The tenants of the barons were restless and rebellious; they said
they were free, that they would not work as serfs, that they would
not bring food rents, but that they would pay a fixed rent for every
acre they held.
At Ruthin, in the Vale of Clwyd, there was a baron called Lord Grey;
and in the valley of the Dee there was a Welsh squire called Owen
Glendower. Their lands met, and Grey took part of Owen's sheep walk.
Owen had been a law student at Westminster, and he had served Henry
of Lancaster. In 1399 Richard II. had been dethroned, and the barons
had made Henry of Lancaster king as Henry IV. Owen saw, however,
that the king was too weak to curb his lawless barons, and in 1400 he
attacked Lord Grey, and burnt Ruthin.
The rebellion that had long been smouldering burst into a flame all
over the country. Owen was at once welcomed by the bard, the friar,
and the peasant. The bard hailed his star as that of the heir of the
princes, who had come to deliver his country. The friar welcomed him
as the friend of the poor and of learning; and unruly students from
Oxford, then the centre of a great intellectual awakening, flocked
home to march under his banner. The peasant welcomed him as his
protector against the steward of his lord.
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