List of legendary kings of Britain
Encyclopedia
The following list of legendary kings of Britain derives predominantly from Geoffrey of Monmouth
's circa 1136 work Historia Regum Britanniae
("the History of the Kings of Britain"). Geoffrey constructed a largely fictional history for the Britons (ancestors of the Welsh
, the Cornish
and the Bretons
), partly based on the work of earlier medieval historians like Gildas
, Nennius
and Bede
, partly from Welsh genealogies and saints' lives, partly from sources now lost and unidentifiable, and partly from his own imagination (see bibliography). Several of his kings are based on genuine historical figures, but appear in unhistorical narratives. A number of Middle Welsh
versions of Geoffrey's Historia exist. All post-date Geoffrey's text, but may give us some insight into any native traditions Geoffrey may have drawn on.
Geoffrey's narrative begins with the exiled Trojan
prince Brutus
, after whom Britain is supposedly named, a tradition previously recorded in less elaborate form in the 9th century Historia Brittonum. Brutus is a descendant of Aeneas
, the legendary Trojan ancestor of the founders of Rome
, and his story is evidently related to Roman foundation legends.
The kings before Brutus come from a document purporting to trace the travels of Noah and his offspring in Europe, and once attributed to the Chaldean historian Berossus
, but now considered to have been a fabrication by the 15th-century Italian monk Annio da Viterbo, who first published it. Renaissance historians like John Bale
and Raphael Holinshed
took the list of kings of "Celtica" given by pseudo-Berossus and made them into kings of Britain as well as Gaul. John Milton
records these traditions in his History of Britain, although he gives them little credence.
, son of Noah
. These he published in his Antiquitatum (1498). Samothes' realm was described as the part of Europe between the Pyrrenees and the Rhine. The first five kings of Celtica or Samothea from Viterbo's fragments were also named as the first kings of Britain after the flood by Raphael Holinshed
in his Holinshed's Chronicles
(1577), with the addition of Albion and Brutus, as follows:
Viterbo's fragments were later however revealed to be forgeries or fabrications, hence his work has become known as pseudo-Berossus. His list of kings, though, was considered to have a small substratum of truth, since several of the kings' names were already known in literature (e.g. Albion and Brutus) before the publication of Antiquitatum (1498) and many chroniclers accepted his Biblical king figures (e.g. Samothes, son of Japheth) as being rooted in some partial truth based on their preference for Mosaic history. Viterbo's king list later appeared in John Bale
's Illustrium majoris Britanniae scriptorum (1548), John Caius
' Historia Cantabrigiensis Academiae (1574), William Harrison
's Description of England (pp. 3–5, 1577), Holinshed's Chronicles
(vol. 2, p. 2, 1587) and Anthony Munday
's A briefe chronicle (p. 467, 1611). By the 17th century however Viterbo's king list was no longer popular amongst chroniclers, antiquarians or historians. John Speed
, William Camden
and Walter Raleigh
(The Historie of the World, pp. 112–15, 1614) were among those that rejected Viterbo's king list. John Milton
in his The History of Britain (p. 3, 1670) briefly refers to Viterbo's king Samothes, but concludes him to be from a counterfeit or untrustworthy source. A more detailed description and chronology of Viterbo's (pseudo-Berossus') kings can be found just below.
(vol. 2, p. 1, 1587) for example notes that Britain was never occupied before the deluge and cites Polydore Vergil
, amongst other notable authorities. Viterbo was no exception in claiming that Samothes was the first post-flood settler and first king of Celtica. According to Viterbo, Samothes arrived in Celtica 143 years after the flood, while 200 years is found cited in Milton's The History of Britain (p. 3, 1670). Other early chroniclers refer to 310 years, as reported by George William Lemon
who compiled many of these sources. Aylett Sammes according to Lemon in his Britannia Antiqua Illustrata (1676) dated the arrival of Samothes in Britain to 2068 BC. Viterbo, John Bale
and William Harrison all agreed that the "Samothean dynasty ruled for 335 years". In his Illustrium majoris Britanniae scriptorum (1548) Bale wrote that the reign of the Samotheans (including all kings before Albion) ended in 1736 BC, so adding 335 years = 2071 BC for Samothes arriving in Britain and the start of the Samothean dynasty. Bales' figure (2071 BC) is very close to Sammes' (2068 BC) and Anthony Munday
in his A briefe chronicle (pp. 467–469, 1611) calcuated a similar figure (2075 BC).
Viterbo first claimed that Samothes was a son of Japheth, the son of Noah. Later chroniclers (such as Raphael Holinshed
) identified Samothes as Meshech
, a descendant of Japheth (Genesis 10: 2). Viterbo, John Bale and Raphael Holinshed all wrote that Samothes gave his name first to Britain as - Samothea, the first inhabitants were therefore the Samotheans. Some Renaissance legends later attempted to link the Samotheans to having their origin in Samothrace
.
. John Bale
attempted to connect him to placenames in Britain with the suffix magus (e.g. Noviomagus Reginorum
).
Aylett Sammes claimed Saron was the founder of a cult of priests called the Saronites.
is not mentioned in Viterbo's Antiquitatum (1498), but in other sources he is stated to have been a descendant of Neptune
. He is described as being a giant who invaded the Samothean dynasty, who overthrows the Samothean king Bardus, but is slain by Hercules
. John Bale dated Albion's overthrow of Bardus to 1736 BC. The legend of Albion the giant appears in far earlier literature, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth
(1136), and is the oldest recorded known name of the island of Great Britain.
, who appears in earlier literature (Wace
, Geoffrey of Monmouth
and Layamon's Brut).
The Albina myth is also found in some later manuscripts of Wace
's Roman de Brut
(1155) attached as a prologue.
and scots
traced their ancestry. Scota first appeared in literature from the 11th or 12th century and most modern scholars interpret the legends surrounding her to have emerged to rival Geoffrey of Monmouth
's claims that the descendants of Brutus (through Albanactus
) founded Scotland. However some early Irish sources also refer to the Scota legends and not all scholars regard the legends as fabrications or as political constructions. In the Scottish origin myths, Albanactus had little place and Scottish chroniclers (e.g. John of Fordun
and Walter Bower
) claimed that Scota was the eponymous founder of Scotland and the Scots long before Albanactus
, during the time of Moses
.
, Greek, Roman and Irish legends, and recorded history. These are given in the "Synchronisation" column of the table below. Geoffrey dated Brutus' arrival in Britain (and subsequent founding of the Trojan-British monarchy) to 1115 BC.
After the death of Cadwallader, the kings of the Brythons were reduced to such a small domain that they ceased to be kings of the whole Brythonic-speaking area. Two of his relatives, Yvor and Yni, led the exiles back from Brittany
, but were unable to re-establish a united kingship. The Anglo-Saxon
invaders ruled the south-eastern part of the island of Great Britain
, which would become England, after that point in time under the Bretwalda
s and later the kings of England. The heirs to the Celtic-British throne continued through the Welsh
kings of Gwynedd until that line was forced to submit itself to the English
in the 13th century. Princes and lords of Gwynedd ruled until the reign of Dafydd III, who ruled from 1282 to 1283. His death marked the end of the house of Brutus. Owen Tudor
, grandfather of Henry VII of England
, was a maternal descendant of the kings of Gwynedd; Henry's marriage with Elizabeth of York
thus signified the merging of the two royal houses (as well as the feuding houses of York
and Lancaster
).
between 1801 and 1807 published a series of Welsh Triads
he claimed to have discovered in manuscript form, with the help of the antiquarian William Owen Pughe
. These were later revealed to be a mixture of forgeries by Morganwg and Williams' alterations to authentic traids. Exactly how much "authentic" content there is of Morganwg's published work remains disputed by scholars today. Morganwg's traids describe the earliest occupation of Britain (Prydain
) and contain a pseudo-historical reign of king's, beginning with Hu Gadarn
, the "Plough King".
Hu Gadarn is described by Morganwg in his triads as being the earliest inhabitant of Britain having traveled from the "Summerland, called Deffrobani, where Constantinople
now stands" in 1788 BC. He is credited as having founded the first civilization in Britain and introduced agriculture. Morganwg's Barddas (1862, p. 348) further states that king's descended from Gadarn, but that after a huge flood (see Afanc) only two people, Dwyfan and Dwyfach, survived from whom the later inhabitants of Britain descended. The Welsh clergmen Edward Davies included this myth in his Celtic Researches on the Origin, Traditions and Languages of the Ancient Britons (1804):
Several 19th century Christian authors, for example Henry Hoyle Howorth
interpreted this myth to be evidence for the Biblical flood of Noah, yet in Morganwg's chronology Dwyfan and Dwyfach are dated to the 18th or 17th century BC, which does not fit the Biblical estimate for the Noachian deluge.
literature from the 19th century. Revd F. R. A. Glover, M.A., of London in 1861 published England, the Remnant of Judah, and the Israel of Ephraim in which he claimed Tea Tephi was one of Zedekiah
's daughters. Since King Zedekiah of Judah had all his sons killed during the Babylonian Captivity no male successors could continue the throne of King David, but as Glover noted Zedekiah had daughters who escaped death (Jeremiah 43: 6). Glover believed that Tea Tephi was a surviving Judahite princess who had escaped and traveled to Ireland, and who married a local High King of Ireland
in the 6th century BC who subsequently became blood linked to the British Monarchy. This theory was later expanded upon by Rev. A.B. Grimaldi who published in 1877 a successful chart entitled Pedigree of Queen Victoria from the Bible Kings and later by W.M.H. Milner in his booklet The Royal House of Britain an Enduring Dynasty (1902, revised 1909). Charles Fox Parham
also authored an article tracing Queen Victoria's linage back to King David (through Tea Tephi) entitled Queen Victoria: Heir to King David's Royal Throne.
The Tea Tephi British-monarchy link is also found in J. H. Allen
's Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright (1902, p. 251). A central tenet of British Israelism is that the British monarchy is from the Davidic line
and the legend of Tea Tephi from the 19th century attempted to legitimise this claim. Tea Tephi however has never been traced to an extant Irish source before the 19th century and critics assert she was purely a British Israelite invention. A collection of alleged bardic traditions and Irish manuscripts which detail Tea Tephi were published by J. A. Goodchild in 1897 as The Book of Tephi, the work is however considered pseudo-historical or a forgery. There is though a queen called Tea (singular) in Irish mythology who appears in the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland. She is described as the wife of Érimón a Míl Espáine
(Milesian) and dated to 1700 BC (Geoffrey Keating
: 1287 BC). These dates are inconsistent with the British Israelite literature which date Tea Tephi to the 6th century BC, but later British Israelites such as Herman Hoeh (Compendium of World History, 1970) claimed that the Milesian Royal House (including Tea) was from an earlier blood descendant of the Davidic Line who entered Britain around 1000 BC (citing Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh
's reduced chronology). Linked to Glover's original claims of Tea Tephi, are Grimaldi and Milner's theory that Jeremiah
himself in the company of his scribe Baruch ben Neriah
traveled to Ireland with Tea Tephi and that they are found described in Irish folklore and old Irish manuscripts. Some British Israelites identify Baruch ben Neriah with a figure called Simon Berac or Berak in Irish myth, while Jeremiah with Ollom Fotla (or Ollam, Ollamh Fodhla). However like Tea Tephi there has long been controversy about these identifications, mainly because of conflicting or inconsistent dates. In 2001, the British-Israel-World Federation
wrote an article claiming they no longer subscribed to these two identifications, but still strongly stick to the belief that the British monarchy is of Judahite origin. In an earlier publication Covenant Publishing Co. in 1982 admitted that Tea Tephi could not be traced in Irish literature or myth and may have been fabricated by Revd F. R. A. Glover, however they clarified they still believed in the Milesian Royal House Davidic Line bloodline connection (popularised by Hoeh). Herbert Armstrong (1986) also took up this legendary connection. Nonetheless there are still proponents of the Tea-Tephi legend first tracable to Glover.
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
's circa 1136 work Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation...
("the History of the Kings of Britain"). Geoffrey constructed a largely fictional history for the Britons (ancestors of the Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
, the Cornish
Cornish people
The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...
and the Bretons
Breton people
The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...
), partly based on the work of earlier medieval historians like Gildas
Gildas
Gildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...
, Nennius
Nennius
Nennius was a Welsh monk of the 9th century.He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the Historia Brittonum, based on the prologue affixed to that work, This attribution is widely considered a secondary tradition....
and Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
, partly from Welsh genealogies and saints' lives, partly from sources now lost and unidentifiable, and partly from his own imagination (see bibliography). Several of his kings are based on genuine historical figures, but appear in unhistorical narratives. A number of Middle Welsh
Middle Welsh language
Middle Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed from Old Welsh....
versions of Geoffrey's Historia exist. All post-date Geoffrey's text, but may give us some insight into any native traditions Geoffrey may have drawn on.
Geoffrey's narrative begins with the exiled Trojan
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
prince Brutus
Brutus of Troy
Brutus or Brute of Troy is a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Æneas, known in mediæval British legend as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain...
, after whom Britain is supposedly named, a tradition previously recorded in less elaborate form in the 9th century Historia Brittonum. Brutus is a descendant of Aeneas
Aeneas
Aeneas , in Greco-Roman mythology, was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy , which led to the founding a hamlet south of...
, the legendary Trojan ancestor of the founders of Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, and his story is evidently related to Roman foundation legends.
The kings before Brutus come from a document purporting to trace the travels of Noah and his offspring in Europe, and once attributed to the Chaldean historian Berossus
Berossus
Berossus was a Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer, a priest of Bel Marduk and astronomer writing in Greek, who was active at the beginning of the 3rd century BC...
, but now considered to have been a fabrication by the 15th-century Italian monk Annio da Viterbo, who first published it. Renaissance historians like John Bale
John Bale
John Bale was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English , and developed and published a very extensive list of the works of British authors down to his own time, just as the monastic libraries were being...
and Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
took the list of kings of "Celtica" given by pseudo-Berossus and made them into kings of Britain as well as Gaul. John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
records these traditions in his History of Britain, although he gives them little credence.
First kings derived from pseudo-Berossus
Annius of Viterbo in the late 15th century claimed to have found fragments from Berossus detailing the earliest settlement of "Celtica" after the flood by Samothes, a son of JaphethJapheth
Japheth is one of the sons of Noah in the Abrahamic tradition...
, son of Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
. These he published in his Antiquitatum (1498). Samothes' realm was described as the part of Europe between the Pyrrenees and the Rhine. The first five kings of Celtica or Samothea from Viterbo's fragments were also named as the first kings of Britain after the flood by Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
in his Holinshed's Chronicles
Chronicles
Chronicles may refer to:* Books of Chronicles, in the Bible* Chronicle: Medieval historical histories, like those in :Category:Chronicles* Holinshed's Chronicles, the collected works of Raphael Holinshed...
(1577), with the addition of Albion and Brutus, as follows:
- Samothes, also known as DisDis PaterDis Pater, or Dispater was a Roman god of the underworld, later subsumed by Pluto or Hades. Originally a chthonic god of riches, fertile agricultural land, and underground mineral wealth, he was later commonly equated with the Roman deities Pluto and Orcus, becoming an underworld deity.Dis Pater...
: son of JaphethJaphethJapheth is one of the sons of Noah in the Abrahamic tradition...
, son of NoahNoahNoah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
. - Magus, son of Samothes
- Saron, son of Magus
- Druis, son of Saron (founder of the DruidDruidA druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
s) - Bardus, son of Druis (founder of the bardBardIn medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
s) - AlbionAlbionAlbion is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain. Today, it is still sometimes used poetically to refer to the island or England in particular. It is also the basis of the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba...
, son of NeptuneNeptune (mythology)Neptune was the god of water and the sea in Roman mythology and religion. He is analogous with, but not identical to, the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of Jupiter and Pluto, each of them presiding over one of the three realms of the universe,...
, a giant, who overthrows Bardus but slain by HerculesHerculesHercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
. - A long gap of no king, until Brutus of TroyBrutus of TroyBrutus or Brute of Troy is a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Æneas, known in mediæval British legend as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain...
arrives in Britain.
Viterbo's fragments were later however revealed to be forgeries or fabrications, hence his work has become known as pseudo-Berossus. His list of kings, though, was considered to have a small substratum of truth, since several of the kings' names were already known in literature (e.g. Albion and Brutus) before the publication of Antiquitatum (1498) and many chroniclers accepted his Biblical king figures (e.g. Samothes, son of Japheth) as being rooted in some partial truth based on their preference for Mosaic history. Viterbo's king list later appeared in John Bale
John Bale
John Bale was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English , and developed and published a very extensive list of the works of British authors down to his own time, just as the monastic libraries were being...
's Illustrium majoris Britanniae scriptorum (1548), John Caius
John Caius
John Caius , also known as Johannes Caius, was an English physician, and second founder of the present Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.-Early years:...
' Historia Cantabrigiensis Academiae (1574), William Harrison
William Harrison (clergyman)
William Harrison was an English clergyman, whose Description of England was produced as part of the publishing venture of a group of London stationers who produced Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles...
's Description of England (pp. 3–5, 1577), Holinshed's Chronicles
Holinshed's Chronicles
Holinshed's Chronicles, also known as Holinsheds Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, is a collaborative work published in several volumes and two editions, the first in 1577, and the second in 1587....
(vol. 2, p. 2, 1587) and Anthony Munday
Anthony Munday
Anthony Munday was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. The chief interest in Munday for the modern reader lies in his collaboration with Shakespeare and others on the play Sir Thomas More and his writings on Robin Hood.-Biography:He was once thought to have been born in 1553, because...
's A briefe chronicle (p. 467, 1611). By the 17th century however Viterbo's king list was no longer popular amongst chroniclers, antiquarians or historians. John Speed
John Speed
John Speed was an English historian and cartographer.-Life:He was born at Farndon, Cheshire, and went into his father's tailoring business where he worked until he was about 50...
, William Camden
William Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
and Walter Raleigh
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
(The Historie of the World, pp. 112–15, 1614) were among those that rejected Viterbo's king list. John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
in his The History of Britain (p. 3, 1670) briefly refers to Viterbo's king Samothes, but concludes him to be from a counterfeit or untrustworthy source. A more detailed description and chronology of Viterbo's (pseudo-Berossus') kings can be found just below.
Samothes
Early historians on the history of Britain who took the Mosaic or Biblical view of history all agreed that Britain was never inhabited before the flood. Holinshed's ChroniclesHolinshed's Chronicles
Holinshed's Chronicles, also known as Holinsheds Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, is a collaborative work published in several volumes and two editions, the first in 1577, and the second in 1587....
(vol. 2, p. 1, 1587) for example notes that Britain was never occupied before the deluge and cites Polydore Vergil
Polydore Vergil
Polydore Vergil was an Italian historian, otherwise known as PV Castellensis. He is better known as the contemporary historian during the early Tudor dynasty. He was hired by King Henry VIII of England, who wanted to distance himself from his father Henry VII as much as possible, to document...
, amongst other notable authorities. Viterbo was no exception in claiming that Samothes was the first post-flood settler and first king of Celtica. According to Viterbo, Samothes arrived in Celtica 143 years after the flood, while 200 years is found cited in Milton's The History of Britain (p. 3, 1670). Other early chroniclers refer to 310 years, as reported by George William Lemon
George William Lemon
The Reverend George William Lemon was the author of an early etymological dictionary of the English language, published in 1783.Lemon graduated at Queens College, Cambridge in 1748...
who compiled many of these sources. Aylett Sammes according to Lemon in his Britannia Antiqua Illustrata (1676) dated the arrival of Samothes in Britain to 2068 BC. Viterbo, John Bale
John Bale
John Bale was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English , and developed and published a very extensive list of the works of British authors down to his own time, just as the monastic libraries were being...
and William Harrison all agreed that the "Samothean dynasty ruled for 335 years". In his Illustrium majoris Britanniae scriptorum (1548) Bale wrote that the reign of the Samotheans (including all kings before Albion) ended in 1736 BC, so adding 335 years = 2071 BC for Samothes arriving in Britain and the start of the Samothean dynasty. Bales' figure (2071 BC) is very close to Sammes' (2068 BC) and Anthony Munday
Anthony Munday
Anthony Munday was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. The chief interest in Munday for the modern reader lies in his collaboration with Shakespeare and others on the play Sir Thomas More and his writings on Robin Hood.-Biography:He was once thought to have been born in 1553, because...
in his A briefe chronicle (pp. 467–469, 1611) calcuated a similar figure (2075 BC).
Viterbo first claimed that Samothes was a son of Japheth, the son of Noah. Later chroniclers (such as Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
) identified Samothes as Meshech
Meshech
In the Bible, Meshech is named as a son of Japheth in Genesis 10:2 and 1 Chronicles 1:5.Another Meshech is named as a son of Aram in 1 Chronicles 1:17 .-Interpretations:...
, a descendant of Japheth (Genesis 10: 2). Viterbo, John Bale and Raphael Holinshed all wrote that Samothes gave his name first to Britain as - Samothea, the first inhabitants were therefore the Samotheans. Some Renaissance legends later attempted to link the Samotheans to having their origin in Samothrace
Samothrace
Samothrace is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a self-governing municipality within the Evros peripheral unit of Thrace. The island is long and is in size and has a population of 2,723 . Its main industries are fishing and tourism. Resources on the island includes granite and...
.
Magus, Saron, Druis and Bardus
Magus, Saron, Druis and Bardus were all according to Viterbo founders or pioneers, for example Druis of the Druids and Bardus of the Bards. Magus is connected in variant sources to the MagiMagi
Magi is a term, used since at least the 4th century BC, to denote a follower of Zoroaster, or rather, a follower of what the Hellenistic world associated Zoroaster with, which...
. John Bale
John Bale
John Bale was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English , and developed and published a very extensive list of the works of British authors down to his own time, just as the monastic libraries were being...
attempted to connect him to placenames in Britain with the suffix magus (e.g. Noviomagus Reginorum
Noviomagus Reginorum
Noviomagus Reginorum was the Roman town which is today called Chichester, situated in the modern English county of West Sussex. Alternative versions of the name include Noviomagus Regnorum, Regnentium and Regentium..-Development:...
).
Aylett Sammes claimed Saron was the founder of a cult of priests called the Saronites.
Albion
AlbionAlbion
Albion is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain. Today, it is still sometimes used poetically to refer to the island or England in particular. It is also the basis of the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba...
is not mentioned in Viterbo's Antiquitatum (1498), but in other sources he is stated to have been a descendant of Neptune
Neptune (mythology)
Neptune was the god of water and the sea in Roman mythology and religion. He is analogous with, but not identical to, the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of Jupiter and Pluto, each of them presiding over one of the three realms of the universe,...
. He is described as being a giant who invaded the Samothean dynasty, who overthrows the Samothean king Bardus, but is slain by Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
. John Bale dated Albion's overthrow of Bardus to 1736 BC. The legend of Albion the giant appears in far earlier literature, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
(1136), and is the oldest recorded known name of the island of Great Britain.
Brutus
Another king of Holinshed's list known from earlier sources is Brutus of TroyBrutus of Troy
Brutus or Brute of Troy is a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Æneas, known in mediæval British legend as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain...
, who appears in earlier literature (Wace
Wace
Wace was a Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy , ending his career as Canon of Bayeux.-Life:...
, Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
and Layamon's Brut).
Additional kings of Celtica in Pseudo-Berossus
Annio's list of kings of Celtica in Pseudo-Berossus continues with an altogether different line following Bardus I. This separate line of kings allegedly continued to rule the Celtic peoples on the continent, if not in Britain. The complete list in Annio is as follows:- Samothes or Dis
- Magus
- Sarronius
- Druiyus
- Bardus
- Longho
- Bardus Junior
- Lucus
- Celtes
- Hercules
- Celtes
- Galates
- Harbon
- Lugdus
- Beligius
- Iasius
- Allobrox
- Romus
- Paris
- Lemanus
- Olbius
- Galates II
- Nannes
- Remis
- Francus
- Pictus
- Brutus
Des grantz geanz
Des grantz geanz ("Of the Great Giants") a 14th century AD Anglo-Norman poem contains a variant story regarding the oldest recorded name Albion for Britain and also contains a slightly different legendary king list. The poem states that a colony of exiled Greek royals led by a Queen called Albina first founded Britain but before their settlement "no one dwelt there". Albina subsequently gave her name first to Britain, which was later renamed Britain after Brutus. The poem also attempts by euhemerism to rationalize the legends of giants, Albina is described thus as being "very tall", but is presented as being a human queen, a descendant of a Greek king, not a mythological creature.The Albina myth is also found in some later manuscripts of Wace
Wace
Wace was a Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy , ending his career as Canon of Bayeux.-Life:...
's Roman de Brut
Roman de Brut
Roman de Brut or Brut is a verse literary history of Britain by the poet Wace. Written in the Norman language, it consists of 14,866 lines....
(1155) attached as a prologue.
Scota
Scota, in Scottish mythology, and pseudohistory, is the name given to the mythological daughter of an Egyptian Pharaoh to whom the GaelsGaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
and scots
Scots
Scots may refer to:*The Scottish people, the inhabitants of Scotland*Scots language *Scotch-Irish*Scottish English*Scots pine, a Scottish tree*Short for Pound Scots...
traced their ancestry. Scota first appeared in literature from the 11th or 12th century and most modern scholars interpret the legends surrounding her to have emerged to rival Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
's claims that the descendants of Brutus (through Albanactus
Albanactus
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Albanactus was the founding king of Albania or Albany. He was the youngest of three sons of Brutus, a descendant of Aeneas of Troy. According to legend, upon their father's death, the eldest son Locrinus was given Loegria, Camber was given Cambria and Albanactus...
) founded Scotland. However some early Irish sources also refer to the Scota legends and not all scholars regard the legends as fabrications or as political constructions. In the Scottish origin myths, Albanactus had little place and Scottish chroniclers (e.g. John of Fordun
John of Fordun
John of Fordun was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th century; and it is probable that he was a chaplain in the St Machar's Cathedral of...
and Walter Bower
Walter Bower
Walter Bower , Scottish chronicler, was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian.He was abbot of Inchcolm Abbey from 1418, was one of the commissioners for the collection of the ransom of James I, King of Scots, in 1423 and 1424, and in 1433 one of the embassy to Paris on the business of the...
) claimed that Scota was the eponymous founder of Scotland and the Scots long before Albanactus
Albanactus
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Albanactus was the founding king of Albania or Albany. He was the youngest of three sons of Brutus, a descendant of Aeneas of Troy. According to legend, upon their father's death, the eldest son Locrinus was given Loegria, Camber was given Cambria and Albanactus...
, during the time of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
.
Kings derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey synchronises some of his kings with figures and events from the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, Greek, Roman and Irish legends, and recorded history. These are given in the "Synchronisation" column of the table below. Geoffrey dated Brutus' arrival in Britain (and subsequent founding of the Trojan-British monarchy) to 1115 BC.
| England | Scotland | Wales | Cornwall | Synchronisation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brutus I (24 years) | Corineus Corineus Corineus, in medieval British legend, was a prodigious warrior, a fighter of giants, and the eponymous founder of Cornwall.According to Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain , he led the descendants of the Trojans who fled with Antenor after the Trojan War and settled on the coasts... |
Eli Eli (Biblical Priest) Eli was, according to the Books of Samuel, a Jewish High Priest of Shiloh, and one of the last Israelite Judges before the rule of kings in ancient Israel.-Biblical narrative:... (12th century BC), Aeneas Silvius Aeneas Silvius Aeneas Silvius is the son of Silvius, grandson of Ascanius and great-grandson of Aeneas. He is the third in the list of the mythical kings of Alba Longa in Latium, and the Silvii regarded him as the founder of their house. Dionysius of Halicarnassus ascribes to him a reign of 31 years. Ovid does... (1112–1081 BC) |
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| Locrinus Locrinus Locrinus was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the oldest son of Brutus and a descendant of the Trojans through Aeneas. Following Brutus's death, Britain was divided amongst the three sons, with Locrinus receiving the portion roughly equivalent to... (10 years) |
Albanactus Albanactus According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Albanactus was the founding king of Albania or Albany. He was the youngest of three sons of Brutus, a descendant of Aeneas of Troy. According to legend, upon their father's death, the eldest son Locrinus was given Loegria, Camber was given Cambria and Albanactus... |
Kamber Kamber Camber, also Kamber, was the legendary first king of Cambria, according to the Geoffrey of Monmouth in the first part of his influential 12th-century pseudohistory Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey, Cambria, the classical name for Wales, was named for him.Camber was the son of... |
Gwendolen Queen Gwendolen Queen Gwendolen was a legendary ruler of Britain, whose life is described in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey, she was the wife of King Locrinus of the Britons until she defeated him in battle and took on the leadership of Britain herself.Gwendolen was the... |
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| Gwendolen Queen Gwendolen Queen Gwendolen was a legendary ruler of Britain, whose life is described in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey, she was the wife of King Locrinus of the Britons until she defeated him in battle and took on the leadership of Britain herself.Gwendolen was the... (15 years) |
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| Maddan Maddan Maddan was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Locrinus and Queen Gwendolen, who both ruled Britain separately.... (40 years) |
Gwendolen Queen Gwendolen Queen Gwendolen was a legendary ruler of Britain, whose life is described in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey, she was the wife of King Locrinus of the Britons until she defeated him in battle and took on the leadership of Britain herself.Gwendolen was the... |
Samuel, Aeneas Silvius Aeneas Silvius Aeneas Silvius is the son of Silvius, grandson of Ascanius and great-grandson of Aeneas. He is the third in the list of the mythical kings of Alba Longa in Latium, and the Silvii regarded him as the founder of their house. Dionysius of Halicarnassus ascribes to him a reign of 31 years. Ovid does... , Homer Homer In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is... |
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| Mempricius Mempricius Mempricius was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Maddan and brother of Malin.-War:... (20 years) |
Saul Saul the King According to the Bible, Saul was the first king of the united Kingdom of Israel. He was anointed by the prophet Samuel and reigned from Gibeah. He commited suicide to avoid arrest in the battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, during which three of his sons were also killed... (r. 1049–1010 BC), Eurystheus Eurystheus In Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid, although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos: Sthenelus was his father and the "victorious horsewoman" Nicippe his mother, and he was a grandson of the hero... |
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| Ebraucus Ebraucus Ebraucus was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Mempricius before he abandoned the family.... (40 to 60 years) |
David David David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary... (r. 1010–970 BC) |
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| Brutus II Greenshield Brutus Greenshield Brutus Greenshield was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Ebraucus.... (12 years) |
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| Leil Leil Leil was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Brutus Greenshield.Leil was a peaceful and just king and took advantage of the prosperity afforded him by his ancestors. He built Caerleil in the north as a tribute to this prosperity. He... (25 years) |
Solomon Solomon Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before... (r. 971–931 BC) |
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| Rud Hud Hudibras Rud Hud Hudibras Rud Hud Hudibras was a legendary king of the Britons as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Leil and ruled during a civil war.... (39 years) |
Haggai Haggai Haggai was a Hebrew prophet during the building of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and one of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the author of the Book of Haggai. His name means "my holiday"... , Amos Amos (prophet) Amos is a minor prophet in the Old Testament, and the author of the Book of Amos. Before becoming a prophet, Amos was a sheep herder and a sycamore fig farmer. Amos' prior professions and his claim "I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet" indicate that Amos was not from the school of prophets,... , Joel Joel (prophet) Joel was a prophet of ancient Israel, the second of the twelve minor prophets and the author of the Book of Joel. He is mentioned by name only once in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, in the introduction to his own brief book, as the son of Pethuel... , Azariah Azariah (prophet) Azariah was a prophet described in 2 Chronicles 15. The Spirit of God is described as coming upon him , and he goes to meet King Asa of Judah to exhort him to carry out a work of reform. Azariah is described as being the "son of Oded" , but the Masoretic Text omits Azariah's name in verse 8,... |
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| Bladud Bladud Bladud or Blaiddyd was a legendary king of the Britons, for whose existence there is no historical evidence. He is first mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, which describes him as the son of King Rud Hud Hudibras, and the tenth ruler in line from the first King, Brutus.... (20 years) |
Elijah (9th century BC) | |||
| Leir Leir of Britain Leir is a legendary ancient king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. His story is told in a modified form by William Shakespeare in the play King Lear. In the drama, some names are identical to those of the legend Leir is a legendary ancient king of the Britons, as recounted by... (60 years) |
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| Cordelia Queen Cordelia Queen Cordelia was a legendary Queen of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. She was the youngest daughter of Leir and the second ruling queen of pre-Roman Britain. There is no independent historical evidence for her existence.... (5 years) |
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| Marganus I Marganus Morganus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Maglaurus, Duke of Albany, and Goneril, the daughter of King Leir.... (north of the Humber) and Cunedagius Cunedagius Cunedagius was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Henwinus, Duke of Cornwall, and Regan, the daughter of King Leir.... (south of the Humber) (2 years) |
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| Cunedagius Cunedagius Cunedagius was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Henwinus, Duke of Cornwall, and Regan, the daughter of King Leir.... (33 years) |
Isaiah Isaiah Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus... , Hosea Hosea Hosea was the son of Beeri and a prophet in Israel in the 8th century BC. He is one of the Twelve Prophets of the Jewish Hebrew Bible, also known as the Minor Prophets of the Christian Old Testament. Hosea is often seen as a "prophet of doom", but underneath his message of destruction is a promise... , Romulus and Remus Romulus and Remus Romulus and Remus are Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder... (8th century BC) |
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| Rivallo Rivallo Rivallo was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Cunedagius and was noted as a young king who reigned frugally.... |
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| Gurgustius Gurgustius Gurgustius was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Rivallo and was succeeded by Sisillius I.... |
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| Sisillius I Sisillius I Sisillius I was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Gurgustius and succeeded by Jago. He was the father of Kimarcus, king of the Britons.-Notes:... |
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| Jago Jago of Britain Jago was a legendary king of the Britons according to Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the nephew of Gurgustius and was succeeded by Kimarcus.... |
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| Kimarcus Kimarcus Kimarcus was a legendary king of the Britons according to Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Sisillius I and was succeeded by Gorboduc.... |
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| Gorboduc Gorboduc Gorboduc was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was married to Judon. At an old age, he became senile and his sons, Ferrex and Porrex, feuded over who would take over the kingdom... |
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| War between Ferrex Ferrex Ferrex was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Gorboduc and Judon.When his father had become old, he waged war on his brother, Porrex, for who would succeed to the kingship. He fled to Gaul and enlisted the help of Suhard, the king of the... and Porrex I Porrex I Porrex I was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Gorboduc and his death began a dynastic civil war.... |
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| Civil war; Britain divided under five unnamed kings | ||||
| Pinner | Staterius | Rudaucus | Cloten | |
| Dunvallo Molmutius Dunvallo Molmutius Dunvallo Molmutius was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Cloten, the King of Cornwall, and he restored order after the "Civil War of the Five Kings"... |
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| Dunvallo Molmutius Dunvallo Molmutius Dunvallo Molmutius was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Cloten, the King of Cornwall, and he restored order after the "Civil War of the Five Kings"... (40 years) |
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| Brennius Brennius Brennius was a legendary king of Northumberland and Allobroges, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Belinus, probably based upon one or both of the historical Brenni.-Claimant to the throne of Britain:... (north of the Humber) and Belinus Belinus Belinus the Great was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Brennius. He was probably named after the ancient god Belenus.- Earning the crown :... (south of the Humber) |
Sack of Rome Battle of the Allia The Battle of the Allia was a battle of the first Gallic invasion of Rome. The battle was fought near the Allia river: the defeat of the Roman army opened the route for the Gauls to sack Rome. It was fought in 390/387 BC.-Background:... (387 BC) |
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| Belinus Belinus Belinus the Great was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Brennius. He was probably named after the ancient god Belenus.- Earning the crown :... |
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| Gurguit Barbtruc Gurguit Barbtruc Gurguit Barbtruc was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Belinus and was said to have found a home for the Irish people.... |
Partholón Partholón Partholón, in medieval Irish historical tradition, was the leader of the second group of people to settle in Ireland, supposedly first to arrive after the biblical Flood. They arrived in 2680 BC according to the chronology of the Annals of the Four Masters, 2061 BC according to Geoffrey Keating's... |
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| Guithelin Guithelin Guithelin was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He became king after the death of Gurguit Barbtruc.He ruled liberally and temperately for his life. His Queen consort was an artisan and noblewoman named Marcia. When he died, his wife took over the government... |
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| Marcia Queen Marcia Queen Marcia was the mythical third queen regnant and a regent of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth.-Mythical Account:Marcia became queen after the death of Guithelin and ruled as regent for her son, Sisillius II. In her youth, she was the Queen consort of Guithelin, the king of... (regent) |
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| Sisillius II Sisillius II Sisillius II was a mythical king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth.-Mythical account:... |
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| Kinarius Kinarius Kinarius was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was son of Sisillius II and succeeded by his brother, Danius.... |
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| Danius Danius Danius was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was son of Sisillius II and brother of Kinarius. He was succeeded by Morvidus.... |
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| Morvidus Morvidus Morvidus was a legendary king of the Britons from 341 to 336 B.C., as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the illegitimate son of Danius by his mistress Tanguesteaia.... |
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| Gorbonianus Gorbonianus Gorbonianus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the eldest son of King Morvidus, and the brother of Archgallo, Elidurus, Ingenius, and Peredurus, and... |
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| Archgallo Archgallo Archgallo was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the second son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus.... |
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| Elidurus Elidurus Elidurus the Dutiful was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the third son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus, Archgallo, Ingenius, and Peredurus.... (5 years) |
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| Archgallo Archgallo Archgallo was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the second son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus.... (restored) (10 years) |
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| Elidurus Elidurus Elidurus the Dutiful was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the third son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus, Archgallo, Ingenius, and Peredurus.... (restored) |
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| Peredurus Peredurus Peredurus is a legendary king of the Britons in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudohistorical chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey he was the youngest son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus, Archgallo, Elidurus, and Ingenius.... (north of the Humber) and Ingenius (south of the Humber) (7 years) |
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| Peredurus Peredurus Peredurus is a legendary king of the Britons in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudohistorical chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey he was the youngest son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus, Archgallo, Elidurus, and Ingenius.... |
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| Elidurus Elidurus Elidurus the Dutiful was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the third son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus, Archgallo, Ingenius, and Peredurus.... (restored) |
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| A son of Gorbonianus Son of Gorbonianus A Son of Gorbonianus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was a son of King Gorbonianus but was never given a name in the text.... |
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| Marganus II Marganus II Marganus II was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Archgallo and was succeeded by his brother Enniaunus. He ruled the kingdom in tranquility and without conflict.... |
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| Enniaunus Enniaunus Enniaunus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Archgallo and brother of Marganus II. According to Geoffrey, he ruled poorly and harshly causing him to be deposed due to tyranny. He was replaced with his cousin Idvallo.... |
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| Idvallo Idvallo Idvallo was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Ingenius and he replaced King Enniaunus. Idvallo is said by Geoffrey to have reigned righteously to mend the ills his cousin had brought. He was succeeded by his cousin Runo.... |
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| Runo Runo Runo was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Peredurus and was succeeded by his cousin Gerennus.... |
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| Gerennus Gerennus Gerennus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was a son of King Elidurus and was succeeded by his son Catellus. According to Geoffrey, his descendants ruled Britain through the time of the Roman invasion of Britain.... |
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| Catellus Catellus Catellus was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted in Geoffrey of Monmouth's work Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey he was the son of King Gerennus and was succeeded by his son Millus... |
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| Millus Millus Millus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. His father was King Catellus and was succeeded by his son Porrex II.... |
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| Porrex II Porrex II Porrex II was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. His father was King Millus and he was succeeded by his son Cherin.... |
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| Cherin Cherin Cherin was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. His father was King Porrex II and he was succeeded by his three sons in turn, Fulgenius, Edadus, and Andragius.... |
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| Fulgenius Fulgenius Fulgenius was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth in Book V of his Historia Regum Britanniae. In this description, he battled the Roman Severus and defeated his army at York, but was himself killed in battle. He was the eldest son of Cherin and was succeeded by his... |
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| Edadus Edadus Edadus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. He was the second son of King Cherin and succeeded by his brother Andragius.... |
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| Andragius Andragius Andragius was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the youngest son of King Cherin and succeeded by his son Urianus.... |
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| Urianus Urianus Urianus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Andragius and was succeeded by Eliud. Geoffrey may possibly have based the character on that of Urien Rheged , although there is no resemblance between them.... |
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| Eliud Eliud Eliud, also known as Elihud, was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Urianus and succeeded by Cledaucus. He also conquered Dylan the King of great Tritons. He is otherwise unattested.... |
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| Cledaucus Cledaucus Cledaucus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Eliud and succeeded by Clotenus.... |
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| Clotenus Clotenus Clotenus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Cledaucus and succeeded by Gurgintius.... |
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| Gurgintius Gurgintius Gurgintius was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Clotenus and succeeded by Merianus.... |
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| Merianus Merianus Merianus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Gurgintius and succeeded by Bledudo.... |
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| Bledudo Bledudo Bledudo was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth and the second to bear this name. He was preceded by Merianus and succeeded by Cap.... |
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| Cap Cap of Britain Cap was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Bledudo and succeeded by Oenus.... |
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| Oenus Oenus Oenus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Cap and succeeded by Sisillius III.... |
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| Sisillius III Sisillius III Sisillius III was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Oenus and succeeded by Beldgabred. He shares his name with his ancestors Sisillius II and Sisillius I.... |
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| Beldgabred Beldgabred Beldgabred was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Sisillius III and succeeded by his brother Archmail. Geoffrey says that Beldgabred surpassed all other musicians on every kind of instrument and was claimed to be the god of minstrels.... |
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| Archmail Archmail Archmail was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Beldgabred, his brother, and succeeded by Eldol.... |
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| Eldol Eldol Eldol is a legendary king of Britain in Geoffrey of Monmouth's circa 1136 work Historia Regum Britanniae .... |
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| Redon Redon (king) Redon was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Eldol and succeeded by Redechius.... |
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| Redechius Redechius Redechius was a legendary king of the Britons according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain . He was preceded by Redon and succeeded by Samuil Penissel.... |
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| Samuil Penessil Sawyl Penuchel Sawyl Penuchel or Ben Uchel , also known as Samuil Penisel , was a British king of the sub-Roman period, who appears in old Welsh genealogies and the Welsh Triads.... (or Samuil, followed by Penessil) |
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| Pir Pir of the Britons Pir was a legendary king of the Britons according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain. He was preceded by Samuil Penissel, and succeeded by Capoir.... |
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| Capoir Capoir Capoir was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was preceded by Pir and succeeded by his son Digueillus.... |
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| Digueillus Digueillus Digueillus was a legendary king of the Brythons according to Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Capoir and succeeded by his son Heli. Geoffrey portrays him as a wise and modest ruler who cared greatly about the administration of justice among the Brythons.... |
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| Heli (40 years) | ||||
| Lud Lud son of Heli Lud , according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's legendary History of the Kings of Britain and related medieval texts, was a king of Britain in pre-Roman times. He was the eldest son of Geoffrey's King Heli, and succeeded his father to the throne. He was succeeded, in turn, by his brother Cassibelanus... |
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| Cassibelanus Cassivellaunus Cassivellaunus was an historical British chieftain who led the defence against Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC. The first British person whose name is recorded, Cassivellaunus led an alliance of tribes against Roman forces, but eventually surrendered after his location was... |
Julius Caesar Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.... 's invasions of Britain Caesar's invasions of Britain In his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice, in 55 and 54 BC. The first invasion, made late in summer, was either intended as a full invasion or a reconnaissance-in-force expedition... (55–54 BC) |
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| Tenvantius Tasciovanus Tasciovanus was a historical king of the Catuvellauni tribe before the Roman conquest of Britain.-History:Tasciovanus is known only through numismatic evidence. He appears to have become king of the Catuvellauni ca. 20 BC, ruling from Verlamion... |
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| Kimbelinus Cunobelinus Cunobeline or Cunobelinus was a historical king in pre-Roman Britain, known from passing mentions by classical historians Suetonius and Dio Cassius, and from his many inscribed coins... |
Augustus Augustus Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian... (30 BC – 14 AD), Jesus Jesus Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity... (3 BC – 33 AD) |
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| Guiderius Guiderius Guiderius is a legendary British king according Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and related texts. He can probably be identified as deriving from the historical Togodumnus.... |
Claudius Claudius Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy... 's conquest of Britain Roman conquest of Britain The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whose general Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Britannia. Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and... (AD 43) |
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| Arvirargus Arvirargus Arvirargus was a legendary, and possibly historical, British king of the 1st century AD. A shadowy historical Arviragus is known only from a cryptic reference in a satirical poem by Juvenal, in which a giant turbot presented to the Roman emperor Domitian is said to be an omen that "you will... |
Claudius Claudius Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy... , Vespasian Vespasian Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty... , Mark the Evangelist Mark the Evangelist Mark the Evangelist is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark. He is one of the Seventy Disciples of Christ, and the founder of the Church of Alexandria, one of the original four main sees of Christianity.... , Paul of Tarsus Paul of Tarsus Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament... |
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| Marius Marius of Britain Marius was a legendary king of the Britons during the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, as recounted in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae. He was the son of King Arvirargus and ruled following his father's death.... |
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| Coilus Coilus Coilus was a legendary king of the Britons during the time of the Roman occupation of Britain as recounted in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae. He was the son of King Marius and ruled following his father's death.... |
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| Lucius Lucius of Britain Saint Lucius is a legendary 2nd-century King of the Britons traditionally credited with introducing Christianity into Britain. Lucius is first mentioned in a 6th-century version of the Liber Pontificalis, which says that he sent a letter to Pope Eleuterus asking to be made a Christian... (d. AD 156) |
Pope Eleuterus Pope Eleuterus Pope Saint Eleuterus, or Eleutherius, was Bishop of Rome from about 174 to 189 . He was born in Nicopolis in Epirus. His name is Greek for free.... (174–189) |
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| Interregnum; war between Severus Septimius Severus Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of... and Sulgenius |
Septimius Severus Septimius Severus Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of... (Roman emperor 193–211) |
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| Bassianus Caracalla Caracalla , was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. The eldest son of Septimius Severus, he ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta until he murdered the latter in 211... (Caracalla) |
Caracalla Caracalla Caracalla , was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. The eldest son of Septimius Severus, he ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta until he murdered the latter in 211... (Roman emperor 211–217) |
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| Carausius Carausius Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Valerius Carausius was a military commander of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. He was a Menapian from Belgic Gaul, who usurped power in 286, declaring himself emperor in Britain and northern Gaul. He did this only 13 years after the Gallic Empire of the Batavian... |
Carausian Revolt Carausian Revolt The Carausian Revolt was an episode in Roman history, during which a Roman naval commander, Carausius, declared himself emperor over Britain and northern Gaul. His Gallic territories were retaken by the western Caesar, Constantius Chlorus, in 293, after which Carausius was assassinated by his... (289–296) |
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| Allectus Allectus Allectus was a Roman usurper-emperor in Britain and northern Gaul from 293 to 296.-History:Allectus was treasurer to Carausius, a Menapian officer in the Roman navy who had seized power in Britain and northern Gaul in 286... |
Allectus assassinated Carausius in 293 | |||
| Asclepiodotus (10 years) | Asclepiodotus and Constantius Chlorus Constantius Chlorus Constantius I , commonly known as Constantius Chlorus, was Roman Emperor from 293 to 306. He was the father of Constantine the Great and founder of the Constantinian dynasty. As Caesar he defeated the usurper Allectus in Britain and campaigned extensively along the Rhine frontier, defeating the... retook Britain in 296) |
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| Coel King Cole King Cole is a figure of British folklore.King Cole may also refer to:*"Old King Cole", nursery rhyme* Old King Cole , a 1933 Disney cartoon about Old King Cole*King Cole , Major League Baseball pitcher... |
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| Constantius Constantius Chlorus Constantius I , commonly known as Constantius Chlorus, was Roman Emperor from 293 to 306. He was the father of Constantine the Great and founder of the Constantinian dynasty. As Caesar he defeated the usurper Allectus in Britain and campaigned extensively along the Rhine frontier, defeating the... (11 years) |
Constantius Chlorus Constantius Chlorus Constantius I , commonly known as Constantius Chlorus, was Roman Emperor from 293 to 306. He was the father of Constantine the Great and founder of the Constantinian dynasty. As Caesar he defeated the usurper Allectus in Britain and campaigned extensively along the Rhine frontier, defeating the... , Roman emperor 293–306 |
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| Constantine I Constantine I Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all... |
Constantine I Constantine I Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all... , Roman emperor 306–337 |
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| Octavius | ||||
| Trahern Trahern Trahern According to Geoffrey, Trahern was king of the Britons and Roman senator. He was the brother of the late King Coel and was sent by Emperor Constantine I to restore Britain to Roman rule during the usurpation of Octavius .... |
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| Octavius (restored) | ||||
| Maximianus Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus , also known as Maximianus and Macsen Wledig in Welsh, was Western Roman Emperor from 383 to 388. As commander of Britain, he usurped the throne against Emperor Gratian in 383... |
Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus , also known as Maximianus and Macsen Wledig in Welsh, was Western Roman Emperor from 383 to 388. As commander of Britain, he usurped the throne against Emperor Gratian in 383... , Roman usurper-emperor 383–388 |
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| Dionotus Dionotus In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae, whose account of the rulers of Britain is based on ancient Welsh sources disputed by many historians, Dionotus was a "legendary" King of the Britons during the campaigns in Gaul led by Emperor Magnus Maximus... |
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| Constantine II Constantine III (usurper) Flavius Claudius Constantinus, known in English as Constantine III was a Roman general who declared himself Western Roman Emperor in Britannia in 407 and established himself in Gaul. Recognised by the Emperor Honorius in 409, collapsing support and military setbacks saw him abdicate in 411... |
Constantine III Constantine III (usurper) Flavius Claudius Constantinus, known in English as Constantine III was a Roman general who declared himself Western Roman Emperor in Britannia in 407 and established himself in Gaul. Recognised by the Emperor Honorius in 409, collapsing support and military setbacks saw him abdicate in 411... , Roman usurper-emperor 407–411 |
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| Constans Constans II (usurper) Constans II was the eldest son of the Roman usurper Constantine III and was appointed co-emperor by him from 409 to 411. He was killed during the revolts and fighting that ended his father’s reign.- Career :... |
Constans II Constans II (usurper) Constans II was the eldest son of the Roman usurper Constantine III and was appointed co-emperor by him from 409 to 411. He was killed during the revolts and fighting that ended his father’s reign.- Career :... , Roman usurper-emperor 409–411 |
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| Vortigern Vortigern Vortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He is said to have invited the Saxons to settle in Kent as mercenaries to aid him in... |
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| Vortimer Vortimer Vortimer is a figure in British tradition, a son of the 5th-century Britonnic ruler Vortigern. He is remembered for his fierce opposition to his father's Saxon allies... |
Germanus of Auxerre Germanus of Auxerre Germanus of Auxerre was a bishop of Auxerre in Gaul. He is a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, commemorated on July 31. He visited Britain in around 429 and the records of this visit provide valuable information on the state of post-Roman British society... (378–448), Battle of Aylesford Battle of Aylesford The Battle of Aylesford or Epsford is a battle between Britons and Anglo-Saxons recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Historia Brittonum. Both sources concur that it involved the Saxon leaders Hengist and Horsa on one side and the family of Vortigern on the other, but neither mentions who... (455) |
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| Aurelius Ambrosius Ambrosius Aurelianus Ambrosius Aurelianus, ; called Aurelius Ambrosius in the Historia Regum Britanniae and elsewhere, was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas... |
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| Uther Pendragon Uther Pendragon Uther Pendragon is a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur.A few minor references to Uther appear in Old Welsh poems, but his biography was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae , and Geoffrey's account of the character was used in... |
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| Arthur Pendragon | Battle of Mons Badonicus Battle of Mons Badonicus The Battle of Mons Badonicus was a battle between a force of Britons and an Anglo-Saxon army, probably sometime between 490 and 517 AD. Though it is believed to have been a major political and military event, there is no certainty about its date, location or the details of the fighting... , St. Dubricius Dubricius Saint Dubricius was a 6th century Briton ecclesiastic venerated as a saint. He was the evangelist of Ergyng and much of South-East Wales.-Biography:Dubricius was the illegitimate son of Efrddyl, the daughter of King Peibio Clafrog of Ergyng... |
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| Constantine III Constantine III of Britain Constantine was a minor king in 6th-century sub-Roman Britain, who was remembered in later British tradition as a legendary King of Britain. The only contemporary information about him comes from Gildas, who calls him king of Damnonia and castigates him for his various sins, including the murder... |
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| Aurelius Conanus Aurelius Conanus Aurelius Conanus or Aurelius Caninus was a Brythonic king in 6th-century sub-Roman Britain. The only certain historical record of him is in the writings of his contemporary Gildas, who excoriates him as a tyrant. However, he may be identified with one of the several similarly named figures active... (2 years) |
Aurelius Caninus, 6th century king of Gwent or Powys | |||
| Vortiporius Vortiporius Vortiporius was a king of Dyfed in the early to mid-6th century. He ruled over an area approximately corresponding to the modern Pembrokeshire. As a mythical king in Geoffrey of Monmouth's treatment of the Matter of Britain, he was the successor of Aurelius Conanus and was succeeded by... (4 years) |
Vortiporius Vortiporius Vortiporius was a king of Dyfed in the early to mid-6th century. He ruled over an area approximately corresponding to the modern Pembrokeshire. As a mythical king in Geoffrey of Monmouth's treatment of the Matter of Britain, he was the successor of Aurelius Conanus and was succeeded by... , 6th century king of Dyfed Kingdom of Dyfed The Kingdom of Dyfed is one of several Welsh petty kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in south-west Wales, based on the former Irish tribal lands of the Déisi from c 350 until it was subsumed into Deheubarth in 920. In Latin, the country of the Déisi was Demetae, eventually to... |
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| Malgo Malgo Malgo was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He held little actual power, as the Anglo-Saxons had begun taking over Britain. Geoffrey's Malgo is equated with the historical ruler Maelgwn Gwynedd, who was by contrast a powerful king.... |
Maelgwn Hir ap Cadwallon Maelgwn Hir ap Cadwallon Maelgwn Gwynedd was King of Gwynedd . More formally his name was Maelgwn ap Cadwallon , also known as Maelgwn Hir . He was father of Rhun "Hîr".... , 6th century king of Gwynedd Kingdom of Gwynedd Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the... |
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| Keredic Keredic Keredic was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. The origin of Geoffrey's character is unknown, but he is not depicted as a Saxon... |
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| Interregnum; Saxons occupy England | Augustine of Canterbury Augustine of Canterbury Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597... (arrived in Britain in 597) |
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| Cadvan Cadfan ap Iago Cadfan ap Iago was King of Gwynedd . Little is known of the history of Gwynedd from this period, and information about Cadfan and his reign is minimal.... |
Cadfan ap Iago Cadfan ap Iago Cadfan ap Iago was King of Gwynedd . Little is known of the history of Gwynedd from this period, and information about Cadfan and his reign is minimal.... , 6th/7th century king of Gwynedd |
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| Cadwallo Cadwallon ap Cadfan Cadwallon ap Cadfan was the King of Gwynedd from around 625 until his death in battle. The son and successor of Cadfan ap Iago, he is best remembered as the King of the Britons who invaded and conquered Northumbria, defeating and killing its king, Edwin, prior to his own death in battle against... |
Cadwallon ap Cadfan Cadwallon ap Cadfan Cadwallon ap Cadfan was the King of Gwynedd from around 625 until his death in battle. The son and successor of Cadfan ap Iago, he is best remembered as the King of the Britons who invaded and conquered Northumbria, defeating and killing its king, Edwin, prior to his own death in battle against... , 7th century king of Gwynedd, d. 634 |
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| Cadwallader Cadwaladr Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon was King of Gwynedd . Two devastating plagues happened during his reign, one in 664 and the other in 682, with himself a victim of the second one. Little else is known of his reign... (d. AD 689) |
Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon Cadwaladr Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon was King of Gwynedd . Two devastating plagues happened during his reign, one in 664 and the other in 682, with himself a victim of the second one. Little else is known of his reign... , 7th century king of Gwynedd |
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After the death of Cadwallader, the kings of the Brythons were reduced to such a small domain that they ceased to be kings of the whole Brythonic-speaking area. Two of his relatives, Yvor and Yni, led the exiles back from Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, but were unable to re-establish a united kingship. The Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
invaders ruled the south-eastern part of the island of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, which would become England, after that point in time under the Bretwalda
Bretwalda
Bretwalda is an Old English word, the first record of which comes from the late 9th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the 5th century onwards who had achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms...
s and later the kings of England. The heirs to the Celtic-British throne continued through the Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
kings of Gwynedd until that line was forced to submit itself to the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the 13th century. Princes and lords of Gwynedd ruled until the reign of Dafydd III, who ruled from 1282 to 1283. His death marked the end of the house of Brutus. Owen Tudor
Owen Tudor
Sir Owen Meredith Tudor was a Welsh soldier and courtier, descended from a daughter of the Welsh prince Rhys ap Gruffudd, "Lord Rhys". However, Owen Tudor is particularly remembered for his role in founding England's Tudor dynasty – including his relationship with, and probable secret marriage to,...
, grandfather of Henry VII of England
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
, was a maternal descendant of the kings of Gwynedd; Henry's marriage with Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until 1503, and mother of King Henry VIII of England....
thus signified the merging of the two royal houses (as well as the feuding houses of York
House of York
The House of York was a branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet, three members of which became English kings in the late 15th century. The House of York was descended in the paternal line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III, but also represented...
and Lancaster
House of Lancaster
The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...
).
Iolo Morganwg's Welsh Kings
Iolo MorganwgIolo Morganwg
Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg , was an influential Welsh antiquarian, poet, collector, and literary forger. He was widely considered a leading collector and expert on medieval Welsh literature in his day, but after his death it was revealed that he had forged a...
between 1801 and 1807 published a series of Welsh Triads
Welsh Triads
The Welsh Triads are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a rhetorical form whereby objects are grouped together in threes, with a heading indicating the point of likeness...
he claimed to have discovered in manuscript form, with the help of the antiquarian William Owen Pughe
William Owen Pughe
William Owen Pughe was a Welsh antiquarian and grammarian best known for his Welsh and English Dictionary, published in 1803, but also known for his grammar books and 'Pughisms' ....
. These were later revealed to be a mixture of forgeries by Morganwg and Williams' alterations to authentic traids. Exactly how much "authentic" content there is of Morganwg's published work remains disputed by scholars today. Morganwg's traids describe the earliest occupation of Britain (Prydain
Prydain
Prydain is the modern Welsh name for Britain.-Medieval:Prydain is the medieval Welsh term for the island of Britain . More specifically, Prydain may refer to the Brittonic parts of the island; that is, the parts south of Caledonia...
) and contain a pseudo-historical reign of king's, beginning with Hu Gadarn
Hu Gadarn
Hu Gadarn is a supposed Welsh legendary figure who appears in several of a series of Welsh Triads produced by the Welsh antiquarian and literary forger Iolo Morganwg. These triads, which Iolo put forth as medieval works, present Hu as a culture hero of the ancient Britons who introduced ploughing...
, the "Plough King".
Hu Gadarn is described by Morganwg in his triads as being the earliest inhabitant of Britain having traveled from the "Summerland, called Deffrobani, where Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
now stands" in 1788 BC. He is credited as having founded the first civilization in Britain and introduced agriculture. Morganwg's Barddas (1862, p. 348) further states that king's descended from Gadarn, but that after a huge flood (see Afanc) only two people, Dwyfan and Dwyfach, survived from whom the later inhabitants of Britain descended. The Welsh clergmen Edward Davies included this myth in his Celtic Researches on the Origin, Traditions and Languages of the Ancient Britons (1804):
Several 19th century Christian authors, for example Henry Hoyle Howorth
Henry Hoyle Howorth
Sir Henry Hoyle Howorth KCIE FRS was a British Conservative politician, barrister and amateur historian and geologist....
interpreted this myth to be evidence for the Biblical flood of Noah, yet in Morganwg's chronology Dwyfan and Dwyfach are dated to the 18th or 17th century BC, which does not fit the Biblical estimate for the Noachian deluge.
Tea Tephi
Tea Tephi is a legendary princess found described in British IsraeliteBritish Israelism
British Israelism is the belief that people of Western European descent, particularly those in Great Britain, are the direct lineal descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The concept often includes the belief that the British Royal Family is directly descended from the line of King David...
literature from the 19th century. Revd F. R. A. Glover, M.A., of London in 1861 published England, the Remnant of Judah, and the Israel of Ephraim in which he claimed Tea Tephi was one of Zedekiah
Zedekiah
Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and...
's daughters. Since King Zedekiah of Judah had all his sons killed during the Babylonian Captivity no male successors could continue the throne of King David, but as Glover noted Zedekiah had daughters who escaped death (Jeremiah 43: 6). Glover believed that Tea Tephi was a surviving Judahite princess who had escaped and traveled to Ireland, and who married a local High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...
in the 6th century BC who subsequently became blood linked to the British Monarchy. This theory was later expanded upon by Rev. A.B. Grimaldi who published in 1877 a successful chart entitled Pedigree of Queen Victoria from the Bible Kings and later by W.M.H. Milner in his booklet The Royal House of Britain an Enduring Dynasty (1902, revised 1909). Charles Fox Parham
Charles Fox Parham
Charles Fox Parham was an American preacher and evangelist. Together with William J. Seymour, Parham was one of the two central figures in the development and early spread of Pentecostalism...
also authored an article tracing Queen Victoria's linage back to King David (through Tea Tephi) entitled Queen Victoria: Heir to King David's Royal Throne.
The Tea Tephi British-monarchy link is also found in J. H. Allen
J. H. Allen
John Harden Allen was an American minister. He was associated with the Church of God , and is also heavily associated with British Israelism. He came from Illinois, later moving to Missouri in 1879. Originally a pastor in the Methodist Episcopal Church, he later became a pastor in the Wesleyan...
's Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright (1902, p. 251). A central tenet of British Israelism is that the British monarchy is from the Davidic line
Davidic line
The Davidic line refers to the tracing of lineage to the King David referred to in the Hebrew Bible, as well as the New Testament...
and the legend of Tea Tephi from the 19th century attempted to legitimise this claim. Tea Tephi however has never been traced to an extant Irish source before the 19th century and critics assert she was purely a British Israelite invention. A collection of alleged bardic traditions and Irish manuscripts which detail Tea Tephi were published by J. A. Goodchild in 1897 as The Book of Tephi, the work is however considered pseudo-historical or a forgery. There is though a queen called Tea (singular) in Irish mythology who appears in the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland. She is described as the wife of Érimón a Míl Espáine
Míl Espáine
In Irish origin legends, Míl Espáine or Míl Espáne is the ancestor of the final inhabitants of Ireland, the "sons of Míl" or Milesians, who represent the vast majority of the Irish Gaels....
(Milesian) and dated to 1700 BC (Geoffrey Keating
Geoffrey Keating
Seathrún Céitinn, known in English as Geoffrey Keating, was a 17th century Irish Roman Catholic priest, poet and historian. He was born in County Tipperary c. 1569, and died c. 1644...
: 1287 BC). These dates are inconsistent with the British Israelite literature which date Tea Tephi to the 6th century BC, but later British Israelites such as Herman Hoeh (Compendium of World History, 1970) claimed that the Milesian Royal House (including Tea) was from an earlier blood descendant of the Davidic Line who entered Britain around 1000 BC (citing Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh
Ruaidhri Ó Flaithbheartaigh
Ruaidhri Ó Flaithbheartaigh, King of Iar Connacht and Chief of the Name, fl. 1244-1273.-Biography:Ruaidhri was a brother of the preceding chief, Morogh...
's reduced chronology). Linked to Glover's original claims of Tea Tephi, are Grimaldi and Milner's theory that Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
himself in the company of his scribe Baruch ben Neriah
Baruch ben Neriah
Baruch ben Neriah was the scribe, disciple, secretary, and devoted friend of the Biblical prophet Jeremiah. According to Josephus, he was a Jewish aristocrat, a son of Neriah and brother of Seraiah ben Neriah, chamberlain of King Zedekiah of Judah.Baruch wrote down the first and second editions of...
traveled to Ireland with Tea Tephi and that they are found described in Irish folklore and old Irish manuscripts. Some British Israelites identify Baruch ben Neriah with a figure called Simon Berac or Berak in Irish myth, while Jeremiah with Ollom Fotla (or Ollam, Ollamh Fodhla). However like Tea Tephi there has long been controversy about these identifications, mainly because of conflicting or inconsistent dates. In 2001, the British-Israel-World Federation
British-Israel-World Federation
The British-Israel-World Federation is an organization that was founded in London July 3 1919, although its roots can be traced back to the 19th century. At one time this organization enjoyed the patronage of members of the British Establishment including HRH Princess Alice of Athlone, the Duke of...
wrote an article claiming they no longer subscribed to these two identifications, but still strongly stick to the belief that the British monarchy is of Judahite origin. In an earlier publication Covenant Publishing Co. in 1982 admitted that Tea Tephi could not be traced in Irish literature or myth and may have been fabricated by Revd F. R. A. Glover, however they clarified they still believed in the Milesian Royal House Davidic Line bloodline connection (popularised by Hoeh). Herbert Armstrong (1986) also took up this legendary connection. Nonetheless there are still proponents of the Tea-Tephi legend first tracable to Glover.
Sources
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, Historia Regum BritanniaeHistoria Regum BritanniaeThe Historia Regum Britanniae is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation...
(1136) - online at Wikisource - Pseudo-BerossusBerossusBerossus was a Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer, a priest of Bel Marduk and astronomer writing in Greek, who was active at the beginning of the 3rd century BC...
, The Travels of Noah into Europe - online at Annomundi.com - Raphael HolinshedRaphael HolinshedRaphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
, Chronicles: "The History of England" Vol 1 - online at Project Gutenberg - John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
, "The History of Britain", Prose Works Vol 2 - online at The Online Library of Liberty