Gerald of Wales is such a fascinating guy, and his snapshot into medieval Wales is one of my favourite primary sources of the time (in fact, I have a copy of his 'Journey Through Wales' on my desk right now). It's a shame he considered the people of the time to be a bit barbaric, I'm assuming his opinions of the Irish were even worse if he didn't think they conformed to Christianity that well!
Yep that's about right. He loves Ireland, but he has a huge disdain for the people. By the way I'm a fan of your content, it means a lot that you watched this video!
A 'bit barbaric'? He made vile accusations against the Welsh. The accusations he made against the Irish, such as them being 'lazy' and 'uncivilised' were used to justify the Norman invasion of Ireland, and these stereotypes stuck around into modern times. Gerald also advocated the appropriated the warped Briton/ Welsh history to justify the Norman presence in Britain. He was also vile about his own grandmother, Princess Nest (blamed her for being 'promiscuous)'- when she had in fact been kidnapped as a child by the Normans and was 'sex trafficked' in order to 'breed' Camrbo-Norman kings. I see Gerald of Wales as just another evil Norman, and it's a shame that his name has been attached to Wales.
Gotta love Gerry. His Topographia Hibernica is such a trove. If you enjoy his writings, you might enjoy the old Irish Immrama, the voyage stories, particularly the story of Bran.
Greetings from Dublin! Good content! Since we have become a nation of happy consumers, few people are interested in tradition/the past beyond cliche. We are all Young Americans now! Thanks... Btw the magic is still very much here if you have sufficient appetite to look for it!
Ah, Ireland. I wish to move there and live there someday. Will it ever happen? Probably not. Need money, and not all dreams come true. However, Ireland is still a land of wonder for me, that it even inspired me to write a fantasy story with the same beauty and mystery that exists in that country.
My knowledge of medieval times is very slight. The Irish Voyage of Maeldun story is fascinating for the "wonder & mystery" idea; islands with such qualities. In a childlike way, it reminds me of enjoying Harryhausen's Sinbad films as a kid, and it makes me wonder what the imagination of Irish people was like regarding travel & the discovery of islands. It may be a root of attributing imaginary qualities to specific places, not like in later utopian literature, maybe more like in classical literature, but quite probably something purely domestic, rooted in the character of Irish coastlines, Atlantic climates, familiarity with western Scotland, or what have you. Also Iceland. I think there's some saga about Irish & Icelandic marriages, people turning into swans and all that type of thing, with purely Icelandic rather than Irish origins, but don't ask me because right now I couldn't even tell you the time and I am feeling slightly confused.
Irish clergy often had wives, they had a separate liturgy, and basically they didn't follow the Gregorian reforms as readily. That being said, they had done some things like reform the ecclesiastical structure of the church.
@@Jimmylad. That's certainly what Roman reformers complained about. Gerald's mention of the sprinkling of holy water and cow's milk on the spring being superstitious reflects the view that Christianity in Ireland was full of pagan-esque superstition. Celtic tradition did play a big part in the "flavour" of Christianity in Ireland at a time when Rome was becoming more central to the Catholic church and regional diversity was being replaced with Roman normativity.
Greetings from Holland! Great video! I read a book on Geralds Itinerarium Cambriae and I have been meaning to read the Topographia Hibernica and the Expugnatio Hibernica someday. Thank you for the recommendations for further reading! What modern English translation of the Topographia do you recommand the most? Isn't there a Penguin translation?
There's an old translation from the 1860s by Thomas Forester. It suffers from the shortcomings of most old translations in that it sometimes uses outdated terminology or translates concepts based on the historical understandings of the time which don't reflect how a modern translator would translate them. It was also made before the critical Latin edition was published so the text it's based on doesn't necessarily reflect Gerald's own work as closely, but all in all it's not bad and has the advantage of being free. I have a link to it in the description of this video. There's also the John O'Meara translation which is the penguin one you mentioned. It is without a doubt the better translation and I just looked it up on Amazon and it's not expensive. The only downside is that it's based on the first version of the Topographia. Gerald added to the work over the years so this one has half as much content as the older translation. O'Meara believed that the later versions were added to by others and not Gerald (which is a minority position which most disagree with) so he didn't include them. That said, it is the core of Gerald's text, so you're still getting great stuff. If you want you can easily read O'Meara's first and then Forester's for the extra content if you're craving more. Happy reading!
4:13 did the Tewdwr name become the Tudor name later in history. The Tudors had ties to Wales - Henry VIIs father or grandfather was a nobleman in Wales (verification required for details not the core of the statement).
The Tudors were Welsh, descendents of Cadwaladr. Henry VIIs father was a Welsh lord, married to an English woman, Joan Beaufort, from the legitimized but excluded from the line of inheritance of the crown of England as the descendents of John of Gaunt and Katherine de Roet, his mistress of decades, but not married till late in life after his first two wives died. Their children were legitimized retrospectively. Edmund Tudor married Joan when she was 12 and she became pregnant immediately, gave birth to Henry, nearly died and never conceived again, despite several marriages after Edmund's death. Henry went on to raise a Welsh army and invade England via Wales with a Welsh army, killed Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth field and took the crown of England through right of conquest. The Welsh Tudor dynasty prevailed until the death of Elizabeth I, at which point it went to James VI of Scotland, Stewart dynasty, who were also Tudor descendents. (Grand daughter and great great grandson of Henry VII).
Gerald's comments on barnacle geese growing on trees may be based on gooseneck barnacles, of which there are many species living around the world. These are quite wondrous creatures, which might easily become the stuff legend.
It was certainly profitable, and it would have been the part of Ireland outsiders were most familiar with. But outside the Norse-Gael port cities on the coast, much of Ireland was still unfamiliar to many
Dublin was the biggest slave market in western europe from the 5th to the 12th century, and the Gael Norse traded slaves they captured and bought as far as Iceland and the Indus river and south to the Mediterranean countries. St Patrick was captured in a raid on the west coast of Britain and enslaved in Ireland...one of thousands over centuries.
Today's Ireland did not exist from the 1st century to the 10th century, it was called Scotia = Land of the Scots (Scotti) there were many tribes in Scotia but not a unified Kingdom, it was called Scotia by the Greeks and Romans later it was called Hibernia, and later on in 1922 it was called the Irish Republic.
thats very interesting. I did not know that about Ireland being called Scotia . do you k own when Ireland was called definitely Ireland? ie what did they call it in the centuries leading up to the irish free state? I know Eire was often used . but would be interesting to know when hibernia changed to Ireland
If that's true then that's reslly interesting but from what I've heard and read according to the mythology and folklore, it was first named Eireann after one of the three earth goddeses of Ireland, Eiru, when the Milesians came to Ireland. This continued until the vikings came and started to call it "Eiru's Land", which over time was simplified to just "Ireland". Also fun fact before this it was called "Inis Fail" according to the Book of Invasions, which apparently means "Isle of Destiny". (but that's old irish so i can't confirm that, Inis is right though just not sure about the fail part)
Wrong. Greeks first called the island Ierne (spoken e), Romans called it Hibernia and later also Scotia. Scotii was used for all Gaelics. The term was in use parallel to Hibernia. The Greek and Germanic term were likely closer to the endonym, which would evolve into Eire.
You're right that it was the brehon laws which held polygamy to be legal, though the church in Ireland accepted these laws. Perhaps it would have been better to say that the Irish church did not oppose Irish traditions of polygamy, which was a problem for the Roman Catholic church.
Ireland became Christian before the Roman Catholic Church claimed dominance over the kings law. The Irish church like its ancient contemporaries, the Eastern Orthodox churches allowed the king’s law to override church law and also permitted marriage for priests.
Which Plutarch are you referring to at 01.02? Isn't there one thousand years between when Plutarch and Gerald of Wales lived?
That's my bad, I meant to say Petrarch, not Plutarch!
@@studiumhistoriae Thanks for responding! I really love your videos
@@stephanieroberts4837 I'm glad to hear that!
Greek philosopher time traveler is a lot less weird than many of Gerald's ideas of Ireland.
Gerald of Wales is such a fascinating guy, and his snapshot into medieval Wales is one of my favourite primary sources of the time (in fact, I have a copy of his 'Journey Through Wales' on my desk right now). It's a shame he considered the people of the time to be a bit barbaric, I'm assuming his opinions of the Irish were even worse if he didn't think they conformed to Christianity that well!
Yep that's about right. He loves Ireland, but he has a huge disdain for the people. By the way I'm a fan of your content, it means a lot that you watched this video!
@@studiumhistoriae thanks man that means a lot, love your content too can’t wait to see what else you put out!
A 'bit barbaric'? He made vile accusations against the Welsh. The accusations he made against the Irish, such as them being 'lazy' and 'uncivilised' were used to justify the Norman invasion of Ireland, and these stereotypes stuck around into modern times.
Gerald also advocated the appropriated the warped Briton/ Welsh history to justify the Norman presence in Britain.
He was also vile about his own grandmother, Princess Nest (blamed her for being 'promiscuous)'- when she had in fact been kidnapped as a child by the Normans and was 'sex trafficked' in order to 'breed' Camrbo-Norman kings.
I see Gerald of Wales as just another evil Norman, and it's a shame that his name has been attached to Wales.
@@paperflowers-ks6vvrelax
@@paperflowers-ks6vvDisdain for Normans/French is probably the only historical political view all peoples on the British Isles can agree on.
Great content presented in an easy to follow style. This channel is a gem and great platform for education within TH-cam.
Well researched and presented. Thank you.
Very interesting content! Well presented and enjoyable! I look forward to more of your work!😃👍
Glad you enjoyed!
Thanks!
Thank you!
Fascinating. Well researched. You shared info I had not previously heard. Well done.
Gotta love Gerry. His Topographia Hibernica is such a trove. If you enjoy his writings, you might enjoy the old Irish Immrama, the voyage stories, particularly the story of Bran.
Absolutely! I have the voyages of Saint Brendan on my list of topics I'd like to make videos on in the future
@@studiumhistoriae Brendan is based on Bran. There's some great nonsense in there 😃
Subscribed!
Thank you so much!
Thank you for the video i am a direct descendant for Gerald of windsor ive been trying to learn more about my family tree i really apricate it.
Thanks for watching, I'm glad you liked it!
Greetings from Dublin! Good content! Since we have become a nation of happy consumers, few people are interested in tradition/the past beyond cliche. We are all Young Americans now! Thanks... Btw the magic is still very much here if you have sufficient appetite to look for it!
I look forward to coming to see it someday
Young Americans 😅 what are you on about?
@@brianmckee2267 only speaking for themselves...... irish to the core🇮🇪😁🇮🇪
No you guys aren’t American. I’m an American. I was just there, and your culture is completely different still.
And a bunch of dumbed down fembots
Another grreat video, thank you!
Ah, Ireland. I wish to move there and live there someday. Will it ever happen? Probably not. Need money, and not all dreams come true.
However, Ireland is still a land of wonder for me, that it even inspired me to write a fantasy story with the same beauty and mystery that exists in that country.
Thank you for sharing when he asked for help from Henry the second that is when they had the High Kings and they were always fighting each other
My knowledge of medieval times is very slight. The Irish Voyage of Maeldun story is fascinating for the "wonder & mystery" idea; islands with such qualities. In a childlike way, it reminds me of enjoying Harryhausen's Sinbad films as a kid, and it makes me wonder what the imagination of Irish people was like regarding travel & the discovery of islands. It may be a root of attributing imaginary qualities to specific places, not like in later utopian literature, maybe more like in classical literature, but quite probably something purely domestic, rooted in the character of Irish coastlines, Atlantic climates, familiarity with western Scotland, or what have you. Also Iceland. I think there's some saga about Irish & Icelandic marriages, people turning into swans and all that type of thing, with purely Icelandic rather than Irish origins, but don't ask me because right now I couldn't even tell you the time and I am feeling slightly confused.
Aristotle called it the Sacred Isle and the ancient ones …
Great video I’m curious why Rome felt Ireland was slow to conform to Catholicism
Concubines
Irish clergy often had wives, they had a separate liturgy, and basically they didn't follow the Gregorian reforms as readily. That being said, they had done some things like reform the ecclesiastical structure of the church.
@@studiumhistoriae interesting do you think maybe that this was a type of infused Celtic Christianity different from the more orthodox Rome?
@@Jimmylad. That's certainly what Roman reformers complained about. Gerald's mention of the sprinkling of holy water and cow's milk on the spring being superstitious reflects the view that Christianity in Ireland was full of pagan-esque superstition. Celtic tradition did play a big part in the "flavour" of Christianity in Ireland at a time when Rome was becoming more central to the Catholic church and regional diversity was being replaced with Roman normativity.
There was an english pope at the time do you need to know more
Greetings from Holland! Great video! I read a book on Geralds Itinerarium Cambriae and I have been meaning to read the Topographia Hibernica and the Expugnatio Hibernica someday. Thank you for the recommendations for further reading! What modern English translation of the Topographia do you recommand the most? Isn't there a Penguin translation?
There's an old translation from the 1860s by Thomas Forester. It suffers from the shortcomings of most old translations in that it sometimes uses outdated terminology or translates concepts based on the historical understandings of the time which don't reflect how a modern translator would translate them. It was also made before the critical Latin edition was published so the text it's based on doesn't necessarily reflect Gerald's own work as closely, but all in all it's not bad and has the advantage of being free. I have a link to it in the description of this video.
There's also the John O'Meara translation which is the penguin one you mentioned. It is without a doubt the better translation and I just looked it up on Amazon and it's not expensive. The only downside is that it's based on the first version of the Topographia. Gerald added to the work over the years so this one has half as much content as the older translation. O'Meara believed that the later versions were added to by others and not Gerald (which is a minority position which most disagree with) so he didn't include them. That said, it is the core of Gerald's text, so you're still getting great stuff. If you want you can easily read O'Meara's first and then Forester's for the extra content if you're craving more.
Happy reading!
Thanks. Nice video.
I subscribed.
Lynn in Naples FL 😎
4:13 did the Tewdwr name become the Tudor name later in history. The Tudors had ties to Wales - Henry VIIs father or grandfather was a nobleman in Wales (verification required for details not the core of the statement).
The Tudors were Welsh, descendents of Cadwaladr. Henry VIIs father was a Welsh lord, married to an English woman, Joan Beaufort, from the legitimized but excluded from the line of inheritance of the crown of England as the descendents of John of Gaunt and Katherine de Roet, his mistress of decades, but not married till late in life after his first two wives died. Their children were legitimized retrospectively.
Edmund Tudor married Joan when she was 12 and she became pregnant immediately, gave birth to Henry, nearly died and never conceived again, despite several marriages after Edmund's death. Henry went on to raise a Welsh army and invade England via Wales with a Welsh army, killed Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth field and took the crown of England through right of conquest. The Welsh Tudor dynasty prevailed until the death of Elizabeth I, at which point it went to James VI of Scotland, Stewart dynasty, who were also Tudor descendents. (Grand daughter and great great grandson of Henry VII).
Gerald's comments on barnacle geese growing on trees may be based on gooseneck barnacles, of which there are many species living around the world. These are quite wondrous creatures, which might easily become the stuff legend.
Wasn’t Dublin the biggest and most profitable port in Western Europe during the time ?
It was certainly profitable, and it would have been the part of Ireland outsiders were most familiar with. But outside the Norse-Gael port cities on the coast, much of Ireland was still unfamiliar to many
Dublin was the biggest slave market in western europe from the 5th to the 12th century, and the Gael Norse traded slaves they captured and bought as far as Iceland and the Indus river and south to the Mediterranean countries. St Patrick was captured in a raid on the west coast of Britain and enslaved in Ireland...one of thousands over centuries.
Interesting as I'm Irish desent xxx x
Today's Ireland did not exist from the 1st century to the 10th century, it was called Scotia = Land of the Scots (Scotti) there were many tribes in Scotia but not a unified Kingdom, it was called Scotia by the Greeks and Romans later it was called Hibernia, and later on in 1922 it was called the Irish Republic.
Presumably the locals didn't use Greek or Roman to name their land though, what did they call it?
"Irish Free State" in 1922.
thats very interesting. I did not know that about Ireland being called Scotia . do you k own when Ireland was called definitely Ireland? ie what did they call it in the centuries leading up to the irish free state? I know Eire was often used . but would be interesting to know when hibernia changed to Ireland
If that's true then that's reslly interesting but from what I've heard and read according to the mythology and folklore, it was first named Eireann after one of the three earth goddeses of Ireland, Eiru, when the Milesians came to Ireland. This continued until the vikings came and started to call it "Eiru's Land", which over time was simplified to just "Ireland".
Also fun fact before this it was called "Inis Fail" according to the Book of Invasions, which apparently means "Isle of Destiny". (but that's old irish so i can't confirm that, Inis is right though just not sure about the fail part)
Wrong. Greeks first called the island Ierne (spoken e), Romans called it Hibernia and later also Scotia. Scotii was used for all Gaelics. The term was in use parallel to Hibernia. The Greek and Germanic term were likely closer to the endonym, which would evolve into Eire.
As they say. "Half the world is Irish...🎉and the other Half are JELOUS....Hahaha x. !!!!
Irish church law didn't allow polygamy .Polygamy was allowed in the secular brehon laws but not in church law
You're right that it was the brehon laws which held polygamy to be legal, though the church in Ireland accepted these laws. Perhaps it would have been better to say that the Irish church did not oppose Irish traditions of polygamy, which was a problem for the Roman Catholic church.
Ireland became Christian before the Roman Catholic Church claimed dominance over the kings law. The Irish church like its ancient contemporaries, the Eastern Orthodox churches allowed the king’s law to override church law and also permitted marriage for priests.
And he was from the second most western place of course
Great people for the old mythology the Irish So Good they even beleive their own myths are true
No snakes though
.. so basically Gerald was a BS merchant fiction writer
Yes. He was basically a mouthpiece for the Normans, who created derogatory stereotypes of the Irish and Welsh in order to justify the invasions.
@paperflowers-ks6vv I highly doubt he created them.
It same old, same old say it enough times and it must be true..🤔
Your Irish Language pronounciation isn't that bad
Sounds like Greek Mythology