This article assesses the significance of the Welsh language in the works of Charles Edwards, a nonconformist and a Presbyterian who played a role in some of the most significant Welsh language ventures of the second half of the seventeenth century. It is argued that the Welsh language is important to Edwards, and that he did not use it for pragmatic reasons alone. He appreciates the Welsh language in a Protestant framework that emphasises the interdependency of religion, language and literature, and learning. He elevates the Welsh language as an ancient, learned, and eloquent tongue that has connections to other important languages like Hebrew and Greek in both his classic work Y Ffydd Ddi-ffuant [‘The Unfeigned Faith’] (1667, 1671, 1677) and the Hebraismorum Cambro-Britannicorum Specimen (1675), a text that has not received much attention.
Keywords
Gwerddon, Welsh literature; the seventeenth century; Christianity; the Welsh language; Charles Edwards; the early modern period; learning.