Hendregadredd Manuscript

The Hendregadredd Manuscript ( _cy. Llawysgrif Hendregadredd), is a medieval Welsh manuscript containing an anthology the poetry of the Poets of the Princes. It was rediscovered in 1910 after disappearing in the early nineteenth century. It was written during the period between 1282 and 1350. It is now part of the collection of the National Library of Wales and known as NLW MS 6680B.

The manuscript is the earliest witness of the works of the Gogynfeirdd, the Welsh court poets who were active from the early twelfth century until the fourteenth century. The only other major source of their work is the Red Book of Hergest. The Hendregadredd Manuscript was probably written at the Cistercian abbey of Strata Florida in Ceredigion. Work began on this collection of poetry sometime after 1282, first by one main scribe, perhaps the original architect of the volume. But nearly forty different hands were involved in two further strata of scribal activity, working well into the mid-fourteenth century. About 1330 a number of poems by contemporary poets were added, including a poem possibly in the hand of Dafydd ap Gwilym himselfFact|date=January 2008, the most famous poet of the day. He had close associations with Strata Florida and tradition has it that he was buried there.

External links

* [http://www.llgc.org.uk/?id=253 The Hendregadredd Manuscript] at the [http://www.llgc.org.uk National Library of Wales] . "Includes full colour images of the complete manuscript."