ABSTRACT
The killing of the prince of Wales in 1282 may have freed those of his ‘barons’ who had sided with the Crown from their obligation to him but they had merely exchanged one overbearing overlord for another. Only in respect of Owain Glyndwr at the beginning of the fifteenth century did the poets dare speak of Welsh princes and revive their belief in the restoration of a native principate. In purely historical terms, the achievements of the Welsh princes as individuals must be made in a contemporary context which will inevitably vary according to the time in which they lived and limited by the opportunities that were available to them. The truly ‘great’ princes are those who to some degree succeeded in transcending their times and, with an eye for profit, ruthlessly took advantage of their opportunities.
