On 31 March 1406, Owain Glyndŵr sent a letter, now know as the Pennal Letter, to Charles VI King of France requesting assistance for help in his rebellion against English rule. In it he sets out what he was prepared to concede in return – the main concession being the recognition of Benedict XIII of Avignon as Pope.
Created with the kind permission of Archives Nationales, Paris
The letter was composed during a synod of the Welsh Church at Pennal in 1406 and gives an insight into the ambitions of Glyndŵr and his vision for a new and autonomous Wales, which included establishing an independent church and two universities.
Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones presented limited edition facsimile copies of the Pennal Letter to six Welsh institutions including The National Library of Wales in 2009.
The original letter is held at the Archives Nationales in Paris and the facsimile copies were prepared by staff at The National Library of Wales. They are an exact facsimile copy of the original and were created on parchment using specialist ageing techniques and the seal of Glyndŵr was recreated from moulds of the original.
The original Pennal Letter was last seen here at The National Library of Wales in the year 2000 for the Owain Glyndŵr Exhibition.