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DAFYDD ap MAREDUDD GLAIS (fl. 1429-1468), cleric, murderer, civic official, and translator of a chronicle of the kings of England into Welsh

He was the son of Maredudd Glais, a man who filled a number of municipal offices in Aberystwyth and Llanbadarn between 1411 and 1458. The date of Dafydd's birth is not known and the earliest mention of him in the records is as a pledge with John Robury and Griffith Prouth for Thomas Kirkham, abbot of Vale Royal, in respect of a fine in 1429. The three are described as clerics, and they undoubtedly belonged to the church of Llanbadarn, which had been appropriated to Vale Royal since 1360. In 1442, he was convicted of the murder of Griffith Prouth, but, being in holy orders, he was not condemned to death. The names of the pledges for his fine are preserved in the ministers' accounts for Cardiganshire.

In 1444, he wrote Peniarth MS 22, which contains a copy of the Welsh version of Geoffrey of Monmouth's 'Historia Regum Britanniae,' and his own translation of the chronicle of the kings of England from Latin into Welsh.

Deprived of his orders, he followed his family's municipal tradition, and his name appears as provost of Aberystwyth in 1459-62 and in 1467-8.

Author

• Evan David Jones, (1903 - 1987)

Sources

• 'Public Record Office - Ministers' Accounts.' 1160 et seq.
• Peniarth MS 22 in the National Library of Wales

Further Reading

• Wikipedia Article: Dafydd ap Maredudd Glais

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q20732733

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/