Background
Owain was the son of Gruffydd ap Maredudd (and thus grandson of Maredudd ap Bleddyn) and nephew of Madog ap Maredudd, the last prince of the whole of Powys.
Owain was the son of Gruffydd ap Maredudd (and thus grandson of Maredudd ap Bleddyn) and nephew of Madog ap Maredudd, the last prince of the whole of Powys.
He is usually known as Owain Cyfeiliog to distinguish him from other rulers named Owain, particularly his contemporary, Owain ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd, who is known as Owain Gwynedd. He is recorded as having been in alliance with the other Welsh princes to withstand the invasion of 1165 by King Henry II of England. Thereafter he usually followed a policy of supporting the English crown.
In 1170 he gave land for the founding of the abbey of Strata Marcella.
In 1188, however, he refused to meet or support Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury and Giraldus Cambrensis when they journeyed around Wales to raise men for a crusade, and was excommunicated as a result. Owain has also long been considered a notable poet.
Although only one poem ascribed to him has been preserved, this one, Hirlas Owain, is commonly rated as one of the finest Welsh poems of this period. There is a more sombre note when he remembers two of his men who fell in the fighting and grieves for their loss.
The poem"s most recent editor, Gruffydd Aled Williams, has suggested that the poem was actually written by Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr, the preeminent Welsh court poet of the century, perhaps in collaboration with Owain.
Owain also appears in the romance of Fulke FitzWarin as a knight who strikes Fulk with a spear.