
Agents persons, peoples and institutions
Browse and discover
Today’s feast-day (1 July)
A module for identifying agents - encompassing persons, peoples and organisations - and managing information about them has been around for many years, continually evolving as time went by, but what was absent all this time is a public interface for accessing relevant data in a user-friendly way.
This is a first attempt at offering such an interface, which is provided "as-is" and should be considered beta-quality for now (not that there is any official product release cycle as such but using the label is a convenient means to sound the right alarm bells). It currently consists of a basic search, aggregated data overviews for individual agents, and hover-card labels that you will meet elsewhere in the catalogue.
I am aware of duplicates, uneven coverage and other shortcomings that typically arise from the progressive nature of this website or simply, lack of personpower. An earlier version of the interface was available to editors partly because it helps us address some of those issues. None of these objections, however, seemed to weigh heavily against the alternative, which is having nothing at all to offer.
Note that for convenience's sake, many agents are not formally indexed but are nonetheless included by exclusive virtue of being linked. It is a wonderful forte of the system that allows us to retrieve and bring together disparate data from disparate data sources, but some useful metadata will be missing and discoverability is more limited as a result. For instance, we may be linking to a scribe whose name and associated data can be retrieved and presented, but without, say, a floruit it will be difficult to find this person within the appropriate time range. I say "difficult" because it is possible, to an extent, to rely on the dates we have, if any, for associated objects (manuscripts, scribal hands), but such a circuitous approach comes with limitations of its own and is not necessarily methodologically sound.
Meanwhile, I hope that the new interface will improve your experience in using this website. Next up are thematic categories for scribes (in the broadest, non-pejorative sense of the word), authors and scholars.
Last added
- Thomas Roberts1884–1960Welsh scholar.
- Dafydd ab Edmwndfl. 1450–1490Welsh poet.
- Robert Ellis [Cynddelw]1812–1875
- Iorwerth Fynglwydfl. c.1480–1527Welsh poet.
- Brendan O Hehir1927–1991
- David Johns [cleric and poet]fl. 1569–1586Welsh cleric, vicar (or parson?) of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd (Denbighshire), and poet.
- Collensupp. fl. c.600?British saint associated with Llangollen (Denbighshire, Wales) and possibly with Langolen (Finistère, Brittany) and Colan (Cornwall).
- Hugh Myles [of Evenjobb]fl. 16th centurySon of historian John Myles of Harpton / Tre’rdelyn (Radnorshire) and one-time owner of the Book of Taliesin.
- John Lewis [of Llynwene]d. 1615/1616Welsh barrister and historian. He was author of a History of Great-Britain, which did not appear in print until 1729.
- Caitlin Green
- Louis Le Pelletier1663–1733
- Asporiusfl. c.600?Asporius, known also as Asperius or Asper Minor (distinguishing him from Aemilius Asper), is the author to whom a grammar based on Donatus’ Ars minor is attributed. The possibility has been considered that he was an Irish or otherwise Insular grammarian and according to Vivien Law, he was probably active in Ireland or Burgundy.
- Butler [Irish healer]fl. 17th century, first halfAn Irish healer known simply as Butler, who is known from an account by Flemish chemist Jan Baptist van Helmont and from the correspondence of Henry Oldenburg.
- Philemon Holland1552–1637English physician and teacher, who undertook a number of translations into England, including that of William Camden’s Britannia.
- Edmund Gibson1669–1748British clergyman and antiquary, who became bishop of Lincoln (in 1716) and London (in 1723). He produced an English translation of William Camden’s Britannia (1695) which included much additional material, with help from other scholars, such as Edward Lhuyd.
- Nanhyfer [Nevern, Pembrokeshire]
Church on the river Nevern (Nyfer) in Pembrokeshire, said to have been an early church (clas) founded by St Brynach.
- Alt Fharannáin
- Lann Rónáin Fhinn
- Lusca [Lusk, Co. Dublin]
- Cenn Éitig [Co. Roscommon]Not to be confused with St Fínán’s foundation of the same name.
- Cenn ÉitigFoundation associated with St Fínán (Cam), which gave its name to the present townland and parish of Kinnitty in Co. Offaly.
- Bangor, University Library
- Carmarthen Priory
- Luxeuil abbeyMonastery founded by the Irish missionary Columbanus.
- St Asaph cathedral
- New York, Public Library
- Mallersdorf abbeyBenedictine monastery founded in 1107 as a daughter-house of Niedermünster in Regensburg.
- London, Sion College
- Regensburg, abbey of St Emmeram
- Regensburg, abbey of St James
Randomised results
A random selecton of authors and those so described.