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Constantine (; ) was an early 6th century king of Dumnonia
Dumnonia

Dumnonia was a Brythonic kingdom of sub-Roman Britain, located in the West Country of modern England and covering Devon, most of Somerset and possibly part of Dorset, its eastern boundary being uncertain....
 in south-western
West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region....
 Britain
Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
, sometimes identified with a saint
Saint

A saint in Christianity is a human being who has been called to holiness. The term is used differently by various denominations, with some, such as the Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans distinguishing between Saints and saints....
 of the same name.

All that is known for certain about Constantine comes from the writings of Gildas
Gildas

Saint Gildas was a 6th century Britons cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christianity church in the British Isles during the 6th century....
, who calls him "the tyrannical whelp of the unclean lioness of Damnonia". Damnonia is assumed to be a reference to the south-west, rather than a similarly named kingdom
Damnonii

The Damnonii were a people of the early second century who lived in what is now southern Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's Geographia , and there is no other historical record of them....
 which may have emerged in what is now Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. Gildas rebukes Constantine for having "put away" his wife in order to commit numerous adulteries.






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Constantine (; ) was an early 6th century king of Dumnonia
Dumnonia

Dumnonia was a Brythonic kingdom of sub-Roman Britain, located in the West Country of modern England and covering Devon, most of Somerset and possibly part of Dorset, its eastern boundary being uncertain....
 in south-western
West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region....
 Britain
Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
, sometimes identified with a saint
Saint

A saint in Christianity is a human being who has been called to holiness. The term is used differently by various denominations, with some, such as the Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans distinguishing between Saints and saints....
 of the same name.

All that is known for certain about Constantine comes from the writings of Gildas
Gildas

Saint Gildas was a 6th century Britons cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christianity church in the British Isles during the 6th century....
, who calls him "the tyrannical whelp of the unclean lioness of Damnonia". Damnonia is assumed to be a reference to the south-west, rather than a similarly named kingdom
Damnonii

The Damnonii were a people of the early second century who lived in what is now southern Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's Geographia , and there is no other historical record of them....
 which may have emerged in what is now Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
. Gildas rebukes Constantine for having "put away" his wife in order to commit numerous adulteries. Furthermore, after swearing to make peace with his enemies, he disguised himself as an abbot
Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery....
, entered the church where two youths had sought sanctuary
Sanctuary

Sanctuary has multiple meanings. A sanctuary is the consecrated area of a church or temple around its church tabernacle or altar. An animal sanctuary is a place where animals live and are protected....
 and murdered them on the steps of the altar. Sir Constantine
Constantine III of Britain

Constantine III was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Cador, Duke of Cornwall, a relative of King Arthur....
, also called Constantine III of Britain, King Arthur
King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary Britons leader who, according to medieval histories and Romance , led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century....
's successor, may be based on this king. He first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth was a clergyman and one of the major figures in the English historians in the Middle Ages and the popularity of tales of King Arthur....
's 12th century pseudo-history Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae

The Historia Regum Britanniae is a pseudohistory account of Great Britain history, written c.1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the List of legendary kings of Britain in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Troy of Homer's Iliad founding the Brython nation and conti...
, where he murders the sons of Mordred
Sons of Mordred

The two sons of Sir Mordred appear in Arthurian legend as early as Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, though they are usually not named....
 in a similar fashion.

See also

  • Cornovii (Cornish)
    Cornovii (Cornish)

    The Cornovii were a Celtic tribe who inhabited the far South West peninsula of Great Britain, during the Iron Age, Roman Britain and sub-Roman Britain periods and gave their name to Cornwall or Kernow....
  • Constantine (British saint)
    Constantine (British saint)

    Saint Constantine is the name of one or many British or Picts saint....


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