The king, determining upon a third expedition into Wales, called upon his principal subjects to assemble at Lichfield. In the meantime Glendwr had defeated Sir Edmnnd Mortimer at Pilled) Hill, not far from Knighton, in Radnorshire, and had left dead upon the field 1100 of Mortimer's followers, whose bodies were treated by the Welsh women with atrocious indignities. Sir Edmund, who was himself made a prisoner, was uncle to Edward Mortimer, earl of March (that about ten years old), whose title to the crown having been acknow ledged by the parliament, he was kept in close custody by the king. In consequence we may suppose of thia relationship, Henry conld not be prevailed upon to take measures for his ransom—a refusal which, joined to the humanity and respect with which ho was treated by his captor, induced him to become a partisan of Glendwr, whose subse quent alliance with the Percies was mainly attributable to Mortimer. Instead of assembling one army at Lichfield, Henry determined to raise three separate divisions, and to attack the Welsh from three different quarters at the same time. It was arranged that the king should mnster the first division at Shrewsbury ; Lord Warwick, Lord Stafford, and others were to assemble the second at Hereford ; while Prince Henry was to have the command of the third at Chester. Owen Glendwr in the meantime made an inroad into Glamorganshire, burnt the houses of the bishop and archdeacon of Llandaff, set fire to Cardiff and Abergavenny, and then returned to oppose the English. Too prudent to hazard an encounter with a force far superior to his own, he concealed himself among the hills, driving away all the cattle and destroying all the means of subsistence. At this time the rebellion seemed likely to gain ground, for the confederates—Mortimer, the Percies, sod Glendwr—confiding in their own power, determined to divide the whole kingdom among themselves; for which purpose they met at the house of Aberdaron, dean of Bangor, a descendant of Caradoc, prince of Wales, and strongly attached to the cause of Olendwr. They agreed upon the following allotments : Mortimer, in behalf of the Earl of March, was to take possession of all the conntry from the Trent and the Severn to the southern and eastern limits of the island; Northumberland claimed all lands north of Trent; the district westward of the Severn was apportioned to Glendwr. It was at this juncture that Glendwr revived the ancient prophecy that Henry IV. should fall under the name of Moldwarp,' or • the cursed of God's mouth; and styling himself 'the Dragon,' he assumed a badge representing that monster with a star above, in imitation of Ether, whose victories over the Saxons were foretold by the appearance of a star with a dragon threatening beneath. l'ercy was denoted the Lion,' from the mat of his family ; and on Sir Edmund Mortimer they bestowed the title of 'the Wolf: Owen, who was now at the zenith of his glory, called together the estates of Wales at Machynlleth, and there was formally crowned and acknowledged Prince of Wales. Some of his enemies however as well as his allies assembled at this meeting, and he narrowly escaped assassinetion.
In 1403 Olendwr and Mortimer marched towards Shrewsbury, in order to join their troops to the army of Percy, which was encamped near that town. It required all the vigilance of Henry to prevent this union, but by forced marches he succeeded in reaching their position when only a small portion of Owen's army had arrived. An engage ment took place at Battle Field, three miles from the town, in which Percy fell. Little was done during the rest of this year beyond the king's securing the Welsh castles, and intrusting them to persons of tried fidelity. lu the following year (1404) Owen Glendwr entered into a treaty, offensive and defensive, with Charles VI., king of France, which was concluded at Paris on the 14th of June. He then opened the campaign with fresh -vigour, ravaged the enemy's country, took the castles of Harlech and Aberystwyth, and several others, of which many were dismantled and some garrisoned. In the beginning of the
year 1405 Glendwr made an attempt to liberate the young Earl of March, with the intention of making him contest the crown with Henry. He persuaded Constance, widow of Lord Spencer and sister to the Duke of York, to assist in setting him free by means of false keys she effected his escape, and was in the act of conducting him to Wales when they were seized and brought back.
About this period (March, 1405) Owen's fortunes began to decline : he was attacked at Grosmont Castle, about twelve miles from Mon mouth, and driven back by Henry, the young Prince of Wales, then only seventeen years of age, to whom the king had intrusted the conduct of the war. Eight hundred men remained dead upon the field, as the English gave no quarter. During the same month he suffered a second defeat at Mynydd pwl Melyn, in Brecknockshire : in this engagment there were killed or made prisoners 1500 of Owen'e followers ; one of his eons was taken prisoner, and his brother Tudor fell in the action. After these reverses all Glamorganshire submitted to the king, and Glendwr was compelled to wander over the country with a few faithful friends, concealing himself in remote and unfre quented places. There is a cave in the county of Merioneth, known by the name of Ogof Owain (Owen's Cave), in which he is said to have been secretly maintained by an old and trusty adherent. He is sup posed to have instigated the conspiracy that was headed by North umberland, but which being speedily detected was followed by the execution of several of the abettors : Northumberland found it necessary to fly to Scotland for protection. After quelling this revolt the king marched upou Wales with an army of 37,000 men, but stormy weather and other contingencies forced him to retreat to Worcester.
It was fortunate for the declining power of Glendwr that the French now determined upon executing the scheme which had long been feared by the English and hoped for by the Welsh. A fleet of 140 ships, commanded by Renaud do Trie, admiral of France, disembarked 12,000 men at Milford Haven. Caermarthen capitulated : Haverfordwest was successfully defended by Lord Arundel. At Tenby, Glendwr joined them with 10,000 men, and thence the whole army marched through Glamorganshire to Worcester, laying waste the country up to the very suburbs of the town. Henry now again took up arms, and made use of every means in his power to counteract the measures of so formid able an enemy. Lord Berkeley received orders to burn fifteen of the French ships that were lying at anchor in Milford Haven, and to intercept some others which were conveying stores and ammunition to the invaders. Hugueville, the commander of the French crosebow men, and Owen, chose a strong position : the former encamped on a high hill, three miles from Worcester, a wide valley lying between him and the English; Gleudwr posted himself nine miles from the town, on Woodbury Hill, which was surrounded by a fosse. The armies were arrayed before each other in order of battle for three successive days and nights, and repeated skirmishes took place, in which the loss that both sides sustained was computed at 200 men, besides the wounded : at the end of this time the French and their allies retired into Wales, having been harassed incessantly by the watchfulness of Henry's troops, who had cut off all their supplies. Shortly after this attempt the French quitted the kingdom in vessels that Glendwr furnished for their use. The castle of Llanbedr, in the county of Cardigan, surrendered the same year, on certain conditions, to Henry, prince of Wales ; that of Coitie, on the river Ogmore, was besieged by Gleudwr, and a loan was raised in both houses of parliament for the purpose of effecting the rescue of its owner.