Advertisement
Books Features

New Medieval Books: On the Deeds of Gerald

On the Deeds of Gerald (De Gestis Giraldi)

By Gerald of Wales

Edited and translated by Jacob Currie with Thomas Charles-Edwards and Paul Russell

Oxford University Press
ISBN: 978–0–19–286916–6

This biography about the famous 13th-century writer Gerald of Wales was actually written by Gerald himself. Writing in the third-person, Gerald narrates his career in the Church, his efforts to become a bishop, and his time in the courts of the Kings of England.

Excerpt:

De gestis is indeed ‘a treasure unique for medieval England’. Not because it is an autobiography, but because it is something odder: Gerald has the singular distinction of being the only person of the age to have written an episcopal uita of himself. Perhaps Gerald, after his failure to be consecrated, saw that no one else was going to do it and so took matters into his own hands, giving himself the memorial he knew he deserved.

Advertisement

Who is this book for?

Gerald of Wales was not known for his modesty, but we are glad that he thought so high of himself that he wrote his own life story. It will certainly be a book worth reading for those studying England in the late 12th or 13th century, whether it be focused on ecclesiastical or secular politics.

The translators

Jacob Currie is an Assistant Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Latin at the University of Cambridge and a leading expert on Gerald of Wales. Thomas Charles-Edwards is an emeritus academic at the University of Oxford. Paul Russell is Professor of Celtic emeritus at the University of Cambridge.

Advertisement

You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website

You can also buy this book on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

Advertisement