Bibliography

Fulton, Helen, “Sir John Prise and his books: manuscript culture in the March of Wales”, Welsh History Review 31:1 (2022): 55–78.

  • journal article
Citation details
Contributors
Article
“Sir John Prise and his books: manuscript culture in the March of Wales”
Volume
31
Pages
55–78
Description
Abstract (cited)

 Sir John Prise (1501/2–55) was a Welsh lawyer and book collector who was one of the royal commissioners responsible for closing down the monasteries at the Dissolution of the 1530s. Operating mainly in the March of Wales, Prise was able to save around 100 medieval manuscripts which would otherwise have been destroyed. As a Welsh speaker, Prise was keenly interested in medieval Welsh writing and some of the most famous medieval Welsh manuscripts passed through his hands. He was particularly interested in the British history of Geoffrey of Monmouth and in his Latin prose treatise, Historiae Britannicae Defensio, published in 1573 after his death, Prise put forward a spirited defence of the 'British history' related by Geoffrey, based almost entirely on his reading of manuscripts that he owned. This article examines the significance of Sir John Prise, his writing and his book collection in relation to the transmission of medieval texts into the Tudor age.

Subjects and topics
Headings
Wales 16th century
Approaches
manuscript studies
Sources
Texts
History, society and culture
Agents
John PriseSir John Prise, Syr Siôn ap Rhys
(1501/2–1555)
Siôn ap Rhys
Scholar and administrator of Brecon; son of Rhys ap Gwilym ap Llywelyn and of Gwenllian daughter of Hywel ap Madog.
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Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
November 2022