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.
Edited by:
Rebecca Thomas,
Sadie Jarrett,
Katharine K. Olson
Imprint: University of Wales Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: Bilingual edition
Dimensions:
Height: 216mm,
Width: 138mm,
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781837722341
ISBN 10: 183772234X
Pages: 512
Publication Date: 01 November 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
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 Löffler ‘Ireland Raids Wales’: Pageants and the Performance of History in the 1920s Paul O’Leary Tattooing Owain Glyndŵr? 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, 1970–210 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
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).
Reviews for Memory and Nation: Writing the History of Wales
""This excellent set of essays, ranging from early medieval charters to historical writing of the present day, is a tribute to the achievements of Huw Pryce over a lifetime of dedication to Welsh history. It will be of value for historians of the Middle Ages and of contemporary Wales alike.""-- ""Professor Barry Lewis, School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies""
