Gerald of Wales: A Voice of the Middle Ages

Gerald of Wales, Giraldis Cambrensis, Gerald the Welshman, Gerald the Marcher - his many names reflect the long and multi-faceted career of one of the most fascinating figures of the Middle Ages. Descended from Norman Marcher barons and Welsh princes, Gerald was by turns scholar, churchman and reformer, courtier, diplomat and would-be crusader; Marcher propagandist, agent of English kings, champion of the Welsh church, hunted outlaw and cathedral theologian. He was also a naturalist, gossip and indefatigable traveller, but above all, a most prolific writer and a tireless self-publicist. We know more about Gerald than about any other inhabitant of early medieval Wales. In this fascinating study of Gerald's attitudes and intellectual outlook, Robert Bartlett discusses the delicate political path Gerald had to tread between Norman conquerors, native Celtic society and the English Crown. He analyses Gerald's clear voice in the time in which he lives, and portrays him as a vivid example of the medieval world.