Owain ffeil Tomos

Owain ffeil Tomos, also known as Yvain de Cambrie or Owain Man Rhys, was the great-grandson of the deposed Duke Llewfelen of Gwenedd. Having left his family's native Kemr, he gathered about him a band of areound six hundred mercenaries and went on to make a name for himself in the Anglo-French wars, acquitting himself honourably before the King of France "terminated his contract".

He then approached King Iewan I of Kemr, hoping for his line and the royal line to be reconciled after his great-grandfather's rebellion and exile. The King agreed to accept Owain's overtures and lift the exile on his family, issuing the following famous dictum as his price: "Dear nephew, would'st thou go to the Arvorec Islands and demand tribute from them for their rightful overlords." As such, Owain took his six hundred men and landed at Gwaron Bay in Saern, in the August of 1372. The invaders drove the wholly surprised islanders back to Porthbelen, and a pitched battle took place above the town. The Arvorchedeth were sorely defeated and fell back to Dun Belen, the king's residence, where Owain's forces laid seige to them.

The seige was broken a month later when the massed forces of all the Isles bore down on Porthbelen. Action against his forces was somewhat impossible though, as Owain held the Archdruid and the King's wife as hostages and was threatening to burn down the (stone-built) Royal Castle. In the end he had to be given a huge amount of tribute to just go away and not make a fuss. Rather surprised at Owain's success, the King of Cambria did indeed lift his exile and made him Lord of Canwy. He was, however, assasinated six years later by the English.