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Owen Glendower
Owain ap Gruffydd (c. 1354 – c. 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (pronounced [ˈoʊain ɡlɨ̞nˈduːr], anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in Wales during the Late Middle Ages. Owain was an educated lawyer, forming the first Welsh Parliament (Welsh: Senedd Cymru) under his rule, and was the last native-born Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales.In 1400, Owain Glyndŵr, a descendent of several Welsh royal dynasties, had a dispute with a neighbouring English lord that resulted in Glyndŵr claiming his ancestral title of Prince of Wales. In 1404, after a series of successful castle sieges and several battlefield victories against the English, Owain gained control of the country and was officially crowned Prince of Wales in the presence of French, Spanish, Scottish and Breton envoys. He summoned a national parliament, where he announced plans to reintroduce the traditional Welsh laws of Hywel Dda, establish an independent Welsh church, and build two universities. Owain also formed an alliance with King Charles VI of France: in 1405 a French army landed in Wales to support the rebellion.
Under Owain Glyndŵr's leadership, an internationally recognised independent Welsh state was briefly established in 1404. The independent state ended 5 years later in February of 1409, when English forces captured Owain's last remaining strongholds of Aberystwyth Castle and Harlech Castle, effectively ending Owain's territorial rule in Wales. Glyndŵr refused to surrender to the new King Henry V, ignoring two offers for a pardon from the monarch. He retreated to the Welsh hills and mountains with his remaining forces, where he continued to resist English rule by utilising guerrilla tactics. This continued for several years until Owain disappeared in 1415, when one of his supporters, Adam of Usk, recorded that he died of natural causes.The English named Glyndŵr a rebel, yet the Welsh created him a folk hero. As well as becoming a national hero, Glyndŵr has since been anointed as a legend in Welsh folklore. Despite the large bounty placed on him by the English crown, Glyndŵr was never betrayed or captured, and he acquired a mythical status along the likes of Cadwaladr, Cynon ap Clydno and King Arthur as a folk hero awaiting the call to return and liberate his people, "Y Mab Darogan" (The Foretold Son). Additionally, Glyndŵr became a famous character in a play created by William Shakespeare, spelt in the work as "Owen Glendower"; Glyndŵr appears as a king in Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part 1.
Source: Wikipedia