Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Abbreviations
- 1 Cloud-Cuckoo Land? Some Christian Symbols from Post-Roman Britain
- 2 Columbanus's Monasticism and the Sources of his Inspiration: From Basil to the Master?
- 3 Early Irish Priests within their Own Localities
- 4 Political Organisation in Dál Riata
- 5 Irish Boundary Ferta, their Physical Manifestation and Historical Context
- 6 Asser's Parochia of Exeter
- 7 Viking-Age Sculpture in North-West Wales: Wealth, Power, Patronage and the Christian Landscape
- 8 Iona v. Kells: Succession, Jurisdiction and Politics in the Columban Familia in the Later Tenth Century
- 9 A Twelfth-Century Indulgence Granted by an Irish Bishop at Bath Priory
- 10 Gerald of Wales, Gildas, and the Descriptio Kambriae
- 11 Patrick's Reasons for Leaving Britain
- 12 Learning Law in Medieval Ireland
- 13 Holding Court: Judicial Presidency in Brittany, Wales and Northern Iberia in the Early Middle Ages
- 14 The Iorwerth Triads
- 15 The Recovery of Stolen Property: Notes on Legal Procedure in Gaelic Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man
- 16 Contentious Kinship: The Penumbra of Established Kinship in Medieval Irish Law
- 17 Marriage by Purchase in Early Irish Law
- 18 Kingship Made Real? Power and the Public World in Longes Mac nUislenn
- 19 Mongán's Metamorphosis: Compert Mongáin ocus Serc Duibe Lacha do Mongán, a Later Mongán Tale
- Bibliography of the Writings of Thomas Charles-Edwards Maredudd ap Huw
- Index
- Tabula Gratulatoria
10 - Gerald of Wales, Gildas, and the Descriptio Kambriae
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Abbreviations
- 1 Cloud-Cuckoo Land? Some Christian Symbols from Post-Roman Britain
- 2 Columbanus's Monasticism and the Sources of his Inspiration: From Basil to the Master?
- 3 Early Irish Priests within their Own Localities
- 4 Political Organisation in Dál Riata
- 5 Irish Boundary Ferta, their Physical Manifestation and Historical Context
- 6 Asser's Parochia of Exeter
- 7 Viking-Age Sculpture in North-West Wales: Wealth, Power, Patronage and the Christian Landscape
- 8 Iona v. Kells: Succession, Jurisdiction and Politics in the Columban Familia in the Later Tenth Century
- 9 A Twelfth-Century Indulgence Granted by an Irish Bishop at Bath Priory
- 10 Gerald of Wales, Gildas, and the Descriptio Kambriae
- 11 Patrick's Reasons for Leaving Britain
- 12 Learning Law in Medieval Ireland
- 13 Holding Court: Judicial Presidency in Brittany, Wales and Northern Iberia in the Early Middle Ages
- 14 The Iorwerth Triads
- 15 The Recovery of Stolen Property: Notes on Legal Procedure in Gaelic Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man
- 16 Contentious Kinship: The Penumbra of Established Kinship in Medieval Irish Law
- 17 Marriage by Purchase in Early Irish Law
- 18 Kingship Made Real? Power and the Public World in Longes Mac nUislenn
- 19 Mongán's Metamorphosis: Compert Mongáin ocus Serc Duibe Lacha do Mongán, a Later Mongán Tale
- Bibliography of the Writings of Thomas Charles-Edwards Maredudd ap Huw
- Index
- Tabula Gratulatoria
Summary
In the first preface to the Descriptio Kambriae, completed in 1194, Gerald of Wales makes two related assertions: he had written a work of history, and he had sought to imitate the example of Gildas. Although by no means ignored, both statements have remained at the margins of scholarly discussion, which has tended to concentrate on the Descriptio's novelty as a remarkably detailed, albeit partial, account of a medieval country and people as well as on what it reveals of its author's attitude towards Wales and the Welsh. The emphasis on the work as an original contribution to ethnographic writing strongly coloured by its author's complex relationship with Wales remains highly illuminating. However, this essay will argue that, in order to appreciate the nature of that contribution, Gerald's presentation of the Descriptio as a piece of historical writing needs to be taken very seriously, for it was central to his purpose. In particular, it will suggest that, just as Bede's account of the seventh- and eighth-century Britons was informed by a reading of Gildas, so too was Gerald's description of the Welsh. After a brief introduction to the Descriptio Kambriae the discussion will consider how Gerald uses the past in the work in general before moving on to explore the implications of his specific identification with Gildas.
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- Tome: Studies in Medieval Celtic History and Law in Honour of Thomas Charles-Edwards , pp. 115 - 124Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2011