Literacy in Medieval Celtic Societies

by Huw Pryce (Editor)

Overview

This collection examines the significance of the ways in which writing was used in the Celtic countries between c.400 and c.1500. It is concerned with the amount and types of material committed to writing as well as with the social groups that promoted the use of literacy and had access to its products. Presenting the fruits of much new research, the book is intended as a contribution to the study both of medieval literacy generally and of the history and cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany in the Middle Ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521025331
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/30/2006
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature , #33
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Introduction Huw Pryce; 1. The uses of literacy in early medieval Wales Patrick Sims-Williams; 2. Literacy in Pictland Katherine Forsyth; 3. The context and uses of literacy in early Christian Ireland T. M. Charles-Edwards; 4. Orality, literacy and genealogy in early medieval Ireland and Wales David E. Thornton; 5. Charter-writing and its uses in early medieval Celtic societies Wendy Davies; 6. The context and uses of the Latin charter in twelfth-century Ireland Marie-Therese Flanagan; 7. Written text as performance - the implications for Middle Welsh prose narratives Sioned Davies; 8. More written about than writing? Welsh women and the written word Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan; 9. Celtic literary tradition and the development of a feudal principality in Brittany Noél-Yves Tonnerre; 10. Gaelic literacy in eastern Scotland between 1124 and 1249 Dauvit Broun; 11. Inkhorn and spectacles: the impact of literacy in late medieval Wales Llinos Beverley Smith; 12. 'This my act and deed': the writing of private deeds in late medieval north Wales A. D. Carr; 13. Literacy and the Irish bards Katherine Simms; List of works cited; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"This is an exceptionally strong collection of essays." Robin Stacey, The Medieval Review

From the Publisher