Welsh Journals

'AN INVIDIOUS ATTEMPT TO ACCELERATE THE EXTINCTION OF OUR LANGUAGE': THE ABOLITION OF THE COURT OF GREAT SESSIONS AND THE WELSH LANGUAGE* As with ALL other law courts in Wales from the time of political union between England and Wales in the Tudor period, it was a statutory requirement that the proceedings of the Court of Great Sessions should be conducted in English. The Welsh language was outlawed as the medium of the law by the 'language clause' of the Act of Union of 1536, a legal decision finally repealed by the Welsh Courts Act of 1942. The debate over the proposed abolition of the Court provided an excellent opportunity for the advantages and disadvantages of the Great Sessions to be voiced, and that in turn throws light on the question of how monoglot Welsh speakers were accommodated within the legal system. The Court of Great Sessions was founded in 1543 by the second of the 'Acts of Union' (1536-43). It is broadly acknowledged that the union between England and Wales was welcomed by the native Welsh gentry, or uchelwyr, for a number of reasons, one of the most important of which was the availability of English law. The 'Acts of Union' abolished all remnants of native law at a stroke, and the marcher lordships were replaced by the 'shire'. The Tudor union legislation was also a welcome formal release for the Welsh from the draconian 'penal legislation' which was passed in the wake of the outbreak of the revolt of Owairi Glyndwr in 1400 and which had placed the Welsh under severe legal disadvantages on the basis of race. The 'language clause' entailed the excommunication of the Welsh tongue in public life, and *I should like to express my gratitude for the support received from Professor Geraint H. Jenkins and Dr Paul O'Leary. Errors are entirely my own responsibility. I P. R. Roberts, 'The Welsh Language, English Law and Tudor Legislation', Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (1989), 21; R. R. Davies, Conquest, Coexistence and Change: Wales 1063-1415 (Oxford, 1987), pp.458-9. The legislation was not repealed until 1624.