Catrin ferch Owain Glyndŵr

Catrin ferch Owain Glyndŵr (died 1413) was one of the daughters (probably the eldest) of Margaret Hanmer and Owain Glyndŵr.

Lineage

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".

Little is known about any of the children of Owain Glyndŵr but the Welsh bard Lewis Glyn Cothi, although writing some years later, described Gwenllian, a (probably illegitimate) sister of Catrin, as 'Gwenllian of the golden locks' and 'Gwenllian of the house of drifted snow'.

Marriage and death

Catrin ferch Owain Glyndwr married Edmund Mortimer, an unransomed hostage who had made an alliance with her father in 1402. Her husband would die during the siege of Harlech Castle in 1409.

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.

Legacy

A memorial to Catrin stands in Cannon Street Gardens, 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.

Further reading

• R. R. Davies - Owain Glyndwr (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)