This title provides an analysis of the interplay of tradition and innovation in the development of kinship from the prehistoric to the medieval period. Kinship was, and remains, a central element in all human societies. This is an historical account of the forms it took in Celtic societies.

This title provides an analysis of the interplay of tradition and innovation in the development of kinship from the prehistoric to the medieval period. Kinship was, and remains, a central element in all human societies. This is an historical account of the forms it took in Celtic societies.

Drawing on 28 original essays, A Companion to the Early Middle Ages takes an inclusive approach to the history of Britain and Ireland from c.500 to c.1100 to overcome artificial distinctions of modern national boundaries. A collaborative history from leading scholars, covering the key debates and issues Surveys the building blocks of political society, and considers whether there were fundamental differences across Britain and Ireland Considers potential factors for change, including the economy, Christianisation, and the Vikings

Demonstrates that there was ... a significant Welsh involvement in Ireland between 1558 and 1641. It explores how the Welsh established themselves as soldiers, government officials and planters in Ireland. It also discusses how the Welsh, although participating in the 'English' colonisation of Ireland, nevertheless remained a distinct community, settling together and maintaining strong kinship and social and economic networks to fellow countrymen, including in Wales.

The inhabitants of early medieval Britain and Ireland shared the knowledge that the region held four peoples and the awareness that they must have originally come from 'elsewhere'. The Origin Legends of Early Medieval Britain and Ireland studies these peoples' origin stories, an important genre that has shaped national identity and collective history from the early medieval period to the present day. These multilingual texts share many common features that repay their study as a genre, but have previously been isolated as four disparate traditions and used to argue for the long roots of current nationalisms. Yet they were not written or read in isolation during the medieval period. Individual narratives were in constant development, written and rewritten to respond to other texts. This book argues that insular origin legends developed together to flesh out the history of the insular region as a whole.

Historical Works from Medieval Wales is the fourth volume in The Library of Medieval Welsh Literature series. It introduces readers to the genre of medieval Welsh historical texts on the basis of a broad selection of annotated passages, which range from an account of the legendary origin of Britain to the fall of the last native prince. Each passage is preceded by an introductory paragraph indicating the source and relating it to its wider historical and literary context. The selections are accompanied by a substantial introduction, extensive linguistic notes, and a full glossary. The introduction discusses gemeral features of medieval historiography, as well as the manuscripts and edited works from which the excerpts have been taken. The second part of the introduction contains a detailed description of the language (orthography, morphology and syntax) employed in the selected passages. The volume aims to make Middle Welsh historical texts accessible to third level students whose first language is not Welsh, but can also be used and enjoyed by native speakers of Welsh, students and interested readers, who are interested in an overall view of historical texts from medieval Wales. Patricia Williams is a retired lecturer in Welsh language and literature at the University of Manchester.

The story of Wales from the end of the Roman period to the conquest by Edward I in 1283 is unknown to most, but recent historiography has opened up the source material and allowed for a modern, critical reappraisal. The development of the country is traced within the context of the rest of post-Roman western Europe in a study that is a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in military history and the history of Wales in relation to its neighbours in Britain and on the continent.