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Owen Tudor

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1 Ancestry
2 Catherine of Valois and children
3 Role in the Wars of the Roses
4 External links

For the husband of Larissa Tudor, see Owen Frederick Morton Tudor

Owen ap Maredudd (or Owen ap Meredith ap Tewdwr or Owen Tudur or Owen Tudor) (c. 1400 – February 2, 1461) was a Welsh soldier and courtier, directly descended from The Lord Rhys but remembered only because of his role in founding the Tudor dynasty and for his relationship with Catherine of Valois, widow of King Henry V of England. At some point Owain anglicised his name from the Welsh Owain ap Maredudd to Owen Tudor, taking his grandfather's name for a surname rather than the more common practice of taking his father's.

Ancestry

Owen was a descendant of Rhys ap Gruffudd (1132 - 1197). Rhys had a daughter Gwenllian ferch Rhys who was married to Ednyfed Fychan, Seneschal of the Kingdom of Gwynedd (d. 1246). According to a number of resources on the internet, including ancestry.com w/OneWorldTree, Own's parentage was Father: Maredudd Ap Tudor (aka Meredith Tudor) and Mother: Margaret Vychan; the ancestry does not appear to be questionable.

coat of arms of Owen Tudor

They were parents to Goronwy, Lord of Tref-gastell (d. 1268). Goronwy was later married to Morfydd ferch Meurig, daughter to Meurig of Gwent. Meurig was son of Ithel, grandson of Rhydd and great-grandson to Iestyn ap Gwrgan(t). Iestyn had been the last King of Gwent (reigned 1081 - 1091) before its conquest by the Normans. Goronwy and Morfydd were parents to Tudur Hen, Lord of Penmynydd (d. 1311). He was married to Angharad ferch Ithel Fychan, daughter of Ithel Fychan ap Ithel Gan, Lord of Englefield. They were parents to Goronwy ap Tudur, Lord of Penmynydd (d. 1331). Goronwy was himself later married to Gwerfyl ferch Madog, daughter of Madog ap Dafydd, Baron of Hendwr. They were parents to Tudur Fychan, Lord of Pemmynydd (d. 1367). Tudur was married to Margaret ferch Thomas. Margaret was daughter to Thomas ap Llewelyn, Lord of Iscoed, South Wales and his wife Eleanor ferch Philip. Her paternal grandfather was Llewelyn ab Owain, Lord of Gwynnionith. The maternal grandfather was Philip ab Ifor, Lord of Is Coed. Tudur and Margaret were parents to Maredudd ap Tudur (d. 1406). He was married to Margaret ferch Dafydd. Margaret was daughter to Dafydd Fychan, Lord of Anglesey and his wife Nest ferch Ieuan. Maredudd and Margaret were the parents of Owen.

Catherine of Valois and children

Owen entered the service of Queen Catherine of Valois as keeper of the Queen's household (or her wardrobe) some time after the death of her husband Henry V of England on 22 August 1422. The Queen at first lived in the household of her infant son, King Henry VI, before moving to Wallingford Castle early in his reign, taking Tudor with her. No documentation survives of her marriage to Owen Tudor, which is believed to have taken place in around 1428. As Parliament had passed a resolution in 1428 forbidding queens dowager to remarry without the king's permission, their marriage may not have been legally valid. Owen and Catherine had at least six children:

Owen Tudor (1429-1501). He was a monk at Westminster.
Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond (1430 - November 1, 1456), married Lady Margaret Beaufort. Father of King Henry VII.
Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford (1431 - December 21/26, 1495), married Katherine Woodville, daughter to Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. Jasper had no legitimate children. He did have two illegimate children. One was Joan Tudor, an ancestor of Oliver Cromwell.
Daughter Mary Tudor born (1432). She married Thomas Gray (1430-1501); they had a daughter Jane Gray (1475-1509)--Note: This was an earlier "Mary Tudor" than Henry VIII's sister; and an earlier Jane Gray with different spelling of last name, than the Jane Grey who was executed. Jane Gray b. 1475, had a daughter Jane Mercer, and granddaughter Jane Wilkinson. Ref. below: OneWorld Tree of ancestry.com
Tacina Tudor (1433-1469).
Daughter Tudor. (born c. 1435) She became a nun.
Margaret (Catherine) Tudor (born 1437). Died young.

Owen Tudor had at least one illegimate child:

David Owen (1459-1528), knighted in 1485 by his nephew King Henry VII at Milford Haven. He married Mary Bohun (born 1459), daughter of Sir John De Bohun of Midhurst and Anne Arden, before 1488.

After Queen Catherine's death, Owen Tudor was imprisoned at Newgate Prison, but later released. See: The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography[1]

Role in the Wars of the Roses

Owen was later involved in the Wars of the Roses (1455 - 1487) between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. On February 2, 1461, as a man of advanced years, Owen led the Lancastrian forces at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross against Edward, Earl of March. They were defeated. Owen was shortly after executed by decapitation along with other prisoners. He is said to have expected a reprieve because of his relationship with the former royal family. Owen reportedly was not convinced of his approaching death until the collar was ripped off his doublet by the executioner. At which point he is alleged to have said that "the head which used to lie in Queen Katherine's lap, would now lie in the executioner's basket". Owen's grandson Henry Tudor became King Henry VII of England in 1485 when his supporters defeated those of Richard III to end the Wars of the Roses, founding the Tudor dynasty.