Owain Cyfeiliog

Owain ap Gruffudd or Owain Cyfeiliog was a Welsh nobleman and poet who ruled over one of the successor lordships of the kingdom of Powys after the death of Madog ap Maredudd, last king of Powys, in 1160. He was called Owain Cyfeiliog to distinguish him from the other Owain ap Gruffudd of his generation, that is, Owain Gwynedd.

Owain was the son of Gruffudd ap Maredudd (and thus grandson of Maredudd ap Bleddyn) and nephew of Madog ap Maredudd. Madog gave his nephew the cantref of Cyfeiliog to rule in 1147. On Madog's death in 1160 Owain became the ruler of most of southern Powys (this became known as Powys Wenwynwyn after it was inherited by his son). He married Gwenllian, one of the daughters of Owain Gwynedd.

He is recorded as having been in alliance with the other Welsh princes to withstand the invasion of 1165 by King Henry II of England. Thereafter he usually followed a policy of supporting the English crown. In 1170, he gave land for the founding of the abbey of Strata Marcella. In 1188, however, he refused to meet or support Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury and Giraldus Cambrensis when they journeyed around Wales to raise men for a crusade, and was excommunicated as a result.

In 1195, Owain handed the rule of most of his realm to his son Gwenwynwyn and retired to the abbey of Strata Marcella, where he died and was buried two years later. His illegitimate son, Cadwallon, was given the commotes of Llannerch Hudol and Broniarth.

Owain also appears in the romance Fouke le Fitz Waryn as a knight who strikes Fulk with a spear.