Owain Brogyntyn

Who is Owain Brogyntyn?

Owain Brogyntyn ap Madog was the youngest and illegitimate son of king Madog ap Maredudd, the last king of a united kingdom of Powys. He was the son of Madog by the daughter of the Maer du or "black mayor" of Rûg in Edeyrnion. He was the brother of Gruffydd Maelor the ancestor of Owain Glyndŵr. Presumably Owain Brogyntyn would have been raised by his mother at Rûg in Edeyrnion. He was acknowledged by his father and granted by him the lordship of Edeyrnion and also Dinmael. It is quite possible that he inherited some of these lands through his maternal grandfather, the Maer Du, which were confirmed and perhaps extended by his father the king of Powys. At some point he also came into possession of Castle Brogyntyn on the English borders at Selattyn close to Oswestry.

Owain first married Jonet verch Hywel but with her had no children. He next married Marred ferch Einion ap Seisyllt who was to be the mother of his three sons.

His youngest son, Iorwerth ab Owain Brogyntyn, married Efa verch Madoc the sole heir of Madoc, Lord of Mawddwy. The son of Iorwerth and Efa, Gruffudd ab Iorwerth, was confirmed in his lands as Baron of Edeyrnion by Edward I under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan by which England organised the subjugation of Wales.