Cadwgan was king of Powys and lord of Ceredigion. His son Owen “possessed the best and the worst characteristics of the Cymric princely families.” On Christmas, 1108, Cadwgan held a great eisteddfod at Cardigan, to which he invited all the kings, princes, and chiefs of the three kingdoms of Wales. To this gathering came Nest, daughter of Rhys, king of Deheubarth, who had been sent as a child as hostage to the English court, and Henry I. had basely taken advantage of her unprotected position to seduce her. He, however, quickly married her to Gerald of Windsor, whom he appointed Governor of Dyfed, with his residence at Pembroke. She was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, and Owen, son of Cadwgan, seeing her at his father’s court, fell desperately in love with her. Assembling some wild fellows, he went with them to Pembroke, attacked the castle and set it on fire. Gerald had only time to escape by a drain, and so save himself, but Nest and his two children were taken by Owen, who carried them off to Plas Eliseg. This created a great commotion. King Cadwgan, fearing for the consequences, went promptly to his son and commanded him to restore at once the fair Nest to her husband. But the turbulent and enamoured Owen refused to give back the lady, and only reluctantly returned the children to their father. This outrage was the occasion of civil war. Gerald of Windsor, with his followers, raged against the Welsh, destroying all around them with fire and sword. Two uncles of Owen, Ithel and Madog, were goaded on by the unscrupulous Bishop of London to take up arms and kill or capture Owen and his father, the king of Powys, who was guiltless of connivance in the abduction of Nest. Two other Welsh princes associated themselves with Ithel and Madog, urged by revenge, as Owen had killed their brothers; and these foes solemnly vowed to bring Owen and his father, alive or dead, to the bishop, who was at Shrewsbury. They marched into Ceredigion, laying waste the country as they went, and unless the inhabitants had been forewarned all would have been butchered. The day before these blood-thirsty human hunters reached the coast Owen had fled to Ireland, and Ceredigion was devastated, every house and church burnt, and every human being come across was massacred. Cadwgan appealed to King Henry, protesting his innocence, and at last the English king consented to allow him to return to desolated Ceredigion, but exacted from him a fine; however, he allowed Ithel and Madog to keep possession of Powys.