Catrin ferch Owain Glyndŵr

Daughter of Owain Glyndŵr

Catrin ferch Owain Glyndŵr
Died1413
SpouseEdmund Mortimer
IssueLionel
3 daughters
HouseMathrafal
FatherOwain Glyndŵr
MotherMargaret Hanmer
The memorial to Catrin in St Swithin's Church Garden, London.

Catrin ferch Owain Glyndŵr (died 1413) was one of the daughters (probably the eldest) of Margaret Hanmer and Owain Glyndŵr, and her marriage to a claimant on the English throne was used by her father to gain support.[a]

Biography

Catrin is one of the children of Owain Glyndŵr about whom most is known. In November 1402, she married Edmund Mortimer,[1] an unransomed hostage who entered into an alliance with her father.

Edmund Mortimer died during the siege of Harlech Castle in 1409, of unknown causes.[2] Catrin was subsequently captured alongside her three daughters. They, as well as her mother and one of her sisters, were taken to the Tower of London. The deaths of Catrin and her daughters are recorded, and their burial at St Swithin's Church in London, but the cause of their deaths is not known.[3]

Legacy

A memorial to Catrin stands in St Swithin's Church Garden, where the church formerly stood; the statue was designed by Nic Stradlyn-John and sculpted by Richard Renshaw, and was unveiled in 2001 by Siân Phillips.

Her mother's fate is not known; it is known only that Margaret Hanmer outlived Catrin. In 2003 an exhibition was held at the National Library of Wales to celebrate Catrin's legacy, and a short poem was composed in her memory by Menna Elfyn. A play, Catrin Glyndwr by Heledd Bianchi, was premièred in 2004.

Family connections

  • v
  • t
  • e
Owain Glyndŵr, the Hanmers and the Mortimers
Phylip Hanmer
Sir David Hanmer
Cefnogi OGD
d. 1387		Angharad[i]
daughter of Llywelyn Ddu
Owain Glyndŵr
Prince of Wales		Margaret Hanmer
Princess of Wales
1370 – 1420)		John Hanmer
Supported Glyndŵr		Phylip Hanmer
Supported Glyndŵr		Gruffudd Hanmer
Supported Glyndŵr
Gruffudd ab
Owain Glyndŵr
d. 1411		Maredudd ab
Owain Glyndŵr
Still alive in 1417		Catrin ferch
Owain Glyndŵr
d. 1413		Edmund Mortimer
Supported Glyndŵr
d. 1409		Roger Mortimer
4th Earl of March
d. 1398
Notes
  1. ^ [citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Glyndŵr, a prince of the old Welsh royal house of Powys Fadog of the Mathrafal line, led a major revolt in Wales between 1400 and c.1416, taking the title of "Prince of Wales".
  1. ^ Gwynfor Evans (1974). Land of my fathers: 2000 years of Welsh history. John Penry Press.
  2. ^ The Last Mab Darogan, Charles Parry (Novasys, 2010) pp. 273–4.
  3. ^ Issues of the Exchequer, Hen. III – Hen. VI, ed. F Devon (Record Commission, 1837), p. 327

Further reading

  • R. R. Davies – The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr (OUP, 1995)
  • Deborah Fisher – Princesses of Wales (Univ of Wales Press, 2005)
  • Sir J. E. Lloyd – Owen Glendower (1931)
  • Charles Parry – The Last Mab Darogan (Novasys, 2010)