Editing Battle of Badon

{{Short description|6th-century battle in Sub-Roman Britain}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| image       =
| caption     =
| conflict    = Battle of Mount Badon
| partof      = the [[Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain]]
| date        = 518 AD
| place       = Unknown, various locations proposed
| casus       = Saxons seeking to continue westward expansion
| result      = Brittonic victory
| combatant1  = [[Romano-Britons]] <br/>[[Celtic Britons]]
| combatant2  = [[Anglo-Saxons]], and possibly also [[Jutes]] and other Germanic tribes.
| commander1  = Unknown (possibly [[Ambrosius Aurelianus]] and/or [[King Arthur|Arthur]])
| commander2  = Unknown (possibly [[Ælle of Sussex]] or [[Cerdic of Wessex]])
}}{{Campaignbox Anglo-Saxon invasions}}

{{Campaignbox Fall of Western Roman Empire}}

The '''Battle of Badon''', also known as the '''Battle of Mons Badonicus''',{{Efn|{{langx|la|obsessio[nis] Badonici montis}}, "Blockade/Siege of the Badonic Hill"; ''Bellum in monte Badonis'', "Battle on Badon Hill"; ''Bellum Badonis'', "Battle of Badon"; [[Old Welsh]]: ''Badon''; [[Middle Welsh]]: ''Gweith Vadon'', "Battle of Badon"; {{langx|cy|Brwydr Mynydd Baddon}}, "Battle of Badon Mount/Hill"}} was purportedly fought between [[Celtic Britons|Britons]] and [[Anglo-Saxons]] in [[Post-Roman Britain]] during the late [[5th century in England|5th]] or early [[6th century in England|6th century]].<ref>Ashe, Geoffrey, ''From Caesar to Arthur'' pp. 295–8.</ref> It was credited as a major victory for the Britons, stopping the westward encroachment of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms for a period.

The earliest known references to the battle, by the British cleric [[Gildas]], date to the 6th century. It is chiefly known today for the supposed involvement of the man who would later be remembered as the legendary [[King Arthur]]; although it is not agreed that Arthur was a historical person, his name first appears in the 9th-century ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'', where he is mentioned as having participated in the battle alongside the Brittonic kings as a war commander, though is not described as a king himself. Because of the limited number of sources, there is no certainty about the date, location, or details of the fighting.<ref>Dupuy, R. Ernest & al. ''The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History From 3500 B.C. to the Present'', 4th ed., p. 193. HarperCollins Pub. (New York), 1993.</ref><ref>Hollister, C. Warren. ''The Making of England to 1399'', 8th ed., p. 31. Houghton Mifflin Co. (New York), 2001.</ref>

Almost all scholars agree that this battle did take place. Gildas, who wrote within living memory of the battle, does not mention Arthur or the names of other British leaders who took part. He also omits the names of the Saxon leaders. Gildas also does not describe it as an actual open battle, but rather as a siege. It remains unclear whether the Saxons were besieging the Britons or the Britons were besieging the Saxons.<ref>[[Hugh Williams (historian)|Hugh Williams]] (ed.), ''Gildas, De Excidio Britanniae'', Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1899, p. 61–63.</ref>

==Historical accounts==
===Gildas===
The earliest mention of the Battle of Badon appears in [[Gildas]]' ''[[De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae]]'' (''On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain''), written in the early to mid-6th century. In it, the [[Anglo-Saxons]] are said to have "dipped <nowiki>[their]</nowiki> red and savage tongue in the western ocean" before [[Ambrosius Aurelianus]] organized a British resistance with the survivors of the initial Saxon onslaught. Gildas describes the period that followed Ambrosius' initial success:

{{quote|From that time, the citizens were sometimes victorious, sometimes the enemy, in order that the Lord, according to His wont, might try in this nation the Israel of today, whether it loves Him or not. This continued up to the year of the siege of Badon Hill (''obsessionis Badonici montis''), and of almost the last great slaughter inflicted upon the rascally crew. And this commences, a fact I know, as the forty-fourth year, with one month now elapsed; it is also the year of my birth.<ref>[[Hugh Williams (historian)|Hugh Williams]] (ed.), ''Gildas, De Excidio Britanniae'', Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1899, p. 61–63.</ref>}}

''De Excidio Britanniae'' describes the battle as such an "unexpected recovery of the [island]" that it caused kings, nobles, priests, and commoners to "live orderly according to their several vocations." Afterwards, the long peace degenerated into civil wars and the iniquity of [[Maelgwn Gwynedd]].

That [[King Arthur|Arthur]] had gone unmentioned by Gildas, ostensibly the source closest to his own time, was noticed at least as early as a 12th-century hagiography of Gildas which claims that Gildas had praised Arthur extensively but then excised him completely after Arthur killed the saint's brother, [[Hueil mab Caw]]. Modern writers have suggested the details of the battle may have been so well known that Gildas expected his audience to be familiar with them.<ref name=Green31>Green, p. 31.</ref>

===Bede===
The battle is next mentioned in an 8th-century text of [[Bede]]'s ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'' (''Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum''),<ref>The "[[Tiberius Bede]]" or C text. [[British Library]] MS Cotton Tiberius C.II. {{in lang|la}}</ref> which describes the "siege of Mount Badon, when they made no small slaughter of those invaders," as occurring 44 years after the first [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain]]. Bede refers to Ambrosius Aurelianus as the leader of the Britons at that battle, whose parents had perished 'in the storm' and who were 'of the royal race'.<ref>Bede. ''The [[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'', I.xvi.</ref><ref>L. ''...usque ad annum obsessionis Badonici montis quando non minimas eisdem hostibus strages dabant quadragesimo circiter & quarto anno adventus eorum in Britaniam.''</ref> Since Bede places that arrival just before, during or just after the joint reign in Rome of [[Marcian]] and [[Valentinian III]] in AD 449{{ndash}}456,{{efn|Per Bede's account. The actual dates of their reign were AD 450–455.<ref>Bede, I.xv.</ref>}} he must have considered Badon to have taken place between 493 and 500. Bede then puts off discussion of the battle {{ndash}} "But more of this hereafter" {{ndash}} only to seemingly never return to it.

Bede does later include an extended account of [[Germanus of Auxerre|Saint Germanus of Auxerre]]'s victory over the Saxons and [[Picts]] in a mountain valley (traditionally placed at [[Mold, Flintshire|Mold]] in [[Flintshire]] in northeast Wales), which he credits with curbing the threat of invasion for a generation.<ref name=b20>Bede, I.xx.</ref> However, as the victory is described as having been accomplished bloodlessly, it was presumably a different occasion from Badon. Accepted at face value, Saint Germanus' involvement would also place the battle around AD 430, although Bede's chronology shows no knowledge of this.

===Nennius and the Welsh Annals===
{{anchor|Arthur}}{{see also|Historicity of King Arthur}}

The earliest surviving text specifically mentioning Arthur in connection with the battle is the early 9th-century ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'' (''The History of the Britons''),<ref>The "[[s:Nennius (DNB00)|Nennius]]" entry of the [[Dictionary of National Biography]] credits an 11th-century Irish edition by Giolla Coemgin with being the oldest extant edition of the ''Historia Brittonum'', but it apparently only survived in a 14th-century copy. Cf. Todd, James. ''[https://archive.org/stream/irishversionofhi00toddrich#page/n9/mode/2up Irish version of the Historia Britonum of Nennius]''. Irish Archaeological Soc. (Dublin), 1848. Accessed 6 February 2013.</ref> attributed to the Welsh monk [[Nennius]], in which the soldier (Latin ''mīles'') Arthur is identified as the leader of the victorious British force at Badon:

{{quote|The twelfth battle was on Mount Badon in which there fell in one day 960 men from one charge by Arthur; and no one struck them down except Arthur himself.<ref>L. ''Duodecimum fuit bellum in monte Badonis, in quo corruerunt in uno die nongenti sexaginta viri de uno impetu Arthur; et nemo prostravit eos nisi ipse solus.'' Mommsen, Theodore (ed.) ''[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/histbrit.html Historia Brittonum]''. Accessed 7 February 2013. {{in lang|la}}</ref><ref name=HBeng>Lupack, Alan (Trans.) ''The Camelot Project'': "[http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/nennius.htm From ''The History of the Britons'' (''Historia Brittonum'') by Nennius]". Retrieved 6 February 2013.</ref>}}

The Battle of Badon is next mentioned in the ''[[Annales Cambriae]]'' (''Annals of Wales''),<ref name=ACA/> assumed to have been written during the mid- to late-10th century. The entry states:

{{quote|The Battle of Badon, in which Arthur carried the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights upon his shoulders [or shield<ref>The words for "shoulder" and "shield" being easily confused in [[Old Welsh]]: ''scuit'' (shield) vs. ''scuid'' (shoulder)]. Cf. Jones, W. Lewis. ''The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes'', [http://www.bartleby.com/211/1202.html Vol. I, XII, §2.] Putnam, 1921. Accessed 30 January 2013.</ref>] and the Britons were the victors.<ref>L. ''Bellum badonis inquo arthur portauit crucem domini nostri ihu xp'i . tribus diebus & tribus noctibus inhumeros suos & brittones uictores fuerunt.''</ref><ref name=ACAeng/>}}

===Geoffrey of Monmouth===
[[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s c. 1136 ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain'') was massively popular and survives in many copies from soon after its composition.<ref>The earliest two being the Cambridge 1706 II.I.14 and Berne Stadtbibliotek MS 568, both apparently from the year of composition. Cf. Griscom, Acton. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=gsQ-nT2taacC&pg=PA22 The Historia Regum Britanniae of Geoffrey of Monmouth]''. Longmans, Green, & Co., 1929. Accessed 7 February 2013.</ref> Going into (and fabricating) much greater detail, Geoffrey closely identifies Badon with [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], including having [[Merlin]] foretell that Badon's baths would lose their hot water and turn poisonous.<ref>Thompson. VII.iii.</ref> He also mixes in aspects of other accounts: the battle begins as a Saxon siege and then becomes a normal engagement once Arthur's men arrive; Arthur bears the image of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|the Virgin]] both on his shield and shoulder. Arthur charges and kills 470, ten more than the number of Britons ambushed by [[Hengist and Horsa|Hengist]] near [[Salisbury]].

Elements of the Welsh legends are added: in addition to the shield ''[[Pridwen]]'', Arthur gains his sword, ''[[Excalibur|Caliburnus]]'' (Excalibur), and his spear, ''[[Excalibur#Arthur's other weapons|Ron]]''. Geoffrey also makes the defence of the city from the Saxon sneak attack a holy cause, having [[Dubricius]] offer absolution of all sins for those who fall in battle.<ref name=HRBeng>Thompson, Aaron & al. (trans.) ''[http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/geoffrey_thompson.pdf History of the Kings of Britain]'', IX.iv. In Parentheses, 1999. Accessed 6 February 2013.</ref>

==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.

==Second Badon==
The A Text of the ''Annales Cambriae''<ref name=ACA>[[s:la:Annales Cambriae A|Harleian MS. 3859]]. Op. cit. Phillimore, Egerton. ''Y Cymmrodor'' 9 (1888), pp. 141–183. {{in lang|la}}</ref> includes the entry: "The first celebration of Easter among the Saxons. The second battle of Badon. Morgan dies."<ref name=ACAeng>Ingram, James. ''[[s:The Annals of Wales A|The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]''. Everyman Press (London), 1912.</ref><ref>L. ''Primum pasca apud saxones celebratur. Bellum badonis secundo. morcant moritur.''</ref> The date for this action is given by Phillimore as AD 665,<ref name=ACA/> but the Saxons' first Easter is placed by the B Text in its entry 634 years after the birth of Christ and "the second Badon" is not mentioned.<ref>Public Record Office of the United Kingdom. MS. E.164/1, [[s:la:Annales Cambriae B/VIII|p. 8]]. {{in lang|la}}</ref>

==Romance depiction==
The 13th-century [[Vulgate Cycle]], a French prose romance retelling of the Arthurian legend, replaced the Battle of Badon with the '''Battle of Clarence''' (spelling variants: ''Clarance'', ''Clarans'', ''Clarenche'', ''Clarens''). In the first round of fighting, a coalition of British kings is defeated by the Saxons (or the [[Saracens]] in some subsequent versions, including that by [[Thomas Malory]]). In the second phase, Arthur joins the battle and enemy forces are destroyed, driving invaders into the sea.

==Local lore==
{{see also|Locations associated with Arthurian legend}}
Apart from the professional scholarship, various communities throughout Wales and England have their own traditions maintaining that their area was the site of the battle. These include (besides Badbury Rings and Bathampton Down),<ref>{{cite book |title=The Hidden Places of Somerset |last=Scott |first=Shane |year=1995 |publisher=Travel Publishing Ltd |location=Aldermaston |isbn=1-902007-01-8 |pages=16 }}</ref> the mountain of Mynydd Baedan near [[Maesteg]] in South Wales, and [[Bowden Hill]] in Wiltshire.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UXoqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA223|title=The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain, 4 Volume Set|last1=Echard|first1=Sian|last2=Rouse|first2=Robert|last3=Fay|first3=Jacqueline A.|last4=Fulton|first4=Helen|last5=Rector|first5=Geoff|date=2017-08-07|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781118396988 |language=en}}</ref>

==Modern depictions==
King Arthur leads the [[Knights of the Round Table]] into battle against the Saxons led by Hengist in the ''[[Prince Valiant]]'' comic strip series episodes 1430 (5 July 1964) and following.<ref>''Prince Valiant'', Vol. 32, The Battle of Badon Hill, 1997, Fantagraphics Books.</ref> The battle is mentioned in the 1975 comedy film ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'' as one of the many questionable feats of Sir Robin, who in the film's bardic narration is said to have "personally wet himself at the Battle of Badon Hill".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s41NHZh05D4C&pg=PA139|title=Cinema Arthuriana: Twenty Essays|first=Kevin J.|last=Harty|date=1 January 2002|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786413447 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The battle is featured prominently in 1997's ''[[Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur]]'' by [[Bernard Cornwell]], in the book's second part, "Mynydd Baddon", in which the armies of Angle and Saxon kings [[Ælle of Sussex|Aelle]] and [[Cerdic of Wessex|Cerdic]], aided by Celtic traitors led by [[Lancelot]], are defeated in an epic battle by an uneasy alliance of various British and Irish kingdoms. The author combines various medieval accounts of the battle, such as it beginning as an Anglo-Saxon siege of a hilltop (here initially desperately defended by [[Guinevere]], who is depicted as a brilliant strategist and rallying figure<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xnTXDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA144|title=Theorising the Popular|first1=Michael|last1=Brennan|first2=Jacqui|last2=Miller|date=11 May 2017|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=9781443893718 |via=Google Books}}</ref>) and having Arthur's cavalry appear with the sign of the cross on their shields (here a requisite demanded by the Christian king [[Tewdrig|Tewdric]] for him to also join the battle), to create a more grounded and realistic depiction than the ones from his medieval sources.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7LF4EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA149|title=The Battles of King Arthur|first=Tony|last=Sullivan|date=14 July 2022|publisher=Pen and Sword History|isbn=9781399015332 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The 2004 film ''[[King Arthur (2004 film)|King Arthur]]'' ends in a climactic battle scene occurring along [[Hadrian's Wall]] as the mostly Romano-British forces of Arthur defeat those of the Saxon kings Cerdic and Cynric, at a heavy cost to Arthur.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medievalhollywood.ace.fordham.edu/items/show/12|title=King Arthur (2004) · Medieval Hollywood|website=medievalhollywood.ace.fordham.edu}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Battle of Camlann]] (Salisbury), King Arthur's final fight in his legend

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*Green, Thomas. ''Concepts of Arthur''. Tempus (Stroud, Gloucestershire), 2007. {{ISBN|9780752444611}}.

==External links==
*[https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/boyer-battle-of-mt-badon-overview The Battle of Mount Badon] at The Camelot Project (including various modern depictions)

{{Arthurian Legend}}
{{Geoffrey of Monmouth}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:5th-century conflicts|Badon]]
[[Category:5th century in England]]
[[Category:5th century in Wales]]
[[Category:6th-century conflicts|Badon]]
[[Category:6th century in England]]
[[Category:6th century in Wales]]
[[Category:Battles involving King Arthur|Badon]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Anglo-Saxons|Badon]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Britons|Badon]]
[[Category:Geoffrey of Monmouth]]