Medieval Studies Program Presents
A Medieval Visitor to Ireland
Guest speaker Michael Staunton, Senior Lecturer in History,
University College Dublin, Ireland
In this lecture, Michael Staunton looks at medieval Ireland from the colorful and not entirely reliable perspective of a twelfth-century visitor, Gerald of Wales. A participant in the English conquest and colonization of Ireland, Gerald described a land of beauty and wonders inhabited by uncouth and savage people. Even at the time he wrote, his stories of talking werewolves and vengeful saints drew ridicule, and his portrayal of the Irish remains controversial today. Ireland was England’s first colony, and it has been said that Gerald invented a new kind of colonial discourse, which was later applied to other European colonies and their inhabitants. But Gerald’s is the earliest detailed description of Ireland and the Irish by an outsider, and for all his credulousness and prejudice, he was also a sharp observer of the natural world and society, and an energetic collector of stories and traditions. By visiting Ireland in the company of Gerald of Wales it is possible to learn much about the country and its people, and about how medieval people viewed those different to them.
Free and open to the public.
For more information, call 845-758-7571, or e-mail [email protected].
Location: Bertelsmann Campus Center, Red Club Room 202