David Powel

 ( 16th-century Welsh Historians ) 

He was a respected scholar and was associated with geographers such as John Dee and Richard Hakluyt. In 1573, Powel took over the task of preparing for publication an English translation (by Humphrey Llwyd) of some Cronica Walliae, upon which John Dee had been working before leaving England. Powel expanded Llwyd's work in its scope and detail, with the help of Lord Burghley providing access to some further documents, making his own contributions clear by typographical distinctions. The resulting publication in 1584, The Historie of Cambria, now called Wales, was the first printed history of Wales. The work remained an important source for medieval Welsh history for several centuries thereafter. It was widely read and shared among Wales' most important early modern scholars, who often commented on their copies depending on their view on Welsh history and contemporary politics.

Powel also published a volume with editions of Ponticus Virunnius's Historia Britannica, and Gerald of Wales's Itinerarium Cambriae ('Journey through Wales', 1191) and Descriptio Cambriae ('Description of Wales', 1194), but omitted Gerald's negative comments about the Welsh. The volume was dedicated to Sidney. He is also said (by the later lexicographer John Davies) to have worked on an unpublished Welsh dictionary.