CHAPTER XII
Of the journey by the White Monastery,Oswaldestree,Powys,and Shrewsbury The feast of Easter having been observed with due solemnity,and many persons,by the exhortations of the archbishop,signed with the cross,we directed our way from Chester to the White Monastery,{185}and from thence towards Oswaldestree;where,on the very borders of Powys,we were met by Gruffydd son of Madoc,and Elissa,princes of that country,and many others;some few of whom having been persuaded to take the cross (for several of the multitude had been previously signed by Reiner,{186}the bishop of that place),Gruffydd,prince of the district,publicly adjured,in the presence of the archbishop,his cousin-german,Angharad,daughter of prince Owen,whom,according to the vicious custom of the country,he had long considered as his wife.We slept at Oswaldestree,or the tree of St.Oswald,and were most sumptuously entertained after the English manner,by William Fitz-Alan,{187}a noble and liberal young man.A short time before,whilst Reiner was preaching,a robust youth being earnestly exhorted to follow the example of his companions in taking the cross,answered,"I will not follow your advice until,with this lance which I bear in my hand,I shall have avenged the death of my lord,"alluding to Owen,son of Madoc,a distinguished warrior,who had been maliciously and treacherously slain by Owen Cyfeilioc,his cousin-german;and while he was thus venting his anger and revenge,and violently brandishing his lance,it suddenly snapped asunder,and fell disjointed in several pieces to the ground,the handle only remaining in his hand.Alarmed and astonished at this omen,which he considered as a certain signal for his taking the cross,he voluntarily offered his services.
In this third district of Wales,called Powys,there are most excellent studs put apart for breeding,and deriving their origin from some fine Spanish horses,which Robert de Belesme,{188}earl of Shrewsbury,brought into this country:on which account the horses sent from hence are remarkable for their majestic proportion and astonishing fleetness.
Here king Henry II.entered Powys,in our days,upon an expensive,though fruitless,expedition.{189}Having dismembered the hostages whom he had previously received,he was compelled,by a sudden and violent fall of rain,to retreat with his army.On the preceding day,the chiefs of the English army had burned some of the Welsh churches,with the villages and churchyards;upon which the sons of Owen the Great,with their light-armed troops,stirred up the resentment of their father and the other princes of the country,declaring that they would never in future spare any churches of the English.When nearly the whole army was on the point of assenting to this determination,Owen,a man of distinguished wisdom and moderation -the tumult being in some degree subsided -thus spake:
"My opinion,indeed,by no means agrees with yours,for we ought to rejoice at this conduct of our adversary;for,unless supported by divine assistance,we are far inferior to the English;and they,by their behaviour,have made God their enemy,who is able most powerfully to avenge both himself and us.We therefore most devoutly promise God that we will henceforth pay greater reverence than ever to churches and holy places."After which,the English army,on the following night,experienced (as has before been related)the divine vengeance.
From Oswaldestree,we directed our course towards Shrewsbury (Salopesburia),which is nearly surrounded by the river Severn,where we remained a few days to rest and refresh ourselves;and where many people were induced to take the cross,through the elegant sermons of the archbishop and archdeacon.We also excommunicated Owen de Cevelioc,because he alone,amongst the Welsh princes,did not come to meet the archbishop with his people.Owen was a man of more fluent speech than his contemporary princes,and was conspicuous for the good management of his territory.Having generally favoured the royal cause,and opposed the measures of his own chieftains,he had contracted a great familiarity with king Henry II.Being with the king at table at Shrewsbury,Henry,as a mark of peculiar honour and regard,sent him one of his own loaves;he immediately brake it into small pieces,like alms-bread,and having,like an almoner,placed them at a distance from him,he took them up one by one and ate them.The king requiring an explanation of this proceeding,Owen,with a smile,replied,"I thus follow the example of my lord;"keenly alluding to the avaricious disposition of the king,who was accustomed to retain for a long time in his own hands the vacant ecclesiastical benefices.
It is to be remarked that three princes,{190}distinguished for their justice,wisdom,and princely moderation,ruled,in our time,over the three provinces of Wales:Owen,son of Gruffydd,in Venedotia,or North Wales;Meredyth,his grandson,son of Gruffydd,who died early in life,in South Wales;and Owen de Cevelioc,in Powys.But two other princes were highly celebrated for their generosity;Cadwalader,son of Gruffydd,in North Wales,and Gruffydd of Maelor,son of Madoc,in Powys;and Rhys,son of Gruffydd,in South Wales,deserved commendation for his enterprising and independent spirit.In North Wales,David,son of Owen,and on the borders of Morgannoc,in South Wales,Howel,son of Iorwerth of Caerleon,maintained their good faith and credit,by observing a strict neutrality between the Welsh and English.