Catrin ferch Gruffudd ap Hywel facts for kids
Catrin ferch Gruffudd ap Hywel (who lived around the 1550s) was a Welsh poet from Anglesey, an island off the coast of Wales. She was a very religious Catholic and wrote many poems about her strong feelings against the Protestant Reformation. This was a big change in Europe when many people moved away from the Catholic Church. Many of Catrin's poems are still around today because the National Library of Wales has kept them safe.
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Who Was Catrin?
Catrin ferch Gruffudd ap Hywel lived in a village called Llanddaniel Fab on Anglesey. She was active as a poet in the 1550s. Her husband, Robert ap Rhys, was a Catholic priest. Their son later became a parson, which is a type of church leader. Catrin was also related to another poet named Wiliam Cynwal.
Her Life and Beliefs
Catrin was a very devoted Catholic. This meant her faith was extremely important to her. Her poems often talked about religious topics. She wrote a lot about her opposition to the Protestant Reformation. This was a time when many churches in Britain changed from being Catholic to Protestant. Catrin felt strongly about these changes.
Her Powerful Poems
Catrin used her poetry to share her feelings. In one short poem called an englyn, she wrote about how church choirs and altars were being destroyed. She also mentioned that the Latin language, which was used in Catholic church services, was being stopped. This shows how upset she was about the changes happening in her church.
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Y côr a'r allor a ddrylliwyd – ar gam |
The choir and altar have been destroyed – wrongly |
A scholar named Liz Herbert McAvoy pointed out that Catrin used Latin for her prayers. But she used Welsh, her native language, to write her poems about her religious beliefs. This gives us a special look into how a Welsh woman felt about the big changes to her religion.
Speaking Out Through Poetry
Around 1553, Catrin wrote another poem where she expressed anger. She wrote about things like the "stealing of the chalice of Christ." A chalice is a special cup used in church services. She also mentioned the "stealing church and chancel," which is the part of the church near the altar. She felt these changes brought only "arrogance and exploitation."
Catrin also wrote a longer poem called an awdl that praised Christ. She even wrote a series of englynion about a very cold summer in 1555. Towards the end of her life, she wrote a poem where she prayed and cried at night. She thought about Christ's suffering and prepared herself for death. This suggests she might have been very ill.
Why Her Poems Matter Today
Many of Catrin's poems are still available today because the National Library of Wales has carefully preserved them.
Because so many of her poems survived, Liz Herbert McAvoy sees Catrin as one of the most famous female Welsh poets from the late medieval and early modern periods. Historian Lloyd Bowen also says that her poems are very important. They give us a valuable and rare look at how a woman experienced the big religious changes of that time.
