Welsh Journals

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Abbey, and for its second, the creating of a fund to enable fresh dis- coveries to be made, and to preserve the present building. This move- ment was but a branch of a great national movement, for the Welsh- man was becoming more and more convinced that he had a history, with characteristics of its own, and a history he could look back upon with pride, and that was why such attention was paid nowadays to the history of ancient castles, abbeys, forts, etc, in Wales. Proceeding, the speaker said that monasticism came into being, in the East, at a time when Christians were persecuted. It began to flourish in Europe in the fourth century, and in Wales in the fifth. The golden era of monasticism was during the twelfth century, and many monasteries were established in England and Wales in that century. It seemed that the Cistercian Order-to which this Abbey belonged-was the most popular one in Wales. It would be difficult to gauge the civilising influences of the work done by the monks in the Middle Ages, for monasticism should not be judged by its condition in the sixteenth century. The custom of the Cistercians was to establish themselves in inaccessible and sterile parts, and by their industry to "transform them into smiling fruitful meadows. They farmed to a considerable extent, and at Strata Florida the monks owned a large number of cattle and sheep, evidence of which was that in 1212 King John gave them a license to sell and export wool. Not only did the monks minister to the spiritual wants of the neighbourhood, but the monas- teries were also "cities of refuge" for the poor, the orphan and the oppressed. The word "Yspytty" derived from the Latin "Hospitium," was very often to be found in the Welsh language, and could be found in such words as Llanspydie and Tavern Spite. In this neighbour- hood they had Ysbytty Ystwyth, Ysbytty Cynfyn, and Ysbytty Ystrad Meurig. The establishments were founded by the monks for the sus- tenance, of, and a means of rest for, the weary traveller. The monasteries were the hotels of those days, and no recompense was asked for the food and lodging given. Tillers of the soil, the monks were builders of bridges and makers of roads as well, and many a bridge and a road in our country could be claimed as being the work of their skilful hands. They were the philosophers, the authors, the artists, and the doctors in the Middle Ages; in fact, they were the pioneers of knowledge, enlightenment and of civilisation. Before the printing press was invented, the work of the monks in copying manuscripts and pre- serving them was of immeasurable value. In their libraries could be found standard books, and when Gerald the Welshman had occasion to go to Rome, it was to the keeping of the Strata Florida monks he gave his library. The copying of manuscripts was a daily task of the monks, and undoubtedly, it was at Strata Florida that some of the books con- taining the most interesting information about Wales were written. In the "Brut y Tywysogion" could be found the history of many an important happening connected with the Abbey. When Wales lost its independence, Strata Florida Abbey, lost much of its prestige. Its altars were no longer visited by the descendants of those who had established it, much of its territories it lost, and at the time of the Reformation, there were only seven or eight monks in the monastery. In 1539 the monasteries throughout the land were closed,