Gildas

Gildas (English pronunciation: /ˈɡɪldəs/, Breton: Gweltaz; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas Badonicus, Gildas fab Caw (in Middle Welsh texts and antiquarian works) and Gildas Sapiens (Gildas the Wise) — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his religious polemic De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, which recounts the history of the Britons before and during the coming of the Saxons. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during the sub-Roman period, and was renowned for his Biblical knowledge and literary style. In his later life, he emigrated to Brittany, where he founded a monastery known as Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys.

Differing versions of the Life of Saint Gildas exist, but both agree that he was born at a place called Arecluta which is described by the author as taking its name from a "certain river called the Clut, by which that district is, for the most part, watered." This was long taken by historians to mean that Gildas was born in what is now Scotland on the banks of the River Clyde.

He is now thought by some historians to have his origins farther south. Their belief is that his writing suggests a lack of familiarity with the geography of Strathclyde, but is more accurate with regards to southern Britain. Furthermore, Gildas shows a familiarity with classical Latin texts that historians such as Nick Higham and E.A. Thompson view as more likely to have been acquired further south, within the bounds of former Roman Britain. Thompson suggested Chester as a possible birthplace, while the linguist Andrew Breeze suggests Arclid, near Sandbach in Cheshire, based on its plausible derivation from Arecluta.

In his own work, he claims to have been born the same year as the Battle of Mount Badon. He was educated at a monastic centre, the College of St. Illtud, where he chose to forsake his royal heritage and embrace monasticism. He became a renowned teacher, converting many to Christianity and founding numerous churches and monasteries throughout Britain and Ireland. He is thought to have made a pilgrimage to Rome before emigrating to Brittany, where he took on the life of a hermit. However, his life of solitude was short-lived, and pupils soon sought him out and begged him to teach them. He eventually founded a monastery for these students at Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys in Brittany, where he wrote De Excidio Britanniae, criticising British rulers and exhorting them to put off their sins and embrace true Christian faith. He is thought to have died at Rhuys and was buried there.

The First Life of Gildas was written in the 9th century by an unnamed monk at the monastery which Gildas founded in Rhuys, Brittany. According to this tradition, Gildas is the son of Caunus, king of Alt Clud in the Hen Ogledd, the Brythonic-speaking region of northern Britain. He had four brothers; his brother Cuillum ascended to the throne on the death of his father, and the rest became monks. Gildas was sent as a child to the College of St. Illtud in Glamorgan, under the care of St Illtud, and was a companion of St Samson of Dol and St Paul Aurelian. His master Illtud loved him tenderly and taught him with special zeal. He was supposed to be educated in liberal arts and divine scripture, but elected to study only holy doctrine, and to forsake his noble birth in favour of a religious life.

After completing his studies under Illtud, Gildas went to Ireland where he was ordained as a priest. He returned to his native lands in northern Britain where he acted as a missionary, preaching to the pagan people and converting many of them to Christianity. He was then asked by Ainmericus, high king of Ireland (Ainmuire mac Sétnai, 566–569), to restore order to the church in Ireland, which had altogether lost the Christian faith. Gildas obeyed the king's summons and travelled all over the island, converting the inhabitants, building churches, and establishing monasteries. He then travelled to Rome and Ravenna where he performed many miracles, including slaying a dragon while in Rome. Intending to return to Britain, he instead settled on the Isle of Houat off Brittany where he led a solitary, austere life. At around this time, he also preached to Nonnita (Non), the mother of Saint David, while she was pregnant with the saint. He was eventually sought out by those who wished to study under him, and was entreated to establish a monastery in Brittany, which he did at a place now known as Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys.

The second "Life" of Gildas was written by Caradoc of Llancarfan, a friend of Geoffrey of Monmouth and his Norman patrons. This is an entirely fictional account intended to associate Gildas with Glastonbury Abbey. It also associates him with King Arthur. Arthur kills Gildas's brother Hueil, which causes enmity between them for a time. Hueil's enmity with Arthur is also mentioned in the Welsh prose tale Culhwch and Olwen, written around 1100. A tradition in north Wales places Hueil's execution at Ruthin, and the supposed execution stone, Maen Huail, is preserved in the town square. The Llancarfan life also contains the earliest surviving appearance of the abduction of the Guinevere episode, common in later Arthurian literature. Gildas secures the release of Guinevere after she had been abducted by Melvas, king of the "Summer Country", preventing war between him and Arthur.

Gildas is best known for his polemic De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, which recounts the sub-Roman history of Britain, and which is the only substantial source for history of this period written by a near-contemporary, although it is not intended to be an objective chronicle.