Description
Book SynopsisThe life, career and medieval biography of Gruffudd ap Cynan, king of Gwynedd 1095-1137.The reign of the North Welsh king Gruffudd ap Cynan [1075-1135] marked the culmination of a century of rapid social and political change. A product of three cultures [Welsh, Irish and Scandinavian], Gruffudd faced a Wales dividedby Norman incursion and dynastic rivalry; his re-creation of his kingdom saw him acting on the wider (and often deadly) stage of Anglo-Norman politics, and surviving where more `traditional' Welsh rulers failed. His reign encouraged a new growth in Welsh literature and creativity, and is often looked upon as a literary `golden age'. This collaborative biography analyses key aspects of the career and context of this remarkable king. Dr K.L. MAUNDteaches in the School of History and Archaeology, University of Wales, Cardiff. Other contributors: DAVID MOORE, C.P. LEWIS, DAVID E. THORNTON, K.L. MAUND, JUDITH JESCH, NERYS ANN JONES, CERI DAVIES, J.E. CAERWYN WILLIAMS
Trade ReviewGruffudd emerges as a figure whose biography is inextricably interwoven with the historical events of the later Viking Age and whose personal history is explained by and exemplifies the shifting orientations of the North Sea islands within the developing entities of continental Europe and Scandinavia in the mid-twelfth century. SAGA-BOOK OF THE VIKING SOCIETY An important contribution to our understanding of twelfth-century Wales... [Jesch's] detailed exposition of the evidence of saga and skaldic poetry will be of particular interest to Welsh and Irish scholars. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW An altogether valuable volume which certinly takes the study of the subject forward in a highly commendable manner. STUDIA CELTICA Add[s] to our knowledge of one of the most remarkable figures in Welsh history, and advanc[es] considerably our understanding of one of the most interesting and complex texts to survive from medieval Wales. * CAMBRIAN MEDIEVAL CELTIC STUDIES *
Table of Contents`Gruffudd ap Cynan and the mediaeval Welsh polity'. - David J. Moore `Gruffudd ap Cynan and the Normans'. - C P Lewis `Meilyr Brydydd and Gruffudd ap Cynan'. - David E Thornton `Gruffudd, grandson of Iago: Historia Gruffud vab Kenan and the construction of legitimacy'. - K L Maund `Norse Historical Traditions and Historia Gruffud vab Kenan: Magnus berfaettr and Haraldr harfagri'. - Judith Jesch `Historia Gruffud vab Kenan: the first audience'. - Nerys Ann Jones `The sixteenth-century Latin translation of Historia Gruffud vab Kenan'. - Ceri Davies `Meilyr Brydydd and Gruffudd ap Cynan'. - Ruth ab Ieuan and
