Welsh Journals

and one settlement by papal judges delegate of a dispute between Bishop Iorwerth and Rhys ap Rhys (1222). The collection opens with two forged charters of Bishop Wilfrid (1085-1115), and it is therefore with Bishop Bernard (1115-48) that the picture of the activities of the bishops begins more clearly to emerge. The policy adopted in the volume is to publish acta in extenso, except for documents, published elsewhere, where the bishop of St Davids was only one of the parties issuing, professions, and letters the text of which survives in the writings of Gerald of Wales. This is a welcome decision, for although many of the acta are published, or calendared, in other collections, the bringing together of all these texts, in a modern and reliable edition, is extremely valuable. The acta indeed show the involvement of the bishops with affairs both inside and outside their diocese. As one would expect the religious houses of the dioceses, notably Brecon Priory, the cathedral chapter of St Davids, the Augustinian house of Carmarthen, and the Knights Hospitaller of Slebech, were beneficiaries, receiving charters from a number of bishops. However, Gloucester Abbey, Ewenny Priory, Ewias Priory and others, also benefited from their interest. The acta reveal a range of activity. For instance, Bishop David FitzGerald issued an indult of fifteen days remission to those who travelled to Reading Abbey to make offerings to the relics of St James (no 34); Bishop Geoffrey of Henlaw confirmed an agreement concerning the tithes and burial of a parishioner in Glasbury; Bishop Iorwerth granted an indulgence to those who gave to Leominster priory, which possessed an arm of St David (no 82), and drew up statutes (1224) for the chapter of St Davids (no 85). We see the bishops acting as family men Thomas le Waleys granting his manor of Eglwys Gymun, with his niece Maud in marriage, to John de Roche (no 124), and as great men of the realm Bishop Thomas joining with other bishops to condemn those who contravened the Great Charter and the Charter of the Forest (no 121). There is a wealth of material in this volume. St Davids Episcopal Acta is attractively produced, and, for a hardback, modestly priced. The scholarship is meticulous, and to a very high standard. Janet Burton Department of History University of Wales, Lampeter The Charters of the Abbey of Ystrad Marchell, edited by Graham C G Thomas [The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, 1997]. xi + 239 pp text, 25 plates, 3 maps. ISBN: 0 907158 99 4. Price £ 25. This very fine compilation, the product of many years of painstaking research, gives a complete translation and commentary upon the known extant charters relating to the Cistercian abbey of Strata Marcella, which lay on the bank of the