Owin of Gliwissig (857-885) was King of Gliwissig during the late 9th century, preceding Maic. In 881, he initiated the Welsh Rebellion against King Alfred the Great of Wessex when he declared independence from the Anglo-Saxons, and he later convinced King Bledri of Gwent to defect to the rebel cause. In 885, he led an army from Lann Ildut to Dinas Powis and attempted to retake the city from Aethelhelm's West Saxon army, only to be slain in the ensuing Battle of Dinas Powis.
Biography[]
Owin was born in Cardiff, Gliwissig in 857 to the royal house of Gliwissig, and he ascended to the throne prior to 878. Owin was a vassal of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, which demanded tribute money and military aid from its Welsh subjects amid the Viking invasions of England. In 881, Owin decided to take advantage of King Alfred the Great's preoccupation with his wars against the Danes of Ledeborg in the north and the Norwegian Vikings of Nordmann in the south to declare independence from Wessex, initiating the Welsh Rebellion. King Owin's forces battled against Wessex's ally of Gwent before convincing King Bledri of Gwent to defect to the Welsh cause and join the rebellion. In 884 AD, King Alfred's nephew Aethelhelm subdued Gwent following the Siege of Cair Gwent, and, in 885, Aethelhelm invaded Gliwissig as well. He took Dinas Powis from Owin's uncle Arthwail's small force, and he then made preparations to march on Lann Ildut. However, King Owin left Lann Ildut with a sizeable army and advanced on Dinas Powis, where he met the Saxon army in battle. At the start of the battle, Owin and his bodyguards charged ahead of the rest of his army and were surrounded by Saxon cavalrymen, and Owin was killed in the ensuing cavalry clash, causing his army to disintegrate and rout.
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