The Laws of Hywel Dda, codifed formally before 950 AD.  The historical consensus is that the laws had been effect for  hundreds of years, but Hywel Dda ruled much of Wales and that allowed a more cohesive approach to the law. “Most of the surviving manuscripts of Welsh law start with a preamble explaining how the laws were codified by Hywel. The introduction to the Book of Blegywryd is a typical example: “ Hywel the Good, son of Cadell, by the grace of God, king of all Wales… summoned to him from every commote of his kingdom six men who were practised in authority and jurisprudence… to the place called the White House on the Taf in Dyfed. … And at the end of Lent the king selected from that assembly the twelve most skilled laymen of his men and the one Read more…