Glyndŵr rebellion in the context of "Prince of Wales"

Owain ap Gruffydd (28 May 1354 – 20 September 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈoʊain ɡlɨ̞nˈduːr], also Glyn Dŵr; anglicised as Owen Glendower) was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the late Middle Ages, who led a 15-year-long Welsh revolt with the aim of ending English rule in Wales. He was an educated lawyer, forming the first Welsh parliament under his rule, and was the last native-born Welshman to claim the title Prince of Wales.

During the year 1400, Glyndŵr, a Welsh soldier and Lord of Glyndyfrdwy had a dispute with a neighbouring English Lord, the event which spiralled into a national revolt pitted common Welsh countrymen and nobles against the English military. In response to the rebellion, discriminatory penal laws were implemented against the Welsh people; this deepened civil unrest and significantly increased support for Glyndŵr across Wales. Then, in 1404, after a series of successful castle sieges and several battlefield victories for the Welsh, Glyndŵr gained control of most of Wales and was proclaimed by his supporters as the Prince of Wales, in the presence of envoys from several other European kingdoms, and military aid was given from France, Brittany, and Scotland. He proceeded to summon the first Welsh parliament in Machynlleth, where he outlined his plans for Wales which included building two universities, reinstating the medieval Welsh laws of Hywel Dda, and build an independent Welsh church.

Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against France made England one of the strongest military powers in Europe. Immortalised in Shakespeare's Henriad plays, Henry is known and celebrated as one of the greatest warrior-kings of medieval England.

Henry of Monmouth, the eldest son of Henry IV, became heir apparent and Prince of Wales after his father seized the throne in 1399. During the reign of his father, the young Prince Henry gained early military experience in Wales during the Glyndŵr rebellion, and by fighting against the powerful Percy family of Northumberland. He played a central part at the Battle of Shrewsbury despite being just sixteen years of age. As he entered adulthood, Henry played an increasingly central role in England's government due to the declining health of his father, but disagreements between Henry and his father led to political conflict between the two. After his father's death in March 1413, Henry ascended to the throne of England and assumed complete control of the country, also reviving the historic English claim to the French throne.

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (d. 11 December 1282), also known as Llywelyn II and Llywelyn the Last (Welsh: Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit. 'Llywelyn, our last leader'), was Prince of Gwynedd, and later was recognised as the Prince of Wales (Latin: Princeps Walliae; Welsh: Tywysog Cymru) from 1258 until his death at Cilmeri in 1282. Llywelyn was the son of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Iorwerth and grandson of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (also known as Llywelyn the Great, or Llywelyn I), and he was one of the last native and independent princes of Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England and English rule in Wales that followed, until Owain Glyndŵr held the title during his rebellion of 1400–1415.

The penal laws against the Welsh (Welsh: Deddfau Penyd) were a set of laws passed by the Parliament of England in 1401 and 1402 that discriminated against the Welsh people as a response to the Glyndŵr rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr, which began in 1400.

Cumulatively, the laws prohibited the Welsh from obtaining senior public office, bearing arms or purchase property in English boroughs. Public assembly was forbidden, and Englishmen who married Welsh women were also prevented from holding office in Wales.