Welsh Journals

YR ARGLWYDD Rhys. Edited by Nerys Jones and Huw Pryce. University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1996. Pp. 230. £ 9.95. Thank heavens for anniversaries, centenaries and other chronologically- inspired celebrations, for I suspect that had the eighth centenary of the death of the Lord Rhys not been imminent (1997) we may have had to wait a while longer for a scholarly work on a man few would dispute should be counted among the more remarkable and fascinating figures in the history of medieval Wales. It is a fact that despite his fame and acknowledged historical importance, the standard treatment of his career has been and still remains Sir J. E. Lloyd's classic History of Wales, which was published an astonishing eighty-six years ago in 1911. This is to take nothing away from the volume under review which, as the editors make clear in their introduction, is not intended to be a definitive study, if such a thing is possible, nor is it meant to supplant or replace Lloyd's elegant narrative. 'Ei hamcan yw coffau Rhys ar drothwy wythcanmlwyddiant ei farwolaeth drwy drafod arwyddocad ei [Rhys] deyrnasiad yng nghyddestun newidiadau gwleidyddol, diwylliannol a chrefyddol ei oes', and in this the editors and their team of distinguished contributors are to be congratulated on a job well done. Clearly, the time is ripe for a critical reappraisal of his career and achievements, the more so in view of the refurbishment of an eagerly awaited public access to Dinefwr castle, the ancestral seat of the princes of Deheubarth, and the obvious cultural significance of holding the National Eisteddfod within sight of the home of the festival's supposed founder. No doubt the book was conceived with the Llandeilo Eisteddfod in mind, an impression confirmed by its mid-week launch on the maes. Commercial, and perhaps cultural, considerations aside, the book would have been welcome at any time and it is a tribute to the editors that they have succeeded in publishing a volume that exhibits none of the flaws that are sometimes associated with such projects. The book is superbly written, expertly edited and well illustrated; it is accessible and never less than entertaining, and it provides its readers with a rounded study of the Lord Rhys set firmly within the context of the period in which he lived. There are six essays in all, each of which deals with a specific area of study. Huw Pryce Yr Eglwys yn Oes yr Arglwydd Rhys' revisits his earlier research to provide a focused view of Rhys's dealings with, and patronage of, the church. As a mark of his liberal and cosmopolitan attitude, Rhys embraced the monastic orders favoured by his Anglo- Norman neighbours without sacrificing the needs of the native church.