The Itinerary of Archibishop Baldwin through Wales | Page 6

After the manner of that age - which Gerald lived to
denounce - he soon became a pluralist. He held the livings of Llanwnda,
Tenby, and Angle, and afterwards the prebend of Mathry, in

Pembrokeshire, and the living of Chesterton in Oxfordshire. He was
also prebendary of Hereford, canon of St. David's, and in 1175, when
only twenty-eight years of age, he became Archdeacon of Brecon. In
the following year Bishop David died, and Gerald, together with the
other archdeacons of the diocese, was nominated by the chapter for the
king's choice. But the chapter had been premature, urged, no doubt, by
the impetuous young Archdeacon of Brecon. They had not waited for
the king's consent to the nomination. The king saw that his settled
policy in Wales would be overturned if Gerald became Bishop of St.
David's. Gerald's cousin, the Lord Rhys, had been appointed the king's
justiciar in South Wales. The power of the Lord Marches was to be
kept in check by a quasi-alliance between the Welsh prince and his
over-lord. The election of Gerald to the greatest see in Wales would
upset the balance of power. David Fitz- Gerald, good easy man (vir sua
sorte contentus is Gerald's description of him), the king could tolerate,
but he could not contemplate without uneasiness the combination of
spiritual and political power in South Wales in the hands of two able,
ambitious, and energetic kinsmen, such as he knew Gerald and the Lord
Rhys to be. Gerald had made no secret of his admiration for the
martyred St. Thomas e Becket. He fashioned himself upon him as
Becket did on Anselm. The part which Becket played in England he
would like to play in Wales. But the sovereign who had destroyed
Becket was not to be frightened by the canons of St. David's and the
Archdeacon of Brecon. He summoned the chapter to Westminster, and
compelled them in his presence to elect Peter de Leia, the Prior of
Wenlock, who erected for himself an imperishable monument in the
noble cathedral which looks as if it had sprung up from the rocks which
guard the city of Dewi Sant from the inrush of the western sea.
It is needless to recount the many activities in which Gerald engaged
during the next twenty-two years. They have been recounted with
humorous and affectionate appreciation by Dr. Henry Owen in his
monograph on "Gerald the Welshman," a little masterpiece of
biography which deserves to be better known. {4} In 1183 Gerald was
employed by the astute king to settle terms between him and the
rebellious Lord Rhys. Nominally as a reward for his successful
diplomacy, but probably in order to keep so dangerous a character
away from the turbulent land of Wales, Gerald was in the following

year made a Court chaplain. In 1185 he was commissioned by the king
to accompany Prince John, then a lad of eighteen, who had lately been
created "Lord of Ireland," to the city of Dublin. There he abode for two
years, collecting materials for his two first books, the "Topography"
and the "Conquest of Ireland." In 1188 he accompanied Archbishop
Baldwin through Wales to preach the Third Crusade - not the first or
the last inconsistency of which the champion of the independence of
the Welsh Church was guilty. His "Itinerary through Wales" is the
record of the expedition. King Richard offered him the Bishopric of
Bangor, and John, in his brother's absence, offered him that of Llandaff.
But his heart was set on St. David's. In 1198 his great chance came to
him. At last, after twenty-two years of misrule, Peter de Leia was dead,
and Gerald seemed certain of attaining his heart's desire. Once again
the chapter nominated Gerald; once more the royal authority was
exerted, this time by Archbishop Hubert, the justiciar in the king's
absence, to defeat the ambitious Welshman. The chapter decided to
send a deputation to King Richard in Normandy. The deputation
arrived at Chinon to find Coeur-de-Lion dead; but John was anxious to
make friends everywhere, in order to secure himself on his uncertain
throne. He received the deputation graciously, he spoke in praise of
Gerald, and he agreed to accept the nomination. But after his return to
England John changed his mind. He found that no danger threatened
him in his island kingdom, and he saw the wisdom of the justiciar's
policy. Gerald hurried to see him, but John point blank refused publicly
to ratify his consent to the nomination which he had already given in
private. Then commenced the historic fight for St. David's which, in
view of the still active "Church question" in Wales, is even now
invested with a living interest and significance. Gerald contended that
the Welsh Church was independent of Canterbury, and that it was