On this day in Tudor history, 1 April 1401 - a small force led by brothers Rhys and Gwilym ap Tudur
On this day in Tudor history, 1 April 1401 - a small force led by brothers Rhys and Gwilym ap Tudur capture the English-controlled Conwy Castle in a daring raid, conducted in support of their first cousin Owain Glyndwr’s Welsh War of Independence. The Tudurs of Penmynydd were a troop of brothers descended from a North Welsh noble family and South Welsh royalty and had become respected officials in the region under the rule of Richard II. The deposition of Richard in England, aligned with ongoing oppression suffered by the Welsh, caused Glyndwr to rise up in rebellion and seek to reclaim Wales from Plantagenet rule. After his initial campaign began to flounder, on 1 April his cousins, the sons of Glyndwr’s mother’s sister, entered the fray and secured a major tactical and propaganda victory. It is said the cunning brothers tricked their way into the Castle during a period they knew the majority of the soldiers would be in church. They claimed to be carpenters to get through the Gatehouse and once inside proceeded to slaughter the guards. The Welshmen ransacked the Castle and burned the English town and financial records. It was an audacious raid and a great Welsh victory in a war that would eventually be lost. The Tudur brothers were probably present at Glyndwr’s first parliament in 1404 and were the only rebels refused a royal pardon along with their cousin. A decade later Rhys ap Tudur was executed in Shrewsbury by the brutal method of Hung, Drawn and Quartered. His youngest brother Maredudd ap Tudur was the father of Owen Tudor and through him gave rise to the Tudor Kings of England. In under a century the family had progressed from Welsh rebels to English kings.Pictured: Conwy Castle, captured by the Tudur brothers 1 April 1401 -- source link
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