Memory and Nation: Writing the History of Wales

Explores how people since the Middle Ages have honored Welsh histories through performance and writing.

Written in honor of Professor Huw Pryce, Memory and Nation brings together exciting new research on writing and performing the history of Wales, from the Middle Ages to the modern period. Each chapter offers a different perspective on the theme of historical writing and remembrance. The first section (“Texts and their Histories”) focuses on the creation and function of medieval historical texts. A wide range of texts are investigated here, including chronicles and narrative histories, charters, and the Welsh triads. The second section (“History and Identity”) concerns the relationship between writing history and identity construction. Chapters consider different aspects of this theme, including the role of bishops in writing history and the use of names to construct ethnic identities. The third and final section (“Memory and Nation”) widens the lens to investigate strategies of remembrance and the performance of history. This includes essays on the Eisteddfod, tattoos of historical individuals, and the role of historical pageants in twentieth-century nation-building. Taken together, these chapters offer new insights into Welsh historical writing and perceptions of the past throughout the ages.

Rebecca Thomas is a lecturer in medieval history at Cardiff University. She is the author of History and Identity in Early Medieval Wales.

Sadie Jarrett is the author of Gentility in Early Modern Wales: The Salesbury Family, 1450-1720.

Katharine Olson is associate professor of history at San Jose State University and an honorary research associate at Bangor University.