15th century in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the century 1401â1500 to Wales and its people.

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Events

1401

1 April (Good Friday) - Conwy Castle is taken by supporters of Owain GlyndÅµr.^[1]
June - Battle of Mynydd Hyddgen, first major victory for Owain GlyndÅµr's Welsh rebels over the English.^[2]
2 November - At the inconclusive Battle of Tuthill, Owain GlyndÅµr's forces meet the English near Caernarfon.^[2]

1402

April - Owain GlyndÅµr captures his arch-enemy, Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn.^[3]
22 June - Battle of Bryn Glas (also known as the Battle of Pilleth) on the border with England ends in victory for GlyndÅµr. The Welsh capture Edmund Mortimer, son of the 3rd Earl, who defects to the Welsh cause, on 30 November marrying Owain's daughter Catrin.^[4]
August - Glamorgan joins GlyndÅµr's revolt.
September - The English Parliament passes penal Laws against Wales which stop the Welsh from gathering together, obtaining office, carrying arms and living in English towns. Any Englishman who marries a Welsh woman also comes under the laws.

1403

15 May - Henry, Prince of Wales, and his men destroy Sycharth, one of the residences of Owain GlyndÅµr.^[5]
July - Owain GlyndÅµr captures Carreg Cennen Castle.
21 July - Battle of Shrewsbury ends in defeat and death of Henry Percy, an ally of Owain GlyndÅµr. Henry of Monmouth is seriously wounded in the battle.^[6]
Autumn (possible) - Battle of Stalling Down near Cowbridge.

1404

July - Owain GlyndÅµr holds a parliament at Machynlleth.^[7]
November - The Prince of Wales and his brother Thomas of Lancaster unsuccessfully try to raise the siege of Coity Castle.^[8]

1405

28 February - GlyndÅµr Rising at its peak. Tripartite Indenture agreed between Owain GlyndÅµr, the Earl of Northumberland, and Edmund Mortimer, to divide Wales and England between them.
5 May - Battle of Pwll Melyn - first major defeat for GlyndÅµr.
July - A French force arrives at Milford Haven to assist the rebels. It takes the town of Haverfordwest, retakes Carmarthen and lays siege to Tenby, perhaps marching as far as Great Witley across the English border, but then retires.
August - Owain GlyndÅµr holds his second parliament, at Harlech Castle.^[9]

1406

31 March - Owain GlyndÅµr writes the "Pennal letter" to the King of France, outlining his policy for the future government of Wales and support for the Avignon Papacy.^[10]

1407

June - Henry, Prince of Wales, lays siege to Aberystwyth Castle.^[11]
4 October - The Pope appoints Henry Chichele Bishop of St David's.^[12]

1408

Adam of Usk returns to Wales from continental exile, seeking the patronage of Owain GlyndÅµr.^[13]

1409

Harlech Castle is captured by Henry of Monmouth. Margaret Hanmer (GlyndÅµr's wife), her children and grandchildren are taken prisoner. As far as is known, most of them later die in captivity.

1410

Sir John Scudamore marries Alys, daughter of Owain GlyndÅµr.^[14]

1411

Sir William Gamage succeeds to the Coity estates on the death of Sir Laurence Berkerolles, and lays siege to Coity Castle.^[15]

1412

June - The seneschal and the receiver of Brecon negotiate to ransom Dafydd Gam from his captivity in the hands of Owain GlyndÅµr.^[16]

1415

21 September - Owain GlyndÅµr goes into hiding. His subsequent whereabouts and date of death are unknown. End of the GlyndÅµr Rising.
25 October - Battle of Agincourt. Welsh archers are key to Henry V's victory over a much larger French army.

1417

30 April - Maredudd ab Owain GlyndÅµr declines the offer of a pardon from King Henry V of England.^[17]

1418

Gruffydd Young, Owain's former Chancellor, is appointed Bishop of Ross.

1419

24 April - Philip Morgan is elected Bishop of Worcester.^[18]^:â279â

1420

16 October - In the new parliament, Roger Corbet and David Rathbone become MPs for the borough of Shrewsbury, while Roger's brother Robert represents Shropshire.
4 March - Settlement made at Shrewsbury between Edward Cherleton, Lord of Powys, and Sir Gruffudd Vaughan, his brother Ieuan ap Gruffydd, and two yeomen for the capture of Sir John Oldcastle in 1417.

1421

Maredudd ab Owain GlyndÅµr accepts a pardon from King Henry V of England.

1425

Iron forge at Pontypool operating by about this date.

1426

William ap Thomas, ancestor of the Herbert Earls of Pembroke, is knighted.

1428

Earliest likely date for marriage of Catherine of Valois, widow of Henry V, to Welsh courtier Owen Tudor, thus establishing the House of Tudor.^[19]

1435

Work begins on the construction of Raglan Castle (approximate).^[20]

1437

January - Owen Tudor is imprisoned at Newgate Prison following the death of his wife, Catherine of Valois.^[21]

1450

April - William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, is taken prisoner at the Battle of Formigny.^[22]
Eisteddfod at Carmarthen: Dafydd ab Edmwnd wins the silver chair for his poetry.

1452

7 July - Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester, exiled after her conviction for sorcery in 1442, dies at Beaumaris Castle.^[23]
23 November - King Henry VI of England acknowledges his half-brothers, Edmund and Jasper Tudor. Edmund becomes Earl of Richmond.^[24] Jasper becomes Earl of Pembroke.^[25]^[26]

1455

1 November - Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, marries Lady Margaret Beaufort.

1456

August - Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, is captured by the Yorkists and imprisoned at Carmarthen Castle, where he dies on 3 November of plague.

1457

28 January - Lady Margaret Beaufort, 13-year-old widow of Edmund Tudor, gives birth to Henry Tudor, later King Henry VII of England, at Pembroke Castle.^[27]
Sir Walter Griffith purchases Burton Agnes Hall in Yorkshire.

1460

10 July - Following defeat at the Battle of Northampton on this date, Margaret of Anjou, queen of England, escapes with her son, Edward, Prince of Wales, to Harlech Castle.
23 July - John De la Bere resigns as Bishop of St David's after supporting the Tudors in the civil war.

1461

February - After losing the Battle of Mortimer's Cross, Jasper Tudor is placed under an attainder. William Herbert, Lord Herbert of Raglan, assumes the guardianship of Margaret Beaufort and her son Henry, Earl of Richmond.

1467

Sir William Stanley is appointed steward of the lordship of Bromfield and Yale.

1468

24 June - Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, grants a charter to Neath Abbey.
14 August - The garrison of Harlech Castle surrenders to King Edward IV after a seven-year siege.^[28]

1469

27 July - Following the Battle of Edgecote Moor, William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and his brother Richard are executed.
August - Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, and his son John Woodville are placed in prison in Chepstow.

1470

13 December - Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, marries (or is betrothed to) Anne Neville.

1471

4 May - Battle of Tewkesbury ends Lancastrian hopes of regaining the ascendance over the House of York. King Edward IV of England is victorious, and Edward of Westminster becomes the only Prince of Wales ever to die in battle. Sir John Donne is knighted on the field.
26 June - Prince Edward, son of King Edward IV, is invested as Prince of Wales.^[29]
13 October - Richard Redman is consecrated as Bishop of St Asaph.

1472

October - Following his investiture, Edward, Prince of Wales, takes up residence at Ludlow Castle, the seat of the Council of Wales and the Marches.^[30]

1473

Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, is appointed Governor of the Prince of Wales's Household. John Alcock, Bishop of Rochester and the prince's tutor, becomes President of the Council of Wales and the Marches.

1478

18 February - On the death of his brother George, Duke of Clarence, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, becomes Lord of Glamorgan by right of his wife Anne Neville.
10 April - The Court of the President and Council of Wales holds its first session in Ludlow.^[31]
6 September - John Marshall is consecrated Bishop of Llandaff.^[32]

1483

14 April - At Ludlow, 12-year-old King Edward V of England receives the news of his father's sudden death and his own accession.
8 September - Edward of Middleham, son of King Richard III of England, is invested as Prince of Wales at York Minster.^[33]
25 December - At Rennes Cathedral, Henry, Earl of Richmond, pledges to marry Elizabeth of York.

1485

22 August - Battle of Bosworth Field: Henry Tudor defeats King Richard III to become the third and last Welsh-born King of England.^[34]
7 November - Jasper Tudor marries Catherine Woodville.^[35]

1486

18 January - King Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York.
2 March - Jasper Tudor becomes Lord of Glamorgan.^[36]

1488

Jasper Tudor takes possession of Cardiff Castle.

1489

29 November - The English-born Arthur Tudor is named Prince of Wales.

1490

27 February - Arthur Tudor is ceremonially invested as Prince of Wales at the Palace of Westminster.

1495

16 February - Sir William Stanley is executed for treason in London; Henry VII of England seizes Holt Castle from him.

1496

A public convenience is built on the "Old Welsh Bridge" in Shrewsbury.^[37]

1498

An insurrection breaks out in Meirionnydd in north Wales; the rebels capture Harlech Castle. The revolt is the last of the medieval era in Wales.^[38]