Gerald of Wales was one of the most productive authors of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, writing in Latin on a range of topics in English, Welsh and Irish history. At the core of his narratives lies his failed attempt(s) to be elected Bishop of St Davids in west Wales. Throughout these works his personality shines through and we feel we know him as a person, not least because he was constantly rewriting his own works so we feel we can see a mind at work. His mixed Welsh-Norman origins put him in a difficult position, and this ambivalence about his own position and status in the world often led him to adopt different stances and positions depending on his audience. This lecture explores the multiple versions of himself which Gerald presents. For such an important character it is striking that, with some exceptions, most of this work has not been edited since the mid-nineteenth century and very little of it has ever been translated into English. This lecture arises from a project funded by the Leverhulme Trust (a UK educational charity) to re-edit to modern standards all the works of Gerald.

Paul Russell is Professor of Celtic in the Department of Anglo Saxon, Norse and Celtic in the University of Cambridge. His research interests include learned texts in Celtic languages (especially early Irish glossaries), Celtic philology and linguistics, early Welsh orthography, Middle Welsh translation texts, grammatical texts, medieval Welsh law, hagiography, and Latin texts from medieval Wales. The last two research areas are most relevant for the present lecture. Over the last few years he has been PI on an Arts and Humanities Research Council project on the Latin lives of Welsh Saints and is currently the CoPI on a project funded by the Leverhulme Trust (a UK educational charity) to re-edit to modern standards all the works of Gerald of Wales, out of which this lecture arises.

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