And, following the advice of those wise men, some of the old laws were confirmed, some were amended, while some were repealed in. The excellence of these laws must be attributed to the wisdom and scholarship of Blegywryd and his colleagues, but it is only fair to assume that the unification and orderly arrangement of the rules governing life in the different provinces which he had fused into one kingdom was Hywel's own conception. His renown is based on his work as a legislator and it may safely be claimed that, more than anything else, Hywel's law was responsible for the consciousness of national unity prevalent among the Welsh of the Middle Ages.
It is free to use and does not receive grant support. A donation would help us maintain and improve the site so that we can continue to acknowledge Welsh men and women who have made notable contributions to life in Wales and beyond. Find out more on our sponsorship page. Williams, S. From the mythological heroes of the Mabinogion , where legend mixes easily with reality, to genuine historical figures like the Lord Rhys or Llywelyn the Great , there are so many to choose from.
Yet one of the greatest is remembered, not so much for his prowess as a warrior but from the laws and statutes he commissioned and put into practice in a time of peace and security. And it could be argued that his laws and reforms, laid down in the midth century, have had more effect than those of any Welsh ruler, before or afterwards.
Hywel Dda was the son of Rhodri Mawr , another great Welsh prince who, during his period in power at the end of the ninth century, managed to unite large parts of the country under his dynamic and thrusting leadership. As a result of this the Saxon incursions into Wales were restricted for many years. While Rhodri's efforts kept the Norsemen at bay, the modern-day country of England began to take shape as the various kingdoms across Offa's Dyke gradually developed and merged into something like a unified state.
In Wales, it was a different matter. Everything was fine while Rhodri was alive but once he died, his lands were divided amongst his six sons, as custom demanded. Unable to stand alone, most of these Welsh territories or kingdoms soon declared homage to the English kings and, theoretically at least, the Welsh people became subjects of the English monarchy.
Hywel Dda became king of Seisyllwg - roughly speaking the modern day counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthen - in the year Through a marriage alliance he quickly acquired the area known as Dyfed and this, along with his original possessions, created the kingdom of Deheubarth.
Hywel did not stop there and, in time, seized Gwynedd and Powys so that until his death in a huge portion of Wales was once more united under a single ruler. Hywel thereby became king of nearly all of Wales except for the southern provinces of Morgannwg and Gwent and claimed the title "King of all Wales" Hywel's study of legal systems and his pilgrimage to Rome of had combined to enable him to formulate advanced ideas about law. A comparative study of law and lawmaking at the time reveals a deep concern for law and its documentation throughout Europe and also the Islamic world, the Cordoba Islamic Law translation schools being a fine example, from Greek to Arabic to Latin.
Hywel was responsible for the creation of Wales' first formal legal system. The Hywel Lawbook or cyfraith Hywel was written partly in Latin, about laws of court, law of country and the law of justices. During a conference held circa — at Ty Gwyn ar Daf, at Hywel's residence near Whitland in Carmarthenshire, Welsh law was codified and set down in writing for posterity.
The council had the purpose of compiling and enacting the code of laws, which are still known as "the Laws of Hywel the Good. Legal documents drafted according to the "Laws of Hywel Dda" still survive to the present day. One of the most interesting features of these laws is their recognition of the legal status of women and children. Among Hywel's contemporaries there were rulers who won fame as law-givers. The law was Hywel's law, cyfraith Hywel ; his name gave to the law an authority comparable with that given to the laws of Mercia by King Offa or the laws of Wessex and a larger area of England by King Alfred.
He almost certainly knew of them; he was a regular visitor to the English court and in , when in the flower of his manhood, he went on pilgrimage to Rome. In later centuries it was claimed that he took copies of his laws to Rome, where they were blessed by the Pope. Tradition also provided details of the circumstances under which the laws were compiled and promulgated.
It was probably the need to give cohesion to his different territories that prompted Hywel to codify the law.
0コメント