Editing Battle of Badon (section)

==Scholarship==
There is considerable scholarly debate as to the exact date and location of the battle, though most agree that it took place in southern England sometime around the turn of the sixth century.

===Date===
Dates proposed by scholars for the battle include 493, 501 and 516.<ref>Andrew Breeze, ''British Battles 493–937: Mount Badon to Brunanburh'' (2020: Anthem Press), pp. 1–10.</ref> Daniel McCarthy and [[Dáibhí Ó Cróinín]] have posited that Gildas' 44 years and one month is not a reference to the simple chronology but a position within the 84-year Easter cycle used for [[computus]] at the time by the Britons and the [[Christianity in Ireland|Irish church]]. The tables in question begin in January 438, which would place their revised date of the battle in February 482.<ref>Daniel P. McCarthy and Dáibhí Ó Cróinín. "The 'lost' Irish 84-year Easter table rediscovered". ''Peritia'', vol. 6&ndash;7, 1987&ndash;1988, pp. 227&ndash;242.</ref>

[[Andrew Breeze]], in a 2020 book, argues that the Battle of Badon or "[[Braydon]], Wiltshire" took place in 493, deducing that Gildas was writing ''De Excidio'' in 536, in the middle of the [[extreme weather events of 535–536]], because he cited a "certain thick mist and black night" which "sits upon the whole island" of Britain, but not the subsequent famine in the year 537. Breeze concluded that Badon was fought "(...) in southern Britain, was fought in 493 and had nothing to do with Arthur."<ref name="Breeze06">{{cite book|last=Breeze|first=Andrew|year=2020|place=London|title=British Battles 493-937: Mount Badon to Brunanburh |pages=4–9|doi=10.2307/j.ctvv4187r |jstor=j.ctvv4187r|isbn=9781785272233 |s2cid=243164764 }}<!--|access-date=2021-04-19 --></ref>

===Location===
Though academics have never reached any consensus, Mount Badon’s location has traditionally been sited in the hills around [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], most notably at [[Bathampton Down]]. Tim and Annette Burkitt have proposed [[Caer Badden]] ({{langx|la|Aquae Sulis}}; now [[Bath, Somerset]]), some 20 miles northeast of the Roman mines at [[Charterhouse (Roman town)|Charterhouse]], on the basis of the ''Welsh Annals'' as well as archaeological and toponymic evidence.<ref>Burkitt, Tim and Annette. "The Frontier Zone and the Siege of Mount Badon: A Review of the Evidence for their Location". Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 1990, vol. 134. pp. 81–93.</ref><ref>Burkitt, Tim and Bennett, Annette, "Badon as Bath", Popular Archaeology, April 1985, Vol. 6, No. 6.</ref>

[[File:Liddington_Castle,_Liddington,_Swindon_-_geograph.org.uk_-_624639.jpg|thumb|[[Liddington Castle]] site. The ramparts of the Iron Age hillfort can be seen at the highest point of the skyline.]]

Susan Hirst, [[Geoffrey Ashe]] and [[Michael Wood (historian)|Michael Wood]] argue for the site of [[Liddington Castle]] on the hill above [[Badbury, Wiltshire|Badbury]] ([[Old English]]: ''Baddan byrig'') in Wiltshire west of [[Swindon]]. This site, an Iron Age [[hill fort]] with signs of sub-Roman occupation, commands [[The Ridgeway]], which connects the [[River Thames]] with the [[River Avon, Devon|River Avon]] and [[River Severn]] beyond.<ref>Hirst, S. ''et al''. "Liddington Castle and the battle of Badon: Excavations and research 1976". ''Archaeological Journal''. 1996, vol. 153, pp. 1–59.</ref><ref>Ashe, Geoffrey. ''From Caesar to Arthur'', pp. 162–164.</ref><ref>Wood, Michael. ''In Search of Myths and Heroes'' (2005). pp. 219–220.</ref>  From a very different etymological approach, [[Andrew Breeze]] also put forward a site near Swindon: arguing that ''Badon'' must be etymologically [[Brittonic languages|Brythonic]] rather than English (thus eliminating Bath from consideration as its name is entirely [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]) and that Gildas's toponym (''Badonici Montis'') is a corruption of ''Bradonici Montis'', Breeze posits [[Ringsbury Camp]] near [[Braydon]] southeast of Swindon as the site of the battle.<ref>Andrew Breeze, ''British Battles 493–937: Mount Badon to Brunanburh'' (2020: Anthem Press), pp. 6–7.</ref>

The similarly named [[Badbury Rings]] in [[Dorset]] have also been argued to be the location of the battle.<ref>Carr, R. (2001), "Badbury or Badon", Dorset life, 267: 5–7.</ref> David Cooper agrees that this is the most likely site and has provided the most comprehensive analysis of the battle available to date.<ref>Cooper, David: ''Badon and the Early Wars for Wessex, circa 500 to 710'' (2018: Pen & Sword Books)</ref>

===Possible Saxon commander===
Some authors have speculated that [[Ælle of Sussex]] may have led the Saxon forces at this battle.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bradbury|first=James|title=The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare|pages=140|year=2004| location= New York|publisher=Routledge| isbn= 0-415-22126-9}}</ref> Others reject the idea out of hand.<ref>{{cite book |last=Warner|first=Philip|title=British Battlefields: The Midlands|pages=23|year=1972|location=Reading|publisher=Osprey| oclc=60058359}}</ref> In book 9 of his work ''[[Historia regum Britanniae]]'', [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]] mentions a certain Cheldric<ref>{{cite web |last=of Monmouth |first=Geoffrey |date=1848 |title=Six Old English Chronicles/Geoffrey's British History/Book 9 translated and edited by J.A. Giles |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Six_Old_English_Chronicles/Geoffrey%27s_British_History/Book_9 |website=en.wikisource.org}}</ref> as Saxon war leader who fought at Bath during the same period, so other scholars suggest that (due to similarities of names) Cerdic of Wessex was the Saxon leader during the battle.