Guide to the Welsh Literature, 1530-1700

This is the third of a series of volumes outlining the history and development of Welsh literature from its beginnings in the sixth century to the present day.

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to Welsh literature of the period c. 1530-1700. During this period Welsh literature underwent a profound transformation, largely reflecting the political and social changes of the times. The old professional poetry went into a lingering decline, and new forms of free-metre verse arose to take its place. The advent of humanism provided the impetus for remarkable Biblical translations, which laid the foundations for a new style of religious prose-writing practiced in varying ways by Anglicans, Puritans and Catholics alike. From a total dependence on manuscripts for the dissemination of literature at the beginning of the sixteenth century there was a shift to an almost total dependence on print by the end of the seventeenth century. All these topics are discussed lucidly and systematically by leading authorities.