Topographia Hibernica
Topographia Hibernica (Latin for "Topography of Ireland"), also known as Topographia Hiberniae, is an account of the landscape and people of Ireland written by Gerald of Wales around 1188, soon after the Norman invasion of Ireland. It was the longest and most influential work on Ireland circulating in the Middle Ages, and its direct influence endured into the early modern period. Background. The author was born about 1146 within the aristocratic FitzGerald/de Barri family in Manorbier Castle in Wales with the birth name of Gerald de Barri. Gerald made his first visit to Ireland in 1183 and  returned in 1185. His first visit, to see members of his family who had played a prominent role in the Angevin invasion of the country in 1169, was not more than a year long. His second visit was undertaken at the command of King Henry II, in the company of the king's youngest son, Prince John, and lasted from 25 April 1185 to Easter 1186. All of his writings were in Latin and have been translated into English. Based on the evidence of the "Topographia", it would appear that Gerald's travels within Ireland were not extensive. He spent  most of this first visit in Waterford and Cork. During his second visit, he visited Dublin, Wicklow, Meath, Kildare and, possibly, Athlone and Lough Derg. Whether or not he visited some of the places he mentioned or he simply related tales he heard from others is debatable. He wrote about the island of Inishglora, off the coast of the Mullet Peninsula, Erris, that corpses on that island do not putrefy and that generations of people all in a state of perpetual 'freshness' were to be seen on that island. Text. The work is divided into three parts. The first primarily  deals with the landscape, flora and fauna of the country; the second with the miracles and marvels of Ireland and the third with the history of the people and their culture. The work reflects the breadth of Gerald's learning and interests. He claims to have based his book primarily on his own observations and on reliable eyewitness testimony rather than on written sources. Among the few written works that he used was the Irish "Lebor Gabála Érenn". Quotations. Distinction I (Of the situation in Ireland) Chapter XI Of barnacles, which grow from fir timber, and their nature Distinction II  (Of the wonders and miracles of Ireland) ""Chapter XII Of an island which at first floated, and afterwards was firmly fixed by means of fire. "" Chapter XX Of a woman who had a beard, and a hairy crest and mane on her back "" Chapter LII (Of the mill which no women enter) Distinction III (On the inhabitants of this country) "Of the character, customs and habits of this people" Gerald appears to have added to the work throughout his life with the result that four principal versions of the text have come down to us. The final recension is almost  twice as long as the first. Reception. The work was dedicated to King Henry II in 1187, two years before his death. Soon after King John's accession to the throne, the author published a revised edition, which he dedicated to the new king. The work is known to have been read to Archbishop Baldwin of Exeter by Gerald while both were travelling in Wales to preach the Third Crusade in March 1188. By Gerald's own account, Baldwin thought very highly of the work. It may have been read publicly at Oxford in 1187, and it was certainly read  there in sometime around 1188. Gerald notes in his autobiography, "De Rebus a se gestis", that he read the work on three successive days, one part of the book being read on each, before a great audience. He claims that the public readings were intended to recall "ancient and authentic times of the poets". The work enjoyed much wider popularity in manuscript than Gerald's second work on Ireland, "Expugnatio Hibernica". Vernacular translations of the work or of parts of it were produced throughout Europe. Influence. Gerald's influence was such that even in the 17th century, commentators such as  Geoffrey Keating noted that all foreign commentators on Ireland wrote "in imitation of Cambrensis". Among the 16th-century luminaries who were familiar with the work and drew upon it in their own writings were John Leland, John Bale, Abraham Ortelius, Henry Sidney, Philip Sidney, Edmund Campion, Hooker, Holinshed, Hanmer, William Herbert and William Camden. Camden produced the first full printed edition of the work at Frankfurt in 1602. The text is generally acknowledged to have played a key role in shaping early British attitudes to the Irish. Criticism. Gerald's depiction of the Irish as savage and primitive was challenged  and refuted by a number of Irish writers. The 17th century saw the production of several prominent attacks on Gerald, including "Cambrensis Eversus" (1662) by John Lynch, and works by Geoffrey Keating, Philip O'Sullivan Beare, and Stephen White.