Atque ubi iam vitae terminum appropinquare intellexit, liberos convocari praecepit, ut quae a morte sua fieri et observari vellet illis exponere, quemadmodum aliquando Ezechias rex fecerat. Itaque substantiam suam omnem < > in partes divisit, cuius iustitia in aeternum permanebit. …[ List of bequests to churches.] Haec episcopis, archidiaconis, praesbyteris, clericis, doctoribus, Christianisque indigentibus concessit ut Sancti Spiritus protectione defensitaretur, qui omnia scrutatur et cognoscit. And when he realized that the end of his life was near, he ordered his children to be summoned so that he might set out for them what he wished to happen and to be carried out, just as the king Ezechias once did. And so he divided his possessions, the justice of which will remain for ever. … [List of bequests to churches.] These he granted to the bishops, archdeacons, priests, clerics, doctors and needy Christians so that he might be defended by the protection of the Holy Spirit who sees and knows all things.13 Erant una eius filii, quibus ille benedicendo praedixit quae illis olim eventura essent, ad similitudinem Iacobi patriarchae, qui filiis suis in Aegypto benedixisset: atque in mandatis dedit, ut fortiter se gererent, inimicisque magno animo resisterent, ut ille postremis suis temporibus egerat. huwpryce udd is the only medieval Welsh ruler to be the subject of a medieval biography; this was written in Latin, probably shortly after his death and in any case no later than 1157, and translated into Welsh in the early thirteenth century.12 According to the anonymous biographer, Gruffudd disposed of his goods in two stages, the first being bequests to churches witnessed by his children. Second, the biography states that many clergy, including the bishop of Bangor, came to Gruffudd’s deathbed, ut oleo consecrato eius corpus inungerent, iuxta praeceptum Iacobi Apostoli (‘so that they might anoint his body with consecrated oil’). It also notes that members of his family were present. However, three categories are distinguished. The first consists of the king’s (unnamed) sons. Principalities or lordships and other lands normally could not be bequeathed: see Smith 1986; Davies 1987, pp. 125–7. 12 Russell 2005; Evans 1977. See also Pryce 2022, pp. 54–7 and, for evidence suggesting that the Welsh translation was made by c.1223, Guy 2020, p. 227. 13 Russell 2005, pp. 88–89 (c. 34). As it is in the third person singular I have takendefensitaretur in the last sentence to refer to Gruffudd, rather than the recipients of his bequests, and thus amended Russell’s translation ‘they might be defended’. 429
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