Literacy in Medieval Celtic Societies

This collection of studies examines the use of the written word in Celtic-speaking regions of Europe between c. 400 and c. 1500. Building on previous work as well as presenting the fruits of much new research, the book seeks to highlight the interest and importance of Celtic uses of literacy for the study of both medieval literacy generally and of the history and cultures of the Celtic countries in the Middle Ages. Among the topics discussed are the uses and significance of charter-writing, the interplay of oral and literate modes in the composition and transmission of medieval Irish and Welsh genealogies, prose narratives and poetry, the survival of Celtic culture in Brittany and of Gaelic literacy in eastern Scotland in the twelfth century, and pragmatic uses of literacy in later medieval Wales.

• First book to focus on uses of literacy in different Celtic regions in the Middle Ages • Deals both with scholarly and pragmatic uses of literacy • Discussion of Celtic literacy related to other recent work on medieval literacy

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.

‘Overall the collection deserves to be consulted by non-Celtics and not merely read within its own little academic ghetto. This is a set of meticulously evidence-based studies, with an excellent bibliography: the author’s insights into matters such as the social context of literacy, charters, genealogy, and gender should be of interest to medievalists whose areas of special concern lie elsewhere.’ Early Medieval Europe