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Concept
Gerald of Wales
Summary
Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis; Gerallt Cymro; Gerald de Barri; 1146-1223) was a Cambro-Norman priest and 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.
Born 1146 at Manorbier Castle in Pembrokeshire, Wales, Gerald was of mixed Norman and Welsh descent. Gerald was the youngest son of William Fitz Odo de Barry (or Barri), the common ancestor of the De Barry family of Ireland, a retainer of Arnulf de Montgomery and Gerald de Windsor, and one of the most powerful Anglo-Norman barons in Wales. His mother was Angharad FitzGerald, a daughter of Gerald FitzWalter of Windsor, 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 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.
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