Giraldus Cambrensis

Giraldus Cambrensis, Gerald of Wales, Gerald de Berri. Medieval (c.1146–1223) Welsh clergyman whose writings in Latin about both Wales and Ireland are among the most extensive, detailed records we have on those countries. Although he was the son of a Welsh princess, Giraldus' ecclesiastical career was constantly thwarted by authorities; Henry II twice rejected his appointment to the see of St David's (1176 and 1198). Most important of his many books are two on Wales itself, Itinerarium Cambriae [The Story of the Journey Through Wales] (c.1168) and Descriptio Cambriae [A Description of Wales] (c.1198). His treatments of Ireland are more prejudicial, combining insupportable beliefs with detailed realistic observations; they include Expugnatio Hibernica [The Conquest of Ireland] and Topographia Hibernica [The Topography of Ireland] (c.1185). J. S. Brewer edited the eight volumes of his complete works, Giraldus Cambrensi Opera (London, 1861–91). The English translation by Sir Richard Colt Hoare (1806) has long been available from Everyman's Library (1908, 1976). Thomas Jones produced a Welsh version, Gerallt Gymro: Hanes y Daith trwy Gymru a'r Disgrifiad o Gymru (Cardiff, 1938), later reissued in a bilingual edition, Gerallt Gymro: Gerald of Wales (Cardiff, 1947). See also Michael Richter, Giraldus Cambrensis and the Growth of the Welsh Nation (Aberystwyth, 1972, 1976); Robert Bartlett, Gerald of Wales, 1146–1223 (Oxford, 1982); Charles Kightly, Mirror of Medieval Wales (Cardiff, 1988).