The Ruin and Conquest of Britain 400 A.D. - 600 A.D.

  Studies and Speculations by Howard Wiseman.

Original text and maps copyright Howard Wiseman 1997-2021. Now Featuring the official webpage of THEN ARTHUR FOUGHT

Last Modified: 18th December 2021

Introduction

The historical era began in Britain with the Roman conquest in the first century A.D. From then until the present the darkest age is that of the 5th and 6th centuries. It is dark because of the general decline in the level of civilization e.g. the end of coin minting and pottery manufacturing, the reversion to timber buildings etc. But even more so it is dark because of our ignorance of even the most crucial historical events. This is not because of the lack of contemporary writing; we have a greater quantity of first-hand observation (due especially to the 6th century cleric Gildas) from this era than from some of the preceding Roman centuries. But Gildas was not an historian and his long-winded sermon contains relatively little useful information. Also, there was far more change in society and politics in the fifth and sixth century, including long-running wars between the Britons and the invading Anglo-Saxons and Scots, than during the relatively uneventful Pax Romana. Thus there is a great deal of uncertainty in the history of this era; not even the broad features are agreed upon by all historians, and historians who do agree on the veracity of certain events may assign them dates which vary by more than a generation.

This is the time when Britain (south of Hadrian's wall) was transformed from a Roman diocese into the kingdoms of the Saxons and the Britons --- the forerunners of England and Wales today. And of course it is the time of the "real Arthur" (if he existed) --- the most famous historical figure (if he was historical) from the first millenium of British history. These features, including the paucity of reliable records, has made this period of history a favourite for amatueur historians and writers of historical fiction. I include myself in both of these categories, as reflected in the content of this site.

Most of the material here concentrates on the history of what had been Roman Britain; that is, of that part of the Island south of Hadrian's wall. Some events in Ireland and north of the wall are mentioned, but most only in so far as they affected the history of Britain. But in my book, Then Arthur Fought, I include far more events on the Continent than is usual in Arthurian fiction. Ecclesiastical history, on the other hand, receives relatively little attention from me even though its sources for the 5th and 6th century probably outweigh all others.

This website contains a wide variety of different pieces, mostly by me, all on the same theme, but with different intents:

This first part (1997-) is my best attempt to construct a narrative history of dark-age Britain, 20 000 words long, using only quotations from primary and relatively early secondary sources. As explained in the preface to that page, this 'history' should not be taken as a true record of events. It is a possible history, but the unreliability of most of the early sources, and the sketchiness of the reliable ones, rule out any history that is both trustworthy and detailed.

This second part is a collection of my publications. Three are refereed papers: in Parergon (2000), in the Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association (2011) and in Arthuriana (2021). There is also a book chapter from 2017 and a number of reviews published from 2003 on in The Heroic Age. I've also created (more or less) a wikipedia article.

This third part (2001-) is a discussion of just how limited our knowledge is of this period of British history. I also present snippets of widely differing chronologies, all of which are consistent with the sources.

This fourth part (2003-) attempts to give a chronology (like the first part) but using only the reliable sources (as discussed in the third part). It is my best guess at what really happened and I think it has a fair chance of being on the right track. I also discuss the archaeological evidence, and what this may reveal about the tribes and polities of the time, including maps.

This fifth part (2008-) rates a large number of historical novels (or series of novels) by several criteria. It also provides detailed reviews of several of my favourites, plus a discussion of chronologies chosen by different authors.

This sixth part (2008) is not by me at all; it is a reproduction of the hitherto unpublished final instalment in the Albion trilogy by novelist Patrick McCormack. This is, in my view, one of the best historical novels of Arthurian Britain (see my reviews page). A preface to the book explains how I came to be publishing it on this site.

This seventh part is my book, published to critical acclaim (from one professional reviewer) in 2015. It is a vastly expanded version of the chronology in the first part above, told as a quasihistory. That is, my story of the Ruin and Conquest of Britain is here told as a detailed narrative incorporating lots of other history, legends, and original fictions. The website here includes a free excerpt, plus links to some pages where you can buy the book. It is available in paperback (colour and b&w), and in a Condensed version for e-readers.

This eighth part (2021) is another book not by me. It is a 2009 book by V. M. Pickin, which used to be available by private sale from their website, http://www.hereticemperor.co.uk. But the site is no longer functional and I cannot trace the author. It is a speculative history of Arthur, the "Heretic Emperor", based on the idea that the Pelagian heresy was widespread in post-Roman Britain, and included among its adherents Vortigern and Arthur. At the same time there was a Roman and Catholic party which included Ambrosius and Gildas. The author argues that the latter party suppressed the history of Arthur, and yet somehow Geoffrey of Monmouth knew enough to point this out in c.1137 to a sufficiently astute reader. While ultimately unconvincing to me, it could be the basis of a very interesting fictional treatment of Arthur and his times. So I am making freely available a copy of the book which I bought in 2011, as well as a version with my mark-ups from that time, for the curious.


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