Welsh contacts with the papacy before the Edwardian conquest, c. 1283

Abstract

This thesis attempts to explain the papacy’s significance to Welsh polities and the Welsh Church prior to the Edwardian Conquest of Wales. Though there has been little sustained consideration of Wales and the papacy during this period, it has been thought that relations developed significantly after the eleventh century. The written work of Gerald of Wales, documents originating in the papal bureaucracy, Welsh chronicles, law codes, poetry, saints’ lives, charters and other administrative documents are used to test the veracity of this claim. The nature of the relationship between Welsh institutions and the papacy and changes in this relationship are also explored. Consideration is given as well to the influence of the papacy on Welsh society. It is hoped that the corpus of evidence identified might be used for further exploration of the history of Wales and the papacy.