In the year 1188 Gerald de Barri, popularly known as Gerallt Gymro or Gerald the Welshman,  made a journey through Wales as part of a recruitment campaign for a Crusade to the Holy Land.  He then wrote two books- The Itinerary through Wales and the Description of Wales. Other chapters in Welsh history are equally fascinating: the  Conquest of 1282, the Glyndwr Rebellion at the beginning of the 15th century, Wales during the Reformation and the Civil War of  the 16th and 17th centuries, the Industrial Revolution of the 18th  19th centuries which transformed Wales as did the Methodist Revival of the 18th century, the Chartist Rising and Rebeca Riots  in  the first half of the 19th century, the coming of democracy and national institutions, the two world wars and the bitter years  of the interwar depression and the vast changes that have taken place since 1945. There are so many interesting questions attached to this course, such as extent to which today’s Wales really differs from the people that Gerald described 800 years ago; or how does economic change influence the emergence of new ideas and vice versa, and what role does  myth play in the development of modern nationhood.  

Lecturer: Hefin Mathias

Wednesday 13.00-15.00

September 16-October 14

5 weeks £ 70