Reading Geoffrey of Monmouth in Wales: The Intellectual Roots of Brut y Brenhinedd in Latin Commentaries, Glosses, and Variant Texts

The following article considers the intellectual context of Brut y Brenhinedd ("The History of the Kings"), the collective title given to the Middle Welsh translations of Geoffrey of Monmouth's De gestis Britonum (Historia regum Britanniae). It begins with an overview of the various versions of Brut y Brenhinedd as an entry point for non-specialists into the subject. It positions the reception of Geoffrey's Latin text in the intellectual culture of medieval Wales as a precursor to the translation of the text into the Welsh language, demonstrating that the interpretation of Geoffrey's history by Welsh scholars—by way of marginal glossing, layers of commentary, and extensive rewriting—was an interpretive activity that began with Latin copies of the text, prior to and as translation into Welsh occurred. It shows that Latinate literary culture in medieval Wales is more dynamic, learned, and closely linked to Welsh vernacular literature than often acknowledged.