Book of Llandaff

The Book of Llandaff (Latin: Liber Landavensis; Welsh: Llyfr Llandaf, Llyfr Llan Dâv, or Llyfr Teilo), is the Chartulary, or Register Book of the Cathedral Church of Llandaff, a 12th-century compilation of documents relating to the history of the diocese of Llandaff in Wales. It is written primarily in Latin but also contains a significant amount of Old and Middle Welsh names and marginalia.

History

The work was compiled around 1125 by an unknown official at Llandaff Cathedral. It contains numerous records covering five hundred years of the diocese's history, including the biographies or Lives of Saints Dubricius, Teilo and Oudoceus and, most importantly for historical research, 149 land-grant charters. These Llandaff Charters give details of property transfers to the cathedral from various local kings and other notaries, from the late 6th to the late 11th century. (About 40% belong to the 8th century and 20% to the late 9th century.) The manuscript includes the document Fraint Teilo, in the original Middle Welsh with facing Latin version, an important source for the study of early Middle Welsh; although transcribed in the beginning of the twelfth century, the orthography suggests a considerably earlier provenance.

Llandaff

Llandaff (/lænˈdæf/; Welsh: Llandaf [ɬanˈdɑːv]; from llan "church" and Taf) is a district and community in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales, having been incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of the Church in Wales Bishop of Llandaff, whose diocese covers the most populous area of South Wales.

History

Most of the history of Llandaff centres on its role as a religious site. Before the creation of Llandaff Cathedral it became established as a Christian place of worship in the 6th century AD, probably because of its location as the first firm ground north of the point where the river Taff met the Bristol Channel, and because of its pre-Christian location as a river crossing on a north south trade route. Evidence of Roman-British ritual burials have been found under the present cathedral. The date of the moving of the cathedral to Llandaff is disputed, but elements of the fabric date from the 12th century, such as the impressive Romanesque Urban Arch, named after the 12th century Bishop, Urban. It has had a history of continual destruction and restoration, as a result of warfare, neglect, and natural disaster. Llandaff has been a focal point of devastating attacks by Owain Glyndŵr and Oliver Cromwell. It was the second most damaged Cathedral in the UK (after Coventry Cathedral) following Luftwaffe bombing during World War II, and subsequently restored by the architect George Pace. One of its main modern points of interest is the aluminium figure of Christ in Majesty (1954–5), by Jacob Epstein, which is suspended above the nave. In 2007 a lightning strike to its spire sent a surge through the building which destroyed its organ. Its replacement, the largest to be built in the UK for over 40 years, was inaugurated in 2010.

Bishop of Llandaff

The Bishop of Llandaff is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff.

Area of authority

The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (the site of a church wrongly said to have been founded in 560 by Saint Teilo), in the village of Llandaff, just north-west of the City of Cardiff. The Bishop's residence is Llys Esgob, The Cathedral Green, Llandaff in Cardiff.

Brief history

The controversial Iolo Manuscripts claim an older foundation dating to Saints Dyfan and Fagan, said elsewhere to have missionized the court of King Lucius of Britain on behalf of Pope Eleutherius around AD 166. The manuscripts—others of which are original and others now known forgeries—list Dyfan as the first bishop and, following his martyrdom, Fagan as his successor.Baring-Gould refers to them as chorepiscopi. The present-day St Fagans (referenced in the manuscripts as "Llanffagan Fawr") is now a village near Cardiff.