Glanmor Williams – författare

This is the first comprehensive history of the two decisive centuries which followed the defeat of Owain Glyndwr in 1415. The fifteenth century was a time of resilience and recovery from the Rebellion, and one which saw the emergence of ruling gentry families, whose power, and that of the monarchy, was confirmed by the Tudor Act of Union, 1536-43.This was an age of outstanding personalities and achievements as impressive as they were diverse: Owain Glyndwr, Henry Tudor, John Dee, Robert Devereux, William Morgan, Matthew Gough, and Robert Mansell. Throughout, the Welsh remained prouder and more conscious of their national identity than has usually been thought.

This is the first comprehensive account of the two decisive centuries in Welsh history which followed the defeat of Owain Glyn Dwr in 1415. In the process, surprising features emerge. The fifteenth century, the `Cinderella' of Welsh history, is seen as one of resilience and recovery from the protracted and destructive Glyn Dwr rebellion, and of the emergence of ruling gentry families, natives and settlers.The Tudor Act of Union in 1536-43 swept away the outmoded lumber of medieval times and reorientated the country. It confirmed strikingly royal authority and gentry domination but along lines that had long been anticipated. The Renaissance and the Reformation posed not only perils but opportunities. Responding to the challenge with vigour and imagination, Welsh scholars and patriots met with marked,if not complete, success. The Welsh remained prouder and more conscious of their Welshness than has usually been thought. This was an age of outstanding personalities and achievements, as impressive as they were diverse: Owain Glyn Dwr and Henry Tudor; Guto'r Glyn and John Dee; William Herbert and Robert Devereux; Sion Cent and William Morgan; Mathew Gough and Robert Mansel.Particular attention is given to the literature of the age, Welsh and English, prose and verse, to illustrate all aspects of a robust, colourful, and formative era.

An account of different views of church history propagated by English writers during the Reformation, including William Tyndale, John Bale and John Foxe.Glanmor Williams presents different views of Church History propagated by English writers during the Reformation. He introduces this topic by exploring the continental background, including Luther’s arguments, the opponents and Luther’s influence on important English authors of the sixteenth century.Almost as soon as Luther came to communicate his sensibilities to others he began to realise that defenders of orthodoxy would denounce them as an intolerably presumptuous threat on the part of a single misguided monk to fifteen hundred years of established authority in the Church. Quite apart from the counter-arguments such as those raised by the clerical controversialist, Eck, there was the obvious and very serious objection against criticism of the Church, voiced by the Emperor Charles V: “For it is certain”, he protested, “that a single monk must err if he stands against the opinion of all Christendom. Otherwise Christendom itself would have erred for more than a thousand years.”On October 31 1517, the then obscure friar-professor, Martin Luther, pinned up his ninety-five arguments on the church door at Wittenberg. He was, unknown to himself, proclaiming doctrines which were to find an echo in all corners of Europe in a remarkably short space of time. Among those who were most gladly to receive and propagate the Lutheran message was a young Englishman, William Tyndale, the outstanding English reformer of the first generation, and a major figure among English reformers of any generation.In this fascinating book Williams also looks at the great impact of John Bale and John Foxe.

The proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Celtic Studies held at Swansea in 1987.

The contents of this text on social policy, crime and punishment include: crime in the South Wales police district; researching the child victims; justice and responsibility; and race relations in prisons.

Wales and the Reformation is the first full-length study of one of the most significant phases in the history of Wales. Such neglect is surprising given the formative part played by the Reformation in shaping the subsequent destinies of Wales and its people. What is less surprising is that Sir Glanmor Williams has now remedied this deficiency with a work of scholarship that is magisterial in content and polished in style.In the sixteenth century the Roman Church which, for centuries, had regulated religion in Wales was ousted and replaced by a state-established Church, of which the monarch was constituted Supreme Head. It soon became obvious to a small group of intellectuals and reformers that the use of English to impose modifications to traditional worship and belief upon a mainly Welsh-speaking populace would be unlikely to succeed among the mass of the people. From mid-century onwards, therefore, there were determined attempts both to secure adherence to reformed doctrine and to safeguard the native cultural inheritance by means of Welsh translations of the Bible, Prayer Book, and other literature.The translation of the Bible into Welsh was probably the key factor in retaining the native language; it ensured the success of Welsh literature, tied the clergy to Welsh culture, and inspired confidence in the continuance of Welsh nationhood. Slow though progress was in many respects the indispensable translations were achieved and the Welsh were set on the road to becoming a fervent Protestant nation.The switch of allegiance from Rome was neither simple nor straightforward; it provoked great upheaval and confusion, in which secular concerns and material interests became entangled with cultural and devotional consequences. In "Wales and the Reformation" Glanmor Williams succeeds in unfolding this complex story in a lucid and readable fashion.

This study of the religious establishment in Wales and its impact on Welsh society in the three centuries leading up to the disestablishment continues the approach to Welsh church history begun by Sir Glanmor Williams in his 'Welsh Church and the Reformation' and continued in his 'Wales and the Reformation'.