Owen de la Pole

Who was Owen de la Pole?

Owen de la Pole, also known as Owain ap Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, was the heir presumptive to the Welsh principality of Powys Wenwynwyn until 1283 when it was abolished by the Parliament of Shrewsbury. He became the 1st Lord of Powis after the death of his father Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn c. 1287. He is not related to the English de la Pole family descended from William de la Pole, Chief Baron of the Exchequer in the following century, later Earls and Dukes of Suffolk.

Owen was born in England sometime after his father was driven into exile there in 1257 by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd the ruler of Kingdom of Gwynedd. It was during this exile that his father probably adopted the surname de la Pole meaning "of the Pool" and referring to the old name for Welshpool which had become his family's capital. In 1263 following the Treaty of Montgomery his father was restored to some of his lands in return for agreeing to pay homage to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd as Prince of Wales. However, good relations between Powys-Wenwynwyn and Gwynedd were short-lived as Owen and his father were soon implicated in an assassination attempt on the Prince of Wales in 1274. This led to Owen and his father fleeing to Shrewsbury where they both led border raids against the Principality of Wales on behalf of the English crown.