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Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis; Gerallt Cymro; ; ) was a Cambro Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taught in France and visited Rome several times, meeting the Pope. He was nominated for several bishoprics but turned them down in the hope of becoming Bishop of St Davids, but was unsuccessful despite considerable support. His final post was as Archdeacon of Brecon, from which he retired to academic study for the remainder of his life. Much of his writing survives.

Born c. no – c. 1146 at Manorbier Castle in Pembrokeshire, Wales, Gerald was of mixed Norman and Welsh descent. Gerald was the youngest son of William Fitz Odo de Barry (or Barri), the common ancestor of the De Barry family of Ireland, a retainer of Arnulf de Montgomery and Gerald de Windsor, and one of the most powerful Anglo Norman barons in Wales. His mother was Angharad FitzGerald, a daughter of Gerald FitzWalter of Windsor, Constable of Pembroke Castle, and his wife Nest ferch Rhys, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last King of South Wales. Through his mother Angharad, Gerald was a nephew of David FitzGerald, Bishop of St Davids, as well as a great nephew of Gruffydd ap Rhys, the son and heir of Rhys ap Tewdwr, and a cousin of Rhys ap Gruffydd, the famous Arglwydd (Lord) Rhys and his family. Gerald received his initial education at the Benedictine house of Gloucester, followed by a period of study in Paris from c. no – c. 1165–74, where he studied the trivium. He was employed by Richard of Dover, the Archbishop of Canterbury, on various ecclesiastical missions in Wales, and distinguished himself by his efforts to remove supposed abuses of consanguinity and tax laws flourishing in the Welsh church at the time. He was appointed in 1174 as Archdeacon of Brecon, to which was attached a residence at Llanddew. He obtained this position by reporting the existence of the previous archdeacon's mistress; the man was promptly dismissed. While administering this post, Gerald collected tithes of wool and cheese from the populace; the income from the archdeaconry supported him for many years. Upon the death of his uncle, the Bishop of St Davids, in 1176, the chapter nominated Gerald as his successor. St Davids had the long term aim of becoming independent of Canterbury, and the chapter may have thought that Gerald was the man to take up its cause. King Henry II of England, fresh from his struggle with Archbishop Thomas Becket, promptly rejected Gerald in favour of Peter de Leia, one of his Norman retainers, possibly because Gerald's Welsh blood and ties to the ruling family of Deheubarth made him seem like a troublesome prospect. According to Gerald, the king said at the time: "It is neither necessary or expedient for king or archbishop that a man of great honesty or vigour should become Bishop of St Davids, for fear that the Crown and Canterbury should suffer thereby. Such an appointment would only give strength to the Welsh and increase their pride." The chapter acquiesced in the decision; and Gerald, disappointed with the result, withdrew to the University of Paris. From c. no – c. 1179 8, he studied and taught canon law and theology. He returned to England and spent an additional five years studying theology. In 1180, he received a minor appointment from the Bishop of St Davids, which he soon resigned. He followed it up, shortly afterwards, with an account of Henry's conquest of Ireland, the Expugnatio Hibernica. Both works were revised and added to several times before his death, and display a notable degree of Latin learning, as well as a great deal of prejudice against foreign people. Gerald was proud to be related to some of the Norman invaders of Ireland, such as his maternal uncle Robert FitzStephen and Raymond FitzGerald, and his influential account, which portrays the Irish as barbaric savages, gives important insight into Cambro Norman views of Ireland and the history of the invasion. Having thus demonstrated his usefulness, Gerald was selected to accompany the Archbishop of Canterbury, Baldwin of Forde, on a tour of Wales in 1188, the object being a recruitment campaign for the Third Crusade. His account of that journey, the Itinerarium Cambriae (1191) was followed by the Descriptio Cambriae in 1194. His two works on Wales remain very valuable historical documents, useful for their descriptions (however untrustworthy and inflected by ideology, whimsy, and his unique style) of Welsh and Norman culture. It is uncertain whether Gerald was a Welsh speaker; although he quotes Welsh proverbs and appears familiar with the language, he seems not to have been employed as an interpreter for the expedition. As a royal clerk, Gerald observed significant political events first hand and was offered appointments as bishoprics of Wexford and Leighlin, and apparently, slightly later, the bishopric of Ossory and the archbishopric of Cashel, and later the bishopric of Bangor in Wales; and, in 1191, that of Llandaff. At this point he resigned his position as archdeacon of Brecon.

Gerald spent the remainder of his life in academic study, most probably in Lincoln, producing works of devotional instruction and politics, and revising the works on Ireland and Wales he had written earlier in his life. He spent two years (1204–6) in Ireland with his relatives and made a fourth visit to Rome, purely as a pilgrimage, in 1206. The controversy over St Davids soured his relationship with the crown. In 1216 a baronial plan to put Louis VIII of France on the throne of England in the First Barons' War was warmly welcomed by him. He died in about 1223 in his 77th year, probably in Hereford and he is, according to some accounts, buried at St Davids Cathedral. There is a statue, by Henry Poole of Gerald in City Hall, Cardiff, and he was included in the vote on 100 Welsh Heroes for his Descriptio Cambriae and Itinerarium Cambriae. His reputation in Ireland, due to his negative portrayal of the Irish, is much less friendly.

Gerald's tour of Wales in 1188 was detailed in a 1988 cartoon voiced by comedian Max Boyce. Gerald of Wales was 4th in the series of 8 by Nicholas Crane in Great British Journeys. James Goldman's novel Myself As Witness is written from Gerald of Wales' point of view, though in the novel he is referred to as Giraldus Cambrensis, which means Gerald of Wales in Latin. A train service between Holyhead and Cardiff operated by Transport for Wales Rail is named Gerald of Wales.