Medieval Welsh Genealogy: An Introduction and Textual Study

550 Pages·2020·9.993 MB·English

by  Ben Guy

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Genealogy was a central element of life in medieval Wales. It
was the force that held society together and the framework e
for all political action. For these reasons, genealogical writing in d
medieval Wales, as elsewhere in Europe, became a fundamental i
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tool for representing and manipulating perceptions of the
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socio-political order across historical and literary time. a
From its beginnings within an early medieval Insular genre l

of genealogical writing, Welsh genealogy developed across W
the Middle Ages as a unique and pervasive phenomenon.
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This book provides the first integrated study of and
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comprehensive introduction to genealogy in medieval Wales,

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setting it in the context of genealogical writing from Ireland,
England and beyond and tracing its evolution from the
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eighth to the sixteenth century. The three most important n
collections of secular genealogies are carefully analysed and e
their composition is considered in relation to medieval Welsh a y
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politics. Particular attention is devoted to the pedigrees of the l u
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kings and princes of Gwynedd, which were subject to many
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intricate alterations over time. The book also includes fresh
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critical editions of the most significant extant collections of
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secular genealogy. t
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BEN GUY is a Junior Research Fellow at Robinson College,
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Cambridge. n
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Studies in Celtic History
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General editors: dauvit Broun, Máire ní MhaonaiGh, huw Pryce ti
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B u
d
Design: Toni Michelle e
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Cover image: A fifteenth-century genealogical roll in the hand of Gutun Owain, showing Brutus and his n r
three sons. Flintshire Record Office, D/LE 1389. Used with the kind permission of the Principal Archivist. G t
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Ben Guy

Studies in Celtic History XLII
MEDIEVAL WELSH GENEALOGY
STUDIES IN CELTIC HISTORY
ISSN 0261-9865
General editors
Dauvit Broun
Máire Ní Mhaonaigh
Huw Pryce
Studies in Celtic History aims to provide a forum for new research into all aspects of the
history of Celtic-speaking peoples throughout the whole of the medieval period. The term
‘history’ is understood broadly: any study, regardless of discipline, which advances our
knowledge and understanding of the history of Celtic-speaking peoples will be considered.
Studies of primary sources, and of new methods of exploiting such sources, are encouraged.
Founded by Professor David Dumville, the series was relaunched under new editorship
in 1997. Proposals or queries may be sent directly to the editors at the addresses given below;
all submissions will receive prompt and informed consideration before being sent to expert
readers.
Professor Dauvit Broun, Department of History (Scottish), University of Glasgow,
9 University Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QH
Professor Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, St John’s College, Cambridge CB2 1TP
Professor Huw Pryce, School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences, Bangor University,
Gwynedd LL57 2DG
For titles already published in this series
see the end of this volume
MEDIEVAL WELSH GENEALOGY
AN INTRODUCTION AND TEXTUAL STUDY

BEN GUY
THE BOYDELL PRESS
© Ben Guy 2020
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of Ben Guy to be identified
as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2020
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
ISBN 978-1-78327-513-7
The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
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website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A catalogue record of this publication is available
from the British Library
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of URLs for external or
third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such
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This publication is printed on acid-free paper
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgements xii
List of Abbreviations xiv
A Note on Orthography, Manuscripts, Tables and Translations xvii
1. Medieval Welsh Genealogy and its Contexts 1
Kinship and Society in Medieval Wales 4
Literary Genealogy in the Insular World 12
Formal and Structural Conventions of Insular Literary Genealogy 20
Literary Genealogy in Medieval Wales 32
Modern Approaches to Medieval Welsh Genealogy 46
2. The Earliest Welsh Genealogical Collections: The St Davids Recension and the 51
Gwynedd Collection of Genealogies
The Harleian Genealogies 53
The St Davids Recension in Llancarfan 79
3. A Southern Genealogical Anthology: The Jesus 20 Genealogies 101
The Manuscript 102
The Extant Form of the Jesus 20 Genealogies 106
The Jesus 20 Genealogies, Source II 113
The Jesus 20 Genealogies, Source I 129
The Sources of the Morgan ab Owain Genealogies 150
Contents
4. Reframing the Welsh Past in Early Thirteenth-Century Gwynedd: 159
The Llywelyn ab Iorwerth Genealogies
Textual History 160
Textual Analysis 200
5. The Pedigrees of the Kings of Gwynedd 233
Early Versions Traced through Cunedda Wledig 233
The Pedigree from Beli Mawr to Adam 235
The Pedigree of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd 243
The Exeter 3514 Genealogies 249
Mortimer Genealogies 256
The Fifteenth-Century Extended Galfridian Pedigree 258
Coda 265
Appendix A: Supporting Material 269
A.2.1: Manuscripts of the St Cadog Genealogies 269
A.2.2: The St Cadog Genealogies 272
A.2.3: Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Use of the St Davids Recension 276
A.3.1: The Contents of Jesus 20 281
A.3.2: The Jesus 20 King-list 283
A.3.3: Pedigrees from the Pseudo-Rhodri Mawr Recension 288
A.3.4: A Welsh Version of the Brychan Narrative: Sarth Marthin gynt, ynawr 292
Brycheiniawc
A.3.5: Witnesses to the Ceredig Tract 294
A.3.6: The Sons of Glywys 297
A.4.1: Witnesses to Ieuan Brechfa’s Lost Manuscript(s) 299
A.4.2: Witnesses to Henry Salesbury’s Lost Manuscript 302
A.4.3: Bonedd y Llwythau 304
A.4.4: Additional Material in Llyma Dalm o Weheliaethau a Llwythau Cymru 313
vi
Contents
A.4.5: The Use of De gestis Britonum in the Pedigree of Beli Mawr 316
A.4.6: The Use of Historia Gruffud vab Kenan in the Llywelyn ab Iorwerth 320
Genealogies
A.4.7: Pedigrees from the St Davids Recension 322
A.5.1: Cyprius quidam filius Ieuan and its Relatives 324
A.5.2: The Fifteenth-Century Extended Galfridian Pedigree 328
Appendix B: Editions 333
B.1: The St Davids Recension 333
B.2: The Jesus 20 Genealogies 338
B.3: Gwehelyth Morgannwg 345
B.4: The Llywelyn ab Iorwerth Genealogies 349
B.5: The Gutun Owain Recension of the Llywelyn ab Iorwerth Genealogies 390
B.6: Llyma Dalm o Weheliaethau a Llwythau Cymru 414
B.7: Llyma Frychan Brycheiniog a’i blant 421
B.8: Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd 427
B.9: The Mostyn Genealogies 429
B.10: The Cwtta Cyfarwydd Genealogies 431
B.11: Brenhinllwyth Morgannwg 435
Bibliography 439
General Index 467
Index of Genealogies 483
Index of Manuscripts 521
vii
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
1.1: Einion ap Gwalchmai’s ancestry through achau’r mamau 25
1.2: The Northumbrian pedigrees in the Anglian collection of royal genealogies and 27
regnal lists (Cotton Vespasian B. vi)
1.3: The pedigrees in the Scottish genealogical collection of 995 × 997 (TCD 1298 28
(H.2.7), part i and the Book of Leinster)
1.4: Bleddyn Fardd’s poetic genealogy of Owain Goch 36
2.1: The proposed relationships between the Harleian genealogies, the Jesus 20 68
genealogies and the Historia Brittonum
2.2: The genealogical scheme of the St Cadog genealogies 80
3.1: The textual connections of the elements of the Jesus 20 genealogies that derive 123
from the pseudo-Rhodri Mawr recension
3.2: The possible derivation of Bangar m. Gardan from Bonedd y Saint 141
3.3: The rulers of Morgannwg in the late tenth and eleventh centuries 145
3.4: The transmission of the Morgan ab Owain genealogies 147
3.5: Summary of the textual development of the Jesus 20 genealogies 157
4.1: The X-branch 163
4.2: The Π sub-branch 167
4.3: The Gutun Owain recension 174
4.4: The southern tradition 182
4.5: Peniarth 127i and its relatives 190
4.6: The Henry Salesbury recension 197
4.7: Llywelyn ab Iorwerth’s pedigrees (LlIG 11) 203
5.1: Galfridian history in Gutun Owain’s pedigree roll 259
viii