Despite a frustrated ecclesiastical career - his ongoing failure to secure the See of St David's embittered him - Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales, Gerald de Barry, c.1146-1220/23) composed many remarkable literary works, initially while employed as a royal clerk for Henry II and, subsequently, in semi-retirement in Lincoln. Eight volumes of his works were compiled as part of the Rolls Series of British medieval material. Volume 4, edited by historian J. S. Brewer (1809-79) and published in 1873, contains two texts, one a moral, quasi-pastoral critique of the monastic orders, the other a life of Geoffrey Plantagenet (1151-1212), Archbishop of York, focusing on power struggles at the Angevin court. Noted for his vigorous Latin and anecdotal style, Giraldus gives a vivid portrait of medieval Britain, while the English editorial preface illuminates nineteenth-century interest in the period.
