interests  as  an  author  were  by  no  means  exclusively  Celtic.  Indeed,  even  when
composmg  the  ltinerarium  Kambriae  he  had  already  begun  writing  a  major  political
work,  the  De  Principis  Instructione,  focused  primarily  on  the  reign  of  King  Henry  II,
as  well  as  the  Speculum  Ecclesiae,  a  wide-ranging  critique  of  the  Church  and  especially
  the  religious  orders,  both  of  which  were  finally  completed  only  in  retirement
in  Lincoln  (in  c.  1217  and  c.  1220  respectively).88  The  diversity  of  his  literary  output
reflects  his  ability  to  encompass  the  two  worlds  represented  by  Wales  and  England.
Indeed,  his  adoption  of  the  role  of  author  and  scholar  can  be  seen,  to  a  significant
degree,  as  a  creative  response  to  the  difficulties  he  encountered  in  crossing  the
boundaries  between  those  worlds.  Sensitive  to  the  conflicts  inherent  in  Anglo-Welsh
relationships,  Giraldus’s  own  life  is  a  remarkable  testimony  to  one  individual’s
attempt  to  transcend  ethnic  and  cultural  borders  in  medieval  Europe.

88 Giraldus,  Opera  6  pp.  47,  53;  Bartlett  (as  n.  6)  pp.  219-20.

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