1. ST. GILDAS, born in the very fertile district of Arecluta, and descended from his father Caunus, a most noble and Catholic man, was desirous, from his very boyhood, to follow Christ with all the affection of his heart. The district of Arecluta, as it forms a part of Britain, took its name from a […]

The Life of Gildas by Caradoc of Llancarfan ca. 1130-1150. 1. Nau [Caw–MJ], the king of Scotia, was the noblest of the kings of the north. He had twenty-four sons, victorious warriors. One of these was named Gildas, whom his parents engaged in the study of literature. He was a boy of good natural disposition, […]

De Excidio Brittaniae et Conquestu by St. Gildas the Wise I. THE PREFACE §1 Whatever in this my epistle I may write in my humble but well-meaning manner, rather by way of lamentation than for display, let no one suppose that it springs from contempt of others, or that I foolishly esteem myself as better […]

Harleian MS 4353 (V) with emendations from Cleopatra A XIV (W) ca. 1285. HOWEL the Good, son of Cadell, king of Cymru, enacted by the grace of God and fasting and prayer when Cymru was in his possession in its bounds, to wit, three score and four cantrevs of Deheubarth, and eighteen cantrevs of Gwynedd, […]

Also called the “Ystorya Brenhined y Brytanyeit” Jesus MS. LXI. Prologue Bryttaen, the best of the islands, which used to be called the white island,* situated as it is* in the western ocean between Ffraink1 and Iwerddon2, [extends] eight hundred miles in its length and two hundred in its width, and whatsoever men must needs […]

CHAPTER ONE 1. The great sages approached Manu, who was seated with a collected mind, and, having duly worshipped him, spoke as follows: 2. ‘Deign, divine one, to declare to us precisely and in due order the sacred laws of each of the (four chief) castes (varna) and of the intermediate ones. 3. ‘For thou, […]