Owen de la Pole (c. 1257 – c. 1293), also known as Owain ap Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, was the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to the Welsh principality of

Powys Wenwynwyn Powys Wenwynwyn or Powys Cyfeiliog was a Welsh kingdom which existed during the high Middle Ages. The realm was the southern portion of the former princely state of Powys which split following the death of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys in 1160: the n ...

until 1283 when it was abolished by the Parliament of Shrewsbury. He became the 1st Lord of Powis after the death of his father

Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn (died c. 1286) was a Welsh king who was lord of the part of Powys known as Powys Wenwynwyn and sided with Edward I in his conquest of Wales of 1277 to 1283. Gruffydd was the son of Gwenwynwyn and Margaret Corbet. He was s ...

c. 1287. He is not related to the English de la Pole family descended from William de la Pole, Chief Baron of the Exchequer in the following century, later Earls and

Dukes of Suffolk Duke of Suffolk is a title that has been created three times in the peerage of England. The dukedom was first created for William de la Pole, who had already been elevated to the ranks of earl and marquess, and was a powerful figure under Henry ...

. Owen was born in England sometime after his father was driven into exile there in 1257 by

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...

the ruler of

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, th ...

. It was during this exile that his father probably adopted the surname ''de la Pole'' meaning "of the Pool" and referring to the old name for

Welshpool Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

which had become his family's capital. In 1263 following the

Treaty of Montgomery The Treaty of Montgomery was an Anglo- Welsh treaty signed on 29 September 1267 in Montgomeryshire by which Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was acknowledged as Prince of Wales by King Henry III of England (r. 1216–1272). It was the only time an English r ...

his father was restored to some of his lands in return for agreeing to pay homage to Llywelyn as

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. However, good relations between Powys Wenwynwyn and Gwynedd were short-lived as Owen and his father were soon implicated in an assassination attempt on the Prince of Wales in 1274. This led to Owen and his father fleeing to

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Shr ...

where they both led border raids against the Principality of Wales on behalf of the English crown. Following Llywelyn's defeat at the hands of

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...

in 1277 Owen returned to Wales alongside his father whose lands had been restored. They soon became embroiled in a border dispute with Llywelyn which was one of the catalysts for a renewed campaign by the princes of Gwynedd against English domination. In 1284, following the

Conquest of Wales by Edward I The conquest of Wales by Edward I took place between 1277 and 1283. It is sometimes referred to as the Edwardian Conquest of Wales,Examples of historians using the term include Professor J. E. Lloyd, regarded as the founder of the modern academ ...

, the ''de la Pole'' family surrendered their princely pretensions, but received back their principality in "free barony" as the

marcher lord A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fran ...

ship of Powys. Owen's father Gruffydd died around 1286. In 1290, Owen endowed his four younger brothers with portions of the lordship, which were to be held for him as his feudal tenants. Two brothers (who were priests) received their portions for life, the shares of the other two were to revert to Owen on failure of issue. Only

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

left children and they enjoyed the Lordship of Mawddwy and the majority of

Mallwyd Mallwyd () is a small village at the most southern end of Gwynedd, Wales in the Dinas Mawddwy community, in the valley of the River Dyfi. It lies on the A470 approximately halfway between Dolgellau and Machynlleth, and forms the junction of th ...

for several generations, before it was divided between coheirs in the early 16th century. One of the coheiresses was Elisabeth de Burgh, who married Sir John Lingen (d. 1505), and left descendants from this princely house. Owen married Joan Corbet, the daughter of Robert Corbet and Catherine Le Strange; together they had a daughter and probably five sons: * Griffith de la Pole, 2nd Lord of Powis, died childless in 1309. * Hawise de la Pole, "The Lady of Powys" (

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 ...

, 25 July 1290 –

Grey Friars , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

, 1349);bradley_-_aqwg1219
Ancestry.com. Accessed 31 January 2015. inherited the lordship in 1309. She married John Charleton, 1st Baron Cherleton, (1268–1353), and their descendants held the lordship until the late 16th century. He lived the latter part of his life in Powys Castle in

and died c. 1293. After his death the lordship of Powis passed to his son Griffith, who died in childless in 1309, and then to his daughter Hawise and her descendants from her marriage to John Charleton, 1st Baron Cherleton.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:de la Pole, Owen 1250s births 1290s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Marcher lords House of Mathrafal 13th-century Welsh nobility Burials in Shropshire