Catrin ferch Gruffudd ap Hywel (fl. 1555) was a Welsh poet from Anglesey who, as a devout Catholic and Recusant, wrote poetry extensively as a critic of the Protestant Reformation. Many of her poems still survive due to preservation by the National Library of Wales.
Biography[edit]
Catrin ferch Gruffudd ap Hywel lived in the village of Llanddaniel Fab on Anglesey, and was a poet active around the 1550s.[1] Her husband was Roman Catholic priest Robert ap Rhys, and their son later became an Anglican parson.[2][note 1] She was related to the poet Wiliam Cynwal, who died around 1587.[3] A devout Catholic, her poems had religious themes and she wrote extensively about her opposition to the Protestant Reformation.[2][4][5] In one englyn, she wrote:
| Welsh | English |
|---|---|
Y côr a'r allor a ddrylliwyd – ar gam |
The choir and altar have been destroyed – wrongly |
Liz Herbert McAvoy places emphasis on her usage of Latin in worship and Welsh for "the literary expression of her religious beliefs", noting that this provides a unique perspective of a "Welsh woman's personal reaction to the assault on her religion".[6] In another poem dated around 1553, Catrin wrote that she was angry at the "Stealing of the chalice of Christ, stealing church and chancel / Without any gain but arrogance and exploitation".[7] She also wrote an awdl praising Christ, and a series of englynion about the cold summer of 1555.[1] Presumably towards the end of her life, she wrote a poem expressing that she "prays and weeps in her bed at night, visualizing Christ's suffering at the Crucifixtion; confessing her sins, she prepares for death", suggesting that she was terminally ill.[2]
Many of Catrin's poems have survived through preservation by the National Library of Wales.[1][note 2] As a result, McAvoy considers her to be one of the most famous female Welsh poets of the late medieval/early modern era,[8] while historian Lloyd Bowen writes that her poems offer "a valuable (and rare) female perspective on religious change in this period".[7]
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ During this period in Wales, "unofficial marriages to Catholic clergy were common".[2]
- ^ Though some of her poems are misattributed to the similarly named Catrin ferch Gruffudd ab Ieuan Fychan.[3]
Citations[edit]
- ^ a b c Owens, Benjamin George (1959). "Catrin ferch Gruffudd ap Hywel (fl. c. 1555), poet". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c d McAvoy & Watt 2012, p. 61.
- ^ a b Aaron 2020.
- ^ Sauer 2008, p. 461.
- ^ Lake 2001, p. 576.
- ^ a b McAvoy & Watt 2012, p. 62.
- ^ a b Bowen 2022, p. 67.
- ^ McAvoy & Watt 2012, p. 11.
Works cited[edit]
- Aaron, Jane, ed. (2020). Women's Writing from Wales before 1914. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-65150-8.
- Bowen, Lloyd (2022). Early Modern Wales c.1536–c.1689: Ambiguous Nationhood. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-1-78683-959-6.
- Lake, A. Cynfael (2001). "Literature Since 1500". The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies. 63: 575–579. ISSN 0084-4152. JSTOR 25833706.
- McAvoy, Liz Herbert; Watt, Diane (2012). The History of British Women's Writing, 700-1500. Vol. 1. London: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1057/9780230360020. ISBN 978-0-230-36002-0.
- Sauer, Michelle M. (2008). The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry Before 1600. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4381-0834-6.
Further reading[edit]
- Charnell-White, Cathryn (2001). "Barddoniaeth ddefosiynol Catrin ferch Gruffudd ap Hywel" [The Devotional Poetry of Catrin daughter of Gruffudd ap Hywel]. Dwned (in Welsh) (7): 93–120.
- Stephens, Meic (1986). Cydymaith i lenyddiaeth Cymru [A Companion to Welsh Literature] (in Welsh). Cardiff: University of Wales Press. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-0-7083-0915-5.