Gerald of WalesRezensionen

The take away for me of this book was the reassurance that "It (Ireland) has no dragons". This must have come as a great comfort to any medieval traveller contemplating a trip to Ireland.

The Journey through Wales / The Description of Wales by Gerald of Wales

Gerald of Wales wrote such a detailed account of his travels through Wales in 1188 that scholars are still using his material as primary documentation. Added to The Journey is The Description of Wales highlighting the daily living, social and economic conditions of people in Wales at this time.

Gerald’s ambition was to become Archbishop of Wales; this never came to fruition. He knew everybody that there was to know in Wales and England of the day. Although he was born in Wales, there does not seem to be any record of Gerald being able to speak Welsh. When he preached in Wales, he used Latin and French not Welsh. What about when he had dealings with the Welsh princes? Wales was not a backwards as many historians like to imagine and many of the more important Welsh rulers could communicate effectively in either Latin or French as well as in English and Welsh. Therefore, I am sure that any dealings between the two parties would have been conducted easily.

I found The Journey to be an interesting travel diary kept by Gerald on his missionary travels. I found The Description equally interesting, as this is a firsthand account of what life was like in Wales in the late 1180s during the reign of Richard the Lionhearted. I usually find primary documents boring and mind numbing to read yet these two books found a special place in my heart. Maybe that is the Welsh pride coming out.

The Journey and The Description both almost read like a Who’s Who of medieval England and Wales. Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury, Saint Thomas Becket, Cadwaladr ap Gruffyd ap Cynan, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, Bishop David FitzGerald of St. David’s, Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Tewdwr, William Longchamp, Empress Matilda, Earl Hugh Montgomery of Shrewsbury, and so many others.

Overall, if you have any interest in Wales in particular or medieval English history in general, then I would suggest you give this a good read.

Happy Reading,

This book is a reminder that modern travel books are often better organized than their ancestors. Gerold had an axe to grind, feeling that the Welsh are better than the Irish, and a book I read on the Norman Conquest... err...Invasion of Ireland has a good deal to say about Gerald's connections with the Norman warlords involved in that action. It's a fun book, but should not be used by the serious historian½

Original language was Irish

With the benefit of Jeffrey Cohen's On Difficult Middles, I noticed something this time around that I hadn't before: the multiple 'origins' of the Irish Gerald records in the third book. It was the bestiality that first grabbed me, but it's the historiographical and ethnic anxiety that keeps me coming back for more.

An extremely entertaining look at medieval Ireland, written by a clergyman with a very low opinion of the Irish and their distasteful habits (irreverency, drunkenness, bad temper, heretical leanings, and a fondness for bestiality are among the many).

The joy of this book lies in the lively narrative, and its jumbled combination of folk tales, superstition, and earnest psuedo-science. The author scoffs at the idea that St. Patrick mystically drove the snakes from Ireland, and then follows that up with a perfectly serious story about a magic talking fish with three gold teeth. The illustrations are also fabulous - my favorite, adorning the subsection entitled 'Bestiality, a Particular Vice of the Irish', features a woodcut of a goat making out with a lady!

A true crowd-pleaser, with something in it for everyone.

Finally hit the original of this text. I'm in love with the subject matter so I love it. If you are interested in Welsh history or medieval history I recommend it.

The Journey Through Wales provides a scattered treatment of travel by the author and his companions. The Description of Wales provides interesting insights into life in Wales at the time. I found the heavy-handed religious and antiquated natural history 'facts' proffered by the author tiresome, but read the books and got some insight into Wales at the time of his writing.

Originally written as two separate works in the 12th century, Penguin's classic edition of The Journey Through Wales and the Description of Wales offers a fascinating glimpse into the daily life and culture of medieval Wales. A dynamic and well-known clergyman and writer in his day, Gerald also wrote The History and Topography of Ireland.

Easy read and entertaining. It is a great view into the life of a monastic in the medieval period. His descriptions of the people and places bring them to life and help a modern reader get a glimpse into the past .

School reading...

Original date: ~1185.
Original title: Topographia Hibernia.
English translation from Latin.