Gerald of Wales 1146-1223. Oxford Historical Monographs.

Aus dem Nachlass von Michael Richter. Mit Namensstempel auf Vorsatz. Richters Rezensionsexemplar f�r den "Journal of Economic History" mit einigen Anmerkungen und Anstreichungen. Beiliegend: Richters Notizen f�r die Rezension -- Schreiben von Bartlett an Richter, offenbar als Reaktion auf einen Brief Richters bez�glich der Rezension -- Weiterer Brief von Bartlett, 4 Jahre sp�r, der den Wunsch nach einem Treffen �ert -- Erste Rohfassug der Rezension. Umschlag leicht berieben und am R�cken ausgeblichen, sonst gutes Exemplar. - Inhalt: POLITICS AND NATIONALITY: 'Gerald of Wales' or 'Gerald the Welshman'? -- Gerald the Ecclesiastic -- Kings -- THE NATURAL AND THE SUPERNATURAL: Miracles and Marvels -- Natural Science -- ETHNOGRAPHY: The Face of the Barbarian -- Gerald's Ethnographic Achievement -- Epilogue -- Appendix I: The Chronology and Manuscripts of Gerald's Works -- Appendix II: Gerald's Poem Welcoming Prince Louis, 1216. - This book assesses the attitudes and intellectual outlook of Gerald of Wales, the Norman-Welsh ecclesiastic and writer whose work forms a source of the first importance for medieval history. He provides the earliest detailed accounts of Welsh and Irish society and the impact of the Norman invaders upon it. The book contains a full discussion of Gerald's tortured sense of nationality, as a child of Norman society implanted in Wales, and the delicate political path he had to tread between Norman conquerors, native Celtic society, and the English crown. In particular, his role as a powerful critic of Angevin kingship is explored. The works of Gerald of Wales cast extensive light on the intellectual life of the period, and this study analyses Gerald's intellectual qualities, and relates him both to contemporary developments, such as the new naturalism of the twelfth century, and to important traditions such as Augustinianism. Gerald was an acute observer of natural and supernatural phenomena, and there is here a detailed analysis of his views on marvels and miracles, and of the processes of the natural world. The intention is to show both the high standards of naturalistic observation and explanation attainable in the twelfth century, and the pressures working against such a development. Gerald's descriptions of Welsh and Irish society are deservedly his most well-known works and they are analysed here both as important sources of evidence about those societies and as distinctive intellectual achievements. (Verlagstext). ISBN 9780198218920