The Welsh Language before the Industrial Revolution

Edited by Geraint H. Jenkins

`The word "stimulating" may be a reviewer’s cliché, but nevertheless that is the very word which came to my mind after reading this book, for not only did it make me revise some received opinions about the history of the language, but more importantly it left me with a vivid sense of the vitality and resilience of the Welsh language, and of its central importance in forming the identity of the Welsh people. To use another cliché which has never been more appropriately applied, this is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of Wales.' (Welsh History Review)

'Using many new approaches the contributing authors, all expert in their specialist fields, explore their different themes within highly innovative interdisciplinary frameworks . . . This pioneering volume must thus be regarded as an impressive demonstration of how unconventional sources can be exploited for particular ends. So, apart from the intrinsic personal interests that this book may have for individual readers, it must be regarded as a superb demonstration of methodology and analysis, data exploitation and management which, through the scholarly application of techniques, throws considerable new light on community life in past times.' (Family & Community History)

This is the first volume in a pioneering series of authoritative studies on the social history of the Welsh language, a massive and intimidating field of study which has yet to receive the attention it deserves.

The Welsh Language before the Industrial Revolution comprises twelve chapters, all written by acknowledged experts in their fields. With the exception of the opening chapter, which is devoted to the history of the Welsh language in the Middle Ages, this volume deals mainly with the period between the Acts of Union and the Industrial Revolution. The status of the language in matters relating to politics, administration and law is discussed, as well as its place in the fields of religion, education and scholarship. New light is shed on Welsh as a spoken language as well as its geographical distribution, and particular attention is paid to the endeavours made to raise the status and esteem of the Welsh language in order to remove the stigma placed upon it by the celebrated 'language clause' of 1536.

The projected series on 'The Social History of the Welsh Language' - the fruits of the second major research project of the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies of the University of Wales - will interest and intrigue the general public as well as specialists in the field and help readers to familiarize themselves with the history of a language which, over the centuries, has been an integral part of the everyday life of the Welsh people and of their sense of nationhood.

'Contributors to this volume include some of the greatest of modern Welsh historians . . . an accessible and scholarly work . . . a masterly scholarly overview . . . this book not only brings the past to life, it illuminates the present.' (New Welsh Review)

‘ . . . anybody interested in national identity, state formation or popular culture will find a good deal of interest in these fine and substantial essays.’ (English Historical Review)

Contents: Introduction - Geraint H. Jenkins; 1. The Welsh Language before 1536 -Llinos Beverley Smith; 2. The Welsh Language in Early Modern Wales - Geraint H. Jenkins, Richard Suggett and Eryn M. White; 3. Tudor Legislation and the Political Status of 'the British Tongue' - Peter R. Roberts; 4. The Welsh Language and the Court of Great Sessions - Richard Suggett; 5. The Welsh Language in Local Government: Justices of the Peace and the Courts of Quarter Sessions c. 1536-1800 - J. Gwynfor Jones; 6. Unity of Religion or Unity of Language? Protestants and Catholics and the Welsh Language 1536-1660 - Glanmor Williams; 7. The Established Church, Dissent and the Welsh Language c.1660-1811 - Eryn M. White; 8. Humanist Learning, Education and the Welsh Language 1536-1660 - William P. Griffith; 9. Popular Schooling and the Welsh Language 1650-1800 - Eryn M. White; 10. The Welsh Language in Scholarship and Culture 1536-1660 - R. Geraint Gruffydd; 11. The Cultural Uses of the Welsh Language 1660-1800 - Geraint H. Jenkins; 12. The Celtic Languages of Britain - Brynley F. Roberts

Contributors: Dr William P. Griffith, Lecturer, School of History and Welsh History, University of Wales, Bangor. Professor Emeritus R. Geraint Gruffydd, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. Professor Geraint H. Jenkins, Director, University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. Professor J. Gwynfor Jones, School of History and Archaeology, University of Wales, Cardiff. Dr Brynley F. Roberts, Former Librarian, National Library of Wales. Dr Peter R. Roberts, Lecturer, School of History, University of Kent at Canterbury and Honorary Fellow, University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. Dr Llinos Beverley Smith, Senior Lecturer, Department of History and Welsh History, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Mr Richard Suggett, Investigator, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Dr Eryn M. White, Lecturer, Department of History and Welsh History, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Sir Glanmor Williams, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, University of Wales, Swansea

Cover illustration: Ivor Davies, Beth yw bod yn Genedl? . . . A Celtic and Welsh Pantheon (1995), oil on canvas (detail). By permission of the artist and the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies.

Gweler hefyd Y Gymraeg yn ei Disgleirdeb: Yr Iaith Gymraeg cyn y Chwyldro Diwydiannol.