Memory and Nation
Writing the History of Wales
Published on 15. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
512 pages
978-1-83772-234-1 (ISBN)
Description
Written in honour of Professor Huw Pryce, this volume brings together exciting new research on writing and performing the history of Wales, from the Middle Ages to the modern period. Each chapter offers a different perspective on the theme of historical writing and remembrance. The first section (Texts and their Histories) focuses on the creation and function of medieval historical texts; a wide range of texts are investigated here, including chronicles and narrative histories, charters, and the Welsh triads. The second section (History and Identity) concerns the relationship between writing history and identity construction; chapters consider different aspects of this theme, including the role of bishops in writing history and the use of names to construct ethnic identities. The third and final section (Memory and Nation) widens the lens to investigate strategies of remembrance and the performance of history; this includes essays on the Eisteddfod, tattoos of historical individuals and the role of historical pageants in twentieth-century nation building. Taken together, the contributions to the volume offer new insights into Welsh historical writing and perceptions of the past throughout the ages.
More details
Edition
Bilingual edition
Language
English
Other
Place of publication
Wales
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Edition type
Bilingual edition
Illustrations
Not illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 139 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
596 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-83772-234-1 (9781837722341)
DOI
10.1234/b11965
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
07/2025
University of Wales Press
€32.99
Available for download
Persons
Rebecca Thomas is Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at Cardiff University. She is author of History and Identity in Early Medieval Wales (Woodbridge, 2022).
Sadie Jarrett is a specialist in early modern Wales. She has held research fellowships at the Institute of Historical Research and The Queen's College, Oxford.
Katharine Olson is Assistant Professor of History at San Jose State University. She has published widely on the medieval and early modern British Isles and Europe, and is currently completing the monograph Finding Salvation: Popular Religion, Culture, and Reformation in Wales and the Marches, c.1350-1603 (Oxford, forthcoming).
Sadie Jarrett is a specialist in early modern Wales. She has held research fellowships at the Institute of Historical Research and The Queen's College, Oxford.
Katharine Olson is Assistant Professor of History at San Jose State University. She has published widely on the medieval and early modern British Isles and Europe, and is currently completing the monograph Finding Salvation: Popular Religion, Culture, and Reformation in Wales and the Marches, c.1350-1603 (Oxford, forthcoming).
Content
Acknowledgements / Diolchiadau
List of Figures and Tables / Rhestr o Ffigyrau a Thablau
Abbreviations / Byrfoddau
Notes on Contributors / Bywgraffiadau Cyfranwyr
Introduction / Rhagymadrodd
PART I: TEXTS AND THEIR HISTORIES
RHAN I: TESTUNAU A'U HANES
How did medieval Welsh chroniclers find their information?
David Stephenson
The Reception of Gerald of Wales in Welsh Historical Texts
Georgia Henley
Trioedd Ynys Prydein fel Testunau Hanes
Nia Wyn Jones
From Llandaf to Liber A: Welsh Charters and Diplomatics in Long Perspective
Charles Insley
The Development of Old Welsh Boundary Clauses
Ben Guy
PART II: HISTORY AND IDENTITY
RHAN II: HANES A HUNANIAETH
Naming and National Identity: The Monastic Orders in Late Medieval Ireland and Wales Compared
David Thornton
Gwystlon yn De gestis Britonum a Brut y Brenhinedd
Rebecca Thomas
The Context of Laudabiliter in the Works of Gerald of Wales
Thomas Charles-Edwards
The Medieval Bishops of Bangor and the Writing of Welsh History
Shaun D. McGuinness
"Pinnacles of Preaching" and Men of "Bold Learning": Religious Reforms, Historical Interests, and the Elizabethan Bishops of Bangor
Katharine K. Olson
PART III: MEMORY AND NATION
RHAN III: COF CENEDL
Antiquarianism, Ancestry and 'Ancient Britons': Welsh historical consciousness, cultural patronage and the identity of the gentry, c. 1800-1920
Shaun Evans
'Th' enlighten' d crowd with grateful raptures glow': History, setting norms and Victorian modernity in eisteddfod competitions 1815-1855
Marion Loeffler
'Ireland Raids Wales': Pageants and the Performance of History in the 1920s
Paul O'Leary
Tattooing Owain Glyndwr? The body, memory and interpretations of Welsh history
Mari Elin Wiliam with the assistance of Owain Hurcum
'Time Present and Time Past': Narrating Nation and Society in Welsh Historical Writing, 1970-2010
Neil Evans
Llyfryddiaeth o weithiau cyhoeddedig Huw Pryce / A bibliography of the published works of Huw Pryce (hyd 2023/to 2023)
Rhidian Griffiths
Manuscripts Cited / Rhestr o Lawysgrifau
Selected Bibliography / Llyfryddiaeth Ddethol
List of Figures and Tables / Rhestr o Ffigyrau a Thablau
Abbreviations / Byrfoddau
Notes on Contributors / Bywgraffiadau Cyfranwyr
Introduction / Rhagymadrodd
PART I: TEXTS AND THEIR HISTORIES
RHAN I: TESTUNAU A'U HANES
How did medieval Welsh chroniclers find their information?
David Stephenson
The Reception of Gerald of Wales in Welsh Historical Texts
Georgia Henley
Trioedd Ynys Prydein fel Testunau Hanes
Nia Wyn Jones
From Llandaf to Liber A: Welsh Charters and Diplomatics in Long Perspective
Charles Insley
The Development of Old Welsh Boundary Clauses
Ben Guy
PART II: HISTORY AND IDENTITY
RHAN II: HANES A HUNANIAETH
Naming and National Identity: The Monastic Orders in Late Medieval Ireland and Wales Compared
David Thornton
Gwystlon yn De gestis Britonum a Brut y Brenhinedd
Rebecca Thomas
The Context of Laudabiliter in the Works of Gerald of Wales
Thomas Charles-Edwards
The Medieval Bishops of Bangor and the Writing of Welsh History
Shaun D. McGuinness
"Pinnacles of Preaching" and Men of "Bold Learning": Religious Reforms, Historical Interests, and the Elizabethan Bishops of Bangor
Katharine K. Olson
PART III: MEMORY AND NATION
RHAN III: COF CENEDL
Antiquarianism, Ancestry and 'Ancient Britons': Welsh historical consciousness, cultural patronage and the identity of the gentry, c. 1800-1920
Shaun Evans
'Th' enlighten' d crowd with grateful raptures glow': History, setting norms and Victorian modernity in eisteddfod competitions 1815-1855
Marion Loeffler
'Ireland Raids Wales': Pageants and the Performance of History in the 1920s
Paul O'Leary
Tattooing Owain Glyndwr? The body, memory and interpretations of Welsh history
Mari Elin Wiliam with the assistance of Owain Hurcum
'Time Present and Time Past': Narrating Nation and Society in Welsh Historical Writing, 1970-2010
Neil Evans
Llyfryddiaeth o weithiau cyhoeddedig Huw Pryce / A bibliography of the published works of Huw Pryce (hyd 2023/to 2023)
Rhidian Griffiths
Manuscripts Cited / Rhestr o Lawysgrifau
Selected Bibliography / Llyfryddiaeth Ddethol