Editing Gerald of Wales

{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Gerald of Wales
| image = St.David's Cathedral - Dreieinigkeitskapelle 5 Giraldus Cambrensis.jpg
| imagesize = 
| alt = 
| caption = Statue in [[St Davids Cathedral]]
| pseudonym = 
| birth_name = Gerald de Barri
| birth_date = {{circa|lk=no}} 1146
| birth_place = [[Manorbier Castle]], [[Pembrokeshire]], Wales
| death_date = {{circa|lk=no}} 1223 (age about 77)
| death_place = probably [[Hereford]], England
| occupation = Clergyman
| nationality = Cambro-Norman
|alma_mater	= [[University of Paris]]
|language =[[Latin]]
|movement=
|notableworks = ''[[Topographia Hibernica]]''<br/>''[[Itinerarium Cambriae]]''<br/>''[[Descriptio Cambriae]]''<br/>''[[De principis instructione]]'' 
}}
'''Gerald of Wales''' ({{langx|la|Giraldus Cambrensis}}; {{langx|cy|Gerallt Cymro}}; {{langx|fr|Gerald de Barri}}; {{circa|lk=no|1146|1223}}) was a [[Cambro-Norman]] priest and [[Historians in England during the Middle Ages|historian]]. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taught in France and visited Rome several times, meeting the Pope. He was nominated for several bishoprics but turned them down in the hope of becoming [[Bishop of St Davids]], but was unsuccessful despite considerable support. His final post was as [[Archdeacon of Brecon]], from which he retired to academic study for the remainder of his life. Much of his writing survives.
{{anchor|Biography|History}}

==Life==
===Early life===
[[Image:Manorbier Castle.jpg|300px|thumb|right|[[Manorbier Castle]], birthplace of Gerald of Wales]]
Born {{circa|lk=no|1146}} at [[Manorbier Castle]] in [[Pembrokeshire]], Wales, Gerald was of mixed [[Normans|Norman]] and [[Welsh people|Welsh]] descent. Gerald was the youngest son of William Fitz Odo de Barry (or Barri), the common ancestor of the [[De Barry family]] of [[Barry, Vale of Glamorgan|Barry]], [[Glamorgan|Glamorganshire]], who subsequently invaded Ireland, a retainer of [[Arnulf de Montgomery]] and [[Gerald de Windsor]], and one of the most powerful [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] [[baron]]s in Wales.<ref name="Mac">{{Cite web |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Giraldus Cambrensis |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06568d.htm |access-date=2024-09-03 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref> His mother was Angharad FitzGerald, a daughter of [[Gerald de Windsor|Gerald FitzWalter of Windsor]],{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} Constable of [[Pembroke Castle]], and his wife [[Nest ferch Rhys]], daughter of [[Rhys ap Tewdwr]], the last King of [[South Wales]]. Through his mother Angharad, Gerald was a nephew of [[David FitzGerald]], Bishop of St Davids, as well as a great-nephew of [[Gruffydd ap Rhys]], the son and heir of Rhys ap Tewdwr, and a cousin of [[Rhys ap Gruffydd]], the famous Arglwydd (Lord) Rhys and his family.

Gerald received his initial education at the Benedictine house of [[Gloucester]], followed by a period of study in Paris from {{circa|lk=no|1165}}–74, where he studied the [[trivium]]. He was employed by [[Richard of Dover]], the Archbishop of Canterbury, on various ecclesiastical missions in Wales, and distinguished himself by his efforts to remove supposed abuses of [[consanguinity]] and tax laws flourishing in the Welsh church at the time. He was appointed in 1174 as [[Archdeacon of Brecon]], to which was attached a residence at [[Llanddew]]. He obtained this position by reporting the existence of the previous archdeacon's mistress; the man was promptly dismissed. While administering this post, Gerald collected tithes of wool and cheese from the populace; the income from the archdeaconry supported him for many years.

Upon the death of his uncle, the Bishop of [[St Davids]], in 1176, the chapter nominated Gerald as his successor. St Davids had the long-term aim of becoming independent of Canterbury, and the chapter may have thought that Gerald was the man to take up its cause. King [[Henry II of England]], fresh from his struggle with Archbishop [[Thomas Becket]], promptly rejected Gerald in favour of [[Peter de Leia]], one of his Norman retainers, possibly because Gerald's Welsh blood and ties to the ruling family of [[Deheubarth]] made him seem like a troublesome prospect. According to Gerald, the king said at the time: "It is neither necessary nor expedient for king or archbishop that a man of great honesty or vigour should become Bishop of St Davids, for fear that [[the Crown]] and Canterbury should suffer thereby. Such an appointment would only give strength to the Welsh and increase their pride." The chapter acquiesced in the decision, and Gerald, disappointed with the result, withdrew to the [[University of Paris]]. From {{circa|lk=no|1179}}-8,{{clarify|date=November 2022}} he studied and taught canon law and theology. He returned to England and spent an additional five years studying theology. In 1180, he received a minor appointment from the Bishop of St Davids, which he soon resigned.<ref name=Mac/>

===Travels===
Gerald became a royal clerk and chaplain to King Henry II of England in 1184, first acting as a mediator between the crown and Prince [[Rhys ap Gruffydd]]. He was chosen to accompany one of the king's sons, [[John, King of England|John]], in [[1185 in Ireland|1185]] on [[John's first expedition to Ireland]]. This was the catalyst for his literary career; his work ''[[Topographia Hibernica]]'' (first circulated in manuscript in 1188, and revised at least four times) is an account of his journey to Ireland; Gerald always referred to it as his ''Topography'', though "history" is the more accurate term.<ref>''Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland'' tr. John J. O'Meara. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044423-8, pg. 14</ref>

He followed it up, shortly afterwards, with an account of Henry's conquest of Ireland, the ''Expugnatio Hibernica''. Both works were revised and added to several times before his death, and display a notable degree of Latin learning, as well as a great deal of prejudice against foreign people. Gerald was proud to be related to some of the Norman invaders of Ireland, such as his maternal uncle [[Robert FitzStephen]] and [[Raymond FitzGerald]], and his influential account, which portrays the Irish as barbaric savages, gives important insight into Cambro-Norman views of Ireland and the history of the invasion.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Having thus demonstrated his usefulness, Gerald was selected to accompany the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Baldwin of Forde]], on a tour of Wales in 1188, the object being a recruitment campaign for the [[Third Crusade]]. His account of that journey, the ''[[Itinerarium Cambriae]]'' (1191) was followed by the ''[[Descriptio Cambriae]]'' in 1194.

His two works on Wales remain very valuable historical documents, useful for their descriptions (however untrustworthy and inflected by ideology, whimsy, and his unique style) of Welsh and Norman culture. It is uncertain whether Gerald was a [[Welsh language|Welsh speaker]]; although he quotes Welsh proverbs and appears familiar with the language, he seems not to have been employed as an interpreter for the expedition.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Allen|first1=Rosamund|last2=Roberts|first2=Jane|last3=Weinberg|first3=Carole|title=Reading La Amon's Brut: Approaches and Explorations: Approaches and Explorations.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQfiAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA615|year=2013|publisher=Rodopi|isbn=978-94-012-0952-6|page=616}}</ref>

As a royal clerk, Gerald observed significant political events first-hand and was offered appointments as bishoprics{{clarify|date=November 2022}} of [[Wexford]] and Leighlin, and apparently, slightly later, the bishopric of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ossory|Ossory]] and the archbishopric of [[Cashel, County Tipperary|Cashel]], and later the bishopric of [[Bangor, Gwynedd|Bangor]] in Wales; and, in 1191, that of [[Llandaff]].<ref name=Mac/> He turned them all down, possibly in the hope of landing a more prominent bishopric in the future. He was acquainted with [[Walter Map]], whose career shares some similarities with Gerald's. Retiring from royal service, he lived in Lincoln from {{circa|lk=no|1196}} to 1198, when his friend, [[William de Montibus]], was chancellor of the cathedral. In this period, ''[[De principis instructione]]'' was probably the first written, a useful historical source of contemporary events. It was an influential work at the time, spreading, for example, the legend of [[MacAlpin's treason]]. Here, Gerald is frequently critical of the rule of the [[House of Plantagenet|Angevin]] kings, a shift from his earlier praise of [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] in the ''Topographia''. He also wrote a life of St [[Hugh of Lincoln]].{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

===Attempts to become bishop of St Davids===
[[Image:StDavidsCathedral Tower&SouthTransept.JPG|200px|thumb|right|[[St Davids Cathedral]] today]]
On the death of Peter de Leia in 1198, the chapter of St Davids again nominated Gerald for the bishopric, but [[Hubert Walter]], Archbishop of Canterbury, refused confirmation. Representatives of the canons followed Richard I to France, but before they could interview him, he died; his successor, King John, received them kindly and granted them permission to hold an election. They were unanimous in their selection of Gerald, and Gerald acted as bishop-elect for much of the next four years; and, as Hubert still refused to confirm the election, Gerald started for Rome to have his election confirmed. There he had an interview with [[Pope Innocent III]]. He visited Rome on three occasions (1199–1200; 1201; 1202–3) in support of his claims. But in 1198, the archbishop had forestalled him, and his agents in Rome undermined Gerald's case; and as the pope was not convinced that St David's was independent of Canterbury, Gerald's mission failed. Gerald had pleaded not only his own cause, but that of St Davids as a [[Metropolitan bishop|Metropolitan]] archbishopric (and thus of the same status as Canterbury) reviving the earlier claims of [[Rhygyfarch]] and [[Bernard (bishop of St Davids)|Bishop Bernard of St Davids]]. It was in connexion with this cause that he wrote his books ''De jure Menevensis Ecclesiâ'' and ''De Rebus a Se Gestis''. Gerald returned, and his cause was now supported by the Princes of Wales, most notably [[Llywelyn the Great]], and [[Gruffydd ap Rhys II]], while King John, frequently in conflict with the Welsh, warmly espoused the cause of the Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1202, Gerald was accused of stirring up the Welsh to rebellion and was put on trial, but the trial came to nothing as the principal judges were absent. After this long struggle, the chapter of St David's deserted Gerald, and having been obliged to leave Wales, he fled to Rome. The ports had been closed against him, so he travelled in secret. In April 1203 Pope Innocent III annulled both elections, and [[Geoffrey of Henlaw]] was appointed to the See of St Davids, despite the strenuous exertions of Gerald. Travelling back to France, he was briefly imprisoned there for these actions. He was afterwards reconciled with the king and was forced to vow never again to support the primacy of St Davids over Canterbury. The expenses of his unsuccessful election were paid by the crown. Gerald maintained his appointment had been prevented by fear of its possible effect on national politics in Wales. He famously complained in a letter to Innocent III, "Because I am a Welshman am I to be debarred from all preferments in Wales? On the same reasoning so would an Englishman in England, a Frenchman in France, and Italian in Italy. But I am sprung from the Princes of Wales and the Barons of the Marches, and when I see injustice in either race I hate it."<ref name="Biography - Gerald of Wales">{{Cite web |title=Gerald of Wales |url=http://www.castlewales.com/gerald.html |access-date=2024-09-03 |website=www.castlewales.com}}</ref> At this point he resigned his position as archdeacon of Brecon.

===Later life===
Gerald spent the remainder of his life in academic study, most probably in Lincoln, producing works of devotional instruction and politics, and revising the works on Ireland and Wales he had written earlier in his life. He spent two years (1204–6) in Ireland with his relatives and made a fourth visit to Rome, purely as a pilgrimage, in 1206. The controversy over St Davids soured his relationship with the crown. In 1216, a baronial plan to put [[Louis VIII of France]] on the throne of England in the [[First Barons' War]] was warmly welcomed by him. He died in about 1223 in his 77th year, probably in [[Hereford]], and he is, according to some accounts, buried at [[St Davids Cathedral]].<ref>Robert Bartlett, "Gerald of Wales (c.1146–1220x23)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004</ref>

There is a statue, by [[Henry Poole (sculptor)|Henry Poole]] of Gerald in [[City Hall, Cardiff]], and he was included in the vote on [[100 Welsh Heroes]] for his ''Descriptio Cambriae'' and ''Itinerarium Cambriae''. His reputation in Ireland, due to his negative portrayal of the Irish, is much less friendly.

==Works==
Gerald's writings in good-quality Latin, based on a thorough knowledge of Classical authors, reflect experiences gained on his travels as well as his great knowledge of the standard authorities. He was respected as a scholar in his time and afterwards. The noted scholar [[Edward Augustus Freeman]], in his ''[[The History of the Norman Conquest of England|Norman Conquest]]'', said he was "the father of comparative philology," and in the preface to the last volume of Gerald's works in the Rolls Series, he calls him "one of the most learned men of a learned age," "the universal scholar."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vision of Britain {{!}} Gerald of Wales {{!}} Introduction |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Cambrensis_Tour&c_id=1 |access-date=2024-09-03 |website=www.visionofbritain.org.uk}}</ref> His writings were prolific, running to about ten volumes in modern printed editions. Gerald was a man of strong opinions whose works are frequently [[polemic]]al, including bitter attacks on his enemies, but he also had an intense curiosity, recording much valuable detail of everyday life in his ethnographic works.

It is generally agreed today that his most distinguished works are those dealing with Wales and Ireland, with his two books on his beloved Wales the most important: ''Itinerarium Cambriae'' and ''Descriptio Cambriae'' which tell us much about Welsh history and geography and reflect on the [[cultural relationship between the Welsh and the English]]. Gerald, despite his desire for an independent Welsh Church and admiration for parts of Welsh life, was very loyal to [[Marcher Lord|Norman Marcher]] rule, regarding the Normans as more civilised than the Welsh, a feeling reflected in his writings. Professor Davies tells us that Gerald, whom he calls "an admirable story-teller", is the only source for some of the most famous of the Welsh folk tales including the declaration of the old man of [[Pencader, Carmarthenshire|Pencader]] to Henry II which concludes ''Descriptio Cambriae'': {{quotation|This nation, O King, may now, as in former times, be harassed, and in a great measure weakened and destroyed by your and other powers, and it will also prevail by its laudable exertions, but it can never be totally subdued through the wrath of man, unless the wrath of God shall concur. Nor do I think that any other nation than this of Wales, nor any other language, whatever may hereafter come to pass, shall on the day of severe examination before the Supreme Judge, answer for this corner of the earth.}}

It was Gerald who also wrote (of the Welsh) that "If they would be inseparable, they would be insuperable", and that, unlike the English hirelings, who fight for power or to procure gain or wealth, the Welsh patriots fight for their country. He had pleasant things to say about the poetic talents of his people, too:
{{quotation|In their rhymed songs and set speeches they are so subtle and ingenious that they produce, in their native tongue, ornaments of wonderful and exquisite invention both in the words and the sentences... They make use of [[alliterative verse|alliteration]] in preference to all other ornaments of [[rhetoric]], and that particular kind which joins by [[literary consonance|consonancy]] the first letters or syllables of words.}}

Gerald could not have predicted the later perfection of ''[[cynghanedd]]'', the complex system of sound correspondence that has characterised the strict-metre poetry of the Welsh for so many centuries and that is still practised today, especially in competitions for the ''[[eisteddfod]]'' chair. ''Cynghanedd'' did not become a formal system with strict rules until the fourteenth century, but its uniquely Welsh forms had been honed for centuries before that.

Finally, in ''Descriptio Cambriae'', Gerald penned the following words that give so much pride to Welsh singers of today, especially those who participate in the immensely popular [[cymanfa ganu|''cymanfaoedd canu'']] (hymn-singing festivals) held throughout Wales and North America:
{{quotation|In their musical concerts they do not sing in unison like the inhabitants of other countries, but in many different parts...  You will hear as many different parts and voices as there are performers, who all at length unite with organic melody.}}

Another part of the above work,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/dscwl10.txt|title=Project Gutenberg Etext of Description of Wales by G. Cambrensis}}</ref> however, is less positive. As Gerald puts it, "an attention to order now requires that, in this second part, we should employ our pen in pointing out those particulars in which it seems to transgress the line of virtue and commendation". [[David Powel]] published an abridged version of ''Itinerarium Cambriae'' and ''Descriptio Cambriae'' in 1585, omitting Gerald's negative comments about the Welsh. Due to translations into English, the first being done by [[Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart.]], and other translations such as in [[Everyman's Library]] and [[Penguin Classics]], Gerald's works on Wales are well known today.

In Gerald's writing on Ireland, his love of music is very evident, too.
{{quotation|Chapter XI of Distinction III (''Topographia Hibernica'', Of the incomparable skill of the Irish in playing upon musical instruments): The only thing to which I find that this people apply a commendable industry is playing upon musical instruments; in which they are incomparably more skilful than any other nation I have ever seen. For their modulation on these instruments, unlike that of the Britons to which I am accustomed, is not slow and harsh, but lively and rapid, while the harmony is both sweet and gay. It is astonishing that in so complex and rapid a movement of the fingers, the musical proportions can be preserved........ it must be remarked, however, that both Scotland and Wales strive to rival Ireland in the art of music......<ref>Wright, T. ''The Historical works of Giraldus Cambrensis'' (1913) London pp. 126–127</ref>}}

Gerald's works on Ireland, although invaluable for their detail, are obviously biased, and have been attacked by Irish writers such as [[Stephen White (Jesuit)|Stephen White]]. The following passage from his ''Topographia Hibernica'' shows why the Irish might not always be too enamoured with Gerald's views: {{quotation| Distinction III    *Chapter XXXV    (Of the number of persons in this nation who have bodily defects): Moreover, I have never seen in any other nation so many individuals who were born blind, so many lame, maimed or having some natural defect.  The persons of those who are well-formed are indeed remarkably fine, nowhere better; but as those who are favoured with the gifts of nature grow up exceedingly handsome, those from whom she withholds them are frightfully ugly.  No wonder if among an adulterous and incestuous people, in which both births and marriages are illegitimate, a nation out of the pale of the laws, nature herself should be foully corrupted by perverse habits.  It should seem that by the just judgements of God, nature sometimes produces such objects, contrary to her own laws, in order that those who will not regard Him duly by the light of their own consciences, should often have to lament their privations of the exterior and bodily gift of sight.<ref>Wright T. ''The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis'' (1913) London pp. 147&nbsp;– 148</ref>}}

Gerald was a keen and observant student of natural history, but the value of his observations is lessened by credulity and the inability to distinguish fact from legend. He gives a vivid and accurate description of the last colony of the [[Eurasian beaver]] in Wales on the [[River Teifi|Teifi]], but spoils it by repeating the legend that beavers castrate themselves to avoid danger.<ref>Perry, Richard ''Wildlife in Britain and Ireland'' Croom Helm London 1978 pp. 41-43</ref> Likewise, he gives a good description of an [[osprey]] fishing, but adds the mythical detail that the bird has one webbed foot.<ref name="Perry p.200">Perry p.200</ref> His description of Irish wildlife has been the subject of much adverse comment for its inaccuracies and lapses into fiction<ref name=LostBirds19>D'Arcy, Gordon ''Ireland's Lost Birds'' Four Courts Press Dublin 1999 p. 19</ref> but nonetheless, despite its faults, some have argued that it gives an important glimpse of Irish fauna in the 1180s.<ref name=LostBirds19/> Certainly the book has valuable details about Irish birds: while the [[common kingfisher]] is now common in Ireland, Gerald states clearly that it was not found there in his time: on the other hand the [[white-throated dipper]], which he had evidently not seen before, was very common in Ireland.<ref>Moriarty, Christopher ''Down the Dodder'' Wolfhound Press Dublin 1991, pp. 114-5</ref> He also observed the great numbers of [[birds of prey]] in Ireland, including the [[golden eagle]] and the [[Eurasian sparrowhawk]], which he said were more numerous in Ireland than in England.<ref name="Perry p.200"/>

===List of works===
[[Image:Maurice FitzGerald, Lord Lanstephan.jpg|thumb|right|A drawing of Gerald de Barri's uncle, [[Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Llanstephan]], from a manuscript of the ''Expugnatio Hibernica'']]
* ''[[Topographia Hibernica]]'' ("Topography of Ireland", 1187)<ref>Wright, T. ''The Historical works of Giraldus Cambrensis'' (1913) London p. viii</ref>
* ''[http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/conquest_ireland.pdf Expugnatio Hibernica]'' ("Conquest of Ireland", 1189)<ref>Wright, T. ''The Historical works of Giraldus Cambrensis'' (1913) London p. ix</ref>
* ''[[Itinerarium Cambriae]]'' ("Journey through Wales", 1191)
* ''[[Descriptio Cambriae]]'' ("Description of Wales", 1194)
* ''[[De instructione principis]]'' ("Education of a prince")
* ''De rebus a se gestis'' ("Autobiography")
* ''De iure et statu Menevensis ecclesiae'' ("Rights and privileges of the Church of St Davids")
* ''Gemma ecclesiastica'' ("Jewel of the church")
* ''Speculum ecclesiae'' ("Mirror of the church")
* ''Symbolum electorum''
* ''Invectiones''
* ''Retractationes''
* ''Speculum duorum'' ("A mirror of two men") ([https://www.uwp.co.uk/book/speculum-duorum/ Described at this link])
* ''Life of St [[Hugh of Lincoln]]''
* ''Life of [[Geoffrey, Archbishop of York]]''
* ''Life of [[Æthelberht II of East Anglia|St Ethelbert]]''<ref>{{cite journal |first=M. R. |last=James |title=Two Lives of St. Ethelbert, King and Martyr |journal=[[The English Historical Review]] |volume=32 |year=1917 |issue=126 |pages=214–44: 222–36 |jstor=551656 |doi=10.1093/ehr/xxxii.cxxvi.214|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1431744 }}</ref>
* ''Life of [[Remigius de Fécamp|St Remigius]]''
* ''Life of [[St David]]''

====Lost works====
* ''Vita sancti Karadoci'' ("Life of [[Saint Caradoc|St Caradoc]]")
* ''De fidei fructu fideique defectu'' ("About the fruit of faith and [about] the lack of faith")
* ''Totius Kambriae mappa'' ("Map of all Wales", c. 1205)
* ''De philosophicis flosculis'' ("The Flowers of Philosophy")

====Online editions====
* [https://archive.org/details/historicalworksc00gira The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis], containing The Topography of Ireland, and the History of the Conquest of Ireland, translated by Thomas Forester, and The Itinerary through Wales, and the Description of Wales, translated by [[Sir Richard Hoare, 2nd Baronet|Sir Richard Colt Hoare]], 1905

==In popular culture==
* Gerald's tour of Wales in 1188 was detailed in a 1988 cartoon voiced by comedian [[Max Boyce]].
* Gerald of Wales was 4th in the series of 8 by [[Nicholas Crane]] in ''Great British Journeys''.
* [[James Goldman]]'s novel ''Myself As Witness'' is written from Gerald of Wales' point of view, though in the novel he is referred to as Giraldus Cambrensis, which means Gerald of Wales in Latin.
* A train service between [[Holyhead railway station|Holyhead]] and [[Cardiff Central railway station|Cardiff]] operated by [[Transport for Wales Rail]] is named ''[[Premier Service|Gerald of Wales]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dailypost.co.uk/whats-on/restaurants-bars/arriva-trains-wales-gerald-wales-2703242|title=Arriva Trains Wales' Gerald of Wales premier service|first=North Wales|last=Live|date=30 April 2011|website=North Wales Live}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Cambridge University Library, Ff. i.27]], a composite manuscript containing some of Gerald of Wales's works such as ''De Descriptione Hybernie'', ''Expugnatio Hibernica'' and ''Vita Sancti Patricii Episcopi''
* [[Adam of Usk]]
* [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]
* [[Laudabiliter]]

==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* ''The Autobiography of Giraldus Cambrensis'' tr. H. E. Butler. London: Cape, 1937.
* Gerald of Wales, ''Gemma ecclesiastica: The Jewel of the Church: A Translation of Gemma Ecclesiastica'', trans. John J. Hagen. Leiden: Brill, 1979. 
* Gerald of Wales, ''Giraldi Cambrensis Opera'', ed. John S. Brewer, James F. Dimock, and George F. Warner. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1861–1891, repr. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. [In Latin.]
* Gerald of Wales, ''The Journey Through Wales'' and ''The Description of Wales'' tr. [[Lewis Thorpe]]. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978. {{ISBN|0-14-044339-8}}
* Gerald of Wales, ''The History and Topography of Ireland'' tr. [[John J. O'Meara]]. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1982. {{ISBN|0-14-044423-8}}
* Gerald of Wales, ''Speculum Duorum'' ed. Yves Lefevre and R. C. Huygens, tr. Brian Dawson. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1974. {{ISBN|0-7083-0544-X}}
* Kathryn Hurlock, ''Wales and the Crusades, c., 1095-1291'', Cardiff: University of Wales Press 2011 {{ISBN|9-7807-08324-271}} [http://www.uwp.co.uk/book/wales-and-the-crusades-ebook-mobi/ Book]

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Giraldus Cambrensis|volume=12|page=44}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=536|name=Giraldus Cambrensis}}
* {{Internet Archive author |name=Giraldus Cambrensis}}
* {{OL author|928854A}}
* [http://www.bartleby.com/211/0917.html Latin Chroniclers from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries: '''Giraldus Cambrensis'''] from ''[[The Cambridge History of English and American Literature]]'', Volume I, 1907–21.
* Full text of [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/contents_page.jsp?t_id=Cambrensis_Desc Gerald of Wales's ''The Description of Wales''] on ''A Vision of Britain through Time'', with links to the places named.
* Full text of [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/contents_page.jsp?t_id=Cambrensis_Tour Gerald of Wales's ''The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales''] on ''A Vision of Britain through Time'', with links to the places named.
* [https://archive.org/details/itinerarythroug00girauoft ''Giraldus Cambrensis, The Itinerary and Description of Wales'', Everyman's Library, Edited by Ernest Rhys, with an Introduction by W. Llewelyn Williams], January 1908

{{Archdeacons of Brecon}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Short description|Welsh clergyman and writer (c.1146–1223)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerald of Wales}}
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