Britain, c. 500.

In the Battle of Mons Badonicus (English Mount Badon, Welsh Mynydd Baddon) Romano-British and Celts severely defeated an invading Anglo-Saxon army some time in the decade before or after 500. It is a major political/military event of the 5th and 6th centuries in Britain, but there is no certainty about its date or place. By the 9th century the victory was attributed to King Arthur. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1262x829, 324 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): King Arthur States in Medieval Britain Battle of Mons Badonicus Cerdic of Wessex Constantine III of... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1262x829, 324 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): King Arthur States in Medieval Britain Battle of Mons Badonicus Cerdic of Wessex Constantine III of... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... The term Romano-British describes the romanised culture of Britannia under the rule of the Roman Empire, when Roman and Christian culture had extensively entered into the life of the native Brythonic and Pictish peoples of Britain. ... Celts redirects here. ... The famous parade helmet found at Sutton Hoo, probably belonging to King Raedwald of East Anglia circa 625. ... A bronze Arthur in plate armour with visor raised and with jousting shield wearing Kastenbrust armour (early 15c) by Peter Vischer, typical of later anachronistic depictions of Arthur. ...

Location and date: uncertain

Where this battle was fought as well as the Romano-British leader's name remains unknown. The polemical monk Gildas, a near contemporary, appears to say in his essay De Excidio Britanniae ("The Ruin of Britannia") that the battle was in the year of his birth, but neither names either side's leader nor has any information that could help find where it was. Gildas (c. ... Principal sites in Roman Britain Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between 43 and 410. ...

Place

A number of places for the battle have been proposed; these are all in present-day England. (For a list of candidates, see Sites and places associated with Arthurian legend.) These sites include:- Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... The following is a list and assessment of sites and places associated with King Arthur and the Arthurian legend in general. ...

• Badbury Hillfort / Badbury Rings, an Iron Age hill fort in Dorset.[1]
• Bath, suggested by Geoffrey of Monmouth. [2] Bath was known to the Saxons as Baþon, Baðon, and Baðanceaster. It is obviously situated amongst many hills, any one of which could have been the epicentre of the battle. The word "bath" is Germanic, but "Badon" is a Celtic name. Bath's Roman name was Aquae Sulis, but the area (and the neighbouring Solsbury Hill) was populated for millennia before the arrival of the Romans.
• Buxton, a spa town and the site of a Roman bath.[3]
• Liddington Castle.[4]
• Solsbury Hill near Bath, suggested by Geoffrey of Monmouth.

All of these depend on theories or speculations of scholars built upon a poverty of evidence. The battle may have been on the frontier between the territories of the native British inhabitants and the Anglo-Saxon invaders, perhaps near the Wansdyke. Or there may have been an Anglo-Saxon attack deep into British territory in an attempt to reach the Severn estuary and separate the Welsh from the Britons of the southwest. "Obsessionis Badonici montis" in Gildas's writings might mean that the Anglo-Saxon army went too far into hostile territory and was surrounded and trapped on a hilltop in the Cotswolds. This strategic objective was ultimately achieved following the Battle of Deorham in 577 AD. Badbury Rings Badbury Rings is an iron age hill fort in east Dorset, England, dating from 800 BCE and in use until the Roman occupation of 43 CE. The 330 ft (100 m) high, 7 hectare fort is encircled by three 40 ft (15 m) ramparts and four Bronze Age... Badbury Rings Badbury Rings is an iron age hill fort in east Dorset, England, dating from 800 BCE and in use until the Roman occupation of 43 CE. The 330 ft (100 m) high, 7 hectare fort is encircled by three 40 ft (15 m) ramparts and four Bronze Age... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... Dorset (pronounced DOR-sit or [dɔ.sət], and sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the south-west of England, on the English Channel coast. ... Statistics Population: 84,000 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: ST745645 Administration District: Bath and North East Somerset Region: South West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Somerset Historic county: Somerset Services Police force: Avon and Somerset Fire and rescue: Avon Ambulance: South Western Post office... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. ... No-one in Buxton buys Buxton Water in the shops — they bring their bottles to St Anns Well and get it for free Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England and is described as the gateway to the Peak District National Park (true from the west). ... A spa town is a town frequented, in times past, for health reasons, to take the waters. The name derives from the Belgian town Spa, and in continental Europe, a spa was known as a ville deau (town of water). ... Liddington Castle is a late Bronze Age and early Iron Age hill fort in the English county of Wiltshire. ... Solsbury Hill (in full, Little Solsbury Hill) is a small flat-topped hill above the village of Batheaston in Somerset, England, near the city of Bath. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. ... Wansdyke (from Wodens Dyke) is an early medieval defensive linear earthwork in the West Country of England, consisting of a ditch and a running embankment from the spoil. ... The Severn is the name of a river in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the country. ... Gildas (c. ... The Cotswolds is the name given to a range of hills in central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, a hilly area reaching over 300 m or 1000 feet. ... The Battle of Deorham occurred in 577 between the West Saxons and the Celts. ... Dionysius Exiguus invented Anno Domini years to date Easter. ...

The Annales Cambriae, found in the Harleian recension of the Historia Brittonum, preserve an entry under the year 665 that records "The second battle of Badon" (bellum Badonis). While pointing to an engagement between two kingdoms of the seventh century, it is debatable which kingdoms these may be and whether this battle is recorded in other historical records of Britain or England. It could be a duplicate of the first battle, which had been passed through another oral transmission route with information changed on the way. Annales Cambriae, or The Annals of Wales, believed to date from 970, is a chronicle of events thought to be significant occurring during the years 447-954. ... The Historia Britonum, or The History of the Britons, is a historical work that was first written sometime shortly after AD 820, and exists in several recensions of varying difference. ... Events Swithelm succeeded by Sighere and Sebbi as king(s) of Essex Seongnam renamed Hansanju. ...

Information about names

In Historia Brittonum

The 9th century Historia Brittonum records traditions that name the Romano-British / Celtic leader as Arthur. The Historia Britonum, or The History of the Britons, is a historical work that was first written sometime shortly after AD 820, and exists in several recensions of varying difference. ...

In Taliesin

An old Welsh poem ascribed to Taliesin (who lived in the last half of the 6th century), refers to "the battle of Badon with Arthur, chief giver of feasts… the battle which all men remember". In that sort of society, "chief giver of feasts" implies supreme leader. Taliesin or Taliessin (c. ...

More recent speculations

• More recently, scholars guessed that the Romano-British leader could have been Ambrosius Aurelianus and the Saxon leader could have been Aelle of Sussex, King of the South Saxons.

Ambrosius Aurelianus, called Aurelius Ambrosius in the Historia Regum Britanniae and elsewhere, was a leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas. ... Ælle was king of the South Saxons from 477 to perhaps as late as 514, and was named Bretwalda by Bede, who adds that he was overlord of the English south of the Humber river. ... The Kingdom of Sussex, (Suth Seaxe, i. ...

Information about dates

Gildas

Gildas writes "ad annum obsessionis Badonici montis ... quique quadragesimus quartus ut novi orditur annus mense iam uno emenso qui et meae nativitatis est", which has been translated in more than one way. Gildas (c. ...

• It may mean "at/to the year of the siege of Mount Badon ... which happened 44 years and one month ago, and which is [the year] of my birth". King Maelgwn of Gwynedd was still living when Gildas wrote this, therefore Gildas wrote this on or before 547. This suggests the date 503 or shortly before for the battle.
• Bede treated this passage as saying that the battle was 44 years after the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain (which he said was in 449). Adding 44 years to 449 gives the date 493 for the battle. Adding 44 years to 447 (when Thanet was conceded to Hengist) gives the date 491 for the battle. Some would argue that Bede's copy of Gildas was much closer to Gildas's time than any extant; however, the age of a manuscript (especially one no longer existing) is no guide to its accuracy.

A siege is a military blockade and assault of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. ... Maelgwn ap Cadwallon (480-547, reigned from 520s?) (Latin: Maglocunus; English: Malcolm), also known as Maelgwn Gwynedd, Maelgwn Hir (the Tall) and Maelgwn I, was king of Gwynedd, and a character from Celtic mythology. ... Gwynedd was one of the kingdoms or principalities of medieval Wales. ... Depiction of Bede from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. ... Hengest or Hengist (d. ...

Annales Cambriae

The later Annales Cambriae offers the date 516, which few modern scholars accept. Annales Cambriae entries after 525 appear to have been transcribed from contemporary tables for the calculation of Easter; entries before 525 are much less reliable. Annales Cambriae, or The Annals of Wales, believed to date from 970, is a chronicle of events thought to be significant occurring during the years 447-954. ...

Lives of the Saints

The Celtic Lives of the Saints indirectly support a date closer to 493 than 503. The Lives of Dewi Sant (David, the patron saint of Wales), Saint Cadoc and Saint Gildas report that Gildas visited the Abbey of Ty Gwyn in 527 or 528 and objected to Dewi/David being placed in charge of it at such a young age. Celtic Christianity is Christianity as it was first received and practiced by communities with Celtic backgrounds that observed certain practices divergent from those in the rest of Europe. ... Saint David (c. ... Saint Cadoc of Llancarvan, Abbot, ( died at Benevenna ) was one of the 6th-century Welsh saints whose life touched King Arthur. ...

These biographies of early church leaders, mostly written in the 11th century, may for propaganda purposes have invented, exaggerated, or borrowed miracles, and altered days of death, but some argue that their authors had no reason to distort mundane facts such as the dates and places of meetings. Further, these three Lives are independent of each other, their authors drawing from records (since lost) or traditions at the abbeys the saints lived in - St David's for David, Llancarfan for Cadoc, and Rhuys in Brittany for Gildas. As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... St Davids (Welsh: Tyddewi) is the smallest city in the United Kingdom, with a population of under 2,000 people. ... Llancarfan is located several miles across the vale from Barry Llancarfan is a rural village and community, west of Barry near Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, in south Wales. ... Brittany has an expansive coastline Flag of Brittany (Gwenn-ha-du) Historical province of Brittany région of Bretagne, see Bretagne. ...

Rhygyfarch's Life of David says that David had ten years education under Saint Paulinus (Saint Pol de Leon) before becoming Abbot of Ty Gwyn. This suggests that David's birth could hardly have been later than 514. Rhygyfarch also says that Gildas preached to David's mother, Saint Non, while she was pregnant with him. If Gildas was old enough to be preaching in, at the latest, 514, it is implausible to place the date of Gildas's birth, and therefore of the Battle of Mount Badon, later than 498. Rhigyfarch or Ricemarch (1057-1099)eldest son of Sulien, whom he succeeded as abbot/bishop of St. ... Paul Aurelian (also known, in French, as Pol de Léon and, in Latin, as Paulinus Aurelianus) is a 6th century Welsh saint, who became one of the seven founder saints of Brittany. ...

Effects of the battle

However uncertain the place, date, or participants of this battle may be, it clearly halted the Anglo-Saxon advance for some years.

• The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is silent about this battle, but documents a gap of almost 70 years between two major Anglo-Saxon leaders (Bretwaldas) in the fifth and sixth centuries.
• Procopius records a story, told to him by a member of a diplomatic delegation from the Franks, including a group of Angles, which included that some Anglo-Saxons and British found their island so crowded that they migrated into northern Gaul to find lands to live on.
• There are other tales from the mid-6th century about groups of Anglo-Saxons leaving Britain to settle across the English Channel.

All of these point to some kind of reversal in the fortunes of the invading Anglo-Saxons. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals narrating the history of the Anglo-Saxons and their settlement in Great Britain. ... Bretwalda is an Anglo-Saxon term, the first record of which comes from the late ninth-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. ... Procopius (in Greek Προκόπιος, c. ... For other uses, see Franks (disambiguation). ... White cliffs of Dover in England White cliffs of Rugen down the Baltic coast from Schleswig The Angles is a modern English word for a Germanic-speaking people who took their name from the cultural ancestor of Angeln, a modern district located in Schleswig, Germany. ... Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (Latin: ) was the name given, in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe comprising present-day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: La Manche (IPA: ), the sleeve) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ...

Archaeological evidence collected from the cemeteries of the pagan Anglo-Saxons suggests that some of their settlements were abandoned and the frontier between the invaders and the native inhabitants pushed back some time around 500. The Anglo-Saxons held the present counties of Kent, Sussex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and around the Humber; it is clear that the native British controlled everything west of a line drawn from the mouth of the Wiltshire Avon at Christchurch north to the river Trent, then along the Trent to where it joined the Humber, and north along the river Derwent and then east to the North Sea, and an enclave to the north and west of London, and south of Verulamium, that stretched west to join with the main frontier. The Britons defending this pocket could securely move their troops along Watling Street to bring reinforcements to London or Verulamium, and thus keep the invaders divided into pockets south of the Weald, in eastern Kent, and in the lands around the Wash. Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. ... Norfolk (pronounced IPA: ) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in the East Anglia region of eastern England. ... River Hull tidal barrier. ... The River Avon is a river in the county of Hampshire in the south of England. ... Christchurch is a town in Dorset, England on the English Channel coast. ... For other uses see Trent River. ... River Hull tidal barrier. ... The Derwent is a river in Yorkshire in the north of England. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Remains of the city walls Verulamium was the third largest city in Roman Britain. ... The modern Watling Street crossing the Medway at Rochester near the Roman and Celt crossings Watling Street is the name given to a British ancient trackway which was first used by the Celts mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. ... A weald once meant a dense forest, especially the famous great wood once stretching far beyond the ancient counties of Sussex and Kent, England, where this country of smaller woods is still called the Weald. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... The term wash can mean several things: Cleaning A wash is the act of cleaning. ...

Second Battle of Badon

According to the Annales Cambriae, in the year 665 there was a second battle at Badon. It also lists for 665 the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity ("first Easter of the Saxons") and the death of one "Morgan". It is possible these three events are connected, if they are factual. Or this battle may be a duplicate of the first battle, heard of by a different route with details changed.

Portrayal in popular media

• In the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and the play "Monty Python's Spamalot," Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot is said to have "personally wet himself in the Battle of Badon Hill".
• The 2004 film King Arthur sets the battle at, and directly south of Hadrian's Wall.
• Bernard Cornwell, in The Warlord Chronicles, places the battle north of Bath.
• In the 2005 PC game Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion, there is a scenario based on the battle.
• The Dagorhir groups Rome and Eryndor run an event yearly named after Badon Hill.[5]
• In C.S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength(Ch. 15) the wizard Merlin, reawakened in the 20th Century, "saw in memory the wintry grass of Badon Hill, the long banner of the Vigin fluttering above the British-Roman cataphracts, the yellow-haired barbarians. He heard the snap of the bows, the click-click of steel points in wooden shields, the cheers, the howling, and the ring of struck mail. He remembered also the evening, fires twinkling along the hill, frost making the gashes smart, starlight on a pool fouled with blood, eagles crowding together in the pale sky".