The castle's state apartments (left), library (centre) and gatehouse (right)

Raglan Library was a library located in Raglan Castle in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales.[1][2][3][4]

The library contained one of the most extensive collections of ancient Welsh manuscripts in history.[5] This included works by Dafydd ap Gwilym,[6] Taliesin, Rhys Goch, Jonas of Menevia, Ederyn the Golden-tongued, Einion the Priest, Cwtta Cyvarwydd, Siôn Cent and Dafydd Ddu o Hiraddug amongst others.[7]

It was destroyed and looted by parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell in August 1646, during the English Civil War.[8][9] The destruction of Raglan Library was described as an "irrepairable [sic] loss to the literature of Wales".[10]

References

  1. ^ William Beattie (1851). The Castles and Abbeys of England: From the National Records, Early Chronicles, and Other Standard Authors : Illustrated by Upwards of Two Hundred Engravings. Virtue, Spalding. pp. 352–. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  2. ^ Iolo Morganwg; J. Williams Ab Ithel; John Williams; John Matthews (2004). The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg: A Collection of Original Documents, Illustrative of the Theology, Wisdom, and Usages of the Bardo-Druidic System of the Isle of Britain. Weiser Books. pp. 7–. ISBN 978-1-57863-307-4. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  3. ^ The Four Ancient Books of Wales. Abela Publishing Ltd. January 2011. pp. 20–. ISBN 978-1-907256-92-9. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  4. ^ Iolo Morganwg; Owen Jones; Society for the Publication of Ancient Welsh Manuscripts, Abergavenny (1848). Iolo manuscripts: A selection of ancient Welsh manuscripts, in prose and verse, from the collection made by the late Edward Williams, Iolo Morganwg, for the purpose of forming a continuation of the Myfyrian archaiology; and subsequently proposed as materials for a new history of Wales. W. Rees; sold by Longman and co., London. pp. 424–. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  5. ^ The Metropolitan. James Cochrane. 1836. pp. 1–. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  6. ^ Benjamin Heath Malkin (1807). The scenery, antiquities and biography of South Wales: from materials collected during two excursions in the year 1803. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme. pp. 389–. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  7. ^ Lewis Spence (1 March 2004). Mysteries of Celtic Britain. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 100–. ISBN 978-0-7661-8421-3. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  8. ^ John R. Kenyon (1 January 2003). Raglan Castle. Cadw Welsh Historic Monuments. ISBN 978-1-85760-169-5. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  9. ^ Sharon Turner (1841). The history of the Anglo-Saxons from the earliest period to the Norman conquest. Carey & Hart. pp. 498–. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  10. ^ Haneirin Gwawdrydd (1820). The Gododin, and the Odes of the months, tr. by W. Probert. pp. 24–. Retrieved 20 October 2012.

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