OWAIN GLYNDWR AND THE SIEGE OF COITY CASTLE, 1404-1405 Ralph A. Griffiths The celebrations at the village of Coity to mark the Millennium included a re-enactment of the siege of Coity Castle in 1404-5: 'Local history brought to life', announced the attractive leaflet of the 'Coety Village Association'. The re-enactment was prefaced by a genuine attempt to understand the 'significant and historic event' which took place at Coity almost 600 years earlier. This essay is based on a lecture given on the evening before the re-enactment (24 and 25 June 2000). The siege of Coity was indeed significant for its length and its importance, and it was indeed historic, because it is the most famous event associated with the castle in the entire 900 years of its existence. Yet we know very little about the siege and the circumstances surrounding it, even though it lasted for a good part of two years. No detailed account of it has ever been published. This is partly because the entire revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr (c. 1400-10), of which the siege was an interesting episode, is far from easy to understand; and partly because the historical records of Glamorgan in the Middle Ages Coity included have mostly disappeared. It is not even known whether or not Glyn Dwr himself was present at the siege, though he probably was. The revolt was a complex movement, which historians have had difficulty in reconstructing. Particularly difficult to gauge are the extent of its appeal in different parts of Wales; the attitudes of the various peoples of Wales, native and immigrant, to Owain's call to rise against King Henry IV (1399-1413); and the quality of Owain's plans and strategy for a successful revolt. In 1931, J.E.Lloyd established an authoritative chronology of the events of the revolt; and in 1995 R.R.Davies's The Revolt of Owain Glyn Mr sought to advance our understanding of some of the fundamental issues, and especially to
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