Gruffydd Young

Gruffydd Young (or Griffin Yonge) (c. 1370 – c. 1435) was a cleric and a close supporter of Owain Glyndŵr during his Welsh rebellion against the English King Henry IV between 1400 and 1412.

Winning favour

He was of

King Richard II

of England.

Church career

Between 1391 and 1403 he held various positions within the dioceses of

St. Davids and Bangor, Gwynedd at Llanynys between Denbigh and Ruthin and Llanbadarn Fawr and then prebends at Garthbrengy near Brecon, Boughrood near Hay-on-Wye, Lampeter and Bangor

itself.

He rose to be vicar-general at

Archdeacon of Merioneth

.

Glyndŵr's Chancellor and Envoy in France

He allied himself to Glyndŵr in 1403 becoming Owain's Chancellor and by 1404 was in

St. Asaph negotiating a treaty of alliance with the French King Charles VI of France, or at least with his representative James II, Count of La Marche

.

He was closely involved in Owain's strategy and formulated the Pennal Policy in which Owain stated that he would transfer the allegiance of the Welsh church away from Rome to the Antipope Benedict XIII in Avignon.

In 1407 he managed to gain the role of

St. Davids

where if the Pennal Policy had come into effect he would have become the primate of the Church in Wales.

Setbacks

By 1408 as the rebellion was experiencing setbacks he made his own future plans. Outside events were leading towards the

Rheims and Tours in France

.

He was appointed abbot of the

abbey of Le Thoronet, in the south of France, by Pope Martin V

in 1430.

He was still referring to himself as Bishop of Ross in 1430 and certainly lived beyond 1432. His exact end is not known.

Sources

JE Lloyd : 'Owen Glendower'
Chris Barber : 'In Search of Owain Glyndŵr'
Archives départementales du Var : Bulla Papae Martini V, 2H19