Huw Pryce was educated at Jesus College, Oxford (BA 1979, DPhil 1985). He joined the staff at Bangor in 1981 and was Professor of Welsh History from 2005 until his retirement in 2021; he is now Emeritus Professor. In 2011 he was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, and in 2021 he was appointed an Honorary Professor in the School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University. His doctoral thesis was on medieval Welsh law and the Church, and he has published widely on the history of medieval Wales, including an edition of the documents issued by native Welsh rulers 1120–1283; he also initiated a series of biannual colloquia on medieval Wales held in Bangor since 2002. His recent research has focused mainly on the historiography of Wales, the subject of his most recent books: a study of the historian John Edward Lloyd (1861–1947), a Professor of History at Bangor who played a seminal role in establishing Welsh history as a modern academic subject; a co-edited collection of essays on the study of the past in Wales and other small nations between 1850 and 1950; and a volume on the historiography of Wales from the early Middle Ages to the present. He is also co-editor of the Welsh History Review and one of the editors of the series Studies in Celtic History (Boydell) and Rethinking the History of Wales (University of Wales Press).

Research: Current and Recent Projects

Historiography of Wales

Over the past two decades I have become increasingly interested in how the history of Wales has been written and what this can tell us about the uses of the past and the construction of identities, especially in small nations. As well as studies of Gerald of Wales and of several twentieth-century historians of Wales, I have published (2011) an intellectual biography of John Edward Lloyd (1861–1947), the pioneering historian of medieval Wales who played a key role in establishing Welsh history as a modern academic subject, and co-edited with Neil Evans a volume of essays that examines the writing of history in Wales and other European countries 1850–1950 (2013). In 2014 I gave the O'Donnell Lecture in Oxford on Victorian approaches to medieval Welsh history, and in 2019 I gave the O'Donnell Lecture at Bangor and Cardiff Universities and the University of Wales Trinity St David on aspects of the historiography of Wales from the Middle Ages to the present. I was also a Co-Investigator on a major AHRC project (2017-20) to edit the works of the antiquary, historian and cartographer Humphrey Llwyd (1527-68): 'Inventor of Britain: The Complete Works of Humphrey Llwyd'.

In 2022 I published a volume building on these studies, namely the first book on histories of Wales and the Welsh from the early middle ages to the present: Writing Welsh History: From the Early Middle Ages to the Twenty-First Century (Oxford University Press).

Medievalism and Antiquarianism in Nineteenth-Century Wales

My John V. Kelleher Lecture at the Harvard Celtic Colloquium in 2011 explored the reception of the middle ages in Victorian Wales, and the extent to which this resulted in a neo-medieval revival in visual and literary culture. I have published on further aspects of the field since then, including a detailed study of an attempt to invoke the authority of medieval Welsh law in a legal case concerning foreshore rights on Anglesey in 1862–4, published (with Gwilym Owen) in the Journal of Legal History, 35/2(2014),http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/flgh20/35/2#.VQCLb2ZhSZE; an article discussing the influence on Harry Longueville Jones (1806–70), co-founder of the Cambrian Archaeological Association in 1847, of the influence on his approach to Welsh antiquities of French heritage measures, with which Jones first became involved during his residence in Paris (c.1835–42), in The Antiquaries Journal, 96 (2016), http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S000358151600024X; and a chapter on Ireland and Wales in the Oxford Handbook of Victorian Medievalism, ed. Joanne Parker and Corinna Wagner (OUP, 2020).

Medieval Wales

I have published extensively on the history of medieval Wales and continue to research on aspects of it, including Gerald of Wales. (I am an adviser on the current Leverhulme project 'The Writings of Gerald of Wales'.) My work on historiography has a strong medieval dimension: not only does it encompass the middle ages, but from the sixteenth to the early twentieth century histories of Wales largely focused on the ancient and medieval origins of the Welsh and relied heavily on medieval sources. In 2005 I published an edition of the charters, letters and other written acts of Welsh rulers, and my research in that field was recognized by my election in 2012 as a member of the Commission internationale de diplomatique of the Comité international des Sciences historiques, which has provided a forum for exploring the writing of medieval Welsh charters and other documents in a comparative context.

 
 

PhD Students

Current PhD students

  • Elizabeth Holmes, 'Gender, Religion and Ethnicity in the Writings of Gerald of Wales'
  • Rhonwen Roberts, ‘Medievalism and Welsh Identity, c.1870–1939’

Previous PhD students

  • Jennifer Bell, 'The Development of Early Medieval Saints' Cults in South Wales' (2022)
  • Sadie Jarrett, ‘The Identity and Influence of the Salesbury Family of Rhug and Bachymbyd in the 16th and 17th centuries’ (2021)
  • Shaun McGuinness, ‘The Bishops of Bangor and their Acta, 1092–1307’ (2020)
  • Daniel Rhydderch-Dart, ‘Making Communities in Modern Wales: Caernarfonshire 1880–1914’ (2020)
  • Edwin Hustwit, ‘The Britons: Power, Identity and Ethnicity, 350–1000’ (2015)
  • Danna Messer, ‘The Uxorial Lifecycle and Female Agency in Wales in the Twelfth and Thirteenth centuries’ (2014)
  • Owain Wyn Jones, ‘Historical Writing in Medieval Wales’ (2014)
  • Euryn Roberts, ‘Hunaniaeth Ranbarthol yng Nghymru’r Oesau Canol, c.1100–c.1283’ (Regional identity in medieval Wales, c.1100–c.1283) (2013)
  • Gwenno Angharad Elias, ‘Golygiad o Lsgr. Peniarth 164 o Gyfraith Hywel’ (An edition of MS Peniarth 164 of the Law of Hywel) (2007)
  • Matthew J. Pearson, ‘Welsh Cathedral Chapters, 1100–1300’ (2000)
  • Stefan Narkiewicz, ‘The Speculum Ecclesiae of Gerald of Wales: An Historical Analysis and Commentary’ (1995)
 

Email: a.h.pryce@bangor.ac.uk

2022

2021

  • PublishedGerald of Wales: Medieval Ethnographer of the Welsh
    Pryce, H., 2021, Social Anthropologies of the Welsh: Past and Present. Morgan, W. J. & Bowie, F. (eds.). Canon Pyon: Sean Kingston Publishing, p. 41-55 15 p. (RAI Country Series; vol. 5).
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2020

  • PublishedChronicling and its contexts in medieval Wales
    Pryce, H., Feb 2020, The Chronicles of Medieval Wales and the March: New Contexts, Studies and Texts. Guy, B., Jones, O. W., Henley, G. & Thomas, R. (eds.). Brepols, 44 p.
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
  • PublishedThe Irish and Welsh Middle Ages in the Victorian Period
    Pryce, H., 15 Jun 2020, The Oxford Handbook of Victorian Medievalism. Parker, J. & Wagner, C. (eds.). Oxford University Press, 36 p. (Oxford Handbooks).
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2019

  • PublishedHistorical Writing in Medieval Wales
    Jones, O. & Pryce, H., Oct 2019, Medieval Historical Writing: Britain and Ireland, 500–1500. Jahner, J., Steiner, E. & Tyler, E. (eds.). Cambridge University Press
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2018

2016

  • PublishedCofio Glyndwr
    Pryce, H., 2016, In: Trafodion Anrhydeddus Gymdeithas y Cymmrodorion. 22, p. 43-60
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedGiraldus and the Geraldines
    Pryce, H., 2016, The Geraldines and Medieval Ireland: The Making of a Myth. Crooks, P. & Duffy, S. (eds.). Dublin: Four Courts Press, p. 53-68
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
  • PublishedHarry Longueville Jones, FSA, Medieval Paris and the heritage measures of the July monarchy
    Pryce, H., Sept 2016, In: Antiquaries Journal. 96, p. 391-314
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedMedieval Welsh history in the Victorian age
    Pryce, H., 15 Aug 2016, In: Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies. 71, Summer 2016, p. 1-28
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2015

2014

2013

2012

  • PublishedCulture, Identity, and the Medieval Revival in Victorian Wales
    Pryce, H., Furchgott, D. (Editor), Holmberg, M. (Editor), Mullen, A. J. (Editor) & Sumner, N. (Editor), 1 Jan 2012, In: Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium. 31, p. 1-40
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2011

2010

  • PublishedForeword
    Pryce, H., Williams, D. M. (Editor) & Kenyon, J. R. (Editor), 1 Jan 2010, The Impact of the Edwardian Castles in Wales.. 2010 ed. Oxbow Books, p. xi
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
  • PublishedOxford Historians of Wales
    Pryce, H., 1 Jan 2010.
    Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
  • PublishedThe Acts of the Welsh Rulers: 1120-1283
    Pryce, H. (Editor), 31 Oct 2010, 2 ed. Universiy of Wales Press. 960 p.
    Research output: Book/Report › Book

2009

  • PublishedConversions to Christianity
    Pryce, H. & Stafford, P. (Editor), 1 Jan 2009, A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland c.500-1100. 2009 ed. Wiley-Blackwell, p. 143-159
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
  • PublishedRobert Rees Davies 1938-2005.
    Pryce, H., 17 Sept 2009, In: Proceedings of the British Academy. 161, p. 135-155
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2008

  • PublishedThe Normans in Welsh History
    Pryce, H. & Lewis, C. P. (Editor), 1 Jan 2008, Anglo-Norman Studies XXX: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2007. 2008 ed. Boydell Press
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
  • PublishedThe Reluctant Medievalist?
    Olson, K. K., Pryce, H., Jenkins, G. (Editor) & Jones, G. J. (Editor), 1 Jan 2008, Degrees of Influence: A Memorial Volume for Glanmor Williams. 2008 ed. University of Wales Press, p. 30-57
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

2007

2006

2005

2004

  • PublishedModern nationality and the medieval past: the Wales of John Edward Lloyd
    Pryce, H., 1 Jan 2004, From Medieval to Modern Wales: Historical Essays in Honour of Kenneth O. Morgan and Ralph A. Griffiths.. Davies, R. R. & Jenkins, G. H. (eds.). 2004 ed. University of Wales Press, p. 14-29
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

2003

  • PublishedThe christianization of society
    Pryce, H., 1 Jan 2003, From the Vikings to the Normans. Davies, W. (ed.). 2003 ed. Oxford University Press, p. 139-167
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
  • PublishedUses of the vernacular in the acts of Welsh rulers, 1120-1283
    Pryce, H. & Guyotjeannin, O. (Editor), 11 Sept 2003.
    Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
  • PublishedWelsh rulers and the written word, 1120-1283
    Pryce, H., 1 Jan 2003, Regionen Europas- Europa der Regionen: Festschrift für Kurt-ulrich Jäschke zum 65. Geburtstag. Jäschke, K.-U., Thorau, P., Penth, S. & Fuchs, R. (eds.). 2003 ed. Böhlau, p. 65-78
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

2002

  • PublishedNegotiating Anglo-Welsh relations: Llywelyn the Great and Henry III
    Pryce, H., 1 Jan 2002, England and Europe in the Reign of Henry III (1216–1272). Weiler, B. K. U. & Rowlands, I. W. (eds.). 2002 ed. Ashgate, p. 13-29
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
  • PublishedWales: religion and piety
    Pryce, H., 1 Jan 2002, A Companion to Britain in the Later Middle Ages. Rigby, S. H. (ed.). 2002 ed. Blackwells, p. 411-429
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

2001

  • PublishedBritish or Welsh? National identity in twelfth-century Wales
    Pryce, H., 1 Jan 2001, In: English Historical Review. 116, 468, p. 775-801
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedFrontier Wales, c.1063-1282
    Pryce, H., 1 Jan 2001, The Tempus History of Wales. Morgan, P. (ed.). 2001 ed. NPI Media Group, p. 77-106
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
  • PublishedThe medieval church
    Pryce, H., 1 Jan 2001, History of Merioneth: The Middle Ages vol 2. Smith, J. B. & Smith, L. B. (eds.). 2001 ed. Univeristy of Wales Press, Cardiff, p. 254-296
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
  • PublishedWelsh custom and canon law, 1150–1250
    Pryce, H., 1 Jan 2001, Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Medieval Canon Law. Pennington, K. (ed.). 2001 ed. Monumenta Iuris Canonici Series C; Subsidia, 11; Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City, p. 781-797
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter