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GLE royal master, and followed his falling fortunes to the last. He was taken prisoner with Richard at Flint castle, and on the deposition of that monarch, retired to his patrimonial estate in Wales. He was not permitted, however, long to remain in retirement. His property was closely adjoining the possessions of Lord Grey de Ruthyn, a powerful and unscrupulous baron, who, taking advantage of the fall of Richard and the weakness of his neighbour, unjustly despoiled him of a part of his inheritance. Owen complained to the parliament of this outrage, but obtained no redress. Following up injury with insult, De Ruthyn kept back the writ summoning Glendwr to repair with the other barons to the standard of Henry IV. in his expedition against the Scots, and then accused the Welsh chief of disobedience to the royal mandate, and seized his lands under pretence of forfeiture. Owen, provoked beyond endurance by these outrages, took up arms to vindicate his rights, expelled the intruders from his estate, took some of them prisoners, and in retaliation seized upon the lands of his enemy Lord Grey, during the summer of 1400. When King Henry returned from his northern expedition, he proclaimed the Welsh chief an outlaw; and he, on the other hand, boldly laid claim to the throne of Wales, and declared himself the avenger of the wrongs of his countrymen. The Welshmen at this time suffered severely from the tyranny of their English masters, who treated them as rebels, and governed them by the strong hand. They were now ripe for a revolt, and burning with the remembrance of their wrongs, they flocked in great numbers to the standard of Glendwr. Their redoubted leader was not only one of the boldest and most enterprising warriors of his age, but he had pretensions to the possession of magical powers, which made him a greater object of fear than even his undoubted skill and valour. The Welsh people in general, and probably Glendwr himself, believed that—

The bards, whom Glendwr patronized and liberally rewarded, and who had great influence among the people, zealously espoused his cause, and with the help of certain old Welsh prophecies, induced the superstitious mountaineers to believe that Glendwr was gifted with supernatural skill, and was the dragon who, as Merlin predicted, was to destroy King Henry, the moldwarp accursed of God's own wrath. The insurrection soon became so formidable that the king was obliged to march against the insurgents in person. But Glendwr displayed great military skill and knowledge of the resources of the country, and cautiously avoiding an action, led the enemy long marches through the most difficult and desolate parts of the country, and ultimately compelled them to retreat, worn out by privations and the want of provisions. "Through art-magic," says Holinshed, "he caused such foul weather of winds, tempest, rain, snow, and hail to be raised for the annoyance of the king's army, that the like had not been heard of." A free pardon offered to the insurgents induced thirty-two of Glendwr's principal adherents to desert his cause; but the indomitable chief himself ravaged the estates of the Anglo-Norman barons, captured the castle of Radnor, and plundered and destroyed several towns. Roused by these successes, Henry undertook a second expedition in 1401 into Wales, but was again obliged to withdraw his troops exhausted by famine and disease. In the following year Glendwr, encouraged by the appearance of a comet, which was regarded by the bards as a favourable omen, once more took the field, drew his old enemy, Lord Grey, into an ambush, took him prisoner, and compelled him, as the price of his release, to pay 10,000 marks, and to marry Jane, his fourth daughter. Owen then turned his arms against the Welsh adherents of the English king, blockaded Carnarvon, and destroyed the cathedral of Bangor and the canon's houses, with the palace and cathedral of St. Asaph. Shortly after, in 1402, Glendwr defeated Sir Edmund Mortimer near Knighton in Radnorshire, with the loss of eleven hundred men, whose bodies were shockingly mutilated by the Welsh women. A third campaign, undertaken by Henry himself in person, proved a complete failure. An invasion of the Scots, under the command of the renowned Archibald Douglas, surnamed Tyneman, who probably acted in concert with the Welsh, contributed, with the adverse state of the weather, to compel the king once more to quit the principality without having accomplished his purpose.

The victory at Knighton led indirectly to the formidable rebellion of the Percies in 1403. Mortimer, who was taken prisoner in that battle, was uncle to the young earl of March, who was by birth the lawful heir to the crown; and Henry, from a not unnatural jealousy, refused his friends permission to ransom him. Mortimer on this became a partisan of Glendwr, and married his daughter. The famous Hotspur, the brother-in-law of Sir Edmund, was indignant at the injustice with which his kinsman was treated, and he, with his father the earl of Northumberland, and his uncle the earl of Worcester, formed a close league with Glendwr, and entered into a conspiracy to depose Henry. The confederates held a meeting in the house of the dean of Bangor, a staunch supporter of Glendwr, and agreed to divide the kingdom amongst themselves. At this juncture Glendwr, who had now reached the height of his power, was crowned and formally acknowledged as prince at Machynlleth by the assembled estates of Wales. The conspirators took the field in 1403, and arranged to unite their forces on the borders of North Wales. But the king, by forced marches, intercepted Hotspur at Shrewsbury before the main body of Glendwr's army could arrive. In the battle which ensued (21st July) Percy was killed, Douglas, his ally, taken prisoner, and the formidable conspiracy was broken up. After the battle of Shrewsbury, Prince Henry was sent against Glendwr, whom he defeated in one or two skirmishes. In 1404, however, the Welsh chief entered into a treaty with the French, and, encouraged by the promise of assistance, took the field with renewed vigour, ravaged the territories of the English barons, and captured several strong fortresses. He was less successful in the succeeding campaign, for in March, 1405, he was defeated by Prince Henry at Grosmont castle, about twelve miles from Monmouth, and left eight hundred of his followers dead on the field; and a second time during the same month at Mynyddy pwl Melyn in Brecknockshire, with the loss of fifteen hundred men killed and made prisoners. One of his sons also was captured, and his brother Tudor fell in the action. Glendwr was now reduced to such extremity, that he was obliged to lurk with a few faithful adherents in the most unfrequented parts of the country, and to hide for some time in a cave in Merionethshire, where he was secretly maintained by an old and trusty friend. He had in all probability some share in the unsuccessful conspiracy of the earl of Northumberland, which caused the complete, though temporary overthrow, of the great house of Percy. At this juncture, however, the French court undertook their long-projected expedition into Wales, and disembarked twelve thousand men at Milford Haven, under the command of Montmorency, marshal of Rieux, and the Sire de Hugueville, grand master of the crossbowmen. They burned Haverfordwest, took Caermarthen, and having been joined at Tenby by Glendwr with ten thousand men, they laid waste the whole country up to the gates of Worcester. Prince Henry had hitherto watched the invaders, unable to stop their progress; but at this place he was joined by his father at the head of a powerful army. The French and Welsh took up strong positions a few miles from Worcester, and Henry encamped on a hill opposite, with a deep valley between him and the enemy. For three successive days and nights the hostile armies, arrayed in order of battle, maintained their respective positions; but though there were repeated skirmishes, no general engagement took place, as neither were willing to quit their vantage-ground. At last the allies were compelled by the want of supplies to abandon their position, and to retire into Wales. Henry followed them in their retreat, but became entangled among the woods and marshes, and was driven back with considerable loss. Meanwhile a number of the French ships in Milford Haven were burned by the English, and some others conveying stores and ammunition were intercepted; and the invaders, heartily sick of the hardships and privations of Welsh warfare, returned to their own country in vessels which their ally had provided. The remainder of Glendwr's career is involved in considerable obscurity. His fortunes gradually declined; but he maintained to the last a struggle for independence with indomitable spirit and great ability. Prince Henry steadily gained ground, and drove him from one stronghold to another among the mountains. It is said that he was sometimes obliged to disguise himself in the habit of a shepherd. A party of his adherents, while engaged in ravaging Shropshire, were defeated, and their leaders,