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The political function of ‘early Christian’ inscriptions in Wales

The political function of ‘early Christian’ inscriptions in Wales

By Hilbert Chiu

Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association, Vol. 2 (2006)

Abstract: Over 50 inscribed stones, dating from the early fifth to the late sixth century, survive in north-west Wales. In contrast to other British inscriptions of the period, these inscriptions exhibit a surprising degree of Romanitas on the part of the people they commemorate. This paper aims to examine this phenomenon in greater detail. It furthers the argument that the inscriptions played a political role in legitimising the power of the elite in early Gwynedd. It also considers the inscriptions in the context of surviving textual and archaeological evidence.

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