An article by Darrell Wolcott about Lord Rhys (1125/30-1197) cites "ByT" ... what is that? [closed]

Question

I was working on the profile for Jane de Clare and found an article by Darrell Wolcott posted in "Ancient Wales Studies" that includes several citations to "ByT" but I can't figure out what that is. I searched for ByT at the site and it's not defined that I can find. Some citations include a page number but most just have a date - e.g., "ByT 1219". Acronym finders were no help (see this one & this one).

See the article: "The Children of Lord Rhys".

Comments

I looked through the website at several articles. I found a few using ByT, but no explanation. I found article that explained a few abbreviations for frequently used sources, but ByT was not among them.

ByT seems to be some sort of chronicle since the number after the term is apparently a year.

IMO this makes the case for properly citing your sources. If the reader can’t figure them out, they are of little value.

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Footnotes on this page mention Brut y Tywysogyon

http://www.ancientwalesstudies.org/id32.html

Often just called the Brut.  Looks like a good candidate.  But I am none the wiser.

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ooh - I bet that's it. In researching Joan & looking at attached profiles for Rhys's family, I saw Brut y Tywysogyon mentioned. Thanks RJ!

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There’s a Wikipedia article on this ... briefly, it is one of the most important primary references for Welsh history, per the article. here’s the link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brut_y_Tywysogion

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That would explain why I'd never heard of it.  But I have now.  In future, I'll be going "Of course, the Brut tells us" as if it was read to me on my mother's knee.

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Please do not consider the ByT to be a primary source. There is much discussion about its provenance. (i have a copy beside me). The general view is that was "enhanced" as a vanity project in the late 18th century and should NOT be used as a primary source.

Unfortunately like many vanity projects the Gwentian Chronicle, as it is also known, has dedicated followers. However, as we know, dedicated followers do not necessarily let the truth get in the way.

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Thanks so much for letting me know!

Answer 1

Yup!

http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/brut_y_tywysogion.html

1219. The ensuing year, Rhys the Hoarse married the daughter of the earl of Clare; and John de Bruse married Margaret, the daughter of Llywelyn, son of Iorwerth. That year, the Almighty God delivered the city of Damietta in Egypt, which was upon the river Nile, to the army of the Christians, who were wearied with long fighting against the city; for Divine providence caused such mortality among the people in the city, that the living could not bury the dead; as, on the day the city was obtained, more than three thousand dead bodies were found about the streets, like dogs, unburied. And on that day, to the praise and glory of the Creator, an archbishop was consecrated in the city.

Comments

What a year 1219 was!  What do you do on the very day you enter a city and blame 3000 dead on divine providence?  You consecrate an Archbishop, of course.  I wonder how Rhys the Hoarse got his name, and why the writer couldn't remember the name of the daughter of the earl of Clare!

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Yikes!  Vortigern of Repulsive Lips was dating Rhodri Molwynog when it rained blood in Ireland and then the milk and butter turned bloody.  Consecrate a Bishop!