Gutun Owain
- fl. second half of the 15th century
- Welsh poets, scribes
(d. 1503)
Bishop of Asaph (1500-1503), who had been warden of Ruthin and abbot of Valle Crucis, over which he probably continued to preside.
See more
I began this study – as most studies are begun – with questions. What is the probable date of the composition of the bardic grammar? What were the circumstances of its composition? Was it originally intended as a manual of written instruction for bards whose instruction had been traditionally oral? How probable is it that a tract based on a Latin text would have been useful to Welsh bards? Why was it repeatedly copied by hand from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, long after the disintegration of the bardic orders? Might historical events or the threat to Welsh culture ensuant on such events explain – or help to explain – why it enjoyed the attentive support of the higher clergy, uchelwyr, and emergent gentry across divergent social origins and political and religious divides?
