Bishop William Morgan, 1545 – 1604
Who was William Morgan?
Bishop William Morgan was a priest and scholar who helped ensure the survival of the Welsh language.His work made sure that Welsh did not join Middle English and Old Norse as a dead language.
Morgan was born at Tŷ Mawr, Wybrnant, Penmachno, in 1545.His father was a tenant of the Gwydir estate. William, a talented student, was probably educated at Gwydir Castle, near Llanrwst, along with the children of the Wynn family. Hewent on to university in Cambridge and studied a range of subjects including philosophy, mathematics and Greek. After gaining his degree he continued to study, spending seven years studying the Bible in the original languages of Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic.
As well as following his studies, William Morgan became a minister in the Church of England. His first (part-time) appointment was to the parish of Llanbadarn Fawr, in 1572; he later moved to Welshpool (near the English border) in 1575 and then to a full-time duty at Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant in 1578. He later became Bishop of Llandaff and later St Asaph.
Why was a Welsh Bible needed?
The coming to power of the Tudors was good news for Wales. The Acts of Union which were introduced by Henry VIII ended the prejudice against the Welsh.The Welsh were now equal to English citizens of the realm and they could now become Members of Parliament and hold important government jobs. The Acts also made English the ‘official’ language of Wales, banning the use of Welsh in the law courts and local government. This meant that if anyone wanted to become important in Walesthen they needed to act like Englishmen.
Further threats to the language came with religious changes. In 1539 Henry VIII introduced the ‘Great Bible’, an English version of the Bible that was to be read in all churches, including those in Wales. Traditionally the Bible had been in Latin. Then during the reign of the Protestant Edward VI, services were held in English. Welshmen complained that could not understand the services, since most only spoke Welsh, and many were unwilling to give up their Catholic views and accept the new Protestant ideas. A Welshman by the name of William Salesbury now planned to translate the Bible into Welsh. Then in 1553 Edward VI died and the throne was occupied by his sister, Mary Tudor, afirm Catholic. In England and Wales, Latin was once again the language of worship and the project to translate the Bible laid aside.
Mary's reign was brief and ended in 1558. Mary's Protestant sister Elizabeth came to the throne and created a Protestant Church of England that looked to please both Catholics and Protestants. Elizabeth hopedto bring agreement and end religious conflict. People had to go to church regularly, obey the rules and follow the services of the parish church. The services would be in English. But it was realised that something had to be done about Wales since most still preferred the Catholic traditions since most people did not understand what was taking place. So in 1563 Parliament passed The Act for Translating the Bible, ordered the translation of the Bibleinto Welsh, and would mean that Welsh could be used in church services.
How was the Bible translated?
In 1567William Salesbury published a Welsh version of the New Testament. William Morgan recognised the importance of this work but he also believed it was important to have the Old Testament translated as well. He began work on translating the Old Testament in the early 1580s and made changes to Salesbury's translation of the New Testament too. By 1588 his work was finally ready to be published.One thousand copies of Morgan’s Bible were printed in London and given to churches in Wales. The Bible was hugely popular and soon further copies had to be printed.
Why is the William Morgan Bible significant in Wales?
The translation of the Bible meant that the Welsh accepted Elizabeth’s Church and broke away once and for all from Catholicism. It meant that the Welsh people could read the Bible in their first language. The Bible was used to teach following generations how to read and write. The standard Welsh Bible is based upon Morgan’s Bible and continues to be used to this day.