Following the end of Roman government, a patchwork of kingdoms developed across the erstwhile diocese of Britanniae. Dr Ken Dark, writing in 'British Archaeology' (Issue 32, March 1998), opines that:
"Far from there being political fragmentation, however, the Romano-British civitates (or tribal areas) may simply have turned themselves wholesale into 5th century British kingdoms. At least initially, these may have retained the territory, and in some cases the name, of the former civitas. For example, the civitas of the Dumnonii became the kingdom of Dumnonia, while that of the Demetae became the kingdom of Dyfed... Other evidence adds to this picture of large-scale political continuity. Fifth and 6th century written sources and inscriptions hint at the survival of Roman-style bureaucratic administration, Roman law, Roman weights and measures, and schooling on the Roman model to train future administrators and judges... Although independent British kings ruled these kingdoms, there is no reason to suppose they were less Romanised than most of the elite of the 4th century. To give an example, burials of this 5th-6th century elite were more often commemorated by Latin-language inscriptions than seems to have been common anywhere in 4th century Britain... The political centres of these kingdoms also show evidence of Romanisation. The clearest example of this is probably the well-known sequence at Wroxeter in Shropshire, which may have been the capital of the 6th century kingdom of Powys as well as of the 4th century civitas of the Cornovii. There, parts of the late Roman town were rebuilt after the 5th century to contain highly Romanised buildings occupied until the late 6th or 7th century."
However, Neil Faulkner, also writing in 'British Archaeology' feels that:
"These conclusions seem much less compelling in the light of my survey results."
Be that as it may, Dr Dark continues his argument:
"Consequently, whether we look at their political centres, their burials, their forms of administration, or the survival of Latin literature and language, western British rulers of the 5th and 6th century seem far more Romanised than has hitherto been supposed... A major change that did occur in the early 5th century British West and North was the final withdrawal of the Roman army. However, some 5th or 6th century British kings may have been organizing the defence of their kingdoms on a very ambitious scale. Evidence from Vindolanda, Birdoswald and South Shields may suggest late 5th or early 6th century re-occupation and perhaps refortification of these sites, adding to other evidence that northern British rulers attempted a re defence of Hadrian's Wall in this period. There are even hints that these rulers might in some way have been trying to revive the late Roman military command of the Dux Britanniarum, because only forts of that command were apparently re-used. A survey of 5th-6th century archaeological data from all 4th century Roman forts in North and West Britain, showed that out of at most 16 sites with later 5th-6th century evidence no fewer than 14 had probably been under the command of the Dux Britanniarum at the end of the 4th century. This pattern cannot be random and is inexplicable unless forts of this command were particularly selected for re-use. Meanwhile, further south, British rulers may have been responsible for constructing the linear earthwork now called the Wansdyke, arguably derivative of Roman period linear defences."
COEL HEN ('the Old') is purportedly 'Old King Cole' from the nursery rhyme. According to Welsh genealogies Coel is the founding father of several ruling dynasties in northern Britain (known as 'Gwyr y Gogledd' - 'Men of the North'). There is a theory that he was the last Dux Britanniarum who, at the end of Roman rule, converted his military jurisdiction (the North, based at York) into a kingdom. Following his death (a date of c.420 is suggested), Coel's domain was divided amongst his descendants to produce various kingdoms, of which perhaps the most well known are Rheged in (what is now) north-west England and the Scottish border country, and Ebrauc which was centred on York.
CERETIC GULETIC ('the Imperator') was, seemingly, a powerful ruler in the western half of the Brythonic speaking hinterland, north of Hadrian's Wall, which separated the former Roman Britain from the Picts and Scots. He is equated to the Coroticus who was rebuked, by St.Patrick, for a raid on Ireland in which Patrick's converts were slain or taken captive:
"With my own hand I have written and composed these words, to be given, delivered, and sent to the soldiers of Coroticus ... Dripping with blood, they welter in the blood of innocent Christians, whom I have begotten into the number for God and confirmed in Christ! . . I sent a letter with a holy presbyter ... asking them to let us have some of the booty, and of the baptized they had made captives. They only jeered ... Hence I do not know what to lament more: those who have been slain, or those whom they have taken captive, or those whom the devil has mightily ensnared... Where, then, will Coroticus with his criminals, rebels against Christ, where will they see themselves, they who distribute baptized women as prizes - for a miserable temporal kingdom, which will pass away in a moment?"
Patrick's biographer, Muirchu (later 7th century), identifies Coroticus as "king of Ail [Alcluith - Dumbarton]", and says that he scoffed at the contents of the letter. Patrick prayed for divine retribution, and, when Coroticus:
"... was in open court, he suddenly had the misfortune to take on the appearance of a little fox; he made off before his followers' eyes, and from that day and that hour, like a passing stream of water, he was never seen any where again."
Incidentally, Muirchu also tells a muddled and embroidered tale of how one of Patrick's Irish converts became bishop of the Isle of Man.
Ceretic is credited with being founder of the kingdom of Strathclyde.
To the east of Ceretic's lands, the territory of the Votadini developed into the kingdom of Gododdin. The area later became Lothian, purportedly after King Lot Luwddoc (Lot 'of the Host'). Lot is traditionally said to be the grandfather of St.Kentigern, and, in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Arthurian 'romance', Lot is married to Arthur's sister, and is the father of Modred.
CUNEDDA WLEDIG (Wledig=Guletic - 'the Imperator') is, purportedly, the founder of the dynasties ruling Gwynedd and Ceredigion, in, what is now, north-west Wales. The 'Historia Brittonum' asserts that:
"The great king, Mailcun [Maelgwn], reigned among the Britons, i.e. in the district of Guenedota [Gwynedd], because his great-great-great-grandfather, Cunedag [Cunedda], with his eight sons, had come before from the left-hand part [meaning the North], i.e. from the country which is called Manau Guotodin, one hundred and forty-six years before Mailcun reigned, and expelled the Scots with much slaughter from those countries, and they never returned again to inhabit them. "
Cunedda's genealogy (Harleian MS 3859) shows that his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had Roman names. His grandfather is called Paternus 'Red Robe' (Patern pesrut), which has fuelled speculation that Cunedda's family, although north of Rome's frontier, acted in some kind of Roman official capacity. It has been suggested that Cunedda's migration from Gododdin to north-west Wales, in order to combat the influx of Scots from Ireland, was on the instruction of a greater authority. (A proposed timeframe for this event, assuming it actually happened, is thirty years either side of 400). Harleian MS 3859 notes that:
"These are the names of the sons of Cuneda [Cunedda], whose number was nine: Typipaun [Typipion], the first-born, who died in the region called Manau Guodotin [Manau Gododdin] and did not come hither with his father and his aforesaid brothers. Meriaun [Meirchion], his son, divided the possessions among his [Typipion's] brothers. ii. Osmail [Ysfael], iii. Rumaun [Rhwfon], iiii. Dunaut [Dynod], v. Ceretic, vi. Abloyc [Afloyg], vii. Enniaun girt [Einion Yrth], viii. Docmail [Dogfael], ix. Etern [Edeyrn]. This is their boundary: from the river which is called Dubr Duiu [the Dee], to another river, the Tebi [Teifi]; and they held very many districts in the western part of Britain."
Cunedda's praises are sung in an ancient (though quite how ancient is the subject of debate) poem: 'Marwnad Cunedda' (The Death-song of Cunedda).
The "great king", Maelgwn, referred to by the 'Historia Brittonum', gets a special mention from Gildas:
"And thou, the island dragon, who hast driven many of the tyrants mentioned previously, as well from life as from kingdom, thou last in my writing, first in wickedness, exceeding many in power and at the same time in malice, more liberal in giving, more excessive in sin, strong in arms, but stronger in what destroys thy soul - thou Maglocunus [Maelgwn], why dost thou obtusely wallow in such an old black pool of crimes, as if sodden with "the wine that is pressed from the vine of Sodom?" Why dost thou tie to thy royal neck (of thine own accord, as I may say), such heaps, impossible to remove, of crimes, as of high mountains? Why showest thou thyself to Him, the King of all kings, who made thee superior to almost all the kings of Britain, both in kingdom and in the form of thy stature, not better than the rest in morality, but on the contrary worse?"
Gildas goes on to enumerate, at length, Maelgwn's sins. The 'Annales Cambriae' indicate that Maelgwn's death was in 547.
EOCHAID, son of Artchorp, according to an Irish yarn ('The Expulsion of the Déisi'), led his displaced people out of Ireland, to settle in Dyfed - as a result of which he appears to have gained the epithet 'Allmuir' ('Over-sea'). According to genealogical material attached to the tale, Eochaid's great-great-great-grandson was Gartbuir - an Irish form of Vortipor. Vortipor (Gwrthefyr) was ruler of Dyfed/the Demetae at the time Gildas was writing, and he was one of five British kings singled out for specific criticism:
"Why also art thou, Vortipor, tyrant of the Demetae, foolishly stubborn? Like the leopard art thou, in manners and wickedness of various colour, though thy head is now becoming grey, upon a throne full of guile, and from top to bottom defiled by various murders and adulteries, thou worthless son of a good king, as Manasseh of Hezekiah. What! do not such wide whirlpools of sins, which thou suckest in like good wine, nay, art thyself swallowed by them, though the end of life is gradually drawing near - do these not satisfy thee? Why, to crown all thy sins, dost thou, when thine own wife had been removed and her death had been virtuous, by the violation of a shameless daughter, burden thy soul as with a weight impossible to remove?"
In Dyfed , there are a number (20, according to John Davies, in 'A History of Wales') of inscribed stones bearing Irish ogam characters. One particular stone, on display in Carmarthen County Museum, bears, in ogam, the name "Votecorigas". It also bears a Latin inscription, which reads:"MEMORIA VORTEPORIGIS PROTICTORIS"
(the memorial of Vorteporigis the protector)
Votecorigas/Vorteporigis is generally believed to be Vortipor. Use of the title "protector" has led to suggestions that the Roman authorities invited Vortipor's Irish ancestors to settle in the territory of the Demetae, in exchange for defending the coast against Irish pirates. Welsh genealogies, though preserving a record of some Irish ancestors, prefer to present a more glamorous, Roman, line of descent for the kings of Dyfed, via Macsen Wledig, alias Magnus Maximus.(the memorial of Vorteporigis the protector)
ST.GERMANUS, according to his biographer, Constantius of Lyon, made two visits to Britain, to stamp out the Pelagian heresy. Constantius, who wrote his 'de Vita Germani' in the late fifth century, provides no dates:
The British monk, Gildas, who wrote his diatribe, 'De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae' (Concerning the Ruin and Conquest of Britain), in the 540s, asserts that, after the final departure of the Romans, the feckless Britons were plagued by the marauding Picts and Scots:
"... a deputation from Britain came to tell the bishops of Gaul that the heresy of Pelagius had taken hold of the people over a great part of the country and help ought to be brought to the Catholic faith as soon as possible. A large number of bishops gathered in synod to consider the matter and all turned for help to the two who in everybody's judgment were the leading lights of religion, namely Germanus and Lupus, apostolic priests who through their merits were citizens of heaven, though their bodies were on earth. And because the task seemed laborious, these heroes of piety were all the more ready to undertake it; and the stimulus of their faith brought the business of the synod to a speedy end."
The date of the ensuing first visit, 429, is provided by Prosper of Aquitaine (also known as Prosper Tiro), who was a contemporary of St.Germanus. Prosper says that:
"Agricola, a Pelagian, the son of the Pelagian bishop Severianus, corrupted the British churches by the insinuation of his doctrine. But at the persuasion of the deacon Palladius, Pope Celestine sent Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, as his representative, and having rejected the heretics, directed the British to the catholic faith."
Constantius:
"When this damnable heresy had been thus stamped out, its authors refuted, and the minds of all reestablished in the true faith, the bishops visited the shrine of the blessed martyr Alban, to give thanks to God through him... Meanwhile, the Saxons and the Picts had joined forces to make war upon the Britons. The latter had been compelled to withdraw their forces within their camp and, judging their resources to be utterly unequal to the contest, asked the help of the holy prelates. The latter sent back a promise to come, and hastened to follow it. Their coming brought such a sense of security that you might have thought that a great army had arrived; to have such apostles for leaders was to have Christ Himself fighting in the camp.
It was the season of Lent and the presence of the bishops made the sacred forty days still more sacred; so much so that the soldiers, who received instruction in daily sermons, flew eagerly to the grace of baptism; indeed, great numbers of this pious army sought the waters of salvation. A church was built of leafy branches in readiness for Easter Day, on the plan of a city church, though set in a camp on active service. The soldiers paraded still wet from baptism, faith was fervid, the aid of weapons was thought little of, and all looked for help from heaven.
Meanwhile the enemy had learned of the practices and appearance of the camp. They promised themselves an easy victory over practically disarmed troops and pressed on in haste. But their approach was discovered by scouts and, when the Easter solemnities had been celebrated, the army - the greater part of it fresh from the font - began to take up their weapons and prepare for battle and Germanus announced that he would be their general. He chose some light-armed troops and made a tour of the outworks. In the direction from which the enemy were expected he saw a valley enclosed by steep mountains. Here he stationed an army on a new model, under his own command.
By now the savage host of the enemy was close at hand and Germanus rapidly circulated an order that all should repeat in unison the call he would give as a battle-cry. Then, while the enemy were still secure in the belief that their approach was unexpected, the bishops three times chanted the Alleluia. All, as one man, repeated it and the shout they raised rang through the air and was repeated many times in the confined space between the mountains.
The enemy were panic-stricken, thinking that the surrounding rocks and the very sky itself were falling on them. Such was their terror that no effort of their feet seemed enough to save them. They fled in every direction, throwing away their weapons and thankful if they could save at least their skins. Many threw themselves into the river which they had just crossed at their ease, and were drowned in it.
Thus the British army looked on at its revenge without striking a blow, idle spectators of the victory achieved. The booty strewn everywhere was collected; the pious soldiery obtained the spoils of a victory from heaven. The bishops were elated at the rout of the enemy without bloodshed and a victory gained by faith and not by force.
Thus this most wealthy island, with the defeat of both its spiritual and its human foes, was rendered secure in every sense. And now, to the great grief of the whole country, those who had won the victories over both Pelagians and Saxons made preparations for their return. Their own merits and the intercession of Alban the Martyr secured them a calm voyage; and a good ship brought them back in peace to their expectant people."
Constantius' assertion that Germanus made a second visit to Britain is uncorroborated:
"... news came from Britain that a few promoters of the Pelagian heresy were once more spreading it; and again all the bishops joined in urging the man of blessings to defend the cause of God for which he had previously won such a victory. He hastened to comply ... taking with him Severus a bishop of perfected sanctity ... Germanus could see that the people as a whole had persevered in the faith in which he had left them and the bishops realized that the fallings-away had been the work only of a few. These were identified and formally condemned... There followed sermons to the people to confute the heresy, the preachers of which were by common consent banished from the island. They were brought to the bishops to be conducted to the Continent, so that the country might be purged of them an they of their errors. The effect of all this was so salutary that even now the faith is persisting intact in those parts. And so, with everything settled, the blessed bishops made a prosperous journey back to their own country."
The date for this second visit is usually put at c.446, although there are suggestions that it may not have occurred at all.
"The miserable remnant therefore send a letter to Agitius, a man holding high office at Rome; they speak as follows: "To Agitius, in his third consulship, come the groans of the Britons;" a little further in their request: "the barbarians drive us to the sea, the sea drives us upon the barbarians; by one or other of these two modes of death we are either killed or drowned;" and for these they have no aid....
It is almost universally believed that the Agitius referred to by Gildas could only be Roman general Aetius, who was the driving force behind the Western Empire. His third consulship began in 446 (Valentinian III, Western Emperor, had him murdered in 454). Highly respected Anglo-Saxon historian Bede (who based his own account of these events on Gildas) certainly believed it was Aetius, and he adds that the Britons: "... could not obtain any help from him, as he was then engaged in most serious wars with Bledla [Bleda] and Attila, kings of the Huns. And though the year before this [i.e. in 445] Bledla had been murdered by the treachery of his own brother Attila, yet Attila himself remained so intolerable an enemy to the Republic, that he ravaged almost all Europe, attacking and destroying cities and castles."
.... In the meantime, the severe and well-known famine presses the wandering and vacillating people, which compels many of them without delay to yield themselves as conquered to the bloodthirsty robbers, in order to have a morsel of food for the renewal of life. Others were never so compelled: rather issuing from the very mountains, from caves and defiles and from dense thickets, they carried on the war unceasingly. Then for the first time, they inflicted upon the enemy, which for many years was pillaging in the land, a severe slaughter: their trust was not in man but in God, as that saying of Philo goes: "We must have recourse to divine aid where human fails." The boldness of the enemy quieted for a time, but not the wickedness of our people; the enemy withdrew from our countrymen, but our countrymen withdrew not from their sins.
It was the invariable habit of the race, as it is also now, to be weak in repelling the missiles of enemies, though strong to bear civil strifes and the burdens of sins; weak, I say, to follow ensigns of peace and truth, yet strong for crimes and falsehood. The shameless Irish assassins, therefore, went back to their homes, to return again before long. It was then, for the first time, in the furthermost part of the island, that the Picts commenced their successive settlements, with frequent pillaging and devastation. During such truces, consequently, the ugly scar is healed for the deserted people. While another more poisonous hunger was silently growing on the other hand, and the devastation quieting down, the island was becoming rich with so many resources of affluence that no age remembered the possession of such afterwards: along with these resources of every kind, luxury also grew... Kings were anointed, not in the name of God, but such as surpassed others in cruelty, and shortly afterwards were put to death by the men who anointed them, without any enquiry as to truth, because others more cruel had been elected. If, however, any one among them appeared to be of a milder disposition, and to some extent more attached to truth, against him were turned without respect the hatred and darts of all, as if he were the subverter of Britain; all things, those which were displeasing to God and those which pleased him, had at least equal weight in the balance, if, indeed, the things displeasing to him were not the more acceptable...
Meanwhile, when God was desirous to cleanse his family, and, though defiled by such a strain of evil things, to better it by their hearing only of distress, there came like the winged flight of a rumour not unfamiliar to them, into the listening ears of all - that their old enemies had already arrived, bent upon thorough destruction, and upon dwelling in the country, as had become their wont, from one end to the other. Nevertheless they in no way profited by this news; rather like foolish beasts, with clenched teeth, as the saying is, they bite the bit of reason, and began to run along the broad way of many sins, which leads down to death, quitting the narrow way though it was the path of salvation. Whilst then, according to the words of Solomon, "The stubborn servant is not corrected by words," the foolish nation is scourged and feels it not: for a deadly pestilence came upon the unwise people which, in a short time, without any sword, brought down such a number of them that the living were unable to bury the dead. But they were not corrected even by this pestilence ... the time was drawing nigh when the iniquities of the country, as those of the Amorites of old, would be fulfilled. A council is held, to deliberate what means ought to be determined upon, as the best and safest to repel such fatal and frequent irruptions and plunderings by the nations mentioned above.
At that time all members of the assembly, along with the proud tyrant, are blinded; such is the protection they find for their country (it was, in fact, its destruction) that those wild Saxons, of accursed name, hated by God and men, should be admitted into the island, like wolves into folds, in order to repel the northern nations....
In the oldest (10th century) surviving manuscript of Gildas, the "proud tyrant" is not named (though some later ones do name him). Bede, who extensively paraphrases Gildas, writes: "They held a council to determine what was to be done, and where they should seek help to prevent or repel the cruel and frequent incursions of the northern nations; and in concert with their King Vortigern, it was unanimously decided to call the Saxons to their aid from beyond the sea ..." Bede's use of the name Vortigern is a persuasive reason for believing that it was originally used by Gildas.
.... Nothing more hurtful, certainly, nothing more bitter, happened to the island than this. What utter depth of darkness of soul! What hopeless and cruel dulness of mind! The men whom, when absent, they feared more than death, were invited by them of their own accord, so to say, under the cover of one roof: Foolish princes of Zoan, as is said, giving unwise counsel to Pharaoh. Then there breaks forth a brood of whelps from the lair of the savage lioness, in three cyulae [keels], as it is expressed in their language, but in ours, in ships of war under full sail, with omens and divinations. In these it was foretold, there being a prophecy firmly relied upon among them, that they should occupy the country to which the bows of their ships were turned, for three hundred years; for one hundred and fifty - that is for half the time - they should make frequent devastations. They sailed out, and at the directions of the unlucky tyrant, first fixed their dreadful talons in the eastern part of the island, as men intending to fight for the country, but more truly to assail it."
The use of Germanic mercenaries was, of course, by no means a new departure. Indeed, it is believed possible that the Saxon Shore, mentioned in the 'Notitia Dignitatum', may well have been named after the Saxons who had settled there. At any rate, Bede, provides the traditional date of this so called 'Adventus Saxonum' (Saxon Advent):
"In the year of our Lord 449, Marcian, the forty-sixth from Augustus, being made emperor with Valentinian, ruled the empire seven years. Then the nation of the Angles, or Saxons, being invited by the aforesaid king [Vortigern], arrived in Britain with three ships of war and had a place in which to settle assigned to them by the same king, in the eastern part of the island, on the pretext of fighting in defence of their country, whilst their real intentions were to conquer it. Accordingly they engaged with the enemy, who were come from the north to give battle, and the Saxons obtained the victory. When the news of their success and of the fertility of the country, and the cowardice of the Britons, reached their own home, a more considerable fleet was quickly sent over, bringing a greater number of men, and these, being added to the former army, made up an invincible force. The newcomers received of the Britons a place to inhabit among them, upon condition that they should wage war against their enemies for the peace and security of the country, whilst the Britons agreed to furnish them with pay... The first commanders are said to have been the two brothers Hengist and Horsa. Of these Horsa was afterwards slain in battle by the Britons, and a monument, bearing his name, is still in existence in the eastern parts of Kent."
The 'Historia Brittonum' (History of the Britons), although it obviously contains much legendary material (equally obviously it contains some that is not), indicates an earlier date for the Saxon advent - 428 (in the fourth year of Vortigern's reign). The computations of the 'Historia' are, however, much disputed, and Bede has far greater authority. Be that as it may, the 'Historia' says that:
"In his [Vortigern's] time, the natives had cause of dread, not only from the inroads of the Scots and Picts, but also from the Romans, and their apprehensions of Ambrosius."
The cryptic comment "their apprehensions of Ambrosius" may become clearer later. In the meantime, the 'Historia' not only expands the story considerably, but also gives Hengist and Horsa a more sympathetic treatment:
"... three vessels, exiled from Germany, arrived in Britain. They were commanded by Horsa and Hengist, brothers, and sons of Wihtgils... Vortigern [Guorthigirnus] received them as friends, and delivered up to them the island which is in their language called Thanet, and, by the Britons, Ruym... At that time St.Germanus, distinguished for his numerous virtues, came to preach in Britain: by his ministry many were saved; but many likewise died unconverted... After the Saxons had continued some time in the island of Thanet, Vortigern promised to supply them with clothing and provision, on condition they would engage to fight against the enemies of his country. But the barbarians having greatly increased in number, the Britons became incapable of fulfilling their engagement; and when the Saxons, according to the promise they had received, claimed a supply of provisions and clothing, the Britons replied, "Your number is increased; your assistance is now unnecessary; you may, therefore, return home, for we can no longer support you;" and hereupon they began to devise means of breaking the peace between them."
In an apparent contradiction, however, Hengist persuades Vortigern that more of his people are actually needed. A further sixteen vessels arrive, bringing with them Hengist's beautiful daughter. Hengist throws a party to which Vortigern and his retinue are invited. The Britons are plied with drink, and the besotted Vortigern offers Hengist anything he would like in exchange for his daughter. Hengist:
"... demanded for his daughter the province, called in English Centland, in British, Ceint, [Kent]. This cession was made without the knowledge of the king, Guoyrancgonus who then reigned in Kent, and who experienced no inconsiderable share of grief, from seeing his kingdom thus clandestinely, fraudulently, and imprudently resigned to foreigners. Thus the maid was delivered up to the king, who slept with her, and loved her exceedingly.
Hengist, after this, said to Vortigern, "I will be to you both a father and an adviser; despise not my counsels, and you shall have no reason to fear being conquered by any man or any nation whatever; for the people of my country are strong, warlike, and robust: if you approve, I will send for my son and his brother, both valiant men who at my invitation will fight against the Scots, and you can give them the countries in the north, near the wall called 'Gual'." The incautious sovereign having assented to this, Octa and Ebusa arrived with forty ships. In these they sailed round the country of the Picts, laid waste the Orkneys, and took possession of many regions, even to the Pictish confines."
There then follows an episode in which St.Germanus reproves Vortigern for an incestuous marriage to his own daughter, by whom he has had a son....
Among the genealogical information given in the inscription on Eliseg's Pillar (which was probably erected early in the ninth century, by Concenn, king of Powys, in memory of his great-grandfather, Eliseg), is a passage which is interpreted as: "Britu moreover [was] the son of Guarthigirn [Vortigern] whom Germanus blessed and whom Sevira bore to him, the daughter of Maximus the king, who slew the king of the Romans." On the face of it, this seems to show that Vortigern was married to the daughter of Magnus Maximus. On the other hand, it may just be a device, fabricated to show descent from two illustrious predecessors.
.... This is followed by a tale in which Vortigern undertakes to build a citadel. The requisite materials are gathered, but they disappear overnight. This happens twice more. Vortigern consults his wise men, who tell him: "You must find a child born without a father, put him to death, and sprinkle with his blood the ground on which the citadel is to be built, or you will never accomplish your purpose." The child is found, but he reveals to Vortigern the ignorance of his wise men, and offers to solve the mystery. He tells them that, if they dig, they will find a pool. In the pool are two vases, which, when separated reveal a folded tent. When the tent is unfolded it is found to contain two sleeping serpents - one white, one red.
""consider attentively," said the boy, "what they are doing." The serpents began to struggle with each other; and the white one, raising himself up, threw down the other into the middle of the tent and sometimes drove him to the edge of it; and this was repeated thrice. At length the red one, apparently the weaker of the two, recovering his strength, expelled the white one from the tent; and the latter being pursued through the pool by the red one, disappeared. Then the boy, asking the wise men what was signified by this wonderful omen, and they expressing their ignorance, he said to the king, "I will now unfold to you the meaning of this mystery. The pool is the emblem of this world, and the tent that of your kingdom: the two serpents are two dragons; the red serpent is your dragon, but the white serpent is the dragon of the people who occupy several provinces and districts of Britain, even almost from sea to sea: at length, however, our people shall rise and drive away the Saxon race from beyond the sea, whence they originally came; but do you depart from this place, where you are not permitted to erect a citadel; I, to whom fate has allotted this mansion, shall remain here; whilst to you it is incumbent to seek other provinces, where you may build a fortress.""In Geoffrey of Monmouth's imaginative 'Historia Regum Britanniae' (History of the Kings of Britain, written in the 1130s) this yarn is further embellished, and the boy acquires the name of Merlin.
The 'Historia Brittonum' now returns its attention to the Saxons:
"At length Vortimer, the son of Vortigern, valiantly fought against Hengist, Horsa, and his people; drove them to the isle of Thanet, and thrice enclosed them within it, and beset them on the western side. The Saxons now despatched deputies to Germany to solicit large reinforcements, and an additional number of ships: having obtained these, they fought against the kings and princes of Britain, and sometimes extended their boundaries by victory, and sometimes were conquered and driven back.
Four times did Vortimer valorously encounter the enemy; the first has been mentioned, the second was upon the river Darent, the third at the Ford, in their language called Epsford, though in ours Set thirgabail, there Horsa fell, and Catigern, the son of Vortigern; the fourth battle he fought, was near the stone on the shore of the Gallic sea, where the Saxons being defeated, fled to their ships."
The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' also records four battles. To the Anglo-Saxons, the Britons were 'Walas' or 'Wealas', meaning 'foreigners', which translates into modern English as 'Welsh'.
Sir Frank Stenton, in his 'Anglo-Saxon England', states: "After the initial year 449 the dates assigned to these events are unlikely to represent anything more authoritive than the conjectures of an annalist writing some three hundred years after the wars of Vortigern and Hengest."
449 ... Hengest and Horsa, invited by Wyrtgeorne [Vortigern], king of the Britons to his assistance, landed in Britain in a place that is called Ypwinesfleot [identified with Ebbsfleet, in the Isle of Thanet, Kent] ...
455 This year Hengest and Horsa fought with Wyrtgeorne the king on the spot that is called Agælsthrep [identified with Aylesford, Kent]. His brother Horsa being there slain, Hengest afterwards took to the kingdom [of Kent] with his son Æsc.
457 This year Hengest and Æsc fought with the Britons on the spot that is called Crecganford [identified with Crayford, at the confluence of the rivers Cray and Darent, Kent], and there slew four thousand men. The Britons then forsook the land of Kent, and in great consternation fled to London.
465 This year Hengest and Æsc fought with the Welsh, nigh Wippedesfleote [possibly at Richborough, Kent]; and there slew twelve leaders, all Welsh. On their side a thegn was there slain, whose name was Wipped.
473 This year Hengest and Æsc fought with the Welsh, and took immense Booty. And the Welsh fled from the English like fire.
The 'Historia Brittonum' continues:
455 This year Hengest and Horsa fought with Wyrtgeorne the king on the spot that is called Agælsthrep [identified with Aylesford, Kent]. His brother Horsa being there slain, Hengest afterwards took to the kingdom [of Kent] with his son Æsc.
457 This year Hengest and Æsc fought with the Britons on the spot that is called Crecganford [identified with Crayford, at the confluence of the rivers Cray and Darent, Kent], and there slew four thousand men. The Britons then forsook the land of Kent, and in great consternation fled to London.
465 This year Hengest and Æsc fought with the Welsh, nigh Wippedesfleote [possibly at Richborough, Kent]; and there slew twelve leaders, all Welsh. On their side a thegn was there slain, whose name was Wipped.
473 This year Hengest and Æsc fought with the Welsh, and took immense Booty. And the Welsh fled from the English like fire.
"After a short interval Vortimer died; before his decease, anxious for the future prosperity of his country, he charged his friends to inter his body at the entrance of the Saxon port, viz. Upon the rock where the Saxons first landed; "for though," said he, "they may inhabit other parts of Britain, yet if you follow my commands, they will never remain in this island." They imprudently disobeyed this last injunction, and neglected to bury him where he had appointed.
After this the barbarians became firmly incorporated ... for Vortigern was their friend, on account of the daughter of Hengist, whom he so much loved ... And let him that reads understand, that the Saxons were victorious, and ruled Britain, not from their superior prowess, but on account of the great sins of the Britons ..."
Two anonymous 'Gallic Chronicles' have entries for c.441 which, once more, seem to suggest an early date for these events. The 'Chronicle of 452':
"The Britains, which to this time had suffered from various disasters and misfortunes, are reduced to the power of the Saxons."
The 'Chronicle of 511':
"The Britains, lost to the Romans, yield to the power of the Saxons."
The 'Historia Brittonum' carries on:
"After the death of Vortimer, Hengist being strengthened by new accessions, collected his ships, and calling his leaders together, consulted by what stratagem they might overcome Vortigern and his army; with insidious intention they sent messengers to the king, with offers of peace and perpetual friendship; unsuspicious of treachery, the monarch, after advising with his elders, accepted the proposals.
Hengist, under pretence of ratifying the treaty, prepared an entertainment, to which he invited the king, the nobles, and military officers, in number about three hundred; speciously concealing his wicked intention, he ordered three hundred Saxons to conceal each a knife under his feet, and to mix with the Britons; "and when," said he, "they are sufficiently inebriated, &c. cry out, ''Nimed eure Saxes,'' then let each draw his knife, and kill his man; but spare the king on account of his marriage with my daughter, for it is better that he should be ransomed than killed."
The king with his company, appeared at the feast; and mixing with the Saxons, who, whilst they spoke peace with their tongues, cherished treachery in their hearts, each man was placed next his enemy. After they had eaten and drunk, and were much intoxicated, Hengist suddenly vociferated, "Nimed eure Saxes!" and instantly his adherents drew their knives, and rushing upon the Britons, each slew him that sat next to him, and there was slain three hundred of the nobles of Vortigern. The king being a captive, purchased his redemption, by delivering up the three provinces of East, South, and Middle Sex, besides other districts at the option of his betrayers.
St.Germanus admonished Vortigern to turn to the true God, and abstain from all unlawful intercourse with his daughter; but the unhappy wretch fled for refuge to the province Guorthigirniaun, so called from his own name, where he concealed himself with his wives ..."
St.Germanus pursues Vortigern, who then escapes to a castle on the river Towy. St.Germanus, once more, follows. After three days and nights of fasting and praying, by the saint and his entourage, fire falls from heaven, incinerating the castle. Vortigern, his wives, and all the other occupants of the castle are killed:
"Others assure us, that being hated by all the people of Britain, for having received the Saxons, and being publicly charged by St.Germanus and the clergy in the sight of God, he [Vortigern] betook himself to flight; and, that deserted and a wanderer, he sought a place of refuge, till broken hearted, he made an ignominious end.
Some accounts state, that the earth opened and swallowed him up, on the night his castle was burned; as no remains were discovered the following morning, either of him, or of those who were burned with him...
St. Germanus, after his death, returned into his own country. At that time, the Saxons greatly increased in Britain, both in strength and numbers."
In 477, the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' records the arrival in Britain of Ælle, who would found Sussex - the Kingdom of the South-Saxons. The 'Chronicle' also signals Hengist's death, in 488:
"... Æsc succeeded to the kingdom [of Kent] ..."
Cerdic and Cynric, founders of the Kingdom of the West-Saxons, Wessex, arrive in 495.
Gildas:
"For the fire of righteous vengeance, caused by former crimes, blazed from sea to sea, heaped up by the eastern band of impious men; and as it devastated all the neighbouring cities and lands, did not cease after it had been kindled, until it burnt nearly the whole surface of the island, and licked the western ocean with its red and savage tongue... In this way were all the settlements brought low with the frequent shocks of the battering rams; the inhabitants, along with the bishops of the church, both priests and people, whilst swords gleamed on every side and flames crackled, were together mown down to the ground, and, sad sight! there were seen in the midst of streets, the bottom stones of towers with tall beam cast down, and of high walls, sacred altars, fragments of bodies covered with clots, as if coagulated, of red blood, in confusion as in a kind of horrible wine press: there was no sepulture of any kind save the ruins of houses, or the entrails of wild beasts and birds in the open, I say it with reverence to their holy souls (if in fact there were many to be found holy), that would be carried by holy angels to the heights of heaven. For the vineyard, at one time good, had then so far degenerated to bitter fruit, that rarely could be seen, according to the prophet, any cluster of grapes or ear of corn, as it were, behind the back of the vintagers or reapers.
Some of the wretched remnant were consequently captured on the mountains and killed in heaps. Others, overcome by hunger, came and yielded themselves to the enemies, to be their slaves for ever, if they were not instantly slain, which was equivalent to the highest service. Others repaired to parts beyond the sea, with strong lamentation, as if, instead of the oarsman's call, singing thus beneath the swelling sails: "Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for eating, And among the gentiles hast thou scattered us." Others, trusting their lives, always with apprehension of mind, to high hills, overhanging, precipitous, and fortified, and to dense forests and rocks of the sea, remained in their native land, though with fear. After a certain length of time the cruel robbers returned to their home. A remnant, to whom wretched citizens flock from different places on every side, as eagerly as a hive of bees when a storm is threatening, praying at the same time unto Him with their whole heart, and, as is said, "Burdening the air with unnumbered prayers," that they should not be utterly destroyed, take up arms and challenge their victors to battle under Ambrosius Aurelianus. He was a man of unassuming character, who, alone of the Roman race chanced to survive in the shock of such a storm (as his parents, people undoubtedly clad in the purple, had been killed in it), whose offspring in our days have greatly degenerated from their ancestral nobleness. To these men, by the Lord's favour, there came victory."
Bede:
"When the army of the enemy, having destroyed and dispersed the natives, had returned home to their own settlements, the Britons began by degrees to take heart, and gather strength, sallying out of the lurking places where they had concealed themselves, and with one accord imploring the Divine help, that they might not utterly be destroyed. They had at that time for their leader, Ambrosius Aurelianus, a man of worth, who alone, by chance, of the Roman nation had survived the storm, in which his parents, who were of the royal race, had perished. Under him the Britons revived, and offering battle to the victors, by the help of God, gained the victory."
The 'Historia Brittonum' says that Vortigern:
"... had three sons: the eldest was Vortimer, who, as we have seen, fought four times against the Saxons, and put them to flight; the second Categirn, who was slain in the same battle with Horsa; the third was Pascent, who reigned in the two provinces Buelt [Builth] and Guorthegirniaun, after the death of his father. These were granted him by Ambrosius, who was the great king among the kings of Britain. The fourth was Faustus, born of an incestuous marriage with his daughter, who was brought up and educated by St.Germanus. He built a large monastery on the banks of the river Renis, called after his name, and which remains to the present period."
Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed that his work was founded on "a very ancient book in the British tongue". In his colourful version of events, Aurelius Ambrosius, Constans, and Uther Pendragon are the three sons of a King Constantine. Vortigern comes to power by devious means; Constans is killed and, the young, Uther and Ambrosius flee. Eventually, Vortigern is deposed and killed by Aurelius Ambrosius. Ambrosius, leads an army against the Saxons, and, in the ensuing campaign, Hengist is captured and beheaded. Ambrosius is poisoned, by a Saxon (in the pay of Pascentius, son of Vortigern) posing as a British monk, and Uther Pendragon becomes king. Uther develops a lust for Igerna, wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. Merlin, magically disguises Uther as Gorlois and:
Arthur: King of the Britons
Who knows, one of them may be correct - in this period all possibilities are possible.
"The king therefore stayed that night with Igerna, and had the full enjoyment of her, for she was deceived with the false disguise which he had put on ... she refused him nothing which he desired. The same night therefore she conceived of the most renowned Arthur, whose heroic and wonderful actions have justly rendered his name famous to posterity."
Eventually, the Saxons succeed in killing Uther by poisoning a spring. At the age of 15 Arthur is crowned king. Arthur goes on to defeat the Saxons in a mighty battle at Bath. Arthur himself kills 470 men using Caliburn:
"... which was an excellent sword made in the isle of Avallon ..."
Having defeated the Saxons, Arthur proceeds to: pacify the Scots and Picts, get married ....
"... he took to wife Guanhumara, descended from a noble family of Romans ... and in beauty surpassed all the women of the island..."
.... and conquer Ireland and Iceland (the kings of Gothland and the Orkneys voluntarily submit). After a 12 year rest, Arthur then conquers Norway, Dacia, Aquitaine, and Gaul. Arthur is goaded into a war against the Romans. He leads his forces into Europe, against a Roman coalition, leaving:
"... the government of the kingdom to his nephew Modred, and queen Guanhumara ..."
In the fullness of time, Arthur is victorious:
"But at the beginning of the following summer, as he was on his march towards Rome, and was beginning to pass the Alps, he had news brought him that his nephew Modred, to whose care he had entrusted Britain, had by tyrannical and treasonable practices set the crown upon his own head; and that queen Guanhumara, in violation of her first marriage, had wickedly married him."
Arthur rushes back to Britain and immediately defeats Modred's forces. On hearing the news, Guanhumara enters a nunnery. Arthur pursues Modred. In the resulting final showdown, Modred is killed and:
"... Arthur himself was mortally wounded; and being carried thence to the isle of Avallon to be cured of his wounds, he gave up the crown of Britain to his kinsman Constantine, the son of Cador, duke of Cornwall, in the five hundred and forty-second year of our Lord's incarnation."
The 'Annales Cambriae' has an entry (537 is the indicated year) which reads:
"The battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell: and there was plague in Britain and Ireland."
Geoffrey's 'history' was later developed; notably by Chrétien de Troyes, in the 'Vulgate Cycle', and by Sir Thomas Malory. When Caxton published Malory's unifying epic, 'Le Morte d'Arthur', in 1485, Arthur's journey into mythology was complete. There is, however, no shortage of theories about the identity of the 'real' Arthur. David Nash Ford has assembled a collection of them:Arthur: King of the Britons
Who knows, one of them may be correct - in this period all possibilities are possible.
'Le Morte D'Arthur'
by John Mullaster Carrick
In 'The Dream of Rhonabwy', one of 'The Four Independent Native Tales' which are part of the 'Mabinogion', a character says of himself:
by John Mullaster Carrick
"I was one of the messengers between Arthur and Medrawd his nephew, at the battle of Camlan; and I was then a reckless youth, and through my desire for battle, I kindled strife between them, and stirred up wrath, when I was sent by Arthur the Emperor to reason with Medrawd, and to show him, that he was his foster-father and his uncle, and to seek for peace, lest the sons of the Kings of the Island of Britain; and of the nobles, should be slain. And whereas Arthur charged me with the fairest sayings he could think of, I uttered unto Medrawd the harshest I could devise. And therefore am I called Iddawc Cordd Prydain ['Churn of Britain'], for from this did the battle of Camlan ensue."
"And from the reign of Vortigern to the quarrel between Guitolinus [Vitalinus] and Ambrosius, are twelve years, which is Guoloppum, that is Catguoloph."
This battle between Vitalinus and Ambrosius, as calculated by the 'Historia', took place in 437 - but who is Vitalinus. He might well be a relative of Vortigern, or, more radically, Vortigern himself. It is suspected that Vortigern may well be a rank as much as a name - meaning 'overlord'. Could it be that Vitalinus was his actual name? Anyway, Gildas continues:
"From that time, the citizens were sometimes victorious, sometimes the enemy, in order that the Lord, according to His wont, might try in this nation the Israel of to-day, whether it loves Him or not. This continued up to the year of the siege of Badon Hill, and of almost the last great slaughter inflicted upon the rascally crew. And this commences, a fact I know, as the forty-fourth year, with one month now elapsed; it is also the year of my birth."
Bede clarifies Gildas' rather obscure phraseology:
"... sometimes the natives, and sometimes their enemies, prevailed, till the year of the siege of Badon-hill, when they made no small slaughter of those enemies, about forty-four years after their arrival in England."
The 'Historia Brittonum', however, introduces a new name, not mentioned by Gildas or Bede, into his narrative:
"Then it was, that the magnanimous Arthur, with all the kings and military force of Britain, fought against the Saxons. And though there were many more noble than himself, yet he was twelve times chosen their commander, and was as often conqueror. The first battle in which he was engaged, was at the mouth of the river Gleni. The second, third, fourth, and fifth, were on another river, by the Britons called Duglas, in the region Linuis. The sixth, on the river Bassas. The seventh in the wood Celidon, which the Britons call Cat Coit Celidon. The eighth was near Gurnion castle, where Arthur bore the image of the Holy Virgin, mother of God, upon his shoulders, and through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy Mary, put the Saxons to flight, and pursued them the whole day with great slaughter. The ninth was at the City of Legion, which is called Cair Lion. The tenth was on the banks of the river Trat Treuroit. The eleventh was on the mountain Breguoin, which we call Cat Bregion. The twelfth was a most severe contest, when Arthur penetrated to the hill of Badon. In this engagement, nine hundred and forty fell by his hand alone, no one but the Lord affording him assistance. In all these engagements the Britons were successful. For no strength can avail against the will of the Almighty."
Suggesting a date of 516, the 'Annales Cambriae' record:
"The Battle of Badon, in which Arthur carried the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were the victors."
Bede's figures, based on his interpretation of Gildas, suggest a date of around 493 for Badon Hill (usually referred to by the Latin 'Mons Badonicus'). The generally accepted date is c.500.
It is the failure of Gildas to mention Arthur which is often considered the most damning evidence against Arthur's existence. Gildas continues:
"But not even at the present day are the cities of our country inhabited as formerly; deserted and dismantled, they lie neglected until now, because, although wars with foreigners have ceased, domestic wars continue."
He also talks of:
"... the final victory won by the mother country, which is the gift granted by the will of God in our own times."
So, the British victory at Mons Badonicus appears to have (for the time being) arrested the Anglo-Saxon advance. Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea (writing around 550), in his 'History of the Wars', seems to add substance to this notion:
"The island of Britain is inhabited by three very populous nations, each having one king over it. And the names of these nations are the Angles, the Frisians and the Britons, the last being named from the island itself. And so great appears to be the populations of these nations that every year they emigrate thence in large companies and go to the land of the Franks. And the Franks allow them to settle in the part of their land which appears to be more deserted, and by this means they say that they are winning over the island. Thus it actually happened that not long ago the king of the Franks [Theudebert 534-548], in sending some of his intimates on an embassy to the Emperor Justinian [527-565] in Byzantium, sent with them some of the Angles, thus seeking to establish his claim that this island was ruled by him."
Procopius states that it was not just the Britons who were leaving Britain (they settled in Armorica, which would result in the region becoming known as Brittany), as if fleeing before the advancing Germanic peoples, but, more significantly, the Germanic people themselves. The implication being that a stalemate had been reached - the Germanic newcomers, unable to extend their territory, were forced to depart for the Continent. Further, there is a tradition (the oldest known version of which was written shortly before 865, by the monk Rudolf of Fulda) which claims that the ancestors of the continental Saxons, being unable to find land for settlement, left Britain and, in 531, assisted Theuderich, king of the Franks, to defeat the Thuringians. Theuderich then gave them newly conquered territory to the north of the Unstrut river.
Meanwhile, Gildas bemoans the decadence which he believed had afflicted the Britons since their victory at Mons Badonicus, more than forty years previously:
"The recollection of so hopeless a ruin of the island, and of the unlooked-for help, has been fixed in the memory of those who have survived as witnesses of both marvels. Owing to this kings, magistrates, private persons, priests, ecclesiastics, severally preserved their own rank. As they died away, when an age had succeeded ignorant of that storm, and having experience only of the present quiet, all the controlling influences of truth and justice were so shaken and overturned that, not to speak of traces, not even the remembrance of them is to be found among the ranks named above. I make exception of a few - a very few - who owing to the loss of the vast multitude that rushes daily to hell, are counted at so small a number that our revered mother the church, in a manner does not observe them as they rest in her bosom. They are the only real children she has. Let no man think that I am slandering the noble life of these men, admired by all and beloved of God, by whom my weakness is supported so as not to fall into entire ruin, by holy prayers, as by columns and serviceable supports. Let no one think so, if in a somewhat excessively free-spoken, yea, doleful manner, driven by a crowd of evils, I shall not so much treat of, as weep concerning those who serve not only their belly, but the devil rather than Christ, who is God blessed for ever. For why will fellow-citizens hide what the nations around already not only know, but reproach us with?
Kings Britain has, but they are as her tyrants: she has judges, but they are ungodly men: engaged in frequent plunder and disturbance, but of harmless men: avenging and defending, yea for the benefit of criminals and robbers. They have numerous wives, though harlots and adulterous women: they swear but by way of forswearing, making vows yet almost immediately use falsehood. They make wars, but the wars they undertake are civil and unjust ones. They certainly pursue thieves industriously throughout the country, whilst those thieves who sit with them at table, they not only esteem but even remunerate. Alms they give profusely, but over against this they heap up a huge mountain of crimes. They take their seat to pronounce sentence, yet seldom seek the rule of right judgment. Despising the innocent and lowly, they to their utmost extol to the stars the bloody-minded, the proud, the murderous men, their own companions and the adulterous enemies of God, if chance so offers, who ought, together with their very name, to be assiduously destroyed. Many have they bound in their prisons, whom they ill-use with weight of chains, more by their own fraud than by reason of desert: they linger among the altars in the oaths they make, and shortly afterwards look with disdain on these same altars as if they were dirty stones."
Gildas singled out five kings for particular criticism:
Constantinus (Constantine): "the tyrannical whelp of the unclean lioness of Damnonia [Dumnonia]".
Dumnonia comprised Cornwall, Devon, and possibly parts of Dorset and Somerset.
Aurelius Caninus: "Art thou not swallowed up in the same, if not more destructive, filth, as the man previously mentioned".
Otherwise unknown.
Vortipor (Gwrthefyr): "tyrant of the Demetae".
The tribal area of the Demetae, in south-west Wales, became the kingdom of Dyfed.
Cuneglassus: "thou bear, rider of many, and driver of a chariot belonging to a bear's den, despiser of God and contemner of His decree".
Cuneglassus is usually equated with Cinglas, who appears in the genealogy of the Rhos (north Wales) dynasty as great-grandson of Cunedda Wledig.
Maglocunus (Maelgwn): "the island dragon ... thou last in my writing, first in wickedness".
Maelgwn was king of Gwynedd, in north-west Wales.
The clergy also feel the sharp edge of Gildas' pen, in a tirade which begins:
"Priests Britain has, but foolish ones; a great number of ministers, but shameless; clergy, but crafty plunderers; pastors, so to say, but wolves ready for the slaughter of souls, certainly not providing what is of benefit for the people, but seeking the filling of their own belly."
Bede:
"To other crimes beyond description, which their own historian, Gildas, mournfully relates, they added this - that they never preached the faith to the Saxons, or English, who dwelt amongst them. Nevertheless, the goodness of God did not forsake his people, whom he foreknew, but sent to the aforesaid nation much more worthy heralds of the truth, to bring it to the faith."