Owain Gwynedd (1100-28 November 1170) was King of Gwynedd from 1137 to 1170, succeeding Gruffudd ap Cynan and preceding Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd. He was the first Welsh ruler to be styled "Prince of Wales".
Biography[]
Owain Gwynedd was born in Gwynedd, Wales in 1100, the son of Gruffudd ap Cynan and Angharad ferch Owain. By 1120, Owain and his brothers Cadwallon ap Gruffudd and Cadwaladr ap Gruffudd led Welsh forces against the Normans and other Welsh princes. In 1132, Cadwallon was killed in battle with Powys, leaving Owain as his father's heir. He scored a major victory over the Normans at Crug Mawr in 1136 and annexed Ceredigion to his father's realm.
A year later, Owain became King of Gwynedd on the death of Gruffudd, and, after Cadwaladr was implicated in the 1143 murder of Anarawd ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth, Owain sent his son Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd to strip him of his lands in the north of Ceredigion. In 1155, Cadwaladr was sent into exile, and Owain took advantage of "The Anarchy" in England to push Gwynedd's boundaries further east. In 1157, King Henry II of England invaded Wales, but the invasion met with mixed fortunes. Owain nearly slew Henry in a skirmish, and Owain allied with Rhys ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth to challenge English rule. The last years of his life were spent in disputes with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, over the appointment of a new Bishop of Bangor. He died in 1170 at the age of 70.