DR. CEINWEN THOMAS, taken from:

From the fall of Llywelyn to the Tudor Period

After the peace of 1360, which brought a temporary lull in the war between France and England, Free companies began to be formed on the continent, composed of hardy veterans of war, who obeyed none but their chosen leader and sold their services to the highest bidder. Many of these companies were composed entirely of Welshmen to whom this free life of fighting and plunder was preferable to life in Wales with all its disabilities and restrictions, where they were liable to serve in the English army at a low rate of pay. It is as a leader of a company of Welshmen fighting on the French side, that we find the most outstanding Welshman of the period, Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri, whom the Welsh called Owain Lawgoch. Owain's grandfather Rhodri, was a brother of Llywelyn the Last, and had been taken to England as a hostage when a child, and had lived and died there. In 1277, Edward l had given him an English estate, and he and his son Thomas were to all intents and purposes English gentlemen. Thomas had a small estate in Montgomeryshire, however, and did once make an attemptto claim some of the patrimony of his family in North Wales. As the sole remaining male descendant of the Royal House of Gwynedd. Owain seems to have been brought up in France and only once appeared in Wales, - in 1363, when he returned after his father's death to claim his father's estates. But that once was enough. The bards had found a living member of the family of Llywelyn the last, one who was, moreover, a dashing soldier, with as little love for the English as the bards themselves. It is unlikely that the bards missed the opportunity of making the acquaintance of this scion of the family of Llywelyn (of whose existence few seem to have known during his father's life), and their contact undoubtedly influenced both Owain and the bards deeply. Owain left behind him a community of skilful propagandists working on his behalf, while the bards ennobled the prince's ambitions with a vision of himself as the longed-for delivrer of a subject nation.

   In 1369, on the renewal of the war, Owain threw in his lot with France. His appearance altered the whole aspect of the war for Wales, and for her, the war in France now assumed the proportions of a national movement to regain her freedom under the guidance of a prince of the ancient line of Gwynedd. From now on, Welsh soldiers in France definitely took the French side; Owain's appeal overcame all other considerations with them, and even Ieuan Wyn, who had won fame on the English side, threw in his lot with his fellow-countrymen. In Wales the work of preparing the Welsh people was already underway, and in 1370 we find a certain Gruffydd Says  compelled to forfeit all his land in Anglesey for being a supporter of Owain Lawgoch. By 1372, we find that Owain has obtained command of a French naval force, not for the invasion of England, but for the recovery of Wales, which as he states in a proclamation that year, he claimed "by right of succession, by kindred, by heritage and by right of descent from my ancestors, the kings of that country."He describes how he had gone begging assistance from court to court and had been given the means of equipping a fleet by the French king for the purposes of recovering his kingdom and of avenging himself upon the king of England for the wrong done to him and his ancestors.

   Six weeks after this proclamation, the way was opened for Owain's expedition by the destruction of the English fleet off La Rochelle. The popular attitude in Wales towards Owain is reflected in a poem, by Gruffydd ap Maredudd, possibly written in 1372 when Owain was about to invade Wales. The poet is full of eager anticipation of his coming and is confident that Owain, "King of Wales," will gain the support of all Wales and inflict a crushing defeat on the English. Another poet proclaims that the time for the fulfilment of the prophecies has come and for Wales to regain her freedom. "This is the year, " he asserts gleefully, "when the White Dragon shall take flight with the red dragon in pursuit." These poems show that the long years of hopeless defeat  and of sullen submission were at an end, and that Wales was waking to the realisation that she might yet throw off the yoke of England. A leader had presented himself, one whopossessed all the qualities likely to appeal to the imagination of bard and people alike : he was of the Royal House of Gwynedd, determined to recover the kingdom of Wales wrested from his ancestors, and was, moreover, famous for his military powers, and feared by the English.

   There seemed every likelihood, when Owain set out from Harfleur, that he would succeed in his enterprise, but he got no further than Guernsey, which he overran with comparative ease . At this point , however, the French king saw an opportunity of conquering La Rochelle and Poitou and sent a message to Owain requiring his return.