Powys and FitzEmpress (5)

In 1166, the coalition of Welsh princes that had defied Henry II turned on each other. Iorwerth Goch was driven from Mochnant in Powys by his kinsman and former ally, Owain Cyfeiliog, assisted by his cousin, Owain Fychan. Iorwerth Goch was a half-brother of Madog ap Maredudd, uncle to Owain Cyfeiliog and father of Owain Fychan, so this was very much a family affair.

The two Owains shared their conquest between them. Owain Fychan took the northern part, Mochnant Is Rhaedr, while Owain Cyfeiliog took Mochnant Uwch Rhaedr. Their victory was short-lived. Now Powys had fallen into a state of civil war, Owain Gwynedd seized the opportunity to launch yet another invasion. Along with Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheubath, he attacked Owain Cyfeiliog and drove him into exile. Two years previously these three had presented a united front against the King of England; now they were at each other’s throats.

Owain Fychan appears to have colluded with the invaders. Their price was much of northern Powys, claimed by Rhys ap Gruffudd. In return Owain held sway over southern Powys as a dependency of Gwynedd. The poet Llywelyn Fardd describes Owain defeating an English force at the Stiperstones in Shropshire, possibly troops sent by King Henry to restore Owain Cyfeiliog. Owain Cyfeiliog and his uncle Iorwerth Goch were now in exile in England. They joined forces once again and recruited more soldiers from the king. Some details of this army are contained in the Pipe Roll for 1167, which records wages for sixty sergeants gathered at Oswestry by order of Richard de Lucy, co-justiciar of England.

The reconquest began in Caereinion, where the combined Franco-Welsh army destroyed Owain Fychan’s castle of Mathrafal and slaughtered the garrison. Owain Gwynedd and Rhys were busy conquering the king’s castles in Tegeingl, so the counter-attack in Powys was part of a wider conflict. King Henry now appointed Iorwerth Goch as the leading member of a group of Welsh castellans who controlled royal estates on the northern March. This included the castle of Chirk (pictured) and a large fee of over £90 a year. He was also granted the lordship of the vale of Ceiriog. Owain Cyfeiliog had restored his position in southern Powys by 1170, when he founded the Cistercian abbey of Strata Marcella. In the same year he had the satisfaction of learning of the death of his old rival, Owain Gwynedd.