YOUNG, GRUFFYDD (c. 1370 - c. 1435), cleric, and supporter of Owain Glyndŵr

Of illegitimate birth, he appears to have won the favour of Anne of Bohemia, queen of Richard II (Cal. Pap. Letters, iv, 445; v, 239), and between 1391 and 1403 held numerous benefices in the dioceses of Bangor and S. Davids - Llanynys, Llanbadarn-fawr, prebends of Garthbrengy, Boughrood, Lampeter, Bangor (Cal. Pat. R., 1388-92, 355; ibid., 1391-6, 16; (Cal. Pap. Letters, v, 239, 412, 521), vicar-general of S. Davids (Regg. St. Davids, 18-22) and archdeacon of Merioneth (Willis, Bangor, 140). About 1403, he allied himself with Owain Glyndŵr, became his chancellor, and was in Paris in 1404 with John Trevor negotiating a treaty of alliance with Charles VI. He was probably responsible for the ' Pennal policy,' whereby Glyndŵr agreed to transfer the allegiance of the Welsh church from Rome to Benedict XIII of Avignon (Lloyd, Owen Glendower, 121-2), and in February 1407 was provided to the bishopric of Bangor, possibly as the result of intrigues on his part against bishop Lewis Byford. In April 1407 he was translated to S. Davids, designed by the ' Pennal policy ' as the metropolitan see of Wales. By 1408 the power of Glyndŵr was on the wane, and although Young remained in touch with him to the end, he abandoned the Avignonese policy when the Council of Constance brought the schism to an end with the election of pope Martin V in 1417. Appointed bishop of Ross by Martin in 1418, he was never effectively in control of the diocese and in 1423 he was translated to the bishopric of Hippo ' in partibus infidelium,' being allowed to hold 'in commendam' benefices in the provinces of Reims and Tours. He was still calling himself bishop of Ross in 1430 and was alive in 1432.

Author

• Professor Glyn Roberts, (1904 - 1962)

Sources

• J. R. Gabriel, 'Wales and the Avignonese Papacy, (Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1923)
• J. E. Lloyd, Owen Glendower / Owen Glyn Dwr (1931), passim
• T. Matthews, Welsh Records in Paris (Carmarthen 1910), 123-6

Further Reading

• Wikipedia Article: Gruffydd Young

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q13128784

Published date: 1959

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