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Alternate spelling: Gildus
St. Gildas was a British monk and writer who founded a monastery in Brittany that would later be called, after him, St. Gildas de Rhuys. His few surviving written works include De excidio et conquestu Britanniae ("The Overthrow and Conquest of Britain"), sometimes known simply as De Excidio Britonum or De Excidio Britanniae ("On the Ruin of Britain.")
De Excidio Britanniae includes the story of the British leader Ambrosius Aurelianus and the defeat of the Saxons at Mons Badonicus (Mount Badon). It has been theorized that Aurelianus is the historical figure on whom the tales of King Arthur were based, but that is only one of many theories. The work is superficially a "history," but it is primarily a diatribe against the corrupt priests and leaders that had risen to power during his lifetime.
Gildas may be considered the first British historian (Bede, who flourished nearly two centuries later, is the first English historian). Although his work is notably biased and its reliability is highly suspect, it still stands as a significant record of early British history.
More Gildas Resources:
Online text of De Excidio BritanniaePost-Roman Britain: An Introduction
Gildas on the Web
Gildas in Print
The links below will take you to a site where you can compare prices at booksellers across the web. More in-depth info about the book may be found by clicking on to the book's page at one of the online merchants.
- De Excidio
Brittaniae
by Gildas; translated by J. A. Giles
The De Excidio of
Gildas: Its Authenticity and Date
(Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition)
by Thomas D. O'Sullivan
The English
Conquest: Gildas and Britain in the Fifth Century
by N. J. Higham
Early Europe
Monasticism
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