'Y gr a gyll y goron': poetry and politics in fifteenth-century Wales

The testimony of 'the poets of the nobility' (beirdd yr uchelwyr) has long been recognised as an
invaluable source for the social, cultural, and political history of post-conquest Wales. This project
aims to provide a comprehensive study of the interrelationship of Welsh politics and professional
poetry in the decades between the collapse of the Glyn Dwr rebellion and the accession of Henry
Tudor to the English throne. It will address the following research questions: how credible is the
bardic poetry as an historical source? What can this material tell us about the political culture of late
medieval Wales? How did the poets engage rhetorically and discursively with the major historical
events of the day? To what extent did Welsh leaders make use of poetic performance as a site of
political theatre and as a vehicle for political communication? While some excellent work has been
done on each of these topics, published criticism has tended to take the form either of general surveys
or of more detailed studies of a single oeuvre or sample of texts, and a monograph-length reappraisal
is by now long overdue.