Ieuan ap Gruffudd Leiaf

Last updated

Ieuan ap Gruffudd Leiaf was a Welsh uchelwr and bard, the son of poet Gruffudd Leiaf. His poetry, spanning the period c.1420 to c. 1470, has been fully edited. [1] [2] The earliest dateable poem that can be confidently assigned to him are a cywydd in praise of Gwilym ap Gruffudd ap Gwilym ap Gruffudd ap Heilin (d. 1431) and his newly built home, Y Penrhyn, Llandygái (built c. 1420 [3] ). The context of this poem seems to be the tradition of the'cyff clêr', with Ieuan, a 'prifardd', answering the taunts of lesser bards. Rhys Goch Eryri was present at the celebration and composed a perhaps more well-known praise poem to Y Penrhyn and its owner. [4] Shortly after this, Ieuan composed a cywydd satiring the River Llugwy, into which the poet fell on his way to Y Penrhyn one Christmas. A cywydd to Saint Anna, mother of the Virgin Mary and two other daughters also named Mary, attributed to Ieuan in the only manuscript in which it survives, could also be from the same period or earlier.

Dating to around 1450 is a cywydd by Ieuan in praise of Hywel ab Ieuan Fychan ab Ieuan Gethin and his wife Elen of Moelyrch, Llansilin. Moelyrch was destroyed during the Glyndŵr Rising, probably at the same time as nearby Sycharth, the home of Owain Glyndŵr himself, and the poem celebrates the rebuilding of Hywel's home. [5] This was almost certainly the occasion of the 'ymryson' (bardic contention) between Guto'r Glyn (who was also present at the celebration and presented a praise poem there) and Ieuan ap Gruffudd Leiaf. Dafydd ap Siencyn ap Dafydd ab y Crach, a man of great stature and daring, was an 'uchelwr' who supported the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses. Ieuan composed a praise poem to Dafydd while the latter was an outlaw on Carreg y Gwalch above Llanrwst. This poem probably dates to the 1460s. Dafydd succeeded in keeping the Yorkist forces out of Nantconwy until 1468. Also probably dating to the 1460s is a poem by Ieuan in praise of the plantation town of Aberconwy and its beer.

Although a number of 'cywyddau brud' are attributed to Ieuan by some copiers, there is only one for which the attribution can be regarded as reasonably secure, and this is a cywydd in the form of a conversation between the bard and eog Llyn Llyw, one of the 'oldest animals'. It is difficult to date this poem from the content.

Ieuan ap Gruffudd Leiaf had two sons, Robert Leiaf and Syr Siôn Leiaf. They were both poets, and their poetry has also been edited. [6]

Related Research Articles

Dafydd ap Gwilym

Dafydd ap Gwilym is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages.

Gwerful Mechain, is the only female medieval Welsh poet from whom a substantial body of work is known to have survived. She is known for her erotic poetry, in which she praised the vulva among other things.

<i>Oxford Book of Welsh Verse in English</i>

The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse in English was a 1977 poetry anthology edited by the author and academic Gwyn Jones. It covered both Welsh language poetry, in English translation, and Welsh poets writing in English.

Medieval Welsh literature is the literature written in the Welsh language during the Middle Ages. This includes material starting from the 5th century AD, when Welsh was in the process of becoming distinct from Common Brittonic, and continuing to the works of the 16th century.

Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet

Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet, was a Welsh baronet, Member of Parliament and antiquary.

Maredudd ab Ifan ab Robert, also spelt Maredudd ap Ieuan and Meredith ab Ieuan, was a Welsh noble and succeeded his father Ieuan ap Robert ap Maredudd (1437–1468). It is not known if he had any siblings. He purchased and rebuilt Gwydyr Castle after it was destroyed in the 1460s and made it the family home. He is an ancestor of Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet.

Gruffudd Leiaf was a 15th-century Welsh poet, known almost exclusively from his works. He was reputed to descend from the royal family of Gwynedd.

Dafydd ap Edmwnd was one of the most prominent Welsh language poets of the Later Middle Ages.

Gruffudd Llwyd was a Welsh language poet.

Tudur Penllyn

Tudur Penllyn was a Welsh language poet during the time of the Beirdd yr Uchelwyr, the professional poets of the late Middle Ages.

Einion Offeiriad was a Welsh language poet and grammarian.

Sir Gruffudd Vychan was a Welsh knight who supported the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr against the English, captured the Lollard John Oldcastle and was finally executed after the murder of Sir Christopher Talbot.

Anwyl of Tywyn family

Anwyl of Tywyn are a Welsh family who claim a patrilinear descent from Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd from 1137 to 1170 and a scion of the royal House of Aberffraw. The family motto is: Eryr eryrod Eryri, which translates as "The Eagle of the Eagles of Snowdonia." The family lives in Gwynedd and speak Welsh.

Gwerful Fychan

Gwerful Fychan was a poet during the period of the Welsh Beirdd yr Uchelwyr during the late Middle Ages. She came from a noble family, her full name in genealogies being given as Gwerful ferch Ieuan Fychan ap Ieuan ap Hywel y Gadair ap Gruffudd ap Madog ap Rhirid Flaidd, and was the heiress of the mansion of Caer-Gai, near Llanuwchllyn, Merioneth. The name Fychan was later anglicised as Vaughan.

Ieuan Deulwyn

Ieuan Deulwyn was a Welsh language poet or bard.

Alis ferch Gruffudd ab Ieuan ap Llywelyn Fychan or Alis Wen was a poet who wrote in Welsh.

Myfanwy Fychan was a Welsh noblewoman, born in the mid-14th century, who was involved in a famous romance with a bard.

Huw Cae Llwyd was a Welsh language poet from Llandderfel in the Dee valley of Merioneth as he witnessed in his Cywydd y Wennol.

Owain Glyndŵrs Court

"Owain Glyndŵr's Court", also known as "Sycharth" or "The Court of Owain Glyndŵr at Sycharth", is a cywydd by the Welsh bard Iolo Goch. It describes and celebrates the hall and household of his patron, the nobleman Owain Glyndŵr, at Sycharth in Powys. It cannot be dated exactly, but was probably written about 1390, before Glyndŵr's revolt against the English crown. It survives in as many as 24 manuscripts.

References

  1. ↑ Taylor, John Bernard. "Gwaith barddonol Ieuan ap Gruffudd Leiaf, Robert Leiaf, Syr Siôn Leiaf a Rhys Goch Glyndyfrdwy (PhD Thesis), Bangor University, 2014". Bangor University. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  2. ↑ Taylor, John Bernard, 'Cipolwg ar Waith Ieuan ap Gruffudd Leiaf', Dwned 22 (2016), 11 - 24.
  3. ↑ Jones, J. R., 'The development of the Penrhyn estate to 1431' (M.A. thesis, University of Wales, 1955), 217.
  4. ↑ Bowen, D. J., 'Y Canu i Gwilym ap Gruffudd (m. 1431) o'r Penrhyn a'i Fab Gwilym Fychan (m. 1483)', Dwned, 8 (2002), 59 - 78.
  5. ↑ Huws, Bleddyn Owen, 'Ailadeiladu Bywyd ar ôl Gwrthryfel Glyndŵr: Tystiolaeth y Canu i Foelyrch', Dwned 13 (2007), 97 - 137.
  6. ↑ Taylor, John Bernard, "Gwaith barddonol...", 132 - 258
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.