William Morgan | Welsh Reformer, Bible Translator & Bishop (2024)

William Morgan (born c. 1545, Caernarvonshire, Wales—died Sept. 10, 1604, St. Asaph, Flintshire) was an Anglican bishop of the Reformation whose translation of the Bible into Welsh helped standardize the literary language of his country.

Ordained in 1568, Morgan became a parish priest at Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant, Denbighshire, 10 years later and was appointed bishop of Llandaff in 1595 and of St. Asaph in 1601. His translation of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha, published in 1588, was meant to complete the work of the Welsh writer William Salesbury, whose translation of the New Testament and The Book of Common Prayer had appeared in 1567. Morgan also revised Salesbury’s translation of the New Testament.

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The influence of Morgan’s translation upon Welsh literature cannot be overestimated. With few models of Welsh prose to follow, Morgan adapted in his translation the diction and style of the bardic tradition. His adaptation was further affirmed by the Welsh bishop Richard Parry, who published a revised version of Morgan’s translation of the Bible in 1620 with the assistance of the scholar John Davies. The literary Welsh thus established was subsequently taught to the Welsh public for more than 200 years; Parry and Davies’ revision of Morgan’s Bible remained in use in Wales into the 20th century.