Gronw)
Angharad ferch Owain Gwynedd
Margaret ferch Owain Gwynedd
Iefan ab Owain Gwynedd
Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd, Lord of Meirionnydd (illegitimate)
Rhirid ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate) (speculative/legendary)
Cynwrig ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Gwenllian II ferch Owain Gwynedd (also shared the same name with a sister)
Einion ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Iago ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Ffilip ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Cadell ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Rotpert ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Idwal ab Owain Gwynedd (illegitimate)
Other daughters

Parents
AP CYNAN Gruffydd (1055 - 1137)
VERCH OWAIN Angharad (ABT 1065 - 1162)

Siblings
AP GRUFFYDD Owain "Gwynedd" (1087 - 23 Nov 1170)
VERCH GRUFFYDD Susanna (1095 - )
VERCH GRUFFYDD Gwenllian II (ABT 1100 - 1136)

Marriage To VERCH LLYWARCH Gwladus (1108 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
AP TRAHAEARN Llywarch (ABT 1070 - 1128)
VERCH IOWERTH Dyddgu (ABT 1060 - )

Children by VERCH LLYWARCH Gwladus 1108 - 
AP OWAIN Iowerth "Drwyndwn" (1145 - 1174)

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