Vavasor (or Vavasour) Powell (161727 October 1670) was a Welsh Puritan and Fifth Monarchist, imprisoned for his role in a plot to depose King Charles II. Early life Powell was born in Knucklas, Radnorshire and may have been educated at Jesus College, Oxford. He returned to Wales as a schoolmaster (1638–9) during which time he was converted to the Puritan understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ under the preaching of the Puritan Walter Cradock and through the writings of Richard Sibbs (1577–1635) and William Perkins (1558–1602). Preaching In about 1639 Powell became an itinerant preacher and was arrested twice for preaching in various parts of Wales in 1640. However, he was not punished and during the Civil War he preached in and around London. In the same year he was the first minister of Pendref Chapel, Llanfyllin, which is said to be the oldest Welsh independent church in Powys. On 26 December 1641 he was preaching in Llanyre Parish Church in Rhos when he was forcibly removed by Hugh Lloyd and twelve armed men and imprisoned. In 1646, when Parliament's victory was certain, Powell returned to Wales having received a "certificate of character" from the Westminster Assembly, although he had refused to be ordained by the Presbyterians. With a salary granted to him by parliament he resumed his itinerant preaching in Wales. Advisor to Parliament and controversy In 1650 Parliament appointed a commission for the better propagation and preaching of the gospel in Wales, with Powell acting as one of the principal advisers of this body. For three years he was actively employed in removing from their parishes those ministers whom he regarded as incompetent. During this time Powell was involved in a controversy with Welsh poet Katherine Philips. Powell had published a poem celebrating the regicide of Charles I, and Philips responded with hers, Upon the Double Murder of King Charles in Answer to a Libellous Rhyme made by V.P. This was one of her first forays into political writing, and she is one of the first women to do so in literature. When it became apparent the poem may be published, and so embarrass her husband James Philips, she was forced to apologise. She did so in the form of another poem but whilst distancing herself from the views of her husband she reinforced her criticism of Powell. Preaching in London and royal plot In 1653 Powell