CHAP. I.--_After the death of Brutus, his three sons succeed him in the
kingdom._
During these transactions, Brutus had by his wife Ignoge three famous
sons, whose names were Locrin, Albanact, and Kamber. These, after their
father's death, which happened in the twenty-fourth year after his
arrival, buried him in the city which he had built, and then having
divided the kingdom of Britain among them, retired each to his
government. Locrin, the eldest, possessed the middle part of the island,
called afterwards from his name, Loegria. Kamber had that part which
lies beyond the river Severn, now called Wales, but which was for a long
time named Kambria; and hence that people still call themselves in their
British tongue Kambri. Albanact, the younger brother, possessed the
country he called Albania, now Scotland. After they had a long time
reigned in peace together, Humber, king of the Huns, arrived in Albania,
and having killed Albanact in battle, forced his people to fly to Locrin
for protection.
CHAP. II.--_Locrin, having routed Humber, falls in love with Estrildis._
Locrin, at hearing this news, joined his brother Kamber, and went with
the whole strength of the kingdom to meet the king of the Huns, near the
river now called Humber, where he gave him battle, and put him to the
rout. Humber made towards the river in his flight, and was drowned in
it, on account of which it has since borne his name. Locrin, after the
victory, bestowed the plunder of the enemy upon his own men, reserving
for himself the gold and silver which he found in the ships, together
with three virgins of admirable beauty, whereof one was the daughter of
a king in Germany, whom with the other two Humber had forcibly brought
away with him, after he had ruined their country. Her name was
Estrildis, and her beauty such as was hardly to be matched. No ivory or
new-fallen snow, no lily could exceed the whiteness of her skin. Locrin,
smitten with love, would have gladly married her, at which Corineus was
extremely incensed, on account of the engagement which Locrin had
entered into with him to marry his daughter.
CHAP. III.--_Corineus resents the affront put upon his daughter._
He went, therefore, to the king, and wielding a battle-axe in his right
hand, vented his rage against him in these words: "Do you thus reward
me, Locrin, for the many wounds which I have suffered under your
father's command in his wars with strange nations, that you must slight
my daughter, and debase yourself to marry a barbarian? While there is
strength in this right hand, that has been destructive to so many giants
upon the Tyrrhenian coasts, I will never put up with this affront." And
repeating this again and again with a loud voice, he shook his
battle-axe as if he was going to strike him, till the friends of both
interposed, and after they had appeased Corineus, obliged Locrin to
perform his agreement.
CHAP. IV.--_Locrin at last marries Guendoloena, the daughter of
Corineus._
Locrin therefore married Corineus's daughter, named Guendoloena, yet
still retained his love for Estrildis, for whom he made apartments under
ground, in which he entertained her, and caused her to be honourably
attended. For he was resolved at least to carry on a private amour with
her, since he could not live with her openly for fear of Corineus. In
this manner he concealed her, and made frequent visits to her for seven
years together, without the privity of any but his most intimate
domestics; and all under a pretence of performing some secret sacrifices
to his gods, by which he imposed on the credulity of every body. In the
meantime Estrildis became with child, and was delivered of a most
beautiful daughter, whom she named Sabre. Guendoloena was also with
child, and brought forth a son, who was named Maddan, and put under the
care of his grandfather Corineus to be educated.
CHAP. V.--_Locrin is killed; Estrildis and Sabre are thrown into a
river._
But in process of time, when Corineus was dead, Locrin divorced
Guendoloena, and advanced Estrildis to be queen. Guendoloena,
provoked beyond measure at this, retired into Cornwall, where she
assembled together all the forces of that kingdom, and began to raise
disturbances against Locrin. At last both armies joined battle near the
river Sture, where Locrin was killed by the shot of an arrow. After his
death, Guendoloena took upon her the government of the whole kingdom,
retaining her father's furious spirit. For she commanded Estrildis and
her daughter Sabre to be thrown into the river now called the Severn,
and published an edict through all Britain, that the river should bear
the damsel's name, hoping by this to perpetuate her memory, and by that
the infamy of her husband. So that to this day the river is called in
the British tongue Sabren, which by the corruption of the name is in
another language Sabrina.
CHAP. VI.--_Guendoloena delivers up the kingdom to Maddan, her son,
after whom succeeds Mempricius._
Guendoloena reigned fifteen years after the death of Locrin, who had
reigned ten, and then advanced her son Maddan (whom she saw now at
maturity) to the throne, contenting herself with the country of Cornwall
for the remainder of her life. At this time Samuel the prophet governed
in Judaea, Sylvius AEneas was yet living, and Homer was esteemed a famous
orator and poet.[159] Maddan, now in possession of the crown, had by his
wife two sons, Mempricius and Malim, and ruled the kingdom in peace and
with care forty years. As soon as he was dead, the two brothers
quarrelled for the kingdom, each being ambitious of the sovereignty of
the whole island. Mempricius, impatient to attain his ends, enters into
treaty with Malim, under colour of making a composition with him, and,
having formed a conspiracy, murdered him in the assembly where their
ambassadors were met. By these means he obtained the dominion of the
whole island, over which he exercised such tyranny, that he left
scarcely a nobleman alive in it, and either by violence or treachery
oppressed every one that he apprehended might be likely to succeed him,
pursuing his hatred to his whole race. He also deserted his own wife, by
whom he had a noble youth named Ebraucus, and addicted himself to
sodomy, preferring unnatural lust to the pleasures of the conjugal
state. At last, in the twentieth year of his reign, while he was
hunting, he retired from his company into a valley, where he was
surrounded by a great multitude of ravenous wolves, and devoured by them
in a horrible manner. Then did Saul reign in Judaea, and Eurystheus in
Lacedaemonia.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 159: It is only necessary to compare such passages as these
with the Grecian or Roman Histories, and we cannot avoid perceiving the
legendary character of Geoffrey of Monmouth's History.]
CHAP. VII.--_Ebraucus, the successor of Mempricius, conquers the Gauls,
and builds the towns Kaerebrauc, &c._
Mempricius being dead, Ebraucus, his son, a man of great stature and
wonderful strength, took upon him the government of Britain, which he
held forty years. He was the first after Brutus who invaded Gaul with a
fleet, and distressed its provinces by killing their men and laying
waste their cities; and having by these means enriched himself with an
infinite quantity of gold and silver, he returned victorious. After this
he built a city on the other side of the Humber, which, from his own
name, he called Kaerebrauc, that is, the city of Ebraucus,[160] about
the time that David reigned in Judaea, and Sylvius Latinus in Italy; and
that Gad, Nathan, and Asaph prophesied in Israel. He also built the city
of Alclud[161] towards Albani, and the town of mount Agned,[162] called
at this time the Castle of Maidens, or the Mountain of Sorrow.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 160: York seems to be a corruption of Ebrauc. It is first
mentioned by Ptolemy (ii. 3.) A.D. 120.]
[Footnote 161: Alclud or Alcluith is unknown to the classic writers: it
is first mentioned by Gildas, and is thought to be the modern
Dumbarton.]
[Footnote 162: Edinburgh.]
CHAP. VIII.--_Ebraucus's twenty sons go to Germany, and his thirty
daughters to Sylvius Alba, in Italy._
This prince had twenty sons and thirty daughters by twenty wives, and
with great valour governed the kingdom of Britain sixty years. The names
of his sons were, Brutus surnamed Greenshield, Margadud, Sisillius,
Regin, Morivid, Bladud, Lagon, Bodloan, Kincar, Spaden, Gaul, Darden,
Eldad, Ivor, Gangu, Hector, Kerin, Rud, Assarach, Buel. The names of his
daughters were, Gloigni, Ignogni, Oudas, Guenliam, Gaudid, Angarad,
Guendoloe, Tangustel, Gorgon, Medlan, Methahel, Ourar, Malure, Kambreda,
Ragan, Gael, Ecub, Nest, Cheum, Stadud, Gladud, Ebren, Blagan, Aballac,
Angaes, Galaes, (the most celebrated beauty at that time in Britain or
Gaul,) Edra, Anaor, Stadial, Egron. All these daughters their father
sent into Italy to Sylvius Alba, who reigned after Sylvius Latinus,
where they were married among the Trojan nobility, the Latin and Sabine
women refusing to associate with them. But the sons, under the conduct
of their brother Assaracus, departed in a fleet to Germany, and having,
with the assistance of Sylvius Alba, subdued the people there, obtained
that kingdom.
CHAP. IX.--_After Ebraucus reigns Brutus his son, after him Leil, and
after Leil, Hudibras._
But Brutus, surnamed Greenshield, stayed with his father, whom he
succeeded in the government, and reigned twelve years. After him reigned
Leil, his son, a peaceful and just prince, who, enjoying a prosperous
reign, built in the north of Britain a city, called by his name,
Kaerleil;[163] at the same time that Solomon began to build the temple
of Jerusalem, and the queen of Sheba came to hear his wisdom; at which
time also Sylvius Epitus succeeded his father Alba, in Italy. Leil
reigned twenty-five years, but towards the latter end of his life grew
more remiss in his government, so that his neglect of affairs speedily
occasioned a civil dissension in the kingdom. After him reigned his
son, Hudibras, thirty-nine years, and composed the civil dissension
among his people. He built Kaerlem or Canterbury, Kaerguen or
Winchester, and the town of Mount Paladur, now Shaftesbury. At this
place an eagle spoke, while the wall of the town was being built; and
indeed I should have transmitted the speech to posterity, had I thought
it true, as the rest of the history. At this time reigned Capys, the son
of Epitus; and Haggai, Amos, Joel, and Azariah, were prophets in Israel.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 163: Now Carlisle.]
CHAP. X.--_Bladud succeeds Hudibras in the kingdom, and practises
magical operations._
Next succeeded Bladud, his son, and reigned twenty years. He built
Kaerbadus, now Bath, and made hot baths in it for the benefit of the
public, which he dedicated to the goddess Minerva; in whose temple he
kept fires that never went out nor consumed to ashes, but as soon as
they began to decay were turned into balls of stone. About this time the
prophet Elias prayed that it might not rain upon earth; and it did not
rain for three years and six months. This prince was a very ingenious
man, and taught necromancy in his kingdom, nor did he leave off pursuing
his magical operations, till he attempted to fly to the upper region of
the air with wings which he had prepared, and fell down upon the temple
of Apollo, in the city of Trinovantum, where he was dashed to pieces.
CHAP. XI.--_Leir the son of Bladud, having no son, divides his kingdom
among his daughters._
After this unhappy fate of Bladud, Leir,[164] his son was advanced to
the throne, and nobly governed his country sixty years. He built upon
the river Sore a city, called in the British tongue, Kaerleir, in the
Saxon, Leircestre.[165] He was without male issue, but had three
daughters, whose names were Gonorilla, Regau, and Cordeilla, of whom he
was dotingly fond, but especially of his youngest, Cordeilla. When he
began to grow old, he had thoughts of dividing his kingdom among them,
and of bestowing them on such husbands as were fit to be advanced to the
government with them. But to make trial who was worthy to have the best
part of his kingdom, he went to each of them to ask which of them loved
him most. The question being proposed, Gonorilla, the eldest, made
answer, "That she called heaven to witness, she loved him more than her
own soul." The father replied, "Since you have preferred my declining
age before your own life, I will marry you, my dearest daughter, to
whomsoever you shall make choice of, and give with you the third part of
my kingdom." Then Regau, the second daughter, willing, after the example
of her sister, to prevail upon her father's good nature, answered with
an oath, "That she could not otherwise express her thoughts, but that
she loved him above all creatures." The credulous father upon this made
her the same promise that he did to her eldest sister, that is, the
choice of a husband, with the third part of his kingdom. But Cordeilla,
the youngest, understanding how easily he was satisfied with the
flattering expressions of her sisters, was desirous to make trial of his
affection after a different manner. "My father," said she, "is there any
daughter that can love her father more than duty requires? In my
opinion, whoever pretends to it, must disguise her real sentiments under
the veil of flattery. I have always loved you as a father, nor do I yet
depart from my purposed duty; and if you insist to have something more
extorted from me, hear now the greatness of my affection, which I always
bear you, and take this for a short answer to all your questions; look
how much you have, so much is your value, and so much do I love you."
The father, supposing that she spoke this out of the abundance of her
heart, was highly provoked, and immediately replied, "Since you have so
far despised my old age as not to think me worthy the love that your
sisters express for me, you shall have from me the like regard, and
shall be excluded from any share with your sisters in my kingdom.
Notwithstanding, I do not say but that since you are my daughter, I will
marry you to some foreigner, if fortune offers you any such husband; but
will never, I do assure you, make it my business to procure so
honourable a match for you as for your sisters; because, though I have
hitherto loved you more than them, you have in requital thought me less
worthy of your affection than they." And, without further delay, after
consultation with his nobility, he bestowed his two other daughters upon
the dukes of Cornwall and Albania, with half the island at present, but
after his death, the inheritance of the whole monarchy of Britain.
It happened after this, that Aganippus, king of the Franks, having heard
of the fame of Cordeilla's beauty, forthwith sent his ambassadors to the
king to demand her in marriage. The father, retaining yet his anger
towards her, made answer, "That he was very willing to bestow his
daughter, but without either money or territories; because he had
already given away his kingdom with all his treasure to his eldest
daughters, Gonorilla and Regau." When this was told Aganippus, he, being
very much in love with the lady, sent again to king Leir, to tell him,
"That he had money and territories enough, as he possessed the third
part of Gaul, and desired no more than his daughter only, that he might
have heirs by her." At last the match was concluded; Cordeilla was sent
to Gaul, and married to Aganippus.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 164: King Lear, the hero of Shakespeare's drama.]
[Footnote 165: Leicester.]
CHAP. XII.--_Leir, finding the ingratitude of his two eldest daughters,
betakes himself to his youngest, Cordeilla, in Gaul._
A long time after this, when Leir came to be infirm through old age, the
two dukes, on whom he had bestowed Britain with his two daughters,
fostered an insurrection against him, and deprived him of his kingdom,
and of all regal authority, which he had hitherto exercised with great
power and glory. At length, by mutual agreement, Maglaunus, duke of
Albania, one of his sons-in-law, was to allow him a maintenance at his
own house, together with sixty soldiers, who were to be kept for state.
After two years' stay with his son-in-law, his daughter Gonorilla
grudged the number of his men, who began to upbraid the ministers of the
court with their scanty allowance; and, having spoken to her husband
about it, she gave orders that the numbers of her father's followers
should be reduced to thirty, and the rest discharged. The father,
resenting this treatment, left Maglaunus, and went to Henuinus, duke of
Cornwall, to whom he had married his daughter Regau. Here he met with an
honourable reception, but before the year was at an end, a quarrel
happened between the two families, which raised Regau's indignation; so
that she commanded her father to discharge all his attendants but five,
and to be contented with their service. This second affliction was
insupportable to him, and made him return again to his former daughter,
with hopes that the misery of his condition might move in her some
sentiments of filial piety, and that he, with his family, might find a
subsistence with her. But she, not forgetting her resentment, swore by
the gods he should not stay with her, unless he would dismiss his
retinue, and be contented with the attendance of one man; and with
bitter reproaches she told him how ill his desire of vain-glorious pomp
suited his age and poverty. When he found that she was by no means to be
prevailed upon, he was at last forced to comply, and, dismissing the
rest, to take up with one man only. But by this time he began to reflect
more sensibly with himself upon the grandeur from which he had fallen,
and the miserable state to which he was now reduced, and to enter upon
thoughts of going beyond sea to his youngest daughter. Yet he doubted
whether he should be able to move her commiseration, because (as was
related above) he had treated her so unworthily. However, disdaining to
bear any longer such base usage, he took ship for Gaul. In his passage
he observed he had only the third place given him among the princes that
were with him in the ship, at which, with deep sighs and tears, he burst
forth into the following complaint:--
"O irreversible decrees of the Fates, that never swerve from your stated
course! why did you ever advance me to an unstable felicity, since the
punishment of lost happiness is greater than the sense of present
misery? The remembrance of the time when vast numbers of men
obsequiously attended me in the taking the cities and wasting the
enemy's countries, more deeply pierces my heart than the view of my
present calamity, which has exposed me to the derision of those who were
formerly prostrate at my feet. Oh! the enmity of fortune! Shall I ever
again see the day when I may be able to reward those according to their
deserts who have forsaken me in my distress? How true was thy answer,
Cordeilla, when I asked thee concerning thy love to me, 'As much as you
have, so much is your value, and so much do I love you.' While I had
anything to give they valued me, being friends, not to me, but to my
gifts: they loved me then, but they loved my gifts much more: when my
gifts ceased, my friends vanished. But with what face shall I presume to
see you, my dearest daughter, since in my anger I married you upon worse
terms than your sisters, who, after all the mighty favours they have
received from me, suffer me to be in banishment and poverty?"
As he was lamenting his condition in these and the like expressions, he
arrived at Karitia,[166] where his daughter was, and waited before the
city while he sent a messenger to inform her of the misery he was fallen
into, and to desire her relief for a father who suffered both hunger and
nakedness. Cordeilla was startled at the news, and wept bitterly, and
with tears asked how many men her father had with him. The messenger
answered, he had none but one man, who had been his armour-bearer, and
was staying with him without the town. Then she took what money she
thought might be sufficient, and gave it to the messenger, with orders
to carry her father to another city, and there give out that he was
sick, and to provide for him bathing, clothes, and all other
nourishment. She likewise gave orders that he should take into his
service forty men, well clothed and accoutred, and that when all things
were thus prepared he should notify his arrival to king Aganippus and
his daughter. The messenger quickly returning, carried Leir to another
city, and there kept him concealed, till he had done every thing that
Cordeilla had commanded.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 166: Calais.]
CHAP. XIII.--_He is very honourably received by Cordeilla and the king
of Gaul._
As soon as he was provided with his royal apparel, ornaments, and
retinue, he sent word to Aganippus and his daughter, that he was driven
out of his kingdom of Britain by his sons-in-law, and was come to them
to procure their assistance for recovering his dominions. Upon which
they, attended with their chief ministers of state and the nobility of
the kingdom, went out to meet him, and received him honourably, and gave
into his management the whole power of Gaul, till such time as he should
be restored to his former dignity.
CHAP. XIV.--_Leir, being restored to the kingdom by the help of his
son-in-law and Cordeilla, dies._
In the meantime Aganippus sent officers over all Gaul to raise an army,
to restore his father-in-law to his kingdom of Britain. Which done, Leir
returned to Britain with his son and daughter and the forces which they
had raised, where he fought with his sons-in-law and routed them. Having
thus reduced the whole kingdom to his power, he died the third year
after. Aganippus also died; and Cordeilla, obtaining the government of
the kingdom, buried her father in a certain vault, which she ordered to
be made for him under the river Sore, in Leicester, and which had been
built originally under the ground to the honour of the god Janus. And
here all the workmen of the city, upon the anniversary solemnity of that
festival, used to begin their yearly labours.
CHAP. XV.--_Cordeilla, being imprisoned, kills herself. Margan, aspiring
to the whole kingdom, is killed by Cunedagius._
After a peaceful possession of the government for five years, Cordeilla
began to meet with disturbances from the two sons of her sisters, being
both young men of great spirit, whereof one, named Margan, was born to
Maglaunus, and the other, named Cunedagius, to Henuinus. These, after
the death of their fathers, succeeding them in their dukedoms, were
incensed to see Britain subject to a woman, and raised forces in order
to raise a rebellion against the queen; nor would they desist from
hostilities, till, after a general waste of her countries, and several
battles fought, they at last took her and put her in prison, where for
grief at the loss of her kingdom she killed herself. After this they
divided the island between them; of which the part that reaches from the
north side of the Humber to Caithness, fell to Margan; the other part
from the same river westward was Cunedagius's share. At the end of two
years, some restless spirits that took pleasure in the troubles of the
nation, had access to Margan, and inspired him with vain conceits, by
representing to him how mean and disgraceful it was for him not to
govern the whole island, which was his due by right of birth. Stirred up
with these and the like suggestions, he marched with an army through
Cunedagius's country, and began to burn all before him. The war thus
breaking out, he was met by Cunedagius with all his forces, who attacked
Margan, killing no small number of his men, and, putting him to flight,
pursued him from one province to another, till at last he killed him in
a town of Kambria, which since his death has been by the country people
called Margan to this day. After the victory, Cunedagius gained the
monarchy of the whole island, which he governed gloriously for three and
thirty years. At this time flourished the prophets Isaiah and Hosea, and
Rome was built upon the eleventh before the Kalends of May by the two
brothers, Romulus and Remus.[167]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 167: About the year before Christ, 753.]
CHAP. XVI.--_The successors of Cunedagius in the kingdom. Ferrex is
killed by his brother Porrex, in a dispute for the government._
At last Cunedagius dying, was succeeded by his son Rivallo, a fortunate
youth, who diligently applied himself to the affairs of the government.
In his time it rained blood three days together, and there fell vast
swarms of flies, followed by a great mortality among the people. After
him succeeded Gurgustius his son; after him Sisillius; after him Jago,
the nephew of Gurgustius; after him Kinmarcus the son of Sisillius;
after him Gorbogudo, who had two sons, Ferrex and Porrex.
When their father grew old they began to quarrel about the succession;
but Porrex, who was the most ambitious of the two, forms a design of
killing his brother by treachery, which the other discovering, escaped,
and passed over into Gaul. There he procured aid from Suard king of the
Franks, with which he returned and made war upon his brother; coming to
an engagement, Ferrex was killed and all his forces cut to pieces. When
their mother, whose name was Widen, came to be informed of her son's
death, she fell into a great rage, and conceived a mortal hatred against
the survivor. For she had a greater affection for the deceased than for
him, so that nothing less would appease her indignation for his death,
than her revenging it upon her surviving son. She took therefore her
opportunity when he was asleep, fell upon him, and with the assistance
of her women tore him to pieces. From that time a long civil war
oppressed the people, and the island became divided under the power of
five kings, who mutually harassed one another.
CHAP. XVII.--_Dunwallo Molmutius gains the sceptre of Britain, from whom
came the Molmutine laws._
At length arose a youth of great spirit, named Dunwallo Molmutius, who
was the son of Cloten king of Cornwall, and excelled all the kings of
Britain in valour and gracefulness of person. When his father was dead,
he was no sooner possessed of the government of that country, than he
made war against Ymner king of Loegria, and killed him in battle.
Hereupon Rudaucus king of Kambria, and Staterius king of Albania, had a
meeting, wherein they formed an alliance together, and marched thence
with their armies into Dunwallo's country to destroy all before them.
Dunwallo met them with thirty thousand men, and gave them battle; and
when a great part of the day was spent in the fight, and the victory yet
dubious, he drew off six hundred of his bravest men, and commanded them
to put on the armour of the enemies that were slain, as he himself also
did, throwing aside his own. Thus accoutred he marched up with speed to
the enemy's ranks, as if he was of their party, and approaching the very
place where Rudaucus and Staterius were, commanded his men to fall upon
them. In this assault the two kings were killed and many others with
them. But Dunwallo Molmutius, fearing lest in this disguise his own men
might fall upon him, returned with his companions to put off the enemy's
armour, and take his own again; and then encouraged them to renew the
assault, which they did with great vigour, and in a short time got the
victory, by dispersing and putting to flight the enemy. From hence he
marched into the enemy's countries, destroyed their towns and cities,
and reduced the people under his obedience. When he had made an entire
reduction of the whole island, he prepared for himself a crown of gold,
and restored the kingdom to its ancient state. This prince established
what the Britons call the Molmutine laws, which are famous among the
English to this day. In these, among other things, of which St. Gildas
wrote a long time after, he enacted, that the temples of the gods, as
also cities, should have the privilege of giving sanctuary and
protection to any fugitive or criminal, that should flee to them from
his enemy. He likewise enacted, that the ways leading to those temples
and cities, as also husbandman's ploughs, should be allowed the same
privilege. So that in his day, the murders and cruelties committed by
robbers were prevented, and every body passed safe without any violence
offered him. At last, after a reign of forty years spent in these and
other acts of government, he died, and was buried in the city of
Trinovantum, near the temple of Concord, which he himself built, when he
first established his laws.