Origins
Most of the surviving manuscripts of Welsh law start with a preamble explaining how the laws were codified by Hywel. The introduction to the Book of Blegywryd is a typical example:
| “ | Hywel the Good, son of Cadell, by the grace of God, king of all Wales… summoned to him from every commote of his kingdom six men who were practised in authority and jurisprudence… to the place called the White House on the Taf in Dyfed. … And at the end of Lent the king selected from that assembly the twelve most skilled laymen of his men and the one most skilled scholar who was called Master Blegywryd, to form and interpret for him and for his kingdom, laws and usages… | ” |
The description of Hywel as "king of all Wales" suggests a date between 942 and Hywel's death in 950 for this council. However the Welsh laws have many points of similarity to the Brehon laws in Ireland and some parts probably date from long before Hywel's time. What was produced by Hywel's council was not a set of entirely new laws, rather as described in the preamble to the Book of Iorwerth:
| “ | And by the common counsel and agreement of the wise men who came there they examined the old laws, and some of them they allowed to continue, others they amended, others they wholly deleted, and others they laid down anew. | ” |
The "White House on the Taf" is Whitland (Welsh: Hen Dŷ Gwyn ar Daf). Other kings are said to have introduced later modifications to the laws, for example Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, king of Gwynedd and Powys in the mid 11th century.
Historians are divided as to whether the story of the council at Whitland can be regarded as having a basis in fact, since there is no contemporary record in the annals of such a council. K. L. Maund suggests that:
| “ | it is not impossible that the association of Hywel with the law reflects more on twelfth- and thirteenth century south Welsh attempts to re-establish the importance and influence of their line in an age dominated by the princes of Gwynedd. | ” |
On the other hand, the Iorwerth versions, produced in Gwynedd, have exactly the same attribution of the law to Hywel and the council at Whitland as do the southern versions.
Read more about this topic: Welsh Law
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