Book of Blegywryd

The Book of Blegywryd is one of the three main groups of Welsh lawbooks, alongside the Book of Iorwerth and the Book of Cyfnerth. These lawbooks represent important documents of medieval Welsh prose and contain the native law of Wales, known as Cyfraith Hywel, or the Law of Howel. While no manuscript from the reign of Hywel Dda (910–950), the king after whom the law is named, still exists, the oldest extant Welsh lawbook is a Latin manuscript from around 1200.1

The Book of Blegywryd is noted for its strong ecclesiastical influence and is believed to be a translation from a Latin compilation similar to England's Leges Henrici Primi. These compilations often contain a mix of outdated provisions, living traditional material, and recent innovations. The lawbooks were compiled by practicing lawyers and served as instructional texts, aiming to provide a complete statement of the law.1