Writing Welsh History From the Early Middle Ages to the Twenty-First Century

Writing Welsh History is the first book to explore how the history of Wales and the Welsh has been written over the past fifteen hundred years. By analysing and contextualizing a wide range of historical writing, from Gildas in the sixth century to recent global approaches, it opens new perspectives both on the history of Wales and on understandings of Wales and the Welsh - and thus on the use of the past to articulate national and other identities. The study's broad chronological scope serves to highlight important continuities in interpretations of Welsh history. One enduring preoccupation is Wales's place in Britain. Down to the twentieth century it was widely held that the Welsh were an ancient people descended from the original inhabitants of Britain whose history in its fullest sense ended with Edward I's conquest of Wales in 1282-4, their history thereafter being regarded as an attenuated appendix. However, Huw Pryce shows that such master narratives, based on medieval sources and focused primarily on the period down to 1282, were part of a much larger and more varied historiographical landscape. Over the past century the thematic and chronological range of Welsh history writing has expanded significantly, notably in the unprecedented attention given to the modern period, reflecting broader trends in an increasingly internationalized historical profession as well as the influence of social, economic, and political developments in Wales and elsewhere.

1 - Prologue: Themes and Contexts
2 - British Pasts: The Early Middle Ages
3 - Saints, Kings, and Princes: Welsh Pasts in an Age of Conquest, 1070-1282
4 - Curating the Past in a Conquered Land, 1282-1540
5 - 'Our Ancestors the Ancient Britons', 1540-1620
6 - From the Universal to the Local: Framing the History of Wales, 1540-1620
7 - Refurbishing the Past: Antiquarianism and Historical Writing, 1620-1707
8 - From Druids to the Last Bard, 1707-1770
9 - Civilization, Liberty, and Dissent, 1770-1820
10 - Cultural Revival and Romantic History: The World of Thomas Price (Carnhuanawc), 1820-1848
11 - 'Living in the Past' and the Challenges of Modernity, 1848-1880
12 - Scientific History and National Awakening, 1880-1920
13 - Consolidation and Reappraisal, 1920-1960
14 - A New Beginning? Writing Welsh History, 1960-2020

Huw Pryce is Professor Emeritus at Bangor University, where he held the Chair of Welsh History from 2005 to 2021, and an honorary professor at Cardiff University. His publications have focused mainly on the history of medieval Wales and modern interpretations and uses of the Welsh past. He is a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, and the co-editor of the Welsh History Review.