Giraldus Cambrensis
Published: 2018-03-24
Total Pages: 548
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Excerpt from The Historical Works Of: Containing the Topography of Ireland, and the History of the Conquest of Ireland, Translated by Thomas Forester, Esq., M. A.; The Itinerary Through Wales, and the Description of Wales, Translated by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart Giraldus was evidently a zealous, if a rather credulous, observer and collector of facts. It was during this visit to Ireland that he occupied himself diligently in collecting materials for a description of that country, and remained there for that purpose some time after the departure of prince John. The result was his Topography of Ireland, which he began to compose soon after his return to Wales, a little after the Easter of 1186, and completed in 1187. Its completion gave occasion for a remarkable display of the writer's vanity and love of ostentation. He recited his book, which was divided into three parts, which he called by the then fashionable term of distinctions, before a public audience of the university of Oxford on three successive days; and, to give more effect to this proceeding, he gave on each day a sumptuous feast. The poor people of the town were entertained on the first day; the doctors and students of greatest distinction on the second; and on the third the other scholars and the burghers and soldiers. Giraldas was evidently very proud of the sensation he had made on these occasions; for in one of his books (that De Gestis Suis, lib. Ii. 0. He declares that it was worthy of the classic ages of the poets of antiquity, and that nothing like it had ever been seen in England. Its effect appears to have been to increase his celebrity. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.