A new AHRC Medieval Welsh Saints project announced

The AHRC are funding a £774k research project on Medieval Welsh-language sources and their transmission. The project is led by the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies, with King’s College London’s Department of Digital Humanities, University of Wales: Trinity St David and the National Library of Wales. The research grant will support a four year research project on medieval Welsh language literature devoted to the veneration of saints.

Study of the origins, nature and development of saints' cults is flourishing internationally, but the Welsh sources are at best partially known: some texts have never been edited, others languish in inaccessible publications, and many are available only to Welsh-speakers. The project will create a digital research platform providing a basis for comparative study of this significant tradition.

The Department of Digital Humanities at King's College London (led by Co-Investigator Miguel Vieira) is leading on digital sustainability and the evolving form of the digital edition, developing the Department’s Open Source scholarly publication framework 'Kiln' into an innovative editing and publishing platform for digitally enabled scholarship.

Miguel Vieira said:

"This project provides us with an exciting opportunity to extend our sophisticated digital editing and publishing platform. Developed over ten year by the Department of Digital Humanities, Kiln is an Open Source and standards-compliant tool. It has been used to create more than fifty online digital editions, each based on very different source materials and demanding customised functionality. In addition to contributing to an innovative online resource for this project, our aim is also to provide the National Library Wales with a framework for developing further sustainable digital publications in the future, whilst making Kiln more accessible for anyone to use".

Picture credits:

Llanddewi Brefi, St David: Frederick Mancini, St David, 1959, ashlar stone, Church of St David, Llanddewi Brefi. Photo © Martin Crampin.

Pontarddulais, St Carannog: Joan Howson, St Carannog, 1952, stained glass, Church of St Teilo, Pontarddulais. Photo © Martin Crampin.

Main picture: Holywell, St Gwenfrewy/Winifred: John Hardman & Co., Scene from the Life of Winifred, about 1861, stained glass, Church of St Winifrede, Holywell. Photo © Martin Crampin.