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,