Owen
Was A Man Of More Fluent Speech Than His Contemporary Princes, And
Was Conspicuous For The Good Management Of His Territory.
Having
generally favoured the royal cause, and opposed the measures of his
own chieftains, he had contracted a great familiarity with king
Henry II.
Being with the king at table at Shrewsbury, Henry, as a
mark of peculiar honour and regard, sent him one of his own loaves;
he immediately brake it into small pieces, like alms-bread, and
having, like an almoner, placed them at a distance from him, he took
them up one by one and ate them. The king requiring an explanation
of this proceeding, Owen, with a smile, replied, "I thus follow the
example of my lord;" keenly alluding to the avaricious disposition
of the king, who was accustomed to retain for a long time in his own
hands the vacant ecclesiastical benefices.
It is to be remarked that three princes, {190} distinguished for
their justice, wisdom, and princely moderation, ruled, in our time,
over the three provinces of Wales: Owen, son of Gruffydd, in
Venedotia, or North Wales; Meredyth, his grandson, son of Gruffydd,
who died early in life, in South Wales; and Owen de Cevelioc, in
Powys. But two other princes were highly celebrated for their
generosity; Cadwalader, son of Gruffydd, in North Wales, and
Gruffydd of Maelor, son of Madoc, in Powys; and Rhys, son of
Gruffydd, in South Wales, deserved commendation for his enterprising
and independent spirit. In North Wales, David, son of Owen, and on
the borders of Morgannoc, in South Wales, Howel, son of Iorwerth of
Caerleon, maintained their good faith and credit, by observing a
strict neutrality between the Welsh and English.
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