chapter ten summary

Author: * Walensis Volcae - 25 Posts on this thread out of 64 Posts sitewide.
Date: May 31, 2004 - 09:33

* In order to discover Arthurs origins we must examine the British leaders who preceded him. It seems that for the half century from the Roman withdrawal (around 410) to the time of Ambrosius (around 460), Britain was ruled by one family: the Vortigerns, of which there were two, or possibly three, succesive kings.

1. When the Roman legions left Britain at the begining of the fifth century, central government came under strain, with regional control gradually reverting to tribal chieftains. According to all the available sources, the most successful of these was Vortigern who became supreme ruler of Britain.

2. From the Historia Brittonum we discover Vortigerns original province. Since Nennius says he is descended from Gloiu, who founded the city of Gloucester, it was probably the kingdom of Powys which covered the West Midlands and central Wales. Additionally, Nennius implies that Ambrosius eventually fought against Vortigerns authority in Shropshire, in the very heart of Powys. That Vortigern was the king of Powys is confirmed by the Pillar of Eliseg in Llangollen, North Wales. Erected about 850, an inscription on the pillar reveals that Vortigern actually founded the kingdon of Powys.

3. But when did Vortigern rule? In the Annales Cambriae we learn that the fourth year of his reign fell in the Roman consulship of Felix and Taurus. As this is known from accurate Roman records to have been 428, then Vortigerns reign began around 425. However, Nennius tells us that Ambrosius fought with Vitalinus (a member of the Vortigern family) twelve years after Vortigern came to power. As this could not have been much before 460 (the time of Ambrosius), Vortigerns reign must have begun in the 440s. Add Nennius' conflicting accounts of Vortigerns death and we have evidence that two succesive leaders bore the title Vortigern (overlord).

4. The most compelling evidence for two Vortigerns is that in one of his accounts Nennius says Vortigern died while Saint Germanus was present in Britain. This must have been in 447, the year of the Saints second and final visit to Britain. Yet, Nennius, the Chronicle and Bede all insist that Vortigern was alive to fight the Saxons in 455. If a Vortigern was ruling in 455 he must have been a second Vortigern. If the first Vortigern died, to be succeded by the second in 447, then a precise date for Ambrosius's struggle for power is 459 (as Nennius says that it was twelve years after the start of Vortigerns reign).

5. The second Vortigern was probably Britu, who is shown to be Vortigerns successor on the pillar of Eliseg. There is also evidence that Britu was Vortigerns son Vortimer. Nennius' account that the Saxon warrior Horsa died fighting Vortimer is contradicted by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which states that he died fighting Vortigern. The name Vortigern meant 'overlord', the word Vortimer was probably of similar origin.

6. Nennius provides us with evidence of religious dispute in Vortigerns Britain. Although he fails to give the reason for a bitter clash between Vortigern and Germanus, it was almost certainly due to Pelagianism, a doctrine that opposed the established church. As Germanus was sent to Britain to combat the Pelagian heresy, he would inevitably have come into conflict with Vortigern himself, just as Nennius describes.

7. The most likely events of the Vortigern era are that Vortigern himself founded the post-Roman kingdom of Powys in the 420s, and came to control a large part of the country by 425. He broke away from the Catholic church and continued to reign until 447, when he died in a fire during Germanus' second visit. Britu then ruled Britain until the Saxon revolt of 445 forced his overthrow and he was driven into exile. Vitalinus may then have assumed control for a short time until 459, when Ambrosius made his bid for power.