IMC 2015: Sessions
Session 1307: Genealogy and Pseudo-History in the Medieval Insular World
Wednesday 8 July 2015, 16.30-18.00
| Organiser: | Ben Guy, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Owain Wyn Jones, School of History, Welsh History & Archaeology, Bangor University |
| Paper 1307-a | Writing the Ancient History of the Picts in the Early Middle Ages (Language: English) Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Genealogy and Prosopography, Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Celtic |
| Paper 1307-b | 'O herwyd yr Istoria': The Appropriation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's British History in Welsh Genealogy (Language: English) Index terms: Genealogy and Prosopography, Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Celtic, Language and Literature - Latin |
| Paper 1307-c | The Foundation of Wales and England: A Re-Examination of the Cadwallader Episode in Middle English Versions of the Prose Brut (Language: English) Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Celtic, Language and Literature - Middle English, Politics and Diplomacy |
| Abstract | During the Middle Ages, the primary purpose of the past was to explain the present. For this reason, pseudo-historical texts were composed which were designed to demonstrate to the reader how the particular circumstances of the present came to be. Genealogical texts are especially prominent in this genre, as a genealogy is able to succinctly communicate a teleological view of the past that is easily comprehensible. Although such texts often include little genuine information about their purported historical subjects, they are rich sources for our understanding of politicised historiography and, more broadly, of medieval world views. |