Introduction
The Norman vision of the Irish has primarily shaped the attitude of the English toward them. This is evidenced, in particular, by the manuscripts of Gerald of Wales, a clergyman whose ancestors were both Normans and Welsh. Gerald was descended from the Norman Lord Marcher, who was actively involved in the conquest of Ireland. In his works about Ireland, Gerald of Wales glorifies the Norman conquest in every possible way. Gerald openly admires the country’s natural resources, which does not prevent him from speaking contemptuously about the population at the same time. The Irish appear to readers as a people inferior in all respects to the Normans. This sharpness may be explained by the need to debunk the established image of Ireland as the center of Christianity and civilization. Gerald’s work was destined to shape the attitude of the English toward the Irish for several centuries.
Body
The ethnographic works of the Gerald of Wales became an influential source of information about Ireland and determined its fate for the next few centuries. It is worth noting that the author’s dream was to become an archbishop in Wales and in order to gain recognition as an expert on Western countries in the yard of the Anglo-Norman conquerors. Gerald sought to show the barbarism, backwardness, and bestial immorality of the Irish, thus legitimizing the idea of the Anglo-Norman crusade to the West. At the same time, he describes his fellow Welsh, unlike the Irish, as an ancient noble people, which, however, is in decline and, like the people of Ireland, needs the help of more civilized neighbors.
However, it seems that now it is essential to postulate the books of the Gerald of Wales by themselves as an object of research and not as sources of true or false information on a particular historical period in individual regions, and, moreover, not as an occasion for public discussions on national topics. The first version of the “Topography” (four in total) is dedicated to the English king Henry II, during whose reign the conquest of Ireland began. This book was supposed to be a career tool for Gerald, who, given his connections with the island’s first colonizers, apparently intended to become an expert on Ireland at the royal court. “Topography and History of Ireland” favorably differ in the vividness of direct perception and attempts at rational explaining natural phenomena.
“Topography and History of Ireland” consists of three parts. The first is dedicated to the location of the island, its climate, flora, and fauna. The second part describes the wonders of Ireland, and the third is dedicated to the population of the island and its history. All of them are tightly connected by the author’s idea. This idea can be reconstructed only by taking into account the circumstances of the biographical and political context. “Topography and History of Ireland” is written 12 years after the first appearance of the Anglo-Norman lords on the island. Therefore, it is unsurprising that Gerald wrote a book about Ireland dedicated to the king.
The author can be considered, if not a direct participant in the initial colonization of the island, then at least one of those who provided this colonization, including intellectually. Gerald writes that he, being sent by the king to the island, beheld various hitherto unknown wonders and began diligently studying the nature and population of Ireland. Thus, it is immediately said about the inextricable connection between the government and the author’s academic pursuits. The reader is offered the key to understanding the book from the beginning. It should become one of the instruments of mastery, appropriation by the crown of Ireland. If the lords ensured the military conquest and the imposition of English laws, then Gerald promoted the symbolic appropriation of the island, transferring knowledge about it to the authorities. In this sense, the most critical parts of the “Topography and History of Ireland” are the first and second, which tell about the natural features of the island and its wonders.
In part 3 of the book, the author continues to insist on the exclusivity of Ireland. Not without some hesitation, Gerald calls the island, where there was originally no sin, a place that survived the Flood, the land where Noah’s granddaughter, Caesar, settled. However, the history of Ireland itself and the origin of its population are presented here quite briefly, and these events themselves do not make an impression of significant ones. According to Gerald, the island was finally settled only on the fifth attempt; his land, pure from sin, abounding in miracles — both natural, having the most crucial edifying significance for a Christian, and miracles resulting from the activities of local saints is incomparably more important than the people who live on it. Therefore, the author does not seek to substantiate the claims of the English crown to Ireland in a particularly convincing way.
After all, the island’s population is alien, not native, and the locals have no special historical rights, especially bearing in mind their depravity. Gerald particularly insists on the latter, claiming that the Irish are immoral and that no people are less committed to the faith than they are. Even the few virtues of the Irish are not their merit — the author declares them “natural”, and numerous sins — acquired. Thus, a certain parallel is built between the island and its inhabitants. The natural wonders of Ireland correspond to the natural virtues of the Irish since they are brought up not by their parents but by nature itself — the unique sinless nature of the Western limit.
There is no correspondence only to the holy Christian miracles of the island because its inhabitants are mired in unbelief, cruelty, and other vices. Hence the conclusion to which Gerald methodically pushes the reader: in order to restore balance, it is necessary to bring true faith to the island for the second time — after St. Patrick and other local saints. The function of the English crown finally acquires a mystical character: to restore Divine order in the holy land of the Western limit, to establish the triumph of the New Testament were Old Testament vices still reign.
Gerald also makes it clear that English domination in Ireland is final and eternal. In the introduction, he says that his book is the best gift from Ireland that can only be presented to the king. It would be correct to interpret it not even as a “gift” but as a “tribute” taken from a conquered country. The eternity of conquest is symbolically emphasized by the fact that this “tribute” is a “book” that time cannot destroy. The conquest of Ireland claims to be eternal, as it is secured by the symbolic “appropriation” of the country by creating a body of knowledge about it. “Topography and History of Ireland” becomes an essential tool of the colonial policy of the English crown.
Conclusion
The biography and writings of Gerald of Wales are a godsend for the researcher: he was involved in the most critical events of English, Welsh, Irish, and partly French history, not to mention the history of the church; the generosity with which Gerald described them in his books cannot but cause gratitude to the historian. His books contain a considerable amount of historical, ethnographic, and topographical information; he described the life and customs of peoples with no less enthusiasm than the affairs of kings and church hierarchy. Therefore, the basis of this book is the consideration of the history of Ireland and its myths in order to make a portrait of the people that the future king will rule.
The main task of the book is to substantiate the reality of the conquest of Ireland. Consequently, a certain kind of expertise of Gerald of Wales should have allowed him to advance significantly in the service of the king. The main details of the work focus on the description of the Irish as a backward people with barbaric customs and traditions. Describing the people in this way and taking into account the significance and uniqueness of such a book, it is necessary to note its influence on the image of Ireland’s identity in Britain’s history. Thus, the existence of the “History and Topography of Ireland” reflects the British’s ideas about the people they conquered. All this subsequently has an impact on historical reality and justice.
Bibliography
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