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.1146-1220/3) 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 3, edited by historian J. S. Brewer (1809-79) and published in 1863, consists of Latin texts with an editorial preface in English, continuing from Volume 1, Giraldus' polemical-apologetic account of the St David's affair, and a life of the eponymous saint. Giraldus is noted for his vigorous Latin and anecdotal style, and this volume gives a vivid portrait of medieval Britain and the power struggles of the Angevin court, while also illuminating nineteenth-century interest in the period.
