[1] He is also well known for his eyewitness account of England's 1543 war with France in his journal transcribed in Elis Gruffydd and the 1544 'Enterprise' of Paris and Boulogue.
[2] Thomas Jones says "despite his long years of service in France and London, [Gruffydd] was deeply interested in the oral traditions and written literature of his native land.
More famously Elis Gruffydd began his life in Flintshire, Wales as the younger son of a cadet of a gentry's family.
His neighbour Sir Huw Conwy of Botryddan was already high in the royal service and worked as the treasurer of Calais from 1492 to 1517.
[6] By 1518 he began working for Sir Robert Wingfield, a gentleman from Suffolk, mostly likely to solve his financial issues.
[6] He accompanied Wingfield on various diplomatic missions abroad, most notably around France, which accounts for his extensive knowledge on French culture and history.
[7] On an expedition in 1523, Gruffydd accompanies Wingfield to London, giving vivid descriptions of Thomas Wolsey in the Court of Star Chamber.
[9] During his stay in London he observed many political figures and witnessed events at the Court of Star Chamber.
It was during this time that he began penning his first extensive work Cardiff MS 5, also known as Phillipps 10823, which featured a collection of prose and poetry based loosely of the late medieval tradition.
On 27 January 1529, Gruffydd travelled back to Calais, where his master Sir Robert Wingfield was serving as deputy governor.
This chronicle was written in Welsh, despite his long residence in England and France, consisting in large part of translations and adaptations of English and French sources.
Though he recorded it in the sixteenth century, Gruffydd gives evidence of earlier sources, hinting toward a ninth-century origination date.
Deeply influenced by Thomas Cromwell, Gruffydd was the first Welsh Protestant to leave a record of his religious views.
[11] Although Elis Gruffydd spent the majority of his life as a soldier and an administrative officer, it was his work as a chronicler, transcriber, and translator that made him known.
[1] The second portion, labelled NLW Manuscript 3054D tells the history of England from the reign of William the Conqueror in 1066 up to its published date in 1552.
[1] This part of the manuscript gave a look into Gruffydd's own life, as well as the lives of other Welsh people who emigrated from London to Calais.
[1] The immense document contains the earliest version of the Taliesin Saga, as well as the story of Owain Glyn Dwr, Myth Huaw ap Caw and Arthur, Legend of Merlin, Wife Maelgyn and the Ring, and History of Llywelyn ap Lorwerth and Cynwrig from Trefriw Red.
This journal gives remarkable detail into the military, social, and political life of war seen from the viewpoint of a soldier, a perspective rarely observed.
As a member of the "Poor Bloody Infantry", Gruffydd revealed sympathies with the sufferings of the soldiers rather than their commanders, who he regularly barraged with harsh criticism.