Gildas (c. 494 - c.570) was a prominent member of Celtic Christianity in Britain, renowned for his learning and literary style. He was ordained, and in his works favored the monastic ideal. Fragments of letters he wrote reveal that he wrote a Rule for monastic life that was a little less austere than the Rule written by his contemporary, Saint David and set suitable penances for its breach. Events Pope Gelasius I delineates the relationship between church and state. ... Events First mention of the Spear of Destiny (approximate date). ... Celtic Christianity is Christianity as it was first received and practised by communities with Celtic backgrounds that observed certain practices divergent from those in the rest of Europe. ... Monasticism (from Greek: monachos—a solitary person) is the religious practice of renouncing all worldly pursuits in order to fully devote ones life to spiritual work. ... Saint David (c. ...

The scholar David N. Dumville suggests, based on his research, that Gildas was the teacher of Vennianus of Findbarr, who in turn was the teacher of St. Columba of Iona. Thomas Stephens believed him to be the father of Aneirin. Saint Columba (7 December 521 _ 9 June 597), the Latinized version of the Irish name Colmcille (Old Irish Columb Cille) meaning Dove of the church, was an Irish missionary monk who helped re_introduce Christianity to Scotland and the north of England. ... Iona, population 175, is a small island (1 mile wide, 3. ... Thomas Stephens (1821 - 1875) was a Welsh historian and critic. ... Aneirin, Aneurin or Neirin mab Dwywei (c. ...

A biography of Gildas was written by Caradoc of Llancarfan in the 12th century, and others were written at Rhuys and elsewhere in Brittany. These later biographies say that Gildas was a son of Caw, King of Strathclyde; he was educated by Saint Illtud at Llantwit Major (near Cardiff); he became a bell-maker by trade (and is said to have sent a bell to Saint Bride around 519); he made a pilgrimage to Rome in 520, spent seven years at the Abbey of Rhuys in Brittany, then a year in charge of the Abbey of Llancarfan while the Abbot, Saint Cadoc was away. After 528 he moved to Street, Somerset (near Glastonbury) and built himself a llan (hermitage comprising a church and enclosure), the outline of which can still be discerned today at Holy Trinity. He later (c.544) returned to Rhuys, where he remained until his death, apart from a visit to Ireland, dated by the Annales Cambriae, a chronicle found in one manuscript with a version of the Historia Brittonum, to 565. (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... Traditional coat of arms This article is about the historical duchy and French province, as well as the cultural area of Brittany. ... Strathclyde (Srath Chluaidh in Gaelic) was one of the regional council areas of Scotland from 1974 to 1996. ... Cardiff (Welsh: Caerdydd, from caer, fort, and dydd, Aulus Didius) is the capital and largest city of Wales. ... Saint Brigid of Ireland (Bridget, Bridgit, Brigit, Bride) (451- 525) was born at Faughart near Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. ... Events The Eastern and Western churches are temporarily reconciled with the end of the Acacian schism. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1... Events February 20 - Epiphanius elected Patriarch of Constantinople. ... Traditional coat of arms This article is about the historical duchy and French province, as well as the cultural area of Brittany. ... Saint Cadoc of Llancarvan, Abbot, ( died at Benevenna ) was one of the 6th-century Welsh saints whose life touched King Arthur. ... Events February 13 - Justinian appoints a commission (including the jurist Tribonian) to codify all imperial laws that were still in force from Hadrian to the current date. ... Map sources for Street at grid reference ST4836 Street is a village in the county of Somerset, England, situated on a dry spot in the Somerset Levels two miles south west of Glastonbury. ... Map sources for Glastonbury at grid reference ST5039 Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry spot on the Somerset Levels, 30 miles south of Bristol. ... Events Belisarius is sent back to Italy to once more fight the Ostrogoths who have been making reconquests in the area. ... Annales Cambriae, or The Annals of Wales, is a compendium of events thought to be significant occurring during the year they were recorded. ... 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 January 22 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. ...

Myth is inextricably entangled with history in these Lives written so long after the fact. In Caradoc's Life can be found a story telling of Gildas' intervention between King Arthur and a certain King Melwas of the "Summer Country" who had abducted Guinevere and brought her to his stronghold at Glastonbury, where Arthur soon arrived to besiege him. However, the peacemaking Saint persuaded Melwas to release Guinevere and the two kings made peace. Arthur was certainly a vivid historical reality to the 12th century poet, but how much of Gildas' biography is legendary tradition is moot. Part of the importance of this is that Caradoc's life suggests Gildas' brother was killed by Arthur. This has been used to explain the absence of Arthur from Gildas' De Excidio Britanniae. King Arthur is an important figure in the mythology of Great Britain, where he appears as the ideal of kingship in both war and peace. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ...

Gildas is also credited with a hymn called the Lorica, or Breastplate, a prayer to be delivered from evil, which contains interesting specimens of Hiberno-Latin. A hymn is a song specifically written as a song of praise, adoration or prayer, typically addressed to a god. ... Evil is a term describing that which is regarded as morally bad, intrinsically corrupt, wantonly destructive, inhumane, selfish, or wicked. ... Hiberno-Latin, also called Hisperic Latin, was a playful and learned sort of Latin literature created and spread by Irish monks during the period from the sixth century to the tenth century. ...

De Excidio Britanniae

Gildas' surviving written work, De Excidio Britanniae or On the Ruin of Britain, is a sermon in three parts condemning the acts of his contemporaries, both secular and religious. The first part consists of Gildas' explanation for his work and a brief narrative of Roman Britain from its conquest under the principate to Gildas' time, a chronicle that relates

concerning her obstinacy, subjection and rebellion, about her second subjection and harsh servitude; concerning religion, of persecution, the holy martyrs, many heresies, of tyrants, of two plundering races, concerning the defense and a further devastation, of a second vengeance and a third devastation, concerning hunger, of the letter to Agitius [usually identified with the patrician Aetius ], of victory, of crimes, of enemies suddenly announced, a memorable plague, a council, an enemy more savage than the first, the subversion of cities, concerning those whose survived, and concerning the final victory of our country that has been granted to our time by the will of God.

In the second part, opening with the assertion "Britain has kings, yet they are tyrants; it has judges, yet they are undutiful", Gildas addresses the lives and actions of five contemporary rulers: Constantine of Dumnonia, Aurelius Caninus, Vortipor of the Demetae (now called Dyfed), Cuneglasus of "the Bear's Stronghold" (Din Eirth, possibly Dinarth near Llandudno), and lastly Maglocunus or Maelgwn. Without exception, Gildas declares each of these rulers cruel, rapacious, and living a life of sin. Flavius Aetius or simply Aetius, (circa 396 - 454), was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. ... The Dumnonii is the Latin name for a Celtic tribe which emerged in the wake of the Roman withdrawal from England during the 4th century AD. Their territory spanned Somerset, Devon and Cornwall with further holdings in Dorset. ... The Demetae were one of the Celtic tribes living in the British Islands, prior to the Roman invasion of Britain. ... Dyfed was one of the ancient kingdoms (or principalities) of Wales prior to the Norman Conquest. ... Llandudno is a seaside resort and town in the county borough of Conwy in North Wales. ... Maelgwn ap Cadwallon (480-547, reigned from 520s?) (Latin: Maglocunus; English: Malcolm), also known as Maelgwn Gwynedd and Maelgwn Hir (the Tall), was king of Gwynedd, and a character from Celtic mythology. ...

The third part begins with the words, "Britain has priests, but they are fools; numerous ministers, but they are shameless; clerics, but they are wily plunderers." Gildas continues his jeremiad against the clergy of his age, but does not explicitly mention any names in this section, and so does not cast any light on the history of the Christian church in this period. A Jeremiad is a long literary work, usually in prose, but sometimes in poetry, that bitterly laments the state of society and its morals in a serious tone of sustained invective, and often contains a prophecy of its coming downfall. ...

The vision presented in this work of a land devastated by plundering raiders and the misrule of corrupt and venial officials has been readily accepted by scholars for centuries, because not only did it fit the accepted belief of invading, destructive barbarians who destroyed Roman civilization within the bounds of the former empire, but it also explained away the awkward question of why Britain was one of the few parts of the Roman Empire that did not acquire a Romance language, as had France, Spain and Romania. However, the student must remember that Gildas' intent in his writing is to preach to his contemporaries after the manner of an old testament prophet, not to write an account for posterity: while Gildas offers one of the first descriptions of the Hadrian's Wall, he also omits details where they do not contribute to his message. Nonetheless, it remains an important work for not only Medieval but English history for being one of the few works written in Britain to survive from the sixth century. Barbarian was originally a Greek term applied to any foreigner, one not sharing a recognized culture or degree of polish with the speaker or writer employing the term. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... The Romance languages, also called Romanic languages, are a subfamily of the Italic languages, specifically the descendants of the Vulgar Latin dialects spoken by the common people evolving in different areas after the break-up of the Roman Empire. ... Hadrians Wall (in Latin: Vallum Hadriani) was a stone and turf fortification, built by the Romans across the width of Great Britain to prevent military raids by the Pictish tribes of Scotland to the north, to improve economic stability and provide peaceful conditions in the south, to define the... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... (5th century — 6th century — 7th century — other centuries) Events The first academy of the east the Academy of Gundeshapur founded in Persia by the Persian Shah Khosrau I. Irish colonists and invaders, the Scots, began migrating to Caledonia (later known as Scotland) Glendalough monastery, Wicklow Ireland founded by St. ...

In De Excidio Britanniae, Gildas mentions that the year of his birth was the same year that the Battle of Mons Badonicus took place in. The Annales Cambriae gives the year of his death as 570; however the Annals of Tigernach date his death to 569. In the Battle of Mount Badon (Latin Mons Badonicus, Welsh Mynydd Baddon) Romano-British and Celts inflicted a severe defeat on an invading Anglo-Saxon army sometime in the decade before or after 500. ...

See also

• Groans of the Britons
• English historians in the Middle Ages

The Groans of the Britons (Latin: gemitus Britannorum) is the name of the final appeal made by the post-Roman population of Britain for assistance against foreign invasion. ... English historians in the Middle Ages is an overview of the history of English historians and their works in the Middle Ages. ...

External links

• De Excidio Britanniae translated by John Allen Giles.
• Another e-text of the Giles translation is available at Project Gutenberg.
• The Life of Gildas by Caradoc of Llancarfan.
• Gildas and The History of the Britons commentary from The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Volume 1, 1907–21.