Owain ab Edwin of Tegeingl or Owain the Traitor ( cy, Owain Fradwr), (died 1105) was lord of the cantref of

Tegeingl Tegeingl, in English Englefield, was a cantref in north-east Wales during the mediaeval period. It was incorporated into Flintshire following Edward I of England's conquest of northern Wales in the 13th century. Etymology The region's name was ...

in north-east

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

at the end of the 11th century. He was the son of Edwin ap Gronw of Tegeingl, a great-great-grandson of

Hywel Dda Hywel Dda, sometimes anglicised as Howel the Good, or Hywel ap Cadell (died 949/950) was a king of Deheubarth who eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllwg in 920 and shortly thereafter established Deheubart ...

. He sided with the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

in their failed invasion of North Wales, and in the 1090s attempted to become ruler of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and ...

. His arms were ''gules three men's legs conjoined at the thighs in triangle argent''.

Ancestry

Little is known of Owain's father, Edwin of Tegeingl.Wilcott, Darrell "The Ancestry of Edwin of Tegeingl"
/ref> However, most medieval pedigrees identify Owain's paternal grandfather as Gronwy, a descendant of

. Owain may have been a great-great-great-grandson of Hywel Dda although this is disputed. His paternal grandmother is believed to have been Ethelfleda or Aldgyth, daughter of Eadwine of Mercia. His mother was Iwerydd, sister of

Bleddyn ap Cynfyn Bleddyn ap Cynfyn ( owl, Bledẏnt uab Kẏn ỽẏn; AD 1075), sometimes spelled Blethyn, was an 11th-century Welsh king. Harold Godwinson and Tostig Godwinson installed him and his brother, Rhiwallon, as the co-rulers of Gwynedd ...

, Prince of

and

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

(1063–1075). Perfeddulad

Biography

Lordship of Tegeingl

Owain was Lord or Prince of the cantref of Tegeingl. The cantref formed the eastern part of

Perfeddwlad Perfeddwlad or Y Berfeddwlad was an historic name for the territories in Wales lying between the River Conwy and the River Dee. comprising the cantrefi of Rhos, Rhufoniog, Dyffryn Clwyd and Tegeingl. Perfeddwlad thus was also known as the Fou ...

(or ''Y Berfeddwlad'') on the northern coast of Wales between the

River Clwyd The River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd'') is a river in Wales that rises in the Clocaenog Forest () northwest of Corwen. Its total length is . It flows due south until, at Melin-y-wig, it veers north-eastwards, tracking the A494 and passin ...

and

Deeside Deeside ( cy, Glannau Dyfrdwy) is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee that flows from neigh ...

. The territory, originally forming part of the

Kingdom of Gwynedd The Kingdom of Gwynedd (Medieval Latin: ; Middle Welsh: ) was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. Based in northwest Wales, the ...

, had been under the control of the

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

for several centuries and then changed hands several times between the two. Owain's father, Edwin, appears to have been raised to the lordship of Tegeingl by

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Gruffydd ap Llywelyn ( 5 August 1063) was King of Wales from 1055 to 1063. He had previously been King of Gwynedd and Powys in 1039. He was the son of King Llywelyn ap Seisyll and Angharad daughter of Maredudd ab Owain, and the great-g ...

, ruler of most of Wales between 1055 and 1063. Edwin died in 1073 and Owain succeeded him as lord.

Challenge to the kingship

It appears that Owain made a challenge for the kingship of Gwynedd and may have succeeded in holding it for a time in the 1090s. Links to previous rulers through the female line were very important in establishing a claim, and Owain's relationship with

through his mother would have been relevant.

Role in the Norman Invasion

In the 1080s and the 1090s, the

led by

Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. Early life and career Hugh d'Avr ...

made several attempts to invade and gain control of North Wales. Owain ap Edwin transferred his allegiance to the Normans following the defeat of his ally

Trahaearn ap Caradog Trahaearn ap Caradog (1044 – 1081) was a King of Gwynedd. Trahaearn was a son of Caradog ap Gwyn, ruler of Arwystli (in the south of present-day Montgomeryshire, Wales), a small state, on the south-western border between Gwynedd and Powys. H ...

, prince of Gwynedd (1075–1081), at the

Battle of Mynydd Carn The Battle of Mynydd Carn took place in 1081, as part of a dynastic struggle for control of the Welsh kingdoms of Gwynedd and Deheubarth. The result of the battle had a radical effect on the history of Wales. The battle is recorded in the near ...

in 1081, a move which earned him the epithet ''Fradwr'',

traitor Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, among the Welsh. In 1098, Owain participated in a massive invasion of North Wales by Hugh d’Avranches, with Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, forcing Gruffydd ap Cynan, prince of Gwynedd (1081–1137), to retreat to

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

. As a result of the intervention of a Norwegian army under Magnus Barelegs, the Normans suffered a defeat and withdrew most of their forces to England. Following the Norman withdrawal, Owain was left in command of a token force to control upper Gwynedd. Over the next three years, Gruffydd ap Cynan reasserted his control over Gwynedd and agreed terms with the Normans. In the meantime, Owain deserted the Normans and led a rebellion himself. He died shortly afterwards in 1105, apparently of consumption.Yorke, Philip & al.
The royal tribes of Wales
'. Accessed 4 Feb 2013.

Descendants

Owain Fradwr married Morfudd, daughter of Goronwy, son of Ednowain Bendew. Owain's daughter, Angharad, married

Gruffudd ap Cynan Gruffudd ap Cynan ( 1137), sometimes written as Gruffydd ap Cynan, was King of Gwynedd from 1081 until his death in 1137. In the course of a long and eventful life, he became a key figure in Welsh resistance to Norman rule, and was remembe ...

, Prince of Gwynedd, by whom she had three sons: Cadwallon,

Owain Gwynedd Owain ap Gruffudd ( 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 ( cy, Owain Fawr) and the first to ...

(the first Welsh prince to take the title ''Princeps Wallensium'',Davies, John ''A History of Wales,'' the title ''Princeps Wallensium'' Prince of the Welsh) and

Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd (c. 1100 – 1172) was the third son of Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd, and brother of Owain Gwynedd. Appearance in history Cadwaladr first appears in the historical record in 1136, when following the killing of the lo ...

. His sons were Goronwy, Meilir, Llywelyn, Aldud, and Rhirid. Goronwy was the father of the Cristin who was the second wife of

. However, in 1125 a son of Gruffudd ap Cynan killed all Owain's male heirs bringing the direct line of the family to an end.

References

{{reflist, 2 Medieval Wales 12th-century Welsh people 1105 deaths 11th-century Welsh people Year of birth unknown 12th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Wales