Owen Tudor
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Owain ap Mredydd (or Owen ap Meredith ap Tewdwr or Owen Tudur or Owen Tudor) (c. 1385 – February 2, 1461) was a Welsh soldier and courtier, descended from the Welsh prince Rhys ap Gruffudd, "The Lord Rhys". However, Owen Tudor is particularly remembered for his role in founding England's Tudor dynasty including his relationship with and probable secret marriage to Catherine of Valois, widow of King Henry V of England[1]. At some point Owain anglicised his name to Owen Tudor from the Welsh Owain ap Maredudd, taking his grandfather's name for a surname, rather than the more common practice of taking his father's. Owen Tudor was the paternal grandfather of King Henry VII of England. The current British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is his direct descendant.
[edit] Ancestry
Owen was a descendant of Rhys ap Gruffudd (1132 - 1197) via the lineages described below.
Rhys had a daughter Gwenllian ferch Rhys who was married to Ednyfed Fychan, Seneschal of the Kingdom of Gwynedd (d. 1246). (According to a number of resources on the Internet, including ancestry.com (OneWorldTree), Owen's parentage was father: Maredudd Ap Tudor (aka Meredith Tudor) and mother: Margaret Vychan; the ancestry does not appear to be questionable.)
Ednyfed Fychan and Gwenllian ferch Rhys were parents to Goronwy, Lord of Tref-gastell (d. 1268). Goronwy was later married to Morfydd ferch Meurig, daughter to Meurig of Gwent. (Meurig was son of Ithel, grandson of Rhydd and great-grandson to Iestyn ap Gwrgan(t). Iestyn had been the last King of Gwent (reigned 1081 - 1091) before its conquest by the Normans.)
Goronwy and Morfydd were parents to Tudur Hen, Lord of Penmynydd (d. 1311). He was married to Angharad ferch Ithel Fychan, daughter of Ithel Fychan ap Ithel Gan, Lord of Englefield. They were parents to Goronwy ap Tudur, Lord of Penmynydd (d. 1331).
Goronwy ap Tudur was himself later married to Gwerfyl ferch Madog, daughter of Madog ap Dafydd, Baron of Hendwr. They were parents to Tudur Fychan, Lord of Pemmynydd (d. 1367).
Tudur Fychan was married to Margaret ferch Thomas. (Margaret was daughter to Thomas ap Llewelyn, Lord of Iscoed, South Wales and his wife Eleanor ferch Philip. Her paternal grandfather was Llewelyn ab Owain, Lord of Gwynnionith. The maternal grandfather was Philip ab Ifor, Lord of Is Coed.)
Tudur and Margaret were parents to Maredudd ap Tudur (d. 1406). He was married to Margaret ferch Dafydd. Margaret was daughter to Dafydd Fychan, Lord of Anglesey and his wife Nest ferch Ieuan.
Maredudd and Margaret were the parents of Owen Tudor.
[edit] Catherine of Valois and children
Owen entered the service of Queen Catherine of Valois as keeper of the Queen's household (or her wardrobe) some time after the death of her husband Henry V of England on 22 August 1422. The Queen at first lived in the household of her infant son, King Henry VI, before moving to Wallingford Castle early in his reign, taking Tudor with her. No documentation survives of her marriage to Owen Tudor, which is believed to have taken place in around 1428. As Parliament had passed a resolution in 1428 forbidding queens dowager to remarry without the king's permission, their marriage may not have been legally valid.
Owen and Catherine had at least six children:
- Owen (or Thomas) Tudor (1429 - 1501). He was a monk at Westminster.
- Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond (1430 - November 1, 1456). He married Lady Margaret Beaufort, then fathered Henry Tudor, the future king; and died shortly before his son's birth.
- Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford (1431 - December 21/26, 1495). He married Catherine Woodville, daughter to Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. Jasper had no legitimate children. He did have two illegimate children. One was Joan Tudor, an ancestor of Oliver Cromwell.
- Jacina (or Mary)Tudor (1433 - 1469). She married Thomas Gray (1430-1501); they had a daughter Jane Gray (1475-1509)[2]
--Note: This was an earlier "Mary Tudor" than Henry VIII's sister; and an earlier Jane Gray with different spelling of last name, than the Jane Grey who was executed. Jane Gray b. 1475, had a daughter Jane Mercer, and granddaughter Jane Wilkinson.
- Daughter Tudor. (born c. 1435) She became a nun.
- Margaret (Catherine) Tudor (born 1437). Died shortly after her birth.
Owen Tudor had at least one illegimate child:
- David Owen (1459-1528), knighted in 1485 by his nephew King Henry VII at Milford Haven. He married Mary Bohun (born 1459), daughter of Sir John De Bohun of Midhurst and Anne Arden, before 1488.
After Queen Catherine's death, Owen Tudor was imprisoned at Newgate Prison, but later released.
[edit] Participation in the Wars of the Roses
Owen Tudor became an early casualty of the Wars of the Roses (1455 - 1487) between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. On February 2, 1461, as a man of advanced years, Owen led the Lancastrian forces at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross against Edward, Earl of March. They were defeated. Owen was shortly after executed by decapitation along with other prisoners. He is said to have expected a reprieve because of his relationship with the former royal family. Owen reportedly was not convinced of his approaching death until the collar was ripped off his doublet by the executioner. At which point he is alleged to have said that "the head which used to lie in Queen Katherine's lap, would now lie in the executioner's basket".
[edit] Descendants
Henry Tudor, Owen Tudor's grandson, became King Henry VII of England in 1485, founding the Tudor dynasty when his supporters defeated those of Richard III to end the Wars of the Roses.
His descendants include Allene Stone Gano Hughes[3], mother of American aviator, engineer, industrialist, film producer/director, and philanthropist Howard Hughes.
See: The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography[1]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Mary Tudor b. 1432: With sourced Ancestry of Owen Tudor, as daughter of Owen Tudor and Catherine De Valois; and Mary Tudor's daughter Jane Gray lived 1475-1509, earlier Jane than Jane Grey who was daughter of the later Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII) at http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/person.aspx?tid=3071280&pid=-1716367594
- His pedigree (not necessarily reliable)
- Mentions Owain ap Maredudd's decision to anglicise his name
- Royal Berkshire History: Owen Tudor
