22/3/2000

First Secretary Rhodri Morgan announced today, (Wednesday, 22 March) that the Pennal Letters and Seal of Owain Glyndwr will be coming home to Wales for a period of six months.

The French Ministry of Culture and the Archives Nationales in Paris have agreed to lend the letters to the National Library of Wales for their major Owain Glyndwr exhibition from 8 April to 30 September 2000.

Mr Morgan said: "When I met the British Ambassador in Paris last year I raised with him the possibility of the letters coming back to Wales. One of my first actions on becoming First Secretary was to write to him to ask his assistance. I have now received confirmation that the French authorities have agreed that the documents can be on display at the National Library in Aberystwyth for the full duration of the Library's exhibition.

"Earlier this year we provided the Library with funds to cover its additional expenses. We decided that no replicas could possibly have the emotional significance which the originals have for the Welsh people.

"Owain Glyndwr wrote the Pennal Letters as a result of his alliance with Charles VI of France. By returning them to our National Library almost 600 years later, we have reinforced that hugely historical link between the people of France and Wales.

"I am looking forward enormously to opening the exhibition in Aberystwyth on 8 April. I hope that visitors from all parts of Wales and around the world will come to the exhibition to see for themselves these unique documents which form an important part of our heritage".

NOTE

* The Pennal Letters from Owain Glyndwr to Charles VI of France are held in the Archives Nationales in Paris. Despatched from Pennal in 1406 the letters were written in Latin. They state Owain Glyndwr's allegiance to the French Pope and propose that the Church in Wales be subject to the Pope at Avignon rather than to the see of Canterbury; and that two universities be established in Wales.
* In law, the recipient of a letter becomes its rightful owner. There can be no claim against the French authorities to return the artefacts permanently.
* The exhibition at the National Library of Wales will open to the public on 8 April 2000. Further information can be obtained from Emyr Lloyd Jones at the National Library of Wales Tel: 01970 632837 E-mail: holi@llgc.org.uk

Source:	National Assembly for Wales
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