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Coat of Arms of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the Edling of Gwynedd

Dafydd ap Gruffydd (or Dafydd ap Gruffudd, angl. David of Griffith; Welsh pronunciation: [ˈdavɨ̞ð ap ˈɡrɨ̞fɨ̞ð]) (11 July (?) 1238 – 3 October 1283) was Prince of Wales from 11 December 1282 until his execution on 3 October 1283 by King Edward I of England. He was the last independent ruler of Wales.

Early life[link]

He was a prince of Gwynedd, a younger son of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn and his wife, Senena, and thus grandson of Llywelyn Fawr. In 1241, he is recorded as having been handed over to Henry III of England as a hostage with his younger brother, Rhodri, as part of an agreement. He may have come of age under Welsh law on 11 July 1252, on which date he issued, in front of his mother, Senena, and the Bishop of Bangor, a charter as lord of the commote of Cymydmaen, at the outer reaches of the Llŷn Peninsula. In 1253, he was called upon to pay homage to King Henry III of England.

In 1255, he joined his brother, Owain, in a challenge to their brother, Llywelyn, but Llywelyn defeated them at the Battle of Bryn Derwin. Dafydd was imprisoned, but Llywelyn released him the following year and restored him to favour. In 1263, he joined King Henry in an attack on his brother. After Llywelyn was acknowledged by King Henry as Prince of Wales in 1267, Dafydd was again restored to Llywelyn's favour, but in 1274, he joined King Edward I of England to challenge Llywelyn once again. In 1277, following the Treaty of Aberconwy, he was reconciled, finally, with his brother.

Prince of Wales[link]

At Easter 1282, Dafydd ap Gruffudd attacked Hawarden Castle, thereby starting the final conflict with Plantagenet-ruled England, in the course of which Welsh independence was lost. In December Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, had been lured into what was probably a trap and killed on 11 December 1282 (see corr. of Archbishop John Peckham, Lambeth Palace Archives)^{[citation needed]}. Dafydd was his brother's successor and became the last Tywysog of Gwynedd and Prince of Wales. Dafydd was leader of his nation only for a few months after his brother's death.

By January 1283, Edward I of England had the heartland of independent Wales ringed with a massive army. Dafydd initially operated from Dolwyddelan and was supported by various royal refugees from Powys Fadog and Deheubarth; including Rhys Wyndod, Rhys Ieuanc and the sons of Maredudd ab Owain. With limited resources of manpower and equipment available the passes leading to Dolwyddelan became indefensible and Dafydd moved down to Castell y Bere. In April, Castell y Bere was besieged by over 3,000 men and the small Welsh garrison, commanded by Cynfrig ap Madog, surrendered on 25 April. Dafydd escaped the siege and moved north to Dolbadarn Castle, a guardpost in the Peris Valley at the foot of Snowdon. In May 1283, he was forced to move again, this time to the mountains above the Welsh royal home Garth Celyn.

"Those who survived fled for refuge to the inaccessible rocks of Snowdonia and David with a few followers hid himself for some months at different places and suffered hunger and cold. At last he retreated to a bog (Nanhysglain), near Bera Mountain about four miles above Aber with his wife two sons and seven daughters. His place of retreat was known to Einion Bishop of Bangor and Gronw ab Dafydd, who basely betrayed him." ^[1]

On 22 June, Dafydd and his younger son Owain ap Dafydd were captured at Nanhysglain, a secret hiding place in a bog by Bera Mountain to the south of Garth Celyn. Dafydd, seriously wounded (graviter vulneratus) in the struggle, was brought to King Edward's camp at Rhuddlan that same night (Cotton Vesp. B xi, f30). Dafydd was taken from here to Chester and then on to Shrewsbury. Dafydd's wife Elizabeth de Ferrers, their seven daughters, and their infant niece, Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn, were also taken prisoner at the same time. Whether they were with Dafydd and Owain at Bera is not recorded, but it is likely.

On 28 June, Llywelyn ap Dafydd was captured. Edward triumphantly proclaimed that the last of the "treacherous lineage", princes of the "turbulent nation", was now in his grasp, captured by men of his own nation (per homines linguae suae).^[2]

Welsh resistance to the invasion temporarily came to an end. On 28 June, Edward issued writs to summon a parliament to meet at Shrewsbury, to discuss Dafydd's fate.

On 30 September, Dafydd ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, was condemned to death, the first person known to have been tried and executed for what from that time onwards would be described as high treason against the King. Edward ensured that Dafydd's death was to be slow and agonising, and also historic; he became the first prominent person in recorded history to have been hanged, drawn and quartered, preceded by a number of minor knights earlier in the thirteenth century. Dafydd was dragged through the streets of Shrewsbury attached to a horse's tail then hanged alive, revived, then disembowelled and his entrails burned before him for "his sacrilege in committing his crimes in the week of Christ's passion", and then his body cut into four quarters "for plotting the king's death". Geoffrey of Shrewsbury was paid 20 shillings for carrying out the gruesome task on 3 October 1283 (though some sources give the date as 2 October).

Dafydd's daughter Gwladys, like her cousin Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn, was sent to a convent in Lincolnshire – Gwenllian to Sempringham and Gwladys to Sixhills, where she died in 1336. Their sons were both imprisoned at Bristol Castle; Llywelyn ap Dafydd died at Bristol Castle in mysterious circumstances in 1287 or 1288, while Owain ap Dafydd is last found living in August 1325. Dafydd may have had another (illegitimate) son, Dafydd Goch, who survived.

One cadet member of the ruling House of Cunedda also survived, Madog ap Llywelyn, who led a nationwide revolt in 1294-95.

Family[link]

Dafydd's parents were Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (died 1244) and his wife Senana.

Brothers[link]

• Owain Goch ap Gruffydd (died c. 1282)
• Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales (killed at Battle of Orewin Bridge at Builth Wells, 11 December 1282) married Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. They had one daughter, Gwenllian. Eleanor died in childbirth at Llywelyn's court at Abergwyngregyn on 19 June 1282.
• Rhodri ap Gruffudd (died c. 1315) married 1) Beatrice, daughter of David of Malpas. 2) unknown. He had a son Thomas ap Rhodri (died 1363) by his second marriage, who was the father of Owain ap Thomas (died 1378).

Sisters[link]

• Gwladus ferch Gruffudd (died 1261) married Rhys Fychan (died 1271) of Ystrad Tywi.
• Margaret ferch Gruffudd married Madog II ap Gruffydd, Lord of Dinas Bran (died 1277) of Powys Fadog. They had two sons, Gruffudd ap Madog and Llywelyn ap Madog. The two boys died in mysterious circumstances shortly after the outbreak of war in 1282.

Thomas Pennant^[3] states that the boys were "drowned in the River Dee" at Holt by their guardians John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey, and Roger Mortimer the younger. D. Powel^[4] mentions the "destruction" of the two princes, whose guardians, Warenne and Mortimer, "so garded their wardes wit so small regard, that they never returned to their possessions. And shortlie after the said guardians did obtaine the same lands to themselves by charters of the king."

On 7 October 1282, John de Warenne was granted the land of Maelor (Bromfield) that had previously held by the two sons of Madoc ap Gruffudd at the beginning of the war.^[5]

Dafydd ap Gruffudd married (sometime after 1265) Lady Elizabeth Ferrers, daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby, and the widow of William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.

• Through the marriage Dafydd came into possession of the manor of Folesham, Norfolk. He exchanged Folesham with John Marshal for the manor of Norton, Northamptonshire.
• September 1278, he accepted a grant for life from Edward l, King of England, of the manor of Frodsham, near Chester.^[6]

Children[link]

After Dafydd's capture his sons were imprisoned for the rest of their lives at Bristol Castle; his daughter was sent to a convent.

• Llywelyn ap Dafydd (died 1287)
• Owain ap Dafydd (died c.1325)
• Gwladys ferch Dafydd (died 1336)

In addition, Dafydd is recorded in late genealogical sources as having sired an illegitimate child, Dafydd Goch, though there is no contemporary evidence to support this.

References[link]

• Riley Willelmi Rishanger: quondam Monachi S. Albani, Chronica et Annales (Rolls Ser. 28) (1865): 91 (“David, fuga dilapsus, multis annis cum Rege Angliæ stetit; a quo, contra morem gentis suæ, miles factus, in ista guerra, ob probitatem et fidelitatem suam, plurimum erat Regi acceptus: unde et eidem castrum de Dimby [Denbigh] contulit in Wallia, cum terris ad valorem mille librarum annui redditus; insuper et uxorem dedit, filiam Comitis Derbeyæ, quæ nuper alio viro fuerat viduata.”) [also see Hog F. Nicholai Triveti, de ordine frat. praedicatorum, Annales (English Hist. Soc.) (1865): 298].
• Luard Annales Monastici 3 (Rolls Ser. 36) (1866): 298 (Annals of Dunstable sub A.D. 1283: “Eodem anno David, germanus Leulini, principis Walliæ, captus est per gentem domini regis ...et filius suus legitimus captus est cum eo .... Uxor etiam ipsius David, quæ fuit filia comitis de Ferares, alias capta est et inprisonata.”).
• Bellamy, J. G. The Law of Treason in England in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge University Press, 1970)
• Maud, Ralph, David the last prince of Wales. The Ten "lost" months of Welsh History.
• Pryce, Huw (ed.) The Acts of Welsh Rulers 1120-1283 (Cardiff, 2005)
• Smith, J. Beverley Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales (Cardiff, 1998), p. 579

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Ymddiriedolaeth Aber

Ioan Gruffudd
promoting Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, 4 May 2007
Born	(1973-10-06) 6 October 1973 (age 38) Llwydcoed, Aberdare, Cynon Valley, Wales, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Alice Evans (2007–present); 1 child

Ioan Gruffudd (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈjo.an ˈɡrɪfɪð] ( listen); born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh actor.

Having trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he started off in Welsh language film productions, then came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic (1997), and as Lt. John Beales in Black Hawk Down (2001). However, he is probably best known for playing the role of Horatio Hornblower in Hornblower, the British made-for-TV films (1998–2003) based on C. S. Forester's novels.

Gruffudd's other film roles include Lancelot in King Arthur (2004), Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) in Fantastic Four (2005) and the sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and British anti-slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce in Amazing Grace (2006). He played Tony Blair in W. (2008). He played the role of Andrew Martin in the US thriller television series, Ringer until the show's cancellation in 2012.

Family, early life and education[link]

Gruffudd was born on 6 October 1973 in Llwydcoed, near Aberdare, Cynon Valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Tâf, south Wales. Gruffudd's parents, Peter and Gillian (née James) Griffiths, were both teachers.^[1] His father was headmaster at two Welsh comprehensive schools in South Wales, first at Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari then later at Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen. He has two siblings; a brother, Alun,^[2] who is two years younger, and a sister, Siwan, who is seven years younger than he is.^[3] Gruffudd was raised in a Protestant non-conformist household.^[4]

The popular Welsh name "Ioan" is an equivalent of "John", and "Gruffudd" corresponds to the anglicised "Griffith". He has been quoted as saying, "I'm determined not to lose my name. It's who I am. It has neither aided my progress nor hampered it. It's just who I am. My character... my make-up. My culture and heritage is a very rich one. So what if it's difficult for people to pronounce? We all learned how to say Schwarzenegger."^[5]

During his childhood, his family moved to Cardiff.^[3] Gruffudd attended Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar (Ynyslwyd) (now located in Cwmdare), Ysgol Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd (in Whitchurch, Cardiff) and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf (in Llandaff).

He was an accomplished oboist in his teens,^[6] attaining a Grade 8 level in the ABRSM music examinations^[7] and playing for the South Glamorgan Youth Orchestra for several years,^[8] but gave it up once acting took up most of his time.^[9] He won prizes for his high baritone singing while at school, including one at the National Eisteddfod.^[7] He has said, "As a Welshman, I grew up in a culture of singing and performing with music, and I think it was through this performing that I got my confidence as an actor."^[10]

Gruffudd's parents are committed Christians, and in his early 20s, he was a member of the controversial London Church of Christ, but his mother later came to London to "sort [his] head out".^[11] In June 2007, he said that he "wouldn't describe myself as a deeply religious man".^[12]

Career[link]

Gruffudd started his acting career at the age of 13 in a Welsh television film called Austin (1986) and then later moved on to the Welsh language soap opera Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley) from 1987 to 1994.He also played football with the Pobol y Cwm football team Cwmderi FC alongside co-stars Hywel Emrys, Gwyn Elfyn and Ieuan Rhys. During this time, he was also active on stage, in school performances, and in the 1991 Urdd Eisteddfod production of Cwlwm.^{[citation needed]} In 1992, aged 18, he began attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. However, he was only given small parts in the Academy's productions, and feeling isolated and directionless, almost dropped out several times. However, in 1995 in his final year, he was cast in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler as George (Jörgen) Tesman, the husband of Hedda, the lead character. This performance led to him being offered the lead role in the 1996 TV remake of Poldark.^[6][13]

After playing Oscar Wilde's lover John Gray in 1997's Wilde he took his first international role as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the blockbuster film Titanic. He later landed the role of Horatio Hornblower in Hornblower, the Meridian production of the C. S. Forester novels (1998–2003), shown on ITV1 and A&E. Gruffudd has said: "It was quite something for an unknown actor to get the lead. So I will always be grateful to Hornblower. ... I would love to play this character through every stage of his life. I think it would be unique to have an actor playing him from the very early days as a midshipman, through till he's an Admiral. So, I would love to play this character till he perishes."^[10]

Since 20 February 2007, Gruffudd has been making plans to obtain rights to the Horatio Hornblower novels in order to produce a film for the big screen.^[14]

His television work includes playing the character Pip in the BBC TV production of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (1999), Lt. John Feeley in BBC One's "Warriors" (1999) and architect Philip Bosinney in ITV's adaptation of The Forsyte Saga (2002). He has starred in the films 102 Dalmatians (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001) and King Arthur (2004).

In 2007, he starred in the historical drama Amazing Grace as William Wilberforce, the British abolitionist, receiving critical acclaim for the role. Gruffudd has also portrayed characters of both Marvel Comics and DC Comics, having appeared as Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) in Marvel's Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and provided the voice of Mister Miracle in DC's Justice League Unlimited (2004-06).

In 2008, he appeared in the Julia Roberts-Ryan Reynolds film, Fireflies in the Garden. In 2008, he also appeared in The Secret of Moonacre. In 2009, he starred alongside Josh Brolin in W., a biopic about the life of U.S. President George W Bush, in which Gruffudd played Tony Blair. In 2011, he played the financier of a cave dive in Sanctum.

Apart from television and film work, he starred in the music video of Westlife's version of "Uptown Girl" (2001) alongside Claudia Schiffer,^[5][8] and on 7 July 2007 he was a presenter at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London.^[15]

Gruffudd is a native Welsh speaker. He was inducted into the Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain (the Bardic Order of Great Britain) at the highest rank of druid in the National Eisteddfod at Meifod, mid Wales, on 4 August 2003, with the bardic name "Ioan".^[1][16]

In July 2008 he featured in a promotional trailer in Welsh for BBC Wales, alongside fellow Welshmen Matthew Rhys and Gethin Jones, publicising BBC coverage of the 2008 National Eisteddfod of Wales in Cardiff.^[17]

Selected work[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Some information in this table was obtained from Ioan Gruffudd at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 15 May 2008.

Theatre[link]

Some information in this table was obtained from "Ioan Gruffudd CV". Hamilton Hodell Talent Management. http://www.hamiltonhodell.co.uk/page.asp?partid=91. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 

Personal life[link]

Gruffudd lives with his wife, actress Alice Evans, in Los Angeles, California. The couple met during the production of 102 Dalmatians, and married on 14 September 2007 in Mexico.^[20] One of Gruffudd's best men and speechmakers at the wedding was fellow Welsh actor Matthew Rhys, his long-time friend and former flatmate of eight years.^[2] On 20 April 2009, Gruffudd and his wife announced they were expecting their first child together.^[21] In 2009, the couple welcomed their first child.^[22]

Gruffudd enjoys being in Los Angeles because "it's the easiest place in the world to drive, and it's a real pleasure to do that in my black Jag XK8. I've gone all out."^[6] According to Gruffudd: "There's a physicality and confidence to Americans; they're very present. That's something I enjoy being around because it rubs off on you. Although an actor friend of mine visited recently and said, 'It's no wonder they write such terrible scripts these days, there's no pain! Everything's so nice you can't be bothered.'"^[23]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Hoggard, Liz (2005-07-02). "Ioan Gruffudd: Enter the dragon". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/features/ioan-gruffudd-enter-the-dragon-496974.html. 
• "Ioan Gruffudd biography". BBC Wales. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/ioan_gruffudd/pages/biography.shtml. Retrieved 2008-05-14. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ioan Gruffudd

• Ioan Gruffudd at the Internet Movie Database
• Ioan Gruffudd at the TCM Movie Database
• Ioan Gruffudd at AllRovi

Matthew Rhys
Rhys in June 2011
Born	Matthew Rhys Evans (1974-11-08) 8 November 1974 (age 37) Cardiff, Wales, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1997-present

For the rugby player see Matthew Rees. For the novelist, see Matt Rees.

Matthew Rhys Evans (born on 8 November 1974), known professionally as Matthew Rhys, is a Welsh actor, best known as Kevin Walker on the U.S. ABC family drama Brothers & Sisters, and as Dylan Thomas in The Edge of Love.

Early life[link]

Rhys was born in Cardiff, Wales, the son of Glyn Evans, a headmaster and Helen Evans, a special needs teacher. He grew up in Cardiff along with his older sister Rachel Evans, who is now a BBC broadcast journalist. Rhys was educated via the Welsh language (Cymraeg)-medium schools, Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd (in Whitchurch, Cardiff) and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf (in Llandaff North, Cardiff).

Aged 17, after playing Elvis Presley in a school musical, he applied and was accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. Shortly thereafter, in 1993, he was awarded the Patricia Rothermere Scholarship.^[1] During his time at RADA, Rhys appeared in Back-Up, the BBC police series about the operational support units Hooli Vans, as well as in House of America. He returned to Cardiff to act in his own language in the Welsh film, Bydd yn Wrol (Be Brave), for which he won Best Actor at the Bafta Cymru (Welsh BAFTAs).

Career[link]

Rhys at the 2007 GLAAD Awards

In January 1998, Rhys went to New Zealand to star in Greenstone, a colonial costume drama for television. He then landed a role in Titus, Julie Taymor's adaptation of Titus Andronicus, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. Next he played Ray in Peter Hewitt's film comedy, Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? After returning to Wales, he did two consecutive films with Jonathan Pryce: The Testimony of Taliesin Jones, a film about a dysfunctional single-parent family in which he played the elder son, and Sara Sugarman's comedy Very Annie Mary, in which he played the role of Nob. Rhys would later reunite with Very Annie Mary star Rachel Griffiths on Brothers & Sisters.

In 2000, Rhys played the lead role in Metropolis, a drama series for Granada TV about the lives of six twenty-somethings living in London. Next he starred in Peaches, the film of the play written and directed by Nick Grosso. Rhys starred as Benjamin in the 2000 world premiere of the stage adaptation of The Graduate, alongside Kathleen Turner at The Gielgud Theatre in London's West End.

Rhys traveled to Ireland to star in the 18th century swashbuckling adventure, The Abduction Club. He played the lead role of Darren Daniels in Tabloid, and then returned to New Zealand to shoot the epic drama Lost World for the BBC. His other film credits include the independent horror film Deathwatch in Prague and Fakers, a comic crime caper. He appeared opposite the late Brittany Murphy in the independent feature Love and Other Disasters, in Virgin Territory opposite Hayden Christensen, Tim Roth and Mischa Barton, and playing poet Dylan Thomas in the love quadrangle biopic The Edge of Love.

Rhys was adamant he could happily give up his career to play international rugby for his country.^[2]

On 15 July 2008, Rhys was honoured by Aberystwyth University as a Fellow.^[3] On 8 August 2008, he was honoured at the Welsh National Eisteddfod by being accepted as a member to the druidic order of the Gorsedd of the Bards,^[4] for his contributions to the Welsh language and Wales. His bardic name in the Gorsedd is Matthew Tâf. In August 2009, Rhys took to the stage with the National Youth Orchestra of Wales as part of the National Eisteddfod.^[5]

Airing on 10-11 January 2012, Rhys will appear in the BBC Two two-part drama adaptation (written by Gwyneth Hughes^[6] and directed by Diarmuid Lawrence) of Charles Dickens' last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, left unfinished at his death in 1870.^[7] The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) aired it as one feature-length episode on 15 April 2012.

In 2012 Rhys will reprise Sir Alec Guinness's 1959 double role of John Barratt/Jacques De Gué in a new adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's 1957 novel The Scapegoat. ^[8] The Scapegoat went into production on location in London in November 2011 and will be released for cinema audiences worldwide, a theatrical distribution managed by Content Media following its screening on ITV1 in April 2012. Also, in 2012, Rhys is set to play "Jimmy" with the Roundabout Theatre Company's Off-Broadway revival of John Osborne's play, Look Back in Anger. Look Back in Anger is set to open officially on 2 February at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. The production will play a limited engagement through 8 April 2012.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Rhys is close friends with actor Ioan Gruffudd, and they shared a house for nearly 10 years.^[2] He served as a best man at Gruffudd's wedding, and wrote a speech for the occasion.^[9] Both men are patrons of Trust PA, a UK spinal injuries charity.

Rhys is:

• Patron, Hijinx Theatre, based at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay
• Charity Champion, The Noah's Ark Appeal, a charity which raises funds for the development of the Children's Hospital of Wales.
• Patron, Iris Prize, Cardiff's International Gay and Lesbian Short Film Prize.^[10]

Selected filmography[link]

Theatre[link]

Other projects, contributions[link]

• Produced television documentary called Mr Hollywood a Matthew Rhys for S4C-TV (2010)^[12], about the life of Griffith J. Griffith, Welsh-American industrialist and philanthropist after whom Griffith Park is named.
• Wrote a book, Patagonia: Crossing the Plain (2010) - a photographic account of his month-long journey on horseback while filming a documentary on Patagonia, and the Welsh settlers who made it their home having journeyed from Wales in the late 19th century.
• Set up his own production company, Patagonia (2011), which has two projects in development. One of them involves the adaptation of a book called Operation Julie, written by Lyn Ebenezer^[13], about the biggest LSD drugs bust (taking place in Wales) in history, to which Rhys bought the film rights in December 2010.^[14][15][16]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Matthew Rhys at the Internet Movie Database
• The Think Tank
• Everything Carries Me To You

Owain Phyfe plays for an audience at a Renaissance fair in 2003

Owain Phyfe is a vocalist, instrumentalist, composer, and the founder of Nightwatch Recording, which concentrates on Renaissance and Medieval music.

Early years[link]

Phyfe grew up in a bilingual family with Welsh as a second language. Nourished by his grandparent's appreciation for song, Phyfe's study of languages in college and his travels abroad to England, France, and Spain as well as his experience later as a musician in New York City's Greenwich Village led to finding his own Renaissance spirit.^[1]

Beginnings[link]

In the mid-1980s, Phyfe and his wife Paula became festival performers at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. Spellbound by early music, Phyfe decided to develop a "singer of songs" persona. While researching late medieval and renaissance music, he found himself favoring faire life over the automotive engineering company he had started in 1983. "It became my dream to present the beauty of Renaissance music," Phyfe explained, "not as a documentary, but as a living expression."^[1]

Career[link]

He teamed up with the magical Renaissance Fair jam band CANTIGA in 1990 to form The New World Renaissance Band, specializing in the performance of ancient music in English, Spanish, Italian, Welsh, German, French, Provençal and Latin. He plays many traditional instruments including recorders, viola, cello, fiddle, and harp. He has performed across the U.S.,^[2] and his music has aired worldwide and on over 250 radio stations across North America. He has performed and offered workshops at many medieval recreationist, musical and Neo-Pagan events including the S.C.A.'s Pennsic War,^[3] the Michigan Renaissance Festival,^[4] Sirius Rising, Pagan Spirit Gathering^[5] and the Starwood Festival,^[6] both as a soloist and with the New World Renaissance Band.

Partial discography[link]

Owain Phyfe[link]

• 1995 - Sweet Was the Song (with L'Ensemble Josquin) (Nightwatch Recording)
• 1999 - Poets, Bards, & Singers of Songs (Nightwatch Recording)
• 2006 - Lágrimas de Sangría (The Jester's Court) (Nightwatch Recording)

New World Renaissance Band[link]

• 1992 - Live the Legend (Nightwatch Recording)
• 1995 - Where Beauty Moves and Wit Delights (Nightwatch Recording)
• 1996 - Odyssey (Nightwatch Recording)
• 2002 - Tales From the Vineyard (Nightwatch Recording)

Reviews[link]

Owain Phyfe[link]

• Revue Magazine June 1995
• Detroit Monthly March 1996
• WKBD-TV News Spotlight May 26, 1996

Albums[link]

• Renaissance Magazine Vol. 3 #2 Issue #10
• New Age Journal Mar/Ap 1994
• Sunday Oakland Press March 3rd, 1996
• Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Sept. 1997
• Magical Blend 1998 Issue #62
• Detroit Free Press Sept. 19th, 1999
• The Mists of Avalon - WDVR-FM

Awards[link]

• 1997 Cessés Mortels de Soupirer (Sigh no More, Mortals) - Best Music Video: Ohio's National Telly Awards
• 1997 Cessés Mortels de Soupirer (Sigh no More, Mortals) - Best Music Video: International Communicator Awards
• 2003 Texas Renaissance Festival: The Phillip Hafer (King Henry) Memorial MVP Award

References[link]

• Autobiography from concert program insert

1. ^ ^{a b} Owain Phyfe Appreciative Listener Society (OPALS)
2. ^ http://www.nightwatchrecording.com/calendar.owain.htm
3. ^ Pennsic.Net - Entertainers at Pennsic War
4. ^ Owain Phyfe article renaissance magazine
5. ^ Pagan Spirit Gathering 2008
6. ^ Starwood Festival 24 | Entertainment |ACE Pagan Magical Consciousness Gathering

External links[link]

• http://www.myspace.com/owainphyfe
• http://www.nightwatchrecording.com
• http://www.owainphyfe.com