Welsh Journals

THE LIFE OF ST. DAVID BY GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS THE new edition, by J. W. James, of Rhigyfarch's Life of St. David, has provided a sound basis for all future research in this branch of Welsh hagiography. Inevitably, some views put forward in the introduction to the work will be modified in future, but all scholars will have to start from this excellent textual study. The important conclusion reached by the editor is that the 'Vespasian-recension' can no longer be taken as the authoritative version, but as a later stage in the development by which time Rhigyfarch's first Life has forked into separate and independent recensions. As can be seen in the diagram of the textual interdependence, the Life of St. David by Giraldus Cambrensis stands clear of the other versions. It was derived, as are all the other MSS., directly from an archetype of the Nero MSS., without having any formative influence on later recensions. This result, interesting in itself, leads to the question of when Giraldus wrote his Life. J. W. James's conclusion, that the work was written between c. 1172 and 1176,2 is based on considera- tion of Giraldus's career and on internal evidence of the Life. This article offers results differing from James's. It takes its origin from the belief that information on Giraldus as offered by himself has to be handled with the greatest care. On the basis of this information, together with textual evidence from the Life itself, a new date of composition and a new evaluation of the Life by Giraldus is suggested. All information on the career of Giraldus derives basically from his own writings; it has long been realized that, in places, the reader is faced with conscious or unconscious modification on the author's part. This is the case especially for the early part of his life. The De Rebus a se Gestis, written after 1203 and the defeat of Giraldus as metropolitan champion of St. David's, naturally presents the early years of his life as influenced by this recent experience; with regard to his activities in 1176 it can cautiously be regarded as intentionally misleading. It presents Giraldus, archdeacon of Brecon, as the choice of the chapter of St. David's for the vacant see, the story being that Giraldus was turned down by King Henry II as future bishop because of his connection with the Welsh princes and 1 J. W. James. Rhigyfarch's Life of St. David (1967), inserted leaf after p. xliv. 2 ibid., p. xxxii.