The laws of Hywel Dda

I don't suppose they're very famous outside Wales! But here, Hywel Dda and his laws a bit of an institution. He was a 10th Century king, and he created a big set of laws, which, in some form or other, were still valid until the late middle ages. They are widely seen as wise and just. And I think that it was mainly the laws that made him go into history as Hywel the Good. I am no specialist, but his general reign seems less remarkable than his law books.

When there was a public lecture announced about these laws I decided to go. I knew very little about them! And it was worth finding out more.

It was not a busy lecture, and the average age in the audience was rather high. But that's OK! The lady who was going to deliver the lecture, Sara Elin Roberts, turned out to be a new professor in the School of Welsh. 

Aled, the Head of School of Welsh, introducing the speaker

She started with telling us that the earliest version we have of these laws is actually from the second half of the 13th century. The original ones have all been lost. That is a pity! And I'm sure that means that we don't really know how close these versions are to the originals, who were some 300 years older.

She also explained they come in three sets; originally named after geographical locations, but later named after lawmakers mentioned in the introductions. 

She also explained that quite a lot of them aren’t laws in the sense we have them now; they are more general rules of how you should behave. She had some examples; for instance, if you walk in front of someone and you cause a branch to whip into the face of the person behind you, that's okay if you have warned them, but not okay if you didn't. And if you walk in front of someone and you find some treasure, you have to share with the person behind you, but if you don't see it and the person walking behind you spots it, they don't have to share with you.

She gave these examples in the original mediaeval Welsh, and also in contemporary Welsh. That helped. But the difference isn't even that big! I can see why people call Welsh the oldest language in Europe. Even though I know very well that is disputed. But I can see where they're coming from.

These laws seem to have been grouped under several themes; agriculture, marriage, children, prices of houses and objects, and something that to the untrained eye looks like "corrupting oats", but what is probably better described as damage to crops. There were a lot of rules on what you have to do if for instance your sheep gets onto someone else's land and eats their crops. It was even taken into account what part of the year it was, or in other words, if you could re-sow the crops and have another harvest.

She came to the end before I knew it! And there was only time for a few questions.

I came away with a similar feeling that I had done with the lecture by Mike Berners-Lee! She also has a book out, and maybe I should read that in order to find out more details. And I missed some details because the lectures in Welsh, but the book is in English. I would think the library would have it. There is no paperback out, and the hardcover is a bit too expensive! But reading a book that takes me quite a long time these days. But who knows! Maybe I'll get around to reading both. Maybe my attention span is just too long for one hour lectures these days…