2018 Le Helloco D
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Sense of place and the writing of early British history in medieval and early modern England Le Helloco, Daisy Award date: 2019 Awarding institution: Bangor University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 28. Sep. 2021 SENSE OF PLACE AND THE WRITING OF EARLY BRITISH HISTORY IN MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN ENGLAND Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Bangor University by Daisy Le Helloco School of English Bangor University June 2018 Sense of Place and the Writing of Early British History in Medieval and Early Modern England Summary Sense of place, the human connection to and understanding of place, has been theorized and understood as integral to the perception of and recording of the past. This dissertation addresses the use of sense of place in English and Anglo-Latin historical texts from the twelfth to the seventeenth century, specifically where they deal with the history of the island before the Anglo-Saxon settlements of the fifth century. The history of the island of Britain before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons has been a matter of great historical investigation and literary interest in England since the early twelfth century, when Geoffrey of Monmouth imaginatively repurposed the scant native sources into his chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae. This study looks at a selection of texts that follow the model of British history established by Geoffrey and the way in which place and the past interact in these works. It aims to answer questions about the relationship between space and time in the writing of the past, the different generic conventions associated with works organised on a spatial or temporal basis, and how the use of place in these texts is affected by the historical and literary context in which the authors are writing. I argue that the use of place in these texts is integral to an understanding of the author’s purpose, and the theorisation of place and its interaction with historical narrative is a fruitful approach to historiography. Contents List of abbreviations ............................................................................................................. i Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. ii 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Sense of place ......................................................................................................... 3 1.2. National and local, written and oral history ......................................................... 6 1.2.1. Oral tradition, manuscript, print .................................................................... 9 1.3. Genres: time, place and narrative ........................................................................ 17 1.3.1. Travel writing and maps ............................................................................... 23 1.4. Places in the early sources for British history ..................................................... 25 1.5. Scope and Structure of the thesis ........................................................................ 30 2. The Twelfth Century: Geoffrey of Monmouth and Gerald of Wales ......................... 34 2.1. Britain in the world .............................................................................................. 38 2.2. Divisions of Britain: nations and borders ........................................................... 49 2.2.1. Borders .......................................................................................................... 50 2.2.2. Wales ............................................................................................................. 57 2.3. Wilderness, settlement and the city .................................................................... 62 2.3.1. Rivers ............................................................................................................ 67 2.3.2. The country and the city ............................................................................... 68 2.3.3. City-building .................................................................................................. 71 2.3.4. Caerleon ........................................................................................................ 73 2.4. The locality ........................................................................................................... 83 2.5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 92 3. The Twelfth to Fifteenth century ............................................................................... 96 3.1. Britain in the world ............................................................................................. 101 3.1.1. Maps ............................................................................................................ 104 3.2. Divisions of Britain ............................................................................................ 107 3.3. The city ................................................................................................................ 116 3.4. The locality .......................................................................................................... 117 3.5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 124 4. Leland and Vergil ......................................................................................................127 4.1. The writing of the past in the sixteenth century: Humanism and Antiquarianism 128 4.2. The writing of place in the sixteenth century .................................................... 132 4.3. Leland and Vergil: Approach to History ........................................................... 139 4.3.1. Sources ......................................................................................................... 141 4.3.2. Vergil and Gildas ......................................................................................... 147 4.4. Britain, England and the historicity of Arthur .................................................. 158 4.5. The locality ......................................................................................................... 169 4.6. Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 181 5. The Later Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Century .............................................. 184 5.1. Background and sources .................................................................................... 185 5.2. Britain in the world ............................................................................................ 189 5.3. Divisions of Britain ............................................................................................ 193 5.4. The countryside and the city ............................................................................. 204 5.4.1. Rivers .......................................................................................................... 207 5.5. The locality ......................................................................................................... 212 5.6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 218 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 224 7. Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 233 i List of abbreviations BL British Library HRB Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, ed. by Michael D. Reeve and trans. by Neil Wright, Arthurian Studies 69 (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2007). IK and DK Gerald of Wales, Itinerarium Kambriae and Descriptio Kambriae, in Giraldus Cambrensis Opera, ed. by James F. Dimock, Rolls Series 21, 6 vols. (London, 1868, reprinted Nendeln: Kraus, 1964), vol. VI. ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, http://www.oxforddnb.com/ PO Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, in The Works of Michael Drayton, ed. by J. W. Hebel, 5 vols. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1961), vol. IV. WW Thomas Churchyard, The Worthines of Wales (London: G. Robinson, 1587; reprinted Manchester: Spenser Society, 1896) ii Acknowledgements I gratefully acknowledge the AHRC for providing the studentship which funded this study. Many thanks are due to my family, especially my mother Lindsay. Thanks to my many supportive friends, especially