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Medieval Welsh PoetryFrom ca.1100 until ca.1600 Welsh poetry can be divided roughly into two distinct periods: the period of the Poets of the Princes who worked before the loss of Welsh independence in 1282 and the Poets of the Nobility who worked from 1282 until the period of the English incorporation of Wales in the sixteenth century. Poets of the Princes (ca.1100-ca.1300) In Welsh this period is known as Beirdd y Tywysogion (=Poets of the princes) or Y Gogynferidd (=The not so early poets). The main source for the poetry of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is the Hendregadredd manuscript, an anthology of court poetry brought together at the Cistercian Strata Florida Abbey from about 1282 untill 1350. The poets of this period were professionals who worked in the various princely courts in Wales. They were members of a Guild of poets whose rights and responsibilities were enshrined in native Welsh law. The pencerdd (=chief musician) was the top of his profession and a special chair was set aside for him in the court. When he performed he was expected to sing twice: once in honour of God, and once in honour of the king. The bardd teulu (=retinue poet) was one of the twenty-four officers of the court and he was responsible for singing for the military retinue before going into battle, and for the queen in the privacy of her chamber. The lowest ranking poets were the cerddorion (=musicians). The poetry praises the military prowess of the prince in a language that is deliberately antiquarian and obscure, echoing the earlier praise poetry tradition of Taliesin. There is also some religious poems and poetry in praise of women. With the death of the last native prince of Wales in 1282 the tradition gradually disappears. In fact, Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch's (fl. 1277-83) elegy on the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, is one of the most notable poems of the era. Other prominent poets of this period include: - Bleddyn Fardd, fl. ca. 1258-1284;
- Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr; fl. ca. 1155-95;
- Dafydd Benfras, fl. ca. 1220-58; and
- Llywarch ap Llywelyn (also known as Prydydd y Moch), fl. 1174/5-1220.
Poets of the Nobility, or, Cywyddwyr (ca.1300-ca.1600) The poetic tradition thrived in Wales as long as there were patrons available to welcome its practitioners. The fact that, until 1282, Wales consisted of a number of 'kingdoms', each with its own independent ruler, ensured that there was no shortage of courts available to the travelling professional poet or "bard". After 1282 the poetic tradition survived by turning to the land-owning nobility to act as patrons, and these included some Norman lords who had successfully integrated themselves with the Welsh. Much of the poetry of this period is praise poetry – praise of the patron and his family, his ancestors, his house and his generosity – and the cywydd is the most popular poetic meter used. Because of the popularity of the cywydd this period is also known as the period of the Cywyddwyr (=poets who write using the cywydd meter). The poetry was very often sung to the accompaniment of the harp. Though praise was the main matter of poetry, satire (in Welsh, dychan) also thrived. The poets organised themselves into a Guild to protect their professional status, and from time to time their rules were revised and updated. Perhaps the most important being the decisions concerning patronage and poetic rank made at the Caerwys eisteddfod of 1523. The work of numerous poets of this period survives, some are anonymous, but very many are identified. Here are a few of the most prominent and influential are listed: Dafydd ap Gwilym (ca.1315/1320-ca.1350/1370) Wales's greatest poet worked during the period of the Poets of the Nobility. For more information about his life and work, see Dafydd ap Gwilym Iolo Goch (ca.1325-ca.1398) From the Vale of Clwyd, Iolo bridged between the period of the Poets of the Princes and Poets of the Nobility. Early in his career he composed in the tradition of the Poets of the Princes but he was among the first to sing the praises of the nobles and others using the cywydd meter. His main patron was Ithel ap Robert from Coedymynydd near Caerwys. Perhaps his most famous work is a cywydd poem in praise of Owain Glyndwr's home at Sycharth. Sin Cent (ca.1400-1430/1445) Traditionally associated with Brecknockshire, Sin is most famous for using his poetry in the service of his Christian beliefs and standing outside the tradition of praise of patron. He uses the cywydd meter for his work but in order to attack the sins of this world. Perhaps his most famous poem is I wagedd ac oferedd y byd (=In praise of the vanity and wantoness of the world). He turns his back on the praise of nobles which he sees as flattery and falsehood and sets his eyes on the blessedness of heaven. Guto'r Glyn (ca.1435-ca.1493) Guto is associated with Glyn Ceiriog, Wrexham (formerly Denbighshire), where many of his patrons lived. He also wrote poems for other patrons in the four corners of Wales whose houses he visited on his journerys. He was a master of the praise tradition in poetry. Guto was also a soldier who fought on the Yorkist side during the War of the Roses, but spent his last years as a lay guest at the Cistercian abbey of Valle Crucis, near Llangollen. Dafydd Nanmor (fl. 1450-1490) Dafydd, born at Nanmor (or Nantmor), Gwynedd, is one of the most significant poets of this period. It is said that he was exiled to south Wales for over-stepping the mark in his poetry and spent the rest of his life outside Gwynedd. His work was seen to have particular significance by the twentieth-century critic Saunders Lewis. Lewis saw him a poet of philosophy who praised the ideal ruler as he praised his patrons who saw that within the Welsh tradition all who had privilege and power also had responsibilities towards family, community and nation. Tudur Aled (ca.1465-ca.1525) Tudur was himself a nobleman and one of the greatest of the Poets of the Nobility. Born in Llansannan, Conwy, his most important patrons were the Salisbury family of Dyffryn Clwyd. He was one of the instigators of the Caerwys eisteddfod of 1523. In his final illness he took the habit of Order of St. Francis and died in Carmarthen, where he was buried in the Brothers' Court. At his death the elegies his fellow poets wrote in his memory attested to his greatness as a poet. He was renowned as a praise poet of both secular and religious noblemen, and also reflects the changes at the beginning of the sixteenth century which were threatening the future of the bardic system. Gruffudd Hiraethog (d.1564) A native of Llangollen, Gruffudd was one of the foremost poets of the sixteenth century to use the cywydd meter. Though he was member of the medieval guild of poets and notable upholder of that tradition, he was also closely associated with William Salesbury, Wales' leading Renaissance scholar. In fact one of the first Welsh to be published was Gruffudd's collection of proverbs in 1547, Oll synnwyr pen Kembero ygyd (=The sense of a Welshman's mind collected together). Other voices in poetry 1300-1600 Not all of the poetry which survives from this period belongs to the tradition of the praise poetry of the nobility. Some groups of poets and genres of poetry stood completely outside that tradition. Women seem to be totally excluded from the Welsh poetic guild, or Order of bards. But we do know that some women did master the Welsh poetic craft and wrote poetry at this time, but only the work of one woman has survived in significant numbers, that of Gwerful Mechain. The prophetic poetry (Welsh: canu brud) was a means of reacting to and commenting upon political situations and happenings. This poetry is intentionally ambiguous and difficult to understand. But at its heart it prophesies victory for the Welsh over their enemies, the English. This poetry looked towards a man of destiny who would free them from their oppressors. With the victory of the 'Welshman' Henry VII in 1485 at the battle of Bosworth the poets believed that the prophecies had been fulfilled and the tradition comes to an end. Satire poetry (Welsh:canu dychan) was part of the 'official' poets' repertoire and sparingly used within the praise tradition to chastise a miserly patron. But it was in private poetic bouts with fellow poets that the satire tradition flourished. Sources/Bibliography Poets of the Princes - McKenna, Catherine A. (Ed.) (1991), The medieval Welsh religious lyric : poems of the Gogynfeirdd, 1137-1282. Belmont : Ford & Baillie. ISBN 0926689029.
- Williams, J. E. Caerwyn (1994), The poets of the Welsh princes. Writers of Wales series. Cardiff : University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1206-3.
Poets of the Nobility, or, Cywyddwyr - Rowlands, Eurys I. (Ed.) (1976), Poems of the Cywyddwyr. Mediaeval and modern Welsh series. Dublin : Dublin Institute. ISBN 0000171085.
Iolo Goch - Johnston, Dafydd (Ed.) (2001), Iolo Goch : poems. Welsh Classics series. Llandysul : Gomer Press. ISBN 0863837077. Translated into English with an introduction.
Other voices in poetry 1300-1600 - Johnston, Dafydd (Ed.) (1998), Canu maswedd yr Oesoedd Canol = Medieval Welsh erotic poetry. Bridgend : Seren. ISBN 1854112341.
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