Then Arthur Fought
THE MATTER OF BRITAIN
378 – 634 A . D .
Howard M. Wiseman
Then Arthur Fought is a possible history centred on a possibly historical figure: Arthur, battle-leader of the dark-age (5th6th century) Britons against the invading Anglo-Saxons. Written in the style of a medieval chronicle, its events span more
than 250 years, and most of Western Europe, all the while respecting known history. Drawing upon hundreds of ancient and
medieval texts, Howard Wiseman mixes in his own inventions
to forge a unique conception of Arthur and his times. Carefully annotated, Then Arthur Fought will appeal to anyone interested in dark-age history and legends, or in new frameworks
for Arthurian fiction. 422 pages, including Dramatis Personae,
genealogies, notes, bibliography, and 20 maps.
——
Then Arthur Fought is an extraordinary achievement. ...
An absorbing introduction to the history and legends
of the period [and] ... a fascinating synthesis.
—
from the Foreword
by Patrick McCormack,
author of the Albion trilogy.
——
A long and lavishly detailed fictional fantasia on the
kind of primary source we will never have for the Age
of Arthur. ... soaringly intelligent and, most unlikely of
all, hugely entertaining. It is a stunning achievement,
enthusiastically recommended.
— Editor’s Choice review
by Steve Donoghue,
Indie Reviews Editor,
Historical Novel Society.
.
Published by the author
via Lulu Press, www.lulu.com
(Raleigh, N. Carolina, U.S.A.)
.
c 2015, 2016 Howard M. Wiseman.
All rights reserved.
.
ISBN 978-1-326-41192-3 (colour; paperback & pdf)
ISBN 978-1-326-41193-0 (b & w; paperback & pdf)
.
www.lulu.com/spotlight/Vortimer
.
.
1st edition: September 2015.
2nd edition: October 2015 (minor rectifications and improvements).
3rd edition: March 2016 (minor rectifications and significant improvements).
Contents
List of Figures
x
Foreword, by Patrick McCormack
xi
Preface, by the author
xv
Introduction: history, literature, and this book
xix
Dramatis Personae
xxxi
Genealogies
I
xxxix
Gemitus Britannorum
1
Prologue: The Decline of Roman Britain
3
1
The Fall of Roman Britain (378–418)
11
2
Saint Germanus and Catellus (418–447)
31
3
Hengest and Vortigern (447–456)
49
4
Vortimer the High-King (456–472)
67
5
Ambrosius the Guletic (472–481)
85
6
Uther the Pendreic (481–501)
101
vii
viii
CONTENTS
II Arthur, Dux Bellorum
115
7
The Rise of Arthur (501–517)
117
8
The Triumph of Arthur (517–523)
133
9
Arthur’s Gallic Expedition (523–531)
149
10 Arthur’s Gallic War (531–535)
167
11 The Clash of Empires (535–539)
193
12 The Fall of Arthur (539–542)
207
III
Excidio et Conquestu
223
13 Arthur’s Successors (542–550)
225
14 Saxons and Franks Advance (550–577)
243
15 British Resistance Stiffens (577–593)
261
16 Æthelfrith, Scourge of God (593–617)
277
17 Cadwallon, the last Great King (617–634)
299
Epilogue: Lament for the Lost Lands
317
Notes
II
List of Sources
XIII
Valediction: the rest is history
XXV
Bibliography of modern works
Brief Descriptions
XXXVII
L
Foreword, by Patrick McCormack
Then Arthur Fought is an extraordinary achievement.
Back in 1997, in the Note to my first Arthurian novel The Last Companion, I said that I didn’t believe one could ‘construct the kind of
narrative history for the fifth and sixth centuries that one can expect
for the fifteenth or sixteenth.’ I still think that, but I also believe that
Howard Wiseman has come as close as anyone could, creating what
he calls a ‘quasihistory (a work with the appearance of a history, and
not actually falsifiable)’, a work that is certainly a narrative and quite
possibly a history.
To the best of my knowledge nothing quite like this has been attempted before. Then Arthur Fought is a chronicle history of subRoman Britain, from the time of Magnus Maximus, when Britain was
still part of the Roman Empire, down to the death of Cadwallon of
Gwynedd 250 years later.
It is to just 40 years in the middle, however, that the title refers. It is
taken from the famous passage in the early ninth century History of the
Britons attributed to Nennius: ‘Then Arthur fought against them [the
Saxons] in those days with the Kings of the Britons, but he himself was
leader of battles.’ And indeed the legendary Arthur lies at the heart as
well as the middle of the book.
It begins in the traditional style with a description of the Island,
then progresses quickly in Part I to the fall of Roman Britain and the
arrival of the Saxons. This forms the background to the story of Arthur
in Part II, while Part III deals with Arthur’s successors and the ruin
and conquest of Britain as the balance of power passes irrevocably
into the hands of the Anglo-Saxons.
xi
xii
FOREWORD, BY PATRICK MCCORMACK
Thus, if you prefer something closer to an historical novel, you
may choose to go directly to Part II, which is entitled Arthur, BattleLeader. But don’t be surprised if you find yourself drawn back into
reading Part I, and also forward into Part III.
[. . . snip . . . ]Wiseman treats his sources with the utmost respect.
He has meticulously researched his subject, drawing upon a vast
range of material — more than 200 ancient and medieval texts,
besides numerous modern works — and woven from them a coherent
narrative. As he says in his Introduction, there may well be ‘tension
remaining with the primary sources, or other relevant information.
. . . But in my view the historical uncertainties for the relevant times
and places give enough elasticity for my work to be a possible history.’
[. . . snip . . . ]
Our knowledge here is so uncertain that any interpretation and any
dates are tentative at best. But that is not the point. Wiseman does not
claim that in Then Arthur Fought he is giving us the one true version of
events, or even the most likely. The only claim he makes is that he is
giving us the most felicitous version while respecting the sources.
For the general reader Howard Wiseman has produced an absorbing introduction to the history and legends of the period; for
the historian a fascinating synthesis and ‘a possible history’; for the
novelist a quarry of ideas. But whatever our interests we can commit
ourselves to enjoying Then Arthur Fought knowing we are in safe
historical hands.
—
Patrick McCormack,
Devon, UK, 2015.
138
CHAPTER 8. THE TRIUMPH OF ARTHUR (517–523)
dered his army south into the lands of the East Saxons.[Arc]
AFTER Badon, none of the English, neither Angle nor Saxon
nor Jute, dared to attack the Britons. The Saxons and West Jutes
had fared worst, for they had contributed most to the campaign,
and their lands were the most vulnerable to reconquest by the
Britons.[Arc] But many hundreds of Britons had fallen at Badon,
[Lay] and the Britons lacked the will to drive the English from
their settlements. So an agreement was reached between the
Britons and the English, to partition Britain between them,[Gil]
under which all of the rulers of the English payed homage to
Arthur.[WoL]
The largest of the English Kingdoms was that of the Angles,
under Cnebba. They were content with their status in Britain for
they were strong enough to be treated almost as equals by the
Britons. And Arthur rewarded them for holding to their treaty,
rather than joining with the Saxons and Jutes, by letting them
keep those parts of the East Saxon lands that they had occupied, around CambridgehC| and Ipswich.hI|[Arc] [ASC] 6 The men of
Kent were also content for they were too distant and too numerous to be subdued by the Britons. They were ruled by Octha, whom Arthur released from prison when he promised to
recognize Arthur as his Overlord.[GoM] But the other Kingdoms
lost their independence. Thus it was that, not long afterwards,
Procopius, the famous historian of the Romans, observed that
Britain was inhabited by three very populous nations, each having one King over it: the Angles, the Frisians, and the Britons.
[Pro] (For the Frisians and the Jutes were often equated, for reasons that have been related already.)
The Saxons and the West Jutes were obliged to support British
garrisons in forts on their lands, to make sure they could not
rebel. Some of these forts had been built by Ambrosius AureThus I explain the anomaly that [Arc] (cemeteries) unites these areas with
the Saxon cultural zone to the south, but when their political status is first
recorded ([ASC] entries for the late 6th C), they belong to Anglian Kingdoms.
6
139
lianus during his war with the English, and Arthur decreed that
all of them, old and new, should be known as the forts of Ambros, since it had been his dream to recover all of Britain from
the English. And the name of Ambros is still attached to many
of these places today, including Amesbury in the lands of the
West Jutes, Ambrosden in the lands of the Gewissae, Amberden
in the remaining lands of the East Saxons, and Amberstone, Amberly and Ambersham in the lands of the South Saxons.[Top] The
highest ranking Englishmen in these reconquered lands were
not permitted to use the title King, only that of Ealdorman. The
rule of the South Saxons was divided amongst a few Ealdormen,
[ASC]
but the rule of Cerdic’s folk was given to his younger son,
Creoda, in the year 519.[Hig][ASC]7
ONE
Saxon leader, however, was allowed to call himself
King: Osfa of the East Saxons. Such was his charm that he
had become a great friend to Arthur while being held captive.
The Britons could not pronounce his name easily, so they called
him Osla and gave him the epithet ‘Gyllellfawr’ (‘Big-knife’).
[Map][DoR][CaO] He earned this because, like all Saxon warriors, he
carried a seax, the long war-knife after which their tribe was
named,[CK] and because, alone amongst the Saxon Ealdormen, he
claimed descent from Seaxnet, the Saxon’s tribal god.[SG] And,
alone amongst the English Counties, Essex still uses the seax,
three-fold, on its coat of arms.[CK] Arthur allowed Osfa to call
himself King because Osfa had taken to addressing Arthur as
Cæser of the Welsh; that is, Emperor of the Romans.[Map]
From his time in Arthur’s court, Osfa even gained a promise
of marriage to a daughter of Arthur,[Map] Archfedl by name.[ByS]
[WT] [CaO] 8
The wedding was to be held in Camulodunum (now
7 [Hig] says that Arthur gave Wessex to Cerdic in 519. Back-dating Creoda’s
accession to Cerdic’s death (518) would give the 16-year reign in the [ASC].
8 The Welsh recorded only one daughter of Arthur, in a late entry in [ByS]:
Archfedl, married to a certain ILawfrodedl Farchog. This name is completely
unlike that of Osfa, but in earlier [WT], ILawfrodedl Farfog (presumably the
same individual, appearing also in Arthur’s court in [CaO]), owns one of the
140
CHAPTER 8. THE TRIUMPH OF ARTHUR (517–523)
Colchester), called CamulodhC| for short,[AR] the principal city of
Osfa’s much reduced Kingdom.[Map] Arthur travelled east to Camulod with a hundred of his finest soldiers,[Lay] and his closest
friends and relatives. The latter included: his sons ILacheu and
Amyr;[CaO] [MB] his half-nephew Gualwain[WoM] (the son of Leud
and Arthur’s half-sister Gwyar);[ByB] and of course his daughter
Archfedl.[CaO] [Map]
The bridal party stopped in London,hL| to see the dilapidated
but still impressive Roman capital, and to reassure the citizens.
But the men of London were horrified that Arthur planned to
give his daughter to a pagan Saxon, for it would legitimate the
East Saxons’ Kingdom, which, they felt, threatened their existence.[TIB] And they said that he owed his victory over the Saxons at Badon to the defence that London gave to the realm, as
the home of the ashes of Vortimer, Blessed by Saint Germanus.
For Vortimer’s devoted followers had made a likeness in clay of
his head, with his ashes contained therein,[ByB][TIB] and placed it,
facing towards the barbarian lands, in a shrine on the White Hill
in London, where the Tower of London now stands.[TIB]
So Arthur addressed the citizens, saying that the Saxons held
land only at his pleasure, and that his strength was all the protection they needed. But the people cast shame upon him for
his hubris, crying out that the head of Vortimer the Blessed was
the true protector of the realm. At this Arthur was mightily annoyed, and ordered his soldiers to drive away the people. Then
he himself went to the shrine of Vortimer the Blessed, removed
the head, and smashed it on the ground. And this act, done for
the sake of a marriage between a Briton and a Saxon, would,
by some Britons, be blamed for what befell their lands after
Arthur’s death.[TIB]9
Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain: a knife which was big enough to
serve the meat of twenty-four feasting men. Compare this with the knife of
Osla in [CaO], which was so big that an army could cross a river on it!
9 Here I am conflating two of the three “unfortunate disclosures” in [TIB]:
that of the head of Bran the Blessed by Arthur, out of envy (much as described
141
Arthur and his retinue left London,[Lay] and arrived in Camulod not long after, where the wedding took place as planned, to
the pleasure of the Emperor and the King.[Map] Afterwards at the
wedding feast,[WoM] tall tales were told by the guests, Britons and
Saxons both.[Lay] Then Arthur’s nephew Gualwain, who had a
golden tongue,[TIB] but who was too young to have many deeds
of his own, began to boast of the adventures of his father Leud
as if they were his own: How he had, at age fifteen, been sent by
the Emperor in Rome to fight the Persians in the East. And how,
on the way there, he alone had slain thirteen Vandal pirates in
combat on an island, before fighting and beheading the mighty
pirate King himself.[OW]
Now another of the wedding guests was a young nobleman
of the Vandals, who went by the name of Witga. From love
of adventure, he was travelling the whale roads of the world,
one of which had taken him to the court of King Osfa. This
Witga, who had even been in the Holy Land,[Map]10 was fuming
at the untruths in Gualwain’s tale. Now, as Gualwain began to
tell how he had defeated the Persian Emperor’s champion in a
duel for Jerusalem lasting three days,[OW] Witga rose to his feet
and declared him to be a liar and a coward. Immediately Gualwain sought to defend his honour in deeds,[GoM] but Osfa’s men
rushed to protect Witga, while the Britons were not slow to support Gualwain. If it had not been that the guests were required
to leave their weapons outside the hall in the market place of
Camulod, there would have been a blood-bath. Even so, several
guests were sorely hurt,[Map][Lay] including Gualwain, who was
accidentally struck on the head by one of his fellow citizens.[WoM]
Hearing this commotion, the hundred British soldiers who
had accompanied Arthur[Lay] were alarmed, thinking that there
was a plot to kill him. They tried to enter the hall to rescue him
here); and that of the bones of Vortimer the Blessed, for the sake of a marriage
between a Briton and a Saxon (Vortigern and Ronwen in [TIB]).
10 This Witga, known in Middle English as Wade, Latinized by [Map] as
Gado, is a pan-Germanic folk-hero, but [Map] makes him a Vandal Prince.
142
CHAPTER 8. THE TRIUMPH OF ARTHUR (517–523)
and his party. But Osfa’s nephew Swanna barred the entrance,
while Osfa’s soldiers outside, who far outnumbered the Britons,
surrounded them in the market place. There a battle broke out,
and many were slaughtered on both sides[Map] before Osfa and
Arthur could restore order inside the hall and in Camulod.[Lay]
[AR]
Then the Britons, disgusted with the bad manners of the Saxons, returned home with their dead.[Map] Arthur allowed Osfa to
remain as ruler of the East Saxons, but henceforth only as Ealdorman, although his son Æscwine, Arthur’s grandson, would
eventually restore the Kingship.[SG][RoW][Map]
EVERY British King, as far as the Wall, also recognized Arthur
as his Overlord at this time. And, as befitted this status, Arthur
acted as arbiter in the disputes between them. In Siluria, the
succession had been in dispute since the last King, Cauruit, had
died at Badon, leaving only a young daughter.[GoM][TIB] Arthur
chose his own cousin Caradoc to be King, as he had grown up
in Siluria. He was the son of Iaen, who had, like Merchiaun,
served with his elder brother Uther. Caradoc was amongst the
bravest of Arthur’s horsemen. He was known as Caradoc ‘Vreichvras’ (‘Strong-arm’), and his steed at Badon had been named
Luagor, which meant host-splitter. A tall and well-spoken man,
he was one of Arthur’s wizards.[VTa][DoR][VP][TIB][CaO] He was also a
close friend to Cado, King of Dumnonia, and had married his
sister Tegau.[AR][TIB]
In Dobunnia, which bordered upon Siluria, the King had also
died, so Arthur installed Caradoc to be regent there until Urbgen, the heir, came of age. Now Cado, also Arthur’s cousin,
had been hoping for the regency of this rich Kingdom, as a reward for his role as the leader of the infantry in Arthur’s greatest
victories against the English, at the river Bassas and at Badon.
But Tegau showed her loyalty to her husband by convincing her
brother Cado not to dispute this prize with Caradoc.[AR][TIB][WT]
[HM] 11
[GoM]
Cado did not go unrewarded, however: Arthur con11
In the [AR] of c.1160, the Lai du Cor, Caradoc wins Cirencester in a contest,
143
nected him to the House of Ambrosius, and to himself, by giving him Budicca, daughter of Nathan and Anna, as a wife. This
was Cado’s second marriage, for his first wife, the mother of his
son Meuric, had died.[GoM]
In York,hY| Gurgust map Ceneu had died, and had named
Eleuther, his youngest son, as his heir. But Eleuther’s halfbrothers, Merchiaun and Masguic, disputed the inheritance. So
Arthur was able to impose his will upon these descendants of
Coel, dividing his realm amongst the three royal brothers. West
of the Pennines, the Carvetii below the Wall, and the Brigantes
below them, had long sought independence from York. Arthur
ruled that they should have their own Kingdom, and the new
land was called Rheged. Its first King was Merchiaun ‘Gul’
(‘the Lean’). The Elmetici in the south, between the Wharfe and
the Trent, also wished for independence. Arthur ruled they too
should have their own Kingdom, and Masguic became the first
King of Elmet. But the greatest part of Gurgust’s Kingdom remained with his favourite son, Eleuther. Arthur allowed him to
keep the title Duke of Britain, and also bestowed upon him the
title King of York.[GoM][WG][WT][PsE][Top]9th
Now word spread through the rest of the island of Albion
that no country was able to withstand Arthur. So the two Kings
in the old province of Valentia came voluntarily, and made their
submission to Arthur, and promised to pay tribute.[GoM] The first
was Cau, the Pictish King of Galloway.[Car][VG][Lif][AR] The second
was Dumnagual map Cinuit map Coroticus of Alclud.[WG]12 As
due to the (sexual) fidelity of his wife, for which she is famous in [TIB]. In
late [WT] he is made Earl of Hereford, Lord of Radnor, and Earl of the lands
between the Wye and the Severn. In [HM] a certain Caradoc is succeeded
in his Kingdom by the unrelated King Urien. Urbgennius — this is an early
form of the name Urien — is Consul of Bath at a later point in [GoM]’s story.
All of these places are in Dobunnia (as I have interpreted it).
12 The two Kings [GoM] has spontaneously submitting to Arthur are Doldavius, King of Gothland, and Gunfasius, King of Orkney. In Chap. 9 I
have Leud replacing Cau as King of Galloway, but in [AR] he (Lot) is King
of Orkney. This suggests replacing Gunfasius by Cau, a Pictish ruler south
144
CHAPTER 8. THE TRIUMPH OF ARTHUR (517–523)
the young King of Alclud, nearly forty years before, Dumnagual
map Cinuit had conquered the Kingdom of the Votadini from
Cyngar and Bran, the warring sons of Dumnagual ‘Moilmut’
map Garbaniaun. Dumnagual map Cinuit was now an old man,
so he was known as Dumnagual ‘Hen’. During his long reign
he became famous for the peace and justice he brought to his
realm, and for enforcing the Church’s right of offering sanctuary.[WG][GoM] He had appointed his younger brother Cunomor to
lead the army against foreign invaders,[TIB] while he as Law-giver
protected his people against the violent thieves and murderers
amongst them.[GoM] He died not long after this, and his two sons
partitioned his Kingdom, with Cinbelin becoming King of the
Votadini, and Clinoch becoming King of Alclud.[WG]13
AROUND this time, men of Scandinavia were moved to pillage
and plunder overseas in a way that that would not be seen again
until Viking times, almost three hundred years later.
Hygelac, King of the Geats, who lived in what is now southern Sweden, invaded the very north of Gaul, laying waste the
land and capturing some of the inhabitants, who were called
Hetwares. This territory, called Hettergouw,hH| belonged to
Theuderic, King of the Franks. When Theuderic heard what was
happening he sent his son Theudebert with a large and wellequipped force. Hygelac was killed and his fleet was beaten at
sea by the Frisians, who were subject to Theuderic, so that the
Franks recovered what had been stolen from them. Accompanying Hygelac on this expedition was Beowulf, his sister’s son,
of the highlands, from [Lif], who first appeared (as Caunus) in [VG]. Dumnagual from [WG] is the obvious replacement for Doldavius.
13 The two Dumnaguals here, and all their relations, are from [WG]. [GoM]
stole the name of D. Moilmut for his pre-Roman King of the Britons, Dunvallo Molmutius. This fictional Dunvallo had two warring sons, Brennius
and Belinus; one has a name similar to Bran map D. Moilmut, but the other
similar to Cinbelin map D. Hen. Thus it seems likely that [GoM] conflated the
two Dumnaguals. In any case, I have used the length and nature of the reign
of [GoM]’s fictional King for D. Hen, but his warring sons for D. Moilmut.
145
who had already won fame as a warrior in the service of Hrothgar, Great King of the Danes. Now he bested Daghraven, the
Frankish champion who had killed Hygelac, and then escaped
by swimming back to one of the Geatish boats. And Beowulf
would later gain even greater renown as a warrior-King in Geatland, as will be related.[GoT] [Beo] [LHF]
Now this expedition from Geatland had sailed, both ways,
around the north of Jutland, where there ruled a Danish King,
Riculf. Inspired by Hygelac’s raid, Riculf launched his own, not
on Francia, but on the realm of the Angles in Albion. Unlike
Hygelac, he made it back to his Kingdom with much booty and
many slaves. But one of his men, named Hrodulf, was left behind and was captured by the Angles. He asked to be taken
before the King of the Angles, saying that, despite appearances,
he too was a King.[Gai] [GoM] [Gai] 14
Cnebba sat on a high seat in his great hall with arched gables,
while Hrodulf was brought before him. He hailed Cnebba as a
King of great courage, a generous ring-giver, famed amongst all
nations,[Beo] and then explained how he came to be stood there.
He had let himself be captured because he was an enemy of
Riculf. He was the nephew and rightful heir of Sighelm, the previous King. But Riculf had seized the throne on the old King’s
death. And Hrodulf promised Cnebba that he would guide a
fleet over the German sea to Riculf’s Kingdom, and would there
raise a warband in support of it, so that the Angles could make
good all their losses to Riculf and more besides. In return, Hrodulf asked only that Cnebba place him on Riculf’s throne, so that
his Danish Kingdom would be forever loyal to Cnebba.[GoM] [Gai]
[GoM] has Riculf, King of Norway, as the victim of British aggression,
being replaced by Lot, but [ByB] says ILew became King of Denmark also.
[Gai] has a very similar tale about Gunter, King of Denmark, being replaced
by Hodulf. Gunter’s son Havelok eventually finds revenge by conquering
East Anglia and Lindsey from their British ruler (after Arthur’s death). I
have conflated these stories, and linked the events more closely together by
making Riculf a raider of these areas in Britain.
14
146
CHAPTER 8. THE TRIUMPH OF ARTHUR (517–523)
So Cnebba went to Arthur, his Overlord, to seek approval
for an expedition to the Danish Kingdom. Arthur not only approved it; he added to Cnebba’s force a small army of Britons
under his nephew Gualwain, to test his mettle.[ByB][Nen] [OW] 15 Thus
it was not long before a fleet of fifteen keels,[Lay] containing five
hundred English men-at-arms and fifty British cavalrymen,[HtD]
landed in Denmark with Hrodulf. True to his word, Hrodulf
raised a rebellion, and the allies defeated and slew Riculf in battle. The Angles took back all the booty and slaves that had been
taken from them, and Hrodulf became King, swearing fealty to
Arthur. He promised never to raid Albion again, and Gualwain
took twelve hostages to keep him honest, including Hrodulf’s
brother Askil.[Gai][GoM][CaO]16 [. . . snip . . . ]
[ByB] seems to imply that Gwalchmai was in Scandinavia prior to
Arthur’s arrival. The battle list of [Nen] suggests no victories for Arthur
there. [OW] has Arthur test Walwan’s mettle in battle against northern barbarians (albeit Picts rather than Danes). For these reasons I have made Gualwain, rather than Arthur, the leader of the British expedition to Denmark.
16 [Gai] names the brother of Hodulf as Aschis, which comes from [GoM],
where Aschillius is called the King of Denmark. [CaO] says Arthur took
12 hostages from Norway. [HtD] gives a retinue of 5000 men-at-arms and
50 knights to a Dane, come from England to reclaim the throne, albeit one
named Havelok (see Chap. 13), rather than Hrodulf.
15
Map 10: Western Europe on Arthur’s return to Britain, in 526
hPrevious Map| |Next Mapi
From north to south: ?Caledonian Wood; ?Arthur’s Stone; ?Hettergouw; ?Soissons;
?Bayeux; ?Rheims; ?Paris; ?Troyes; ?Rennes; ?Orléans; ?Tours; ?Nantes; ?Bourges;
?Poitiers; ?Clermont; ?Vézeronce; ?Ernaginum; River Durance; ?Rimini; ?Arles; part
of Clothar’s realm; ?Beziers; ?Narbonne; ?Barcelona; ?Syracuse.
148
Chapter 9
Arthur’s Gallic Expedition
WORD of the achievements of Arthur and his generals in Al-
bion and Denmark had meanwhile reached the attentive ears of
Theoderic the Ostrogoth, who still dominated the former Western Empire from his court in Ravenna.[GoM] For Theoderic was
worried on many fronts, because of the failure of the alliances he
had forged by giving away his female relatives. First, the Vandal
King Thrasamund died in 523 and was succeeded by his cousin
Hilderic who rejected the Arian heresy in favour of the Orthodox faith, and Gothic influence in favour of Imperial patronage.
Thrasamund’s widow, Theoderic’s sister Amalafrida, tried to
restore both, but she was imprisoned, and her Gothic soldiers
massacred. Second, Theoderic’s son-in-law and nominated heir,
Eutharic, had died in 522, so that the Visigoths once again proclaimed Amalaric as their King. But, even though Amalaric
had long since come of age, Theoderic again insisted on ruling
as regent for his grandson, still hoping that he could pass the
Gothic Kingdoms to a single heir.[CK] And finally, around this
time, another grandson, Sigeric, was murdered by his own father, Sigismund, King of the Burgundians. This was because
Sigismund, another convert to Orthodoxy, suspected Sigeric of
colluding with Theoderic to overthrow him and join Burgundia
to the Gothic Empire.[GoT]
149
150
CHAPTER 9. ARTHUR’S GALLIC EXPEDITION (523–531)
Thus, being keen to attract new allies, Theoderic instructed
Liberius to begin negotiations with Arthur.[GoM] [LM] 1 This Liberius
was a Roman, appointed by Theoderic as Prefect of the Gauls
in 511. He governed from Arles,hA| once capital of all Gaul,
though Liberius’s authority extended only to Provence.[CK] And
so Liberius sent an embassy to Arthur, inviting him to Arles,
with flattery such as this: that the sophistication of his court
was renowned even in the remotest countries; that noblemen in
Gaul imitated the fashion in which Arthur’s warriors wore their
clothes and arms; and that the fame of his valour had become
a terror to Kings all around, who grievously feared the loss of
their dominions, if he should make any attempt upon them.[GoM]
All of Britain had been peaceful and stable now for twelve
months,[GoM] and Arthur had finally had time to think of marriage.[RoW] He had taken to wife a young maiden named Guenhuvar,[CaO] the daughter of Cauruit, the late King of Siluria.[TIB]
On her father’s death, she had been fostered by Arthur’s cousin
Cado in the Dumnonian court. It was said that none was fairer
than she in all the land of Britain,[GoM] and that flowers sprang
back unbruised where she trod.[CaO] But shortly after, when he
was delivered of Liberius’s message, Arthur so desired to meet
this noble man, and to make his mark in Europe, that he sailed
immediately for Armorica. And he left Guenhuvar behind,[GoM]
for he half-hoped that Theoderic would offer him some granddaughter of his as a bride more fitting of his repute.[TS] 2
Arthur took with him some of his most trusted companions:[CaO] his eldest son ILacheu,[DGG][PG] the image of his father
as a young man,[TIB] his half-nephew Gualwain,[CaO] who had
[GoM] has Arthur summoned to Rome in c.540 by Lucius Tiberius,
who is variously described as general, procurator, and Emperor. In some
manuscripts of [GoM], and in [LM], he is called Lucius (H)iberius, which,
abbreviated to L. Iberius, suggests Liberius. In this chapter, the material I use
from [GoM] is mostly the conquest of Gaul by Arthur in the 530s, but the
request from, and encounter with, Liberius comes from later (540–1).
2 [TS] has Thidrek (Theoderic) send to Arthur for a daughter to marry.
1
151
proved himself a fearless warrior in Denmark,[ByB] [TIB] his interpreter Gwrhyr, his map-reader Cyndlelig,[CaO] and, last but not
least, his wizard Menio, now an old man.[CaO][DoR]3 But his trusted
cousin, Caradoc ‘Strong-arm’, he left behind as chief minister to
the young King Modraut.[DoR] [TIB]
AT
THIS time, Armorica was still divided, between Budic’s realm in the western peninsula and the greater part under his half-brother Maxent.[CLQ] These Britons were secure in
their power because of their friendship with the Frankish King
Childebert, who was Budic’s cousin and who ruled the Kingdom to their east.[GoT][Pro] Around this time, these Franks first
recorded their history, and in this they claimed to be the brothers
to three other peoples: the Alamanni (who had been conquered
by Clovis), the Romans (who had made Clovis Patrician), and
the Britons (who had become Clovis’s closest allies). Such was
the status of the Britons amongst the Franks at this time.[CA] [Nen]
But Childebert ruled only one part of the Frankish realm, for
on Clovis’s death, in the year 511, his Kingdom had been divided between his four sons, as was described in an earlier chapter. Theuderic, his son by a Frankish concubine, took the largest
portion with his capital at Rheims.hR| The three younger sons,
by his Burgundian wife Clotild, who had induced him to embrace the Christian church, took the remainder. Clothar took the
north with his capital at Soissons,hS| Childebert the west with
his capital at Paris,hP| and Chlodomer the south with his capital
at Orléans.hO| The last of Clovis’s conquests — the land south
of the Loire which he had taken from the Visigoths — was divided amongst all four, with Theuderic again having the largest
With the addition of Cai and Bedwyr (who join the party later in my tale),
these are Arthur’s champions for the mission against the giant Ysbadladen in
[CaO], except that I have substituted Arthur for his cousin Culhwch and included Arthur’s son ILacheu (for reasons which will become apparent). [TIB]
calls ILacheu well-endowed, which I have interpreted as describing his resemblance to his father. (I have done likewise for Rhiwallon map Urien and
Gualwain map Gwyar, with the latter taking after his mother Gwyar.)
3
152
CHAPTER 9. ARTHUR’S GALLIC EXPEDITION (523–531)
portion, including Arvernia, and Clothar the smallest.hC|[CK]
East of these lands in the south was Burgundia, which
the Franks invaded in 523, defeating King Sigismund and his
brother Gundomar. They were encouraged in this by Theoderic,
to punish Sigismund for having murdered his son Sigeric,
Theoderic’s grandson. Theoderic had agreed to partition the
country with the Franks, and had sent one of his generals to
occupy the southern part of Burgundia, north of the river DurancehD| as far as the river Isère.[GoT] [Pro] [CL] Sigismund was captured by the Franks, and later killed, but Gundomar fled to the
south.[GoT] There he offered to submit to Theoderic in return for
military aid. Unlike his brother, Gundomar was a fellow Arian
to Theoderic, who therefore accepted his submission.[CK] Then,
with the support of the Ostrogoths, he recovered the northern
part of his Kingdom from the Franks.[GoT]
In 524 Chlodomer and Theuderic therefore invaded Burgundia again, and Gundomar and his army again withdrew southwards. In June of that year, in a battle at VézeroncehV| near Lyon,
Gundomar’s men drew Chlodomer into a trap and killed him.
Gundomar’s forces were still outnumbered, so he continued to
retreat southward, pursued by the Franks. But the Franks failed
to force another battle, and eventually they withdrew. Thus
Gundomar returned to power again.[GoT] [CK] Several years later,
when Amalasuntha, daughter of Theoderic, was Queen regent
in Italy, she returned the area Theoderic had annexed to Gundomar, in return for his pledges of continued loyalty.[ODR][Jor][CL]
MEANWHILE, when word arrived in Paris that Chlodomer
had been killed, his mother Clotild announced that she would
be regent for Chlodomer’s sons, who were mere boys, until they
came of age.[GoT] At these news, Maxent’s thoughts turned immediately to recovering the territory along the Loire that his father Daniel had held before the war with Clovis. And Childebert encouraged him in this ambition, because he too had designs on Chlodomer’s Kingdom. He could not be seen to attack
153
his mother, but he figured that if Chlodomer’s troops failed in
their resistance to Maxent then he could step in to take control.
So Maxent advanced in force along the Loire, accompanied by
Arthur and his companions, drawn to the excitement of a new
campaign. Childebert had agreed he would not intervene until
after the Britons had taken Tours,hT| so they promptly besieged
this city.[GoM] [GoT] 10th
Tours lay in a flat and narrow space between two rivers: the
Loire; and the lesser Cher to the south, which flows into the
Loire not far downstream. It was on these sandy shores that a
fierce battle was fought between the Britons and an army sent by
Clotild to raise the siege. This army, two thousand strong, was
drawn from the other cities in Chlodomer’s domains, for most
of his army was still with Theuderic, pursuing Gundomar in
Burgundia. Though the Britons outnumbered the Franks, their
King Maxent was mortally wounded early in the battle. But his
men did not falter in the struggle, as they were spurred on by
his famous captains, Bedvyr and Caius.[Wac][Nen] [PG] [GoM] 4
Bedvyr map Petroc only had the use of one hand, but was
nevertheless renowned for his ability to kill, with spear, sword,
and shield.[TIB][CaO][PG] He was considered almost as handsome
as Arthur, and never shrank from any enterprise with Caius.
Caius map Itellius was a huge man,[CaO][GoM][ByB]5 who would
[CaO]
[Wac], unlike [GoM], narrates a battle between Arthur and the French, in
which 2000 of the latter were slain due to Arthur’s superior numbers. [Nen]
gives the strand named Tribruit as the place of Arthur’s 10th victory. Its
location is unknown, so I have used it for this battle in Gaul because the
poem [PG] records the presence at this battle of Bedwyr and Cai, who only
ever appear in Gaul in [GoM]. This poem also suggests a location for Tribruit
across the sea, as it has the Celtic God of the sea, Manawydan map ILyr, bring
back a shattered shield from Tribruit. I have put Maxent’s death here to pave
the way for Bedvyr and Caius to gain the territories they do in [GoM].
5 Although [CaO] has Cai map Cynyr, [Bro78] suggested this is, more or
less, a pun, meaning Path son of Way. I have therefore preferred the Kei son
of Ithel from [ByB], even though this patronymic appears only once. I have
chosen the Latinate Caius from [GoM] because of his cousin (below).
4
154
CHAPTER 9. ARTHUR’S GALLIC EXPEDITION (523–531)
drink like four men, and fight like ten. Since his childhood he
had been known as being stubborn in nature, and seeming cold
at heart, but his comrades knew that when they needed it, his
warmth could light a fire. Together with Arthur, these heroes
repelled the Franks with much slaughter.[TIB][CaO][PG][Wac] ILacheu,
excelling all others in bravery, sought battle with a giant Frank,
who roared out a challenge in his own name, which was Adalgar. The fearless attack by Arthur’s son succeeded in wounding the Frank, but he repaid ILacheu by a sword blow which
all but removed his head from his shoulders. Then Caius, who
had been fighting next to ILacheu, killed the injured giant.[DGG][TIB]
[CaO][Per][PG] And, though he died on that foreign battlefield, with
ravens screeching over gore, ILacheu’s deeds that day would
live on in song in his homeland.[DGG][PG]
After a month, with food becoming scarce, the Frankish commander of Tours, named Frodulf, feared that the citizens would
betray the city to the Britons. Therefore he made a proposal that
he, and the leader of the Britons, should fight in single combat,
and that the County of Touraine would go to the victor, but that
the army of the vanquished would leave in peace. Now Arthur
insisted that he should be the one to fight Frodulf, to avenge the
death of his son. And so he and Frodulf fought, fully armed and
mounted, on an island in the Loire near Tours, so that their two
armies could look on but not intervene.[GoM]
As they charged towards each other, Arthur cast his spear
at Frodulf, who caught it on his shield. But there it stuck fast
so that Frodulf had to abandon this protection. Frodulf aimed
at Arthur with his lance, but Arthur knocked it aside with his
own shield, and at the same time swung at Frodulf with his
sword Caliburn. Frodulf dodged the blow, which caused him
to come off his horse. But Frodulf got bravely to his feet and
when Arthur charged at him he stuck Arthur’s horse with his
lance. Arthur and his horse tumbled to the ground. The watching Britons feared that he had been killed, but Arthur hastily
got to his feet. Filled with anger, he closed with Frodulf with
155
his shield held high, and they exchanged mighty sword strokes
between them. And with his sword Frodulf struck Arthur upon
the forehead, which would have proved mortal, had he not been
wearing his helmet. It sent Arthur staggering, and drew much
blood, which flowed down his face and onto his chain mail and
shield.[GoM] Observing from afar, Menio was aghast, and whispered a charm of fortitude for Arthur.[WoR] Thinking his opponent
near finished, Frodulf let down his guard. But Arthur brought
Caliburn down with utmost strength upon the crown of Frodulf’s head, cleaving his helmet and making a terrible gash in
his head. And there did Frodulf fall, scoring the turf with his
heels till death took him.[GoM]
After this contest, the Frankish garrison left Touraine to the
Britons, as they had agreed. There the Britons were welcomed
by the townspeople,[GoM] who were mainly Romans, and by the
Bishop Ommatius. From then on, the Franks ceased to have
any say in the election of the Bishops of Tours, who were the
Metropolitan Bishops for the whole region, including Armorica, for many years.[GoT] Meanwhile, the remains of Chlodomer’s
army, twenty-five hundred strong, had returned from Burgundia. They strengthened the garrisons that had remained behind, so the Britons did not try to advance beyond Touraine,
and Childebert had no excuse to try to wrest his dead brother’s
Kingdom from the Queen Clotild.[GoT] [Lay] 6
Clothar threatened to join his army with those who now
served Clotild, and to march against the Britons to retake Tours.
But Budic, accompanied by his young son Howel, arrived with
an army fifteen hundred strong, so that Clothar was forced to
back down.7 And, since Maxent had died without leaving a son,
[Lay] says that Frolle (my Frodulf) was expecting 25,000 reinforcements.
[GoM] has Hoel, son of Budic, march against Guitard, commander of the
Poitavians (that is the men from Poitou), and force him to surrender. Poitou
had been in the realm of Chlodomer, and later (when it was divided amongst
his brothers) it came into the possession of Clothar. This, and the vague similarity between the names Guitard and Clothar, inspired me to identify the
6
7
156
CHAPTER 9. ARTHUR’S GALLIC EXPEDITION (523–531)
Budic claimed his brother’s Kingdom.[GoM]
ARTHUR spent seven weeks in Tours,
[AR] recuperating from
his head wound. During this time, he overheard Caius comment that his slaying of Adalgar in battle had been cleaner than
Arthur’s killing of Frodulf. At this, Arthur became furious,
railing that Caius had only managed to slay the giant because
ILacheu had mortally wounded him, that Caius had deliberately
held back and allowed ILacheu to be beheaded in order to claim
the glory of killing Adalgar himself, and that Caius should leave
his presence and never return. But when he recovered his sanity
he understood that Caius had meant no offence, and retracted
what he had said against him.[CaO] [Per] 8
Then he and his companions continued their journey to meet
with Liberius, joined by Caius and Bedvyr. For one of Budic’s
first acts upon taking over his brother’s Kingdom had been to
dismiss these captains from his service, and replace them with
his own men, lest they raise a rebellion against his rule in eastern
Armorica. And Arthur was more than happy to take their oaths
of allegiance instead. Budic sent his young son Howel along
with Arthur as well, to give him some experience of the world.
Because they could not travel in peace through Chlodomer’s former lands, they travelled west to Nantes,hN| and then south via
the sea, to southern Aquitaine. Here was the borderland between the realms of the Franks and those of the Basques, an ancient nation who had won their independence from the Visigoths after the latter lost Aquitaine to the Franks. From there,
two here, and at later points also. When Hoel first appears in [GoM] he brings
an army of 15,000 from Brittany to aid Arthur.
8 This, together with later incidents, is meant to suggest that, as a result
of his battles, in particular that with Frodulf, Arthur suffered from brain injuries, affecting his judgement. [CaO] has Cai kill a giant Dillus, only to have
Arthur belittle the deed. In the unusual Romance of [Per], Cai is banished after murdering Arthur’s son Lohot (a name the Welsh equated with ILacheu),
in order to claim credit for Lohot’s deed of slaying the giant Logrin. I have
chosen a Frankish name (Adalgar) with sounds from both giants’ names.
157
Arthur and is companions travelled east to Septimania, the part
of Gaul where the Visigoths still ruled.[GoM] [CaO] [WoL] 9
When they were in this province, the party of Britons climbed
to the top of a high hill, to see the lie of the land and to let their
horses rest for a while. There, as they were playing dice, they
spied a tired horse approaching, bearing a young gentleman and
a young maiden clad in silk raiment. As they dismounted, at the
steepest part of the hill, the maiden smiled sweetly at them, and,
as she smoothed her dress, revealed a beautifully formed body.
Arthur was immediately inflamed with lust for her, whereof
he told his companions, and suggested that they capture the
girl. But Caius and Bedvyr dissuaded him from any such crime,
telling him that they should rather aid the couple, since they
were obviously of good breeding and seemed distressed. Reluctantly, Arthur agreed, so Bedvyr and Caius went with palms
raised to the man and asked him his name and the cause of their
distress. And the man told them the following story, the truth
whereof they both swore by the name of the holy martyr Agnes,
the Patron Saint of engaged couples:[Lif][Nen] 10
His name was Gundilevus, and he was a Visigoth by birth.
The maiden was his betrothed, Deuteria, who was the daughter of a Senator named Ferreolus, from the city of NarbonnehN|
in Septimania. But the Senator did not approve of her marrying a barbarian, however Roman he was in aspect and manner.
So they had eloped, and were bound for his family’s lands. But
Ferreolus had uncovered the plot in no long time, and had sent
thirty of his household guards to recapture her. Gundilevus
pointed out these guards, approaching rapidly on horseback,
and begged for protection against them.[Lif][GoT] [CK] 11
9 [GoM] has Howel, after defeating Guitard, conquer Gascony (southern
Aquitaine). [WoL] has Arthur “achieving numerous glorious victories in
parts of both Britain and Gaul”. This chapter contains two victories for
Arthur in different parts of Gaul: Tours (above) and Septimania (below).
10 The reference to Saint Agnes (who is also, ironically, the Patron Saint of
rape victims) is inspired by Arthur’s 11th battle in [Nen], on mount Agned.
11 [Lif] tells of the elopement of Gundleus and Gladys, daughter of Prince
158
CHAPTER 9. ARTHUR’S GALLIC EXPEDITION (523–531)
Bedvyr, moved by this speech, and by the tears that welled
from Deuteria’s dark eyes and rolled down her rounded cheeks,
endeavoured with kind words to assuage her grief and to comfort her with the promise of speedy help.[GoM] 12 He and Caius
then returned to Arthur, and related what they had been told.
Being likewise moved by the lovers’ tale, and their appeal to
Saint Agnes, Arthur decided they should help Gundilevus and
Deuteria on their way. Albeit greatly outnumbered by Ferreolus’s men, the Britons were formidably armed and mighty warriors. So they rushed against the enemies of Gundilevus, who
turned their backs and fled in great confusion to their native soil.
[Lif] And Arthur, regretting his previous behaviour, commanded
a stone shrine to Saint Agnes be erected on top of the hill, from
which it became known.[GoM] [Nen] Thus Gundilevus safely reached
his own residence near Beziers,hB| where he and Deuteria were
married. And more will be said of them in a later chapter.[Lif][GoT]
[. . . snip . . . ]
Brychan, in south Wales (Wallia). I have relocated it in south Gaul (Gallia),
and changed the names respectively to Gundilevus, Deuteria (who comes
from the history of [GoT]), and Ferreolus (who was indeed a Senator of Narbonne and might have been her father). The thirty guards chasing the couple
are based on the 300-strong army in [Lif], and constitute a plausible size for
a personal guard of a rich Senatorial family of that time and place.
12 This tender moment was inspired by Bedver’s tragic encounter with Helena’s nurse in [GoM], and below I have also adapted Arthur’s building of a
mountain-top chapel to the martyred Helena.
List of Sources
[Nb]
In the text, a two-, or three-letter code (e.g. Nb) is used for all sources,
indicated as a small [Nb]. A crude indication of how the source is
used is given by the vertical placement of the reference, thus:
Text.[Nb] = quote from or paraphrase of [Nb];
Text.[Nb] = more loosely based upon [Nb];
Text.[Nb] = fiction inspired by [Nb].
On each of the following pages, the sources are organized, alphabetically by code, within one the following categories:
• Administrative Documents, Laws, Letters etc.
• Anonymous Annals, Chronicles, Genealogies etc.
• Contemporary Poems
• Histories and Pseudohistories (pre-Norman)
• Histories and Pseudohistories (Norman to Tudor)
• Medieval Folk-Tales and Legends
• Romances, Other Sources, and Vague Attributions
• Saints’ Lives (Brittonic)
• Saints’ Lives (Other)
XIII
XIV
LIST OF SOURCES
ADMINISTRATIVE DOCUMENTS, LAWS, LETTERS ETC.
[Æs] c.930, King Æthelstan: Laws
[Æb] c.603, King Æthelbert: Laws
[Amb] 388, Ambrosius of Milan: Letter (XL) to Theodosius
[Avi] 499–518, Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus: Letters
[CCW] ?13th C, Cantrefs and Commotes of Wales
[CL] 503–37, Cassiodorus: Letters
[Fas] c.410, Fastidius(?): Letter to a widow
[Hyw] c.950, King Hywel IDa: Laws
[Ine] 694, King Ine of Wessex: Laws
[LC] c.600–1125, ILandaff Charters
[LoG] c.560, Gildas: Letters
[LRB] c.500, King Gundobad: Lex Romana Burgundionum
[LS] c.510, King Clovis: Lex Salica
[LJ1] c.537, King Theudebert: 1st Letter to Justinian
[LJ2] c.540, King Theudebert: 2nd Letter to Justinian
[LtA] 598, Pope Gregory: Letter to the Patriarch of Alexandria
[LtC] c.455, Saint Patric: Letter to Coroticus
[LtD] c.470, Apollinaris Sidonius: Letter to Domnicius
[LtE] c.474, Apollinaris Sidonius: Letter to Ecdicius
[LtL] c.476, Apollinaris Sidonius: Letter to Lampridius
[LtN] c.480, Apollinaris Sidonius: Letter to Namatius
[LtR] c.470, Apollinaris Sidonius: Letter to Riotimus
[LTT] 596, Pope Gregory: Letter to Theuderic and Theudebert
[LtV] c.469, Apollinaris Sidonius: Letter to Vincentius
[ND] c.420, Notitia Dignitatum
[Par] c.580, Suebian Kingdom: Parochiale
[Pat] c.450, Saint Patric: Confessio
[PSV] c.571, Gildas: Penetentials of the Synod of Victory
[SB] c.410, The Sicilian Briton: On Riches
[SFA] c.660, Senchus Fer n Alban
[Sid] 456–484, Apollinaris Sidonius: Letters (other than those specified)
[TH] ?680, Tribal Hidage
LIST OF SOURCES
ANONYMOUS ANNALS, CHRONICLES, GENEALOGIES ETC.
[AF]
[AH]
[AI]
[AG]
[ASC]
[AW]
[BW]
[BC]
[BG]
[BGG]
[BoB]
[BTe]
[ByS]
[CA]
[CCA]
[CLQ]
[CSB]
[CSM]
[CVJ]
[CZ]
[ED]
[GC1]
[GC2]
[GSW]
[GVP]
[LHF]
[LV]
[PC]
[SC]
[SG]
[WG]
c.860, Annals of Fulda
c.625, Additamenta ad Chronicon Prosperi Hauniensis
?6th C–, Annals of Ireland
c.770, Anglian Genealogies
891, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
?796–954, ‘A-text’ of the Annals of Wales
?13th C, ‘B-text’ of the Annals of Wales
c.850, Bern Codex
?11th C, Breton Genealogies
⇠1200, Bonedly y Gwyr Gogledl
c.1605, Book of Baglan
1125, Braint Teilo (in the Book of ILandaff)
13th–17th C, Bonedl y Sant
c.830, Codex Augiensis
c.1145, Liber de Compositione Castri Ambaziae
⇠1200, Cartularies of Landévennec and Quimper
⇠1400, Chronicle of Saint Brieuc
⇠1110, Chronicle of Saint Michael’s Mount
c.1212, Chronology from Vortigern to King John
c.570, Chronicle of Zaragoza (Caesar-Augusta)
8th C, The Expulsion of the Déisi
c.455 Gallic Chronicle of 455
c.511 Gallic Chronicle of 511
?11th C, Genealogy of St. Winnoc
c.840, Gloss on the Vespasian Psalter
727, Liber Historiae Francorum
8th C, Liber Vitae, Lindisfarne
c.980, Pictish Chronicle
1165, Scottish Chronicle
9th C, Saxon Genealogies
11th–15th C, Welsh Genealogies
XV
XVI
LIST OF SOURCES
CONTEMPORARY POEMS
[Aus]
[AP]
[BAL]
[BGY]
[CG]
[CS]
[Luc]
[DSC]
[DSU]
[FCH]
[Fer]
[GW]
[MC]
[MEI]
[MO]
[Nam]
[Nei]
[PSC]
[PtM]
[Que]
[THC]
[SfU]
[TR]
[UoY]
7 For
c.390, Ausonius: De quodam Silvio Bono qui erat Brito
c.930, Armes Prydein
c.580–, Taliesin:7 The Battle of Argoed ILwyfain
c.580–, Taliesin: The Battle of Gwen Ystrad
c.570–, Taliesin: Cadau Gwallawc
400, Claudian: The Consulship of Stilicho
65, Lucan: De Bello Civili.
?660–, The Death Song of Cadwallon, King of Britain.
c.600–, ILywarch ‘Hen’: The Death Song of Urein.
398, Claudian: The Fourth Consulship of Honorius
c.633–, Afan Ferdlig: Praise Song to Cadwallon
405, Claudian: The Gothic Wars
c.655–, Marwnad Cyndlylan
?660, The Martial Eulogy for Saint Iudicael
c.590–, Taliesin: Marwnad Owein
419, Rutilius Namatianus: On His Return
c.598–, Neirin: Y Gododlin
c.546–, Taliesin: Praise Song to Cynan
458, Apollinaris Sidonius: Panegyric to Majorianus
c.420, Querolus
c.580–, Taliesin: Tidings Have Come . . .
c.580–, Taliesin: Song for Urien
⇠725, The Ruin
c.580–, Taliesin: Urien of Yrechwydl
this, and many of the other Brittonic poems here, I am adopting the so-called
“authenticist” position [Koc13a], assuming a contemporary original, but with open
ended time frames (e.g. 580–) to indicate that the poems continued to evolve in transmission for centuries after the death of the original poet.
LIST OF SOURCES
XVII
HISTORIES AND PSEUDOHISTORIES (PRE-NORMAN)
[Alc]
[Æw]
[Aga]
[AM]
[Bed]
[Can]
[Cas]
[CM]
[CN]
[Coe]
[Erm]
[Fre]
[CgG]
[Gil]
[GoT]
[Hyd]
[IoS]
[Jor]
[Mar]
[MoA]
[Nen]
[ODR]
[Oly]
[Oro]
[Pli]
[PoA]
[Pro]
[Reg]
[SH]
[Soz]
[Tac]
[Zos]
c.800, Alcuin: The Bishops, Kings, and Saints of York
975, Æthelwerd: Chronicle
c.580, Agathias: The Histories
c.391, Ammianus Marcellinus: The Deeds of the Divine Emperors
730, Bede: The Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation
c.491, Candidus: [History epitomized by Photius]
519, Cassiodorus: Chronicle
c.720, Bede: Chronica Majora
c.828, Computus added to [Nen]
c.1060, Gilla Coemghin: Lebor Bretnach (Irish version of [Nen])
851, Ermold the Black: Chronicle
641, Fredegar: Chronicle
c.700, Canterbury gloss on Gildas (see [Woo02])
c.547, Gildas: On the Ruin of Britain
c.592, Gregory of Tours: History of the Franks
468, Hydatius: Chronicle
625, Isodore of Seville: History of the Kings of the Goths
c.555, Jordanes: The Origins and Deeds of the Goths
534, Marcellinus Comes: Chronicle
581, Marius of Avenches: Chronicle
c.796, Nennius(?): The History of Britain
c.552, Jordanes: The Origins and Deeds of the Romans
c.425, Olympiodorus: Fragments
418, Paulus Orosius: History Against the Pagans
77, Pliny the Elder: Natural History
433, Prosper of Aquitaine: Chronicle
c.550, Procopius: History of the Wars
889, Regino of Prüm: Chronicle
c.550, Procopius: The Secret History
c.442, Sozomen: Ecclesiastical History
c.98, Tacitus: Germania
c.510, Zosimus: New History
XVIII
LIST OF SOURCES
HISTORIES AND PSEUDOHISTORIES (NORMAN TO TUDOR)
[AGE] c.1130, William of Malmesbury: De Antiquitate Glastonie Ecclesie
[AIA] 1544, John Leland: Assertio Inclytissimi Arturii
[AKS] 1140, Richard of Hexham: The Acts of King Stephen, 1135 to 1139
[Boe] 1527, Hector Boece: History of the Scottish People
[ByB] 13th–14th C, Brut y Brenhinedl†
[CB] 1572, Humphrey ILwyd: Commentarioli Britannicae
[JoF] c.1360, John of Fordun: Chronicle of the Scottish People
[Gai] c.1140, Geffrei Gaimar: History of the English
[GN] 11th–13th C, Glosses on [Nen]
[GoM] c.1137, Geoffrey of Monmouth: History of the Kings of Britain
[GoW] 1193, Gerald of Wales: A Book on the Instruction of Princes
[Gru] 1552, Elis Gruffydd: Chronicle of the Six Ages
[Hig] c.1343, Ranulf Higden: Polychronicon
[HoH] 1129, Henry of Huntingdon: History of England
[JoG] 1342, John of Glastonbury: Chronicle of Glastonbury Abbey
[JoW] c.1140, John of Worcester: Chronicon ex chronicis
[JdP] Jean des Preis: Ly Myreur des Histors (1399)
[Lay] c.1200, Layamon: Brut
[Lel] 1540, John Leland: Itinerary
[ILwy] 1559, Humphrey ILwyd: Cronica Walliae
[LM] 1150, Geoffrey of Monmouth: Life of Merlin
[LtW] 1139, Henry of Huntingdon: Letter to Warinus (epitomizing [GoM])
[RM] 1338, Robert Mannyng: Chronicle
[RoC] c.1220, Ralph of Coggeshall: English Chronicle
[RoH] 1202, Roger of Hoveden: Annals
[RoW] 1235, Roger of Wendover: Flowers of History
[SE] 1216, Gerald of Wales: Speculum Ecclesiae
[TCN] 13th C, Table of Contents added to [Nen]
[Wac] 1155, Wace: Geste des Bretons
[WoM] 1125, William of Malmesbury: Deeds of the English Kings
[WoR] c.1240, William of Rennes: Deeds of the Kings of Britain
† The range of dates here refer to the various recensions; the one I used most was the
last composed, though it was long known erroneously as the “Chronicle of Tysilio”.
LIST OF SOURCES
MEDIEVAL FOLK-TALES AND LEGENDS
[Beo] 8th C, Beowulf
[CaO] ⇠1100, The Mabinogion: Culhwch and Olwen
[CH] ⇠800, Canu Heledl
[DAE] c.1140, Dialogue of Arthur and the Eagle
[DGG] ⇠1000, Dialogue of Gwydlno Garanhir and Gwyn ap Nudl
[DMG] ⇠1200, The Dialogue of Melwas and Gwenhyfar
[DMT] ⇠1100, Dialogue of Myrdlin and Taliesin
[DoM] ⇠1200, The Mabinogion: The Dream of Maxen Guletic
[DoR] ⇠1300, The Mabinogion: The Dream of Rhonanbwy
[EC] ⇠900 Elegy for Cunedda
[EG] ⇠900 Elegy for Gereint
[FBF] ⇠800, The Finn’s Burgh Fragment
[GSE] ⇠1225, The Mabinogion: Gereint, son of Erbin
[HtD] c.1300, Havelok the Dane
[KT] ⇠1000, Book of Taliesin: Kadeir Teyrnon
[LdH] c.1170, Lai d’Havelok
[LK] c.1480, Lailoken and Kentigern
[ILH] ⇠800, Laments of ILywarch ‘Hen’
[ILIL] ⇠1200, The Mabinogion: ILud and ILevelys
[LoF] ⇠1200, The Mabinogion: The Lady of the Fountain
[MB] ⇠950, Mirabilia Britanniae (attached to Nennius’s History)
[MR] ⇠1000, Marwnad Rhun
[MU] ⇠1000, Marwnad Uther Pendreic
[PG] ⇠1000, Pa Gur yv y Porthaur?
[PsE] ⇠1250, The Mabinogion: Peredur son of Evrauc
[PV] ⇠1450, Peiryan Vaban
[SoG] ⇠900, Stanzas of the Grave
[TIB] 11th–15th C, The Triads of the Island of Britain
[TS] ⇠1250, Thidreks-Saga
[YA] ⇠1200, Yr Afallennau
XIX
XX
LIST OF SOURCES
ROMANCES, OTHER SOURCES, AND VAGUE ATTRIBUTIONS
[AR]
[Arc]
[BT]
[Cam]
[CK]
[Cor]
[CT]
[DO]
[Epi]
[ET]
[FaB]
[FT]
[Gen]
[HM]
[IM]
[IT]
[IVR]
[Map]
[Ger]
[OW]
[Per]
[Phi]
[PoE]
[Spe]
[STI]
[Top]
[UT]
[WT]
[YT]
Arthurian Romances other than specified (chiefly 13th C)
Archaeology
Breton Traditions
William Camden: Britannia (1607)
Common Knowledge
Cormac mac Cullinan: Glossary (⇠900)
Cornish Traditions
Consular Diptych of Orestes (530)
Epigraphy (inscriptions on monuments, coins etc.)
English Traditions
The Romance of Floris and Blancheflor (c.1160).
Frisian Traditions
Genetic Studies
Historia Meriadoci (c.1170)
Iolo Morganwg (1747–1826): The Iolo Manuscripts
Irish Traditions
The Illustrated Vergilius Romanus (perhaps of 5th C British origin)
Sir Walter Map: De Nugis Curialium (c.1200)
Gervase of Tilbury: Otia imperialia (c.1211)
De Ortu Walwanii, Nepotis Arturi (c.1175)
Perlesvaus (c.1200)
Philology (language evolution)
King Cyngen map Cadell: Pillar of Eliset (c.850)
Henry Spelman: Concilia etc. in re ecclesiarum orbis britannici (1636)
Saga af Tristram ok Ísodd (⇠1400)
Toponymy (place names)
Ur-Tristan (reconstructed, c.1150)
Welsh Traditions
Ystoria Taliesin (c.1550)
LIST OF SOURCES
SAINTS’ LIVES (BRITTONIC)
[Car] c.1140, Caradoc of ILancarfan: Life of St. Gildas
[HDM] c.1500, Historia Divae Monacellae (Life of St. Melangell)
[Joc] c.1180, Jocelyn of Furness: Life of St. Kentigern
[Lif] c.1080 Lifricus of Llancarfan: Life of St. Cadoc
[Mau] c.1600 Maurice of Cleder: Life of St. Kenan
[Mui] ?675, Muirchu: Life of St. Patrick
[Ric] c.1090, Ricemarchus, Life of St. David
[TCM] c.800, Table of Contents added to Muirchu’s Life of St. Patrick
[VBe] 12th C, Life of St. Beuno
[VBr] 12th C, Life of St. Brynach
[VC] c.1125, Life of St. Carantoc
[VD] c.1125, Life of St. Dubricius
[VG] ?9th C, Monastery of Rhuys: Life of St. Gildas
[VI]
c.1125, Life of St. Illtud
[VK] c.1150, (Fragmentary) Life of St. Kentigern
[VLe] ?12th C, Life of St. Leonorius
[VMa] ?12th C, Life of St. Maedoc
[VMn] 7th C, Life of St. Melanius
[VMr] 11th C, Life of St. Melar
[VO] 12th C, Life of St. Oudoceus
[VP] 12th C, Life of St. Padarn
[VPe] 14th C, Life of St. Petroc
[VS] ?8th C, Life of St. Samson
[VTa] 12th C, Life of St. Tatheus
[VTe] 12th C, Life of St. Teilo
[WoL] ?1019 (or c.1200), William of Léon: Legenda Sancti Goeznovii
[Wrm] 884 Wrmonoc: Life of St. Paul Aurelian of Léon
[Wur] 9th C, Wurdisten: Life of St. Winwaloe
XXI
XXII
LIST OF SOURCES
SAINTS’ LIVES (OTHER)
[Ado] c.690, Adomnan of Iona: Life of St. Columba
[AT] ?9th C, Additamenta to Tı́rechán’s Memoir of St. Patrick
[Con] c.485, Constantius of Lyon: Life of St. Germanus of Auxerre
[Fel] c.730, Felix: Life of St. Guthlac
[GBM] c.592, Gregory of Tours: The Glory of Blessed Martyrs
[GPA] c.875, Gesta Pontificum of Auxerre
[Hin] c.876, Hincmar: Life of St. Remigius
[Leo] c.645, Leontius: Life of St. John the Almsgiver
[RoD] c.1165, Reginald of Durham: Life of St. Oswald
[VCA] c.545, Life of St. Caesarius of Arles
[VCu] 721, Bede: Life of St. Cuthbert
[VDR] c.800, Life of St. Dalmas of Rodez
[VE] c.800, Life of St. Eptadius of Autun
[VF] ?9th C, Codex Salmanticensis: Life of St. Finnian of Clonard
[VLu] ?6th C, Life of St. Lupus of Troyes
[VW] c.712, Life of St. Wilfrid