The Peniarth Manuscripts, also known as the Hengwrt–Peniarth Manuscripts, are a collection of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Welsh manuscripts now held by the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. The collection was originally assembled by Robert Vaughan (c. 1592–1667) of Hengwrt,

Merioneth , HQ= Dolgellau , Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= , Status= , Start= 1284 , End= , Code= MER , CodeName= ...

shire, and in the 19th century was housed at Peniarth Mansion,

Llanegryn Llanegryn is a village and a community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It was formerly part of the historic county of Merionethshire ( cy, Meirionnydd, Sir Feirionnydd). It is located within Snowdonia National Park south of the Snowdonia (''Eryri ...

, Merioneth. It contains some of the oldest and most important Welsh manuscripts in existence. The collection was sold in 1898 by William Wynne VII of Peniarth to Sir John Williams. When the plan to establish a National Library of Wales emerged, Williams promised that he would donate his valuable collection, including the Peniarth Manuscripts, on the condition that the library be based in Aberystwyth. This condition was met, and Sir John duly donated the collection to the National Library. The collection includes treasures such as the Black Book of Carmarthen, Book of Taliesin and

White Book of Rhydderch The White Book of Rhydderch (Welsh: ''Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch'', National Library of Wales, Peniarth MS 4-5) is one of the most notable and celebrated surviving manuscripts in Welsh. Mostly written in southwest Wales in the middle of the 14th century ...

(containing the

Four Branches of the Mabinogi The ''Four Branches of the Mabinogi'' or ''Pedair Cainc Y Mabinogi'' are the earliest prose stories in the literature of Britain. Originally written in Wales in Middle Welsh, but widely available in translations, the ''Mabinogi'' is generally agre ...

, the

Three Welsh Romances The Three Welsh Romances (Welsh: ') are three Middle Welsh tales associated with the ''Mabinogion''. They are versions of Arthurian tales that also appear in the work of Chrétien de Troyes. Critics have debated whether the Welsh Romances are base ...

and other tales) and a number of other ancient manuscripts, including early texts of the ''

Cyfraith Hywel ''Cyfraith Hywel'' (; ''Laws of Hywel''), also known as Welsh law ( la, Leges Walliæ), was the system of law practised in medieval Wales before its final conquest by England. Subsequently, the Welsh law's criminal codes were superseded by ...

'' and by Beirdd yr Uchelwyr (the Poets of the Nobility). The manuscripts in other languages include two Latin manuscripts of

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...

's ''

Historia Regum Britanniae ''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...

'' and an early illuminated version of the

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus ...

known as the

Hengwrt Chaucer The Hengwrt Chaucer manuscript is an early-15th-century manuscript of the ''Canterbury Tales'', held in the National Library of Wales, in Aberystwyth. It is an important source for Chaucer's text, and was possibly written by someone with access to a ...

Selected list of manuscripts

* Black Book of Carmarthen * Black Book of Chirk *

* Book of Taliesin * Beunans Meriasek *

* Peniarth 6. Contents include the earliest surviving texts (c.1225–75) of parts of the Four Branches of the ''Mabinogi''. * Peniarth 20 * History of the Kings (Peniarth 23C) * Peniarth 28 * Peniarth 32 * Peniarth 49 * Peniarth 51 * Peniarth 53 * Peniarth 109 * Peniarth 164 * Peniarth 259B * Peniarth 481 * Vaux Passional (Peniarth 482D)

Bibliography

* J. Gwenogvryn Evans, ''Reports on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language'', volume I, number 2 and 3. * Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, volume I, number 1. {{authority control Welsh manuscripts Welsh literature Medieval documents of Wales

Selected list of manuscripts

See also

Bibliography