Who was Ambrosius Aurelianus? Arthurian Legend.

King Arthur is often confused with Ambrosius Aurelianus. I have fleetingly mentioned Ambrosius several times before, but I think he deserves a post of his own.
Ambrosius was a war leader of Roman-British decent. Surprisingly the earliest mention of him is in the 6th Century by Gildas. Gildas named very few people in his sermon De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, but he does name Ambrosius. This is what he had to say...

"... a gentleman who, perhaps alone of the Romans, had survived the shock of this notable storm. Certainly his parents, who had worn the purple, were slain by it. His descendants in our day have become greatly inferior to their grandfather's excellence. Under him our people regained their strength, and challenged the victors to battle. The Lord assented, and the battle went their way."

Although this is very brief, we can deduce a fair amount from it.

Ambrosius was of Roman descent.

  

"...his parents had worn the purple..."

Purple was a really important colour. It was worn by the Emperors of Rome. It was the colour worn by those of noble heritage as well as senators. Senior officers in the Roman legions also wore a purple band. Maybe his father held a high rank in the army, or maybe he was  a governor of a provenance in England.

The passage also describes his parents being slain by the Saxons and yet he survived.

 

 Roman men wearing togae praetextae with reddish-purple stripes during a religious procession.

Ambrosius was a Chrisitan.

"...The Lord assented..."

He went into battle with God's help - so from that we can assume he was a Christian.

Ambrosius fought the Saxons.

"Sometimes the Saxons and sometimes the citizens were victorious."

I guess things did not always go the way Ambrosius wanted, but it does tell us that he was a great war-leader.

I always found this line very interesting.

"His descendants in our day have become greatly inferior to their grandfather's excellence."

Who was his Grandfather? He was obviously an important person. There has been a fair few name thrown forward as to who Gildas had been talking about, but it is all speculation.

 Bede mentions Ambrosius in his great work, Ecclesiastical History of the English People

"...Their leader at that time was a certain Ambrosius Aurelianus, a discreet man, who was, as it happened, the sole member of the Roman race who had survived this storm in which his parents, who bore a royal and famous name, had perished. Under his leadership the Britons regained their strength, challenged their victors to battle, and, with God's help, won the day."

It seemed that Bede took his account from Gildas..dare I say Bede had a better way with words?!

Ambrosius's story is picked up by Nennius.

Nennius suggests that Ambrosius was a very influential warlord. Vortigern, another great powerful warlord, feared the return of Roman rule and he saw Ambrosius as more of a threat to his throne than that of the northern invaders. You may recall a story I wrote in an earlier post about Ambrosius, Vortigern, two dragons and a tower that kept falling down. If you missed it, you can read it here.

By the time Monmouth came to talk about him - his story, like many others of the time, had become fictitious and his connection with Arthurian legend was forever cemented. His name is changed to Pendragon - and he becomes High King Arthur's, uncle. Merlin even builds a memorial for him at Stonehenge.

Sometimes it is argued that Ambrosius is Arthur. Both fought at Badon Hill, both were powerful warlords.

Whether Ambrosius was King Arthur, I don't think we will ever know. Whoever he was, he certainly had a very fascinating life.

The Battle of Camlann - The final battle of Arthur Pendragon

"The Strife of Camlann in which Arthur and Medraut perished"

Annales Cambriae ( The Annals of Wales)

The Battle of Camlann is reputed to have been the last battle that Arthur fought in, although there is no mention of it in Nennius famous list of battles. The first documented evidence of the battle can be found in the 10th Century work, Annales Cambriae.

(How Mordred was Slain by Arthur, and How by Him Arthur was Hurt to the Death, by Arthur Rackham)

What happened?

Now, legend would have it that this was the battle in which Mordred turned on Arthur and they fought each other - but the Annales Cambriae does not actually say this...it simply states that they both perished. It makes me wonder?

But, never mind that, it certainly did not stop Geoffrey of Monmouth writing his romantic work of fiction - I meant fact...historical fact...I am always getting that wrong!

If you are not familiar with the story, than I shall do my best to enlighten you!

Arthur finds out about Lancelot and Guinevere's betrayal. So enraged is he, that he follows Lancelot to France, determined to seek his revenge. Arthur leaves Mordred in charge of Britain in his absence.

While he is away, Mordred decides that he rather likes being King of Britain and upsurges Arthur. 

Arthur, learning of Mordred's treachery, takes his army back to Britain and the two meet at Camlann where they battle for the throne. Mordred is killed - by the hand of Arthur, perhaps? Unfortunately, Arthur is also fatally wounded. He is taken to Avalon -- the water is said to be magical and he hopes it can heal him. No one knows what happened to Arthur after that. It is a mystery.

Where is Camlann?

As with all stories of Arthur, there are many haphazard guesses as to where Camlann is. However, there is one clue, Camlann comes from the word, Cambo-glanna, which means a crooked bank of a river! It remains me of Gidas and the location of Badon Hill - The battle was in the south-west. There was a siege on a hill. So helpful!

Monmouth suggested Queen Camel in Somerset, which would be an ideal location if Camelot was at South Cadbury, for the two are very close and for a fictional story it makes perfect sense. Mordred would defend his strong hold on Camelot, whilst Arthur would do everything within his power to reclaim Camelot and Britain.

Queen Camel and that crooked river.

Monmouth tells of a proper full on battle, where the opposing armies line up to face each other, whereas Malory says that the battle was a mistake, a simple misunderstanding, which involved a snake and one of the knights drawing his sword to kill it -  this made the rest of the army draw their swords and carnage consequently resulted. Some mistake!

Merlin - The Wizard of Alderley Edge

There are many places across Britain that claim to have links to King Arthur and his Knights. Can you remember when I spoke of Cadbury Castle and how hidden under the hill was a secret cave, with a pair of iron gates at its entrance? It turns out Cadbury is not the only place where such a tale is told.

There is a small village in Cheshire, with a population of just over 4,000, that boasts the same sort of story. They tell a tale of a farmer, a white horse, a sorcerer and a mysterious cave hidden in a hill.

The story goes...

Once there was a farmer from Mobberley who was on his way to the market at Macclesfield, in the hope of selling his white mare. As he made his way around the Edge he saw an old man, dressed in flowing grey garments. The old man approached him and offered him a fair price for the horse. The farmer refused, he wanted more than this mystery man was offering him and he thought he would get a better price at the market. The old man wished him luck and told him that he would wait for his return from the market and, if he still had the horse, then maybe the farmer would be willing to sell the animal to him then.

 

The horse did not sell and, with grave disappointment, the farmer began to make his way home, hoping that the old man, dressed in grey, would be waiting for him and still willing to buy the horse at the price he had offered earlier.

Thankfully the old man was there and the farmer sold the horse to him, which cheered him somewhat after his dismal disappointment at the market. The old man did not have any money on him, but he assured the farmer that his home was not very far away. The farmer was happy to follow the old man back to his house.

As they approached an area, near a place that was known locally as Stormy Point, the old man produced a wand and started to mutter under his breath. The farmer, was understandably alarmed, and wished now that he had refused the old mans offer, but he had come this far and he needed the money.

 

 The view from Stormy Point over to the Pennines

 

The rocks opened up in front of him. Fearfully he looked inside and saw a pair of majestic iron gates. The old man had started to chant in the language known only to those who practiced magic, and the gates opened. Terrified the farmer fell to his knees and begged the old man not to harm him, to let him go, he wouldn't tell anyone. The sorcerer, which he clearly was, smiled reassuringly and promised that he meant him no harm and all he wanted to do was pay him for the horse.

Not knowing what to do for the best - for this sorcerer had great power and he did not want to offend him - the farmer decided to lead the horse into the cave. Up ahead of him he saw countless men and white horse, all fast asleep. He watched with his mouth a gasp as the sorcerer went to an old chest and pulled out a bag of coins, which he gave to the farmer as payment for the horse.

The farmer asked fearfully who these people were. The sorcerer told him that this was a sleeping army who would one day rise again, should England be in peril. They would do him no harm, he had nothing to fear from them.

The sorcerer then abruptly told the farmer to leave, which he gratefully did. The iron gates slammed shut behind him and when he turned around to look at the gates one last time, there was nothing to see. The land in front of him looked as it always had.

Not daring to linger, the farmer walked swiftly away. When he returned home he told everybody he knew about the strange encounter and the next day his friends traveled with him back to the rocks, but they could see no cave, everything looked as it always did.

From the description of the men asleep and the sorcerer's words, we can assume it is Arthur and his knights and the sorcerer, Merlin. I there any truth in the story? -- I think that is probably up to you to decide, but I do wonder what the farmer's friends thought of him when he told the tale?

The Legendary King Arthur.

I have just realised that I seem to be quite happy to tell you all about Arthur's legendary knights, but I have forgotten to tell you about Arthur's legendary life. Although, I am sure you probably know a great deal about it already.

So, lets for a minute, forget about Nennius, Gildas, and my hunt for the real Arthur, and instead look at the stories.

Geoffrey of Monmouth really paved the way when it came to the stories of Arthur, but it would be the work of Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, which would come to influence the 'history' of the Once and Future King.

Bradley James played Arthur Pendragon in the BBC adaptation of Merlin

See if you recognise any of these themes.

King Uther Pendragon holds court, and there he meets Igrain, the wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. Uther is driven almost out of his mind with lust for Igrain. He cannot help but make his attraction known. But Igrain loves her husband and tells him of Uther's pursuit. Gorlois whisks his wife away from court and they head back home to the safety of Tintagle Castle.

So great is Uther's lust that he follows her home, and while Gorlois is out fighting in a noble battle, Uther asks the great sorcerer, Merlin, to disguise him as Gorlois. Thinking Uther is Gorlois, Igrain makes love to him. That very night, Gorlois dies.

After this there is a great deal of confusion as to what happened next. Did Igrain have two daughters by Gorlois and a son by Uther, or were all her children Uthers? Did she marry Uther? Did she die? -- I am guessing at some point she died, because that tends to happen, but no one seems to know when.

We need to look at Robert de Boron and Thomas Malory's work to find out what happened next.

Arthur is giving to Sir Ector to be raised in secret.

In the meantime, Uther dies and as there is seemingly no heir to take his place, Merlin decides to place a sword in a stone - saying that whoever can draw the sword out of the stone is the rightful king.

Many try. No one succeeds. Except for Sir Ector ward, Arthur.

Arthur is crowned king. Hurrah! But not everyone is happy about it. Merlin takes Arthur to Avalon, here he meets with the Lady of the Lake who gives Arthur his magic sword, Excalibur. There is a rebellion of the eleven kingdoms, which Arthur brutally puts down. He is the King and he will have respect.

Arthur meets and falls in love with Guinevere. Her father gives Arthur a magnificent Round Table as part of his daughter's dowery. There is no head to a round table, so all those who sit around it are equal. And so begins a memorable reign. It is all going splendidly well, until his wife falls in love with one of his knights.

Lancelot and Guinevere keep their affair a secret. But as with all secrets, at some point the truth will out.

Guinevere begs Lancelot to flee the castle, fearing for his life. He is reluctant to leave her, but he sees no other option. He leaves, but then he hears the shocking news that Arthur has sentenced Guinevere to death for High Treason. Lancelot cannot leave her to such a fate, so he embarks on a bold rescue, in which he is successful. Lancelot takes Guinevere to the relatively safety of his own kingdom in Brittany.

Arthur cannot allow such an insult to go unpunished. He crosses the channel to Brittany and lays siege to Lancelot's castle. There are several version as to what happens next...did Lancelot make peace with Arthur? Did Guinevere return to her husband? Was there a bloody battle?

Meanwhile, back in Britain, Mordred, whom Arthur had left in charge of the kingdom, comes to the conclusion that he actually quite likes having all this power and he could easily do what Arthur does - no problem whatsoever. He rebells against Arthur and claims the throne of Camelot for himself. Enraged, Arthur leaves Brittany and heads home.

There is a vicious battle on Salisbury Plain - The Battle of Camlann - in which Arthur slays Mordred. Unfortunately, Arthur is also gravely wounded. He needs to journey to Avalon where the magic of the waters will heal him. He is placed in a barge - the quickest way to get to Avalon is by boat. But, Arthur knows he will not make it. He commands that his sword be thrown back into the lake. He dies...well, maybe he died, for his death is surrounded in mystery.

The end...or is it?

Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Before you read on any farther I want you to have a quick go at naming as many of King Arthur's knights as you can......

First Knight, 1995

How many did you name?

If you reached ten or more then I would be impressed. The number of Knights Arthur had depends on what you read. But there is roughly 150. No small number...he must have had a really big table.

Right, lets think about the ones that roll off the tongue, so to speak. Lancelot being the most obvious I guess. Then we have the likes of Galahad and Gawain (my youngest should be very thankful, he almost got called Gawain...he is one of my favourite knights), Tristan, Bors, Percival, Kay, Bedivere the list goes on, but these are the ones that seem to be remembered.

What did you have to do to become a knight?

I have no idea. But, in the Middle Ages that question needed a definite answer. Let me introduce you to Sir Thomas Malory an English writer. Malory wrote Le Morte d'Arthur and in this book he introduced Malory the code of chivalry. 

This is what he said.

To be a knight one must -

1. Never do outrage nor murder.

That is pretty self explanatory. I don't think I need to explain that.

2. Always to flee treason.

Do not commit treason.

3.To by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy.

Always be merciful and to grant mercy to those who ask for it. No mindless killing on the battlefield if the enemy is surrendering

4. To always do ladies, gentlewomen and widows succor.

In other words a knight must help a high born woman if they need it - I hope that applies to women born in the peasantry as well.

5. To never force ladies, gentlewomen or widows.

I am getting really concerned about lowly birthed women now.

6. Not to take up battles in wrongful quarrels for love or worldly goods.

Unless it is for God or for your King, forget it, you are not fighting.

God Speed, Edmund Leighton 1900

That all sounds rather chivalrous but remember, this code was written in the Middle Ages. I like to think that the knights had a code, but whether they did or not, I guess we will never know. The logical thing to do next would be to look at some of these knights in more detail. I shall pick a handful and talk about them over the next few blogs.

See you soon.

Mary xx

King Arthurs Camelot

I can not blog about Arthur and not mention Camelot. It would be like talking about William the Conquerer and forgetting to mention The Battle of Hastings.

Château de Pierrefonds -Location of Camelot in the BBC drama - Merlin

Okay, this is difficult... I am so tempted not to say it...but the truth is the name Camelot was the invention of a French poet who wrote in the twelfth century. Sorry.

Now, I am not saying that Arthur did not have his own hillfort. If he was as great as we are all led to believe then I have no doubt that he did.

With the departure of the Romans, the hillforts became places of power once again. Building on a hill has two benefits..the first, you have a pretty good view of the surrounding area so you can see if any enemy army is approaching and secondly...you are on a hill...you have the higher ground in a fight.

In the mid 1960's and early 1970's the Camelot Research Society decided to excavate one of these hillforts in South Cadbury in Somerset, which caused a great deal of excitement. They found a drystone wall surrounding the fort. They found evidence of timber buildings including a Great Hall or Feasting Hall, as it was sometimes known. But one thing was for certain, it would certainly not have looked like the fairytale castle that is portrayed in Merlin. The remains of Mediterranean pottery was also found at Cadbury, so we can conclude that who ever lived there was pretty wealthy.

No one can say whether Cadbury was Arthur's home. The truth is, no one knows where Arthur lived. Nevertheless, I like the idea of Camelot and somehow it wouldn't feel right to talk about Arthur and not mention his legendary home.

See you soon.

Mary xx

Arthur's Badon Hill

I have spoken often of Badon Hill in my previous posts, but I think it deserves a post of its own. Nennius wrote of Badon Hill as does Gildas. Even our modern day Hollywood has told how a great king defeated the terrifying Saxons at Badon Hill.

King Arthur 2004

It is generally accepted that the battle occurred around AD500 and it was a fight between the Britons and those 'terrifying Saxons.'

Gildas mentions the battle, he describes it as the "....last great victory of the fatherland..." and it did halt the Saxon invasion for another forty years or so. It must have been quite some battle to scare the Saxons away for that long.

Archeologist back up Gildas claim.

"...There is a lack of sixth-century Anglo-Saxon pottery in areas such as Sussex, Essex and Hertfordshire which have all yielded fifth-century material...the Anglo-Saxon expansion in the Upper Thames ceased for fifty years after Badon..." Michael Wood. In Search of the Dark Ages.

Gildas, unfortunately, is his usual vague self when it comes to the finer details. He does not mention Arthur, or where the battle actually took place. What Gildas does tell is is :

The battle was in the south-west

There was a siege on a hill.

Thank you Gildas, that helps a lot!

So, from what Gildas tells us, we are looking for a hillfort in the south-west of Britain...? Maybe.

Okay...next step would be trying to find out where the prominent hillforts were. There are four possibilities.

1. Old Sarum, Wiltshire  (I will talk about Old Sarum in another post...love that place!)

2. Barbury Castle, Wiltshire

3. Liddington Castle, Wiltshire

4. Dyrham Camp, Gloucestershire

Of course there is a strong possibility that it could be none of the above. But most historians kind of sway towards Liddington Castle, because it is next to a village called Badbury...could this have been Badon?

Liddington Castle

Liddington Castle was in a strategic position between the main Anglo-Saxon settlements and "...Liddlington marks one of the great Dark Age road junctions..." Michael Wood. But it does beg the question...Did the hillfort actually belong to the Saxon's? Did the Britons drive them out?

The other question of course is...was Arthur actually there? Nennius states that he was, "...960 men fell in one day..." But Of course Nennius wrote this a mere 300 years after the event by which time Arthur was a folk hero already. Maybe Nennius was merely documents stories about Arthur's famous twelve battles that he had been told rather than writing hard sourced facts, others argue that he found the list in old Welsh war poetry. But I do wonder what he was thinking when he wrote that Arthur felled 960 men on his own, surely he did not really believe that?

Thats all for now. See you soon.

Mary xx

King Arthur and the Church

Abbot Gevard, who, during a sermon to his English chapterhouse monks noticed several bethren sleeping - some even began to snore. "Listen brethren, listen," he cried out. "I have something new and important to tell you: There was once a king named Arthur." Seeing his somnolent audience rouse itself, he scolded them: "When I was speaking to you about God, you fell asleep, but you all woke up and began to listen with eager ears" with the naming of Arthur.  

The Fabulous Dark Cloister:Romance in England after the Reformation. Tiffany J. Werth

I love the idea that the monks were roused from their slumbers by the mention of Arthur's name. He somehow caught the imagination of a nation and has held it captive ever since.

The last time I talked about Gildas, and how Arthur had somehow fallen out with the Church. This was something I had to try and find out about.

But, remember, Arthur, according to Bede, was a Christian..he carried the image of the Virgin Mary into battle.

So what happened?

I am going to introduce you to an early 6th Century abbot-bishop who went by the name of Padarn.  Padarn founded St Padarn's Chruch in Llanbadarn Fawk.....Wales.

Church of St Padarn, Llanbadarn Fawr

Padarn, it seems, had a little bit of a run in with Arthur.  Check this out.

'When Padarn was in his church resting after so much labour at sea, a certain tyrant, Arthur by name, was traversing the regions on either side, who one day came to the cell of saint Padarn the bishop. And while he was addressing Padarn, he looked at the tunic, which he, being pierced with the zeal of avarice, sought for his own. The saint answering said, "This tunic is not fitting for the habit of any malign person, but for the habit of the clerical office." He went out of the monastery in a rage. And again he returns in wrath, that he might take away the tunic against the counsels of his own companions. One of the disciples of Padarn seeing him returning in fury, ran to saint Padarn and said, "The tyrant, who went out from here before, is returning. Reviling, stamping, he levels the ground with his feet". Padarn answers "Nay rather, may the earth swallow him." With the word straightway the earth opens the hollow of its depth, and swallows Arthur up to his chin. He immediately acknowledging his guilt begins to praise both God and Padarn, until, while he begs forgiveness, the earth delivered him up. From that place on bent knees he begged the saint for indulgence, whom the saint forgave. And he took Padarn as his continual patron, and so departed.'

This extract make Arthur sound like a spoilt little child, stamping his feet and having a bit of a tantrum when he could not have what he wanted. It doesn't sound very heroic, does it? Did Geoffrey of Monmouth, glamourise the life of Arthur in The History of the Kings of Britain? Was he, in fact, dishonourable? Little more than a bully? Or was the Church merely trying to discredit him...had he in fact become too popular? Did the people, like the monks, prefer to hear the stories of Arthur rather than the words of God? I'll leave it up to you to decide.

See you soon.

Mary xx