Yn y bennod hon, dechreuwn hoelio sylw ar bwnc sydd o’r pwys mwyaf i hanes yr Hen Iaith a’i llenyddiaeth – cyhoeddi’r Beibl yn Gymraeg. Dechreuwn y tro hwn gyda’r Testament Newydd a gyhoeddwyd yn 1567, gan egluro bod rhaid deall y cyd-destun gwleidyddol yn ogystal â’r cyd-destun crefyddol er mwyn deall y garreg filltir hon o ddatblygiad.

Er bod rhai’n hoffi gweld y Beibl Cymraeg fel ‘iawndal’ Elizabeth I am yr hyn a wnaeth ei thad, Harri VIII, i’r Gymraeg gyda’r ‘Deddfau Uno’, dadleuwn i’r gwrthwyneb ac awgrymu bod y ddau ddatblygiad yn deillio o’r un cymhelliad gwleidyddol i ganol grym a sicrhau unffurfiaeth trwy’r deyrnas. Mae’n ddiddorol nodi felly mai unffurfiaeth wleidyddol a chrefyddol a nid unffurfiaeth ieithyddol a oedd yn bwysig i Elizabeth.

Trafodwn gyfraniad yr Esgob Richard Davies a chodi pwnc a gaiff sylw yn y bennod nesaf hefyd – y ffug-hanesyddiaeth a alwodd Saunders Lewis yn ‘bropaganda’r Eglwys Brotestannaidd’.

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In this episode we begin focusing on a subject which is of the greatest importance to the history of the Old Language and its literature – publishing the Bible in Welsh.

We begin this time with the Welsh translation of the New Testament published in 1567, explaining that one needs to understand the political context as well as the religious context in order to understand this milestone development. Although some like to see the Welsh Bible as ‘compensation’ given by Elizabeth for that which her father, Henry VIII, did to the Welsh language with the ‘Acts of Union’, we argue the opposite and suggest that both developments stemmed from the same political desire to centralize power and ensure uniformity in the realm. It’s interesting to note that political and religious uniformity were important to Elizabeth, not linguistic uniformity.

We discuss the contribution of Bishop Richard Davies and raise a topic which will also get attention in the next episode – the pseudo-history which Saunders Lewis called ‘The Protestant Church’s propaganda’.

Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones

Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin

Cerddoriaeth: Might Have Done gan The Molenes

Darllen Pellach / Further Reading:

- Prys Morgan, Beibl i Gymru (1988).

- Glanmor Williams, ‘Richard Davies, Bishop of St. Davids, 1561-81’, Trafodion Anrhydeddus Gymdeithas y Cymmrodorion, 1948, 147-169.