| Dec 18, 2011 22:20:45 GMT -5 |
Post by albion on Dec 18, 2011 22:20:45 GMT -5
Arthur 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' Krikland
{Power is of the individual mind, but the mind’s power is not enough. Power of the body decides everything in the end, and only Might is Right. }
{Power is of the individual mind, but the mind’s power is not enough. Power of the body decides everything in the end, and only Might is Right. }
I Feel Like We're Summoning The Devil
Nickname/Alias: I do not have 'nicknames' thank you very much. You may call me Arthur, or England, or the United Kingdom, and nothing in between! I have my name for a reason and I'll thank you to use it and nothing else. (Artie, Iggy, Eyebrows, Sourciles, what have you, Arthur doesn't take kindly to any nicknames - for reasons you'll have explained in good time - though he has many).
Gender: Male
Character Type: Country, Former-Empire
Country or Country of Origin: Originally Albion, he is now England, though he also represents the United Kingdom entire.
Canon or Original: Canon
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When I look into all of your stupid faces
I think how fun it will be to pound them into dust
Hair: Yellow, like butter, not the sun.
Height and Weight: One hundred seventy-eight (okay, seventy-seven point eight, close enough!) centimetres, ~9st(~58kg) Other Distinguishing Features: His eyebrows are massive, and he cannot get his hair to lie flat for the life of him, so he tends to constantly look like a grumpy old man, at least so far as most of the other nations have seen. The small fan-following of Rule Britannia might have something quite different to say about the guitarist of the band, though. His left arm is also worthy of note. It's roughly half the size of his right, now a days, emaciated, with skin taught over half-reformed muscles. It was nearly blown completely off in WWII when he went down in one of his planes, and for several decades had to be held together with bolts set against the bones. It's only recently started to heal, because there are still areas in London that are not fully repaired, so it's as of yet not back to it's full strength, and still quite painful.
Overall Appearance: Arthur is not, and has never been, built bulky. His body was not the sort that lent itself to becoming muscled and strong, he was never meant to be a classic story book hero, all broad shoulders, barrel chest, and slim hips. No, rather he was more built like the classic image of a thief. Which is a very nice way of saying that he's scrawny. Scrawny and bony and constantly with the appearance of being underfed thanks to an early history of malnutrition leading to him carrying about a permanently gaunt frame. Which, really, suited him just fine - it's easier to run away from people like Scotland when you're a tiny little thing, and he's always known to use his size to his advantage - he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he was built big.
He has been described as a squirrel before, but he's more of a ferret, to be honest. Lanky, vicious, and feral. The only muscle tone he's ever managed are the subtler development that might be attributed to an archer, a fencer, a swimmer. Always more of a rigger than a gunner, he's built for balance, speed, and endurance, more the sort to dodge and wear out an enemy with short jabs until they got tired rather than big hits. A million stings rather than one solid punch. A style that's taught him to be light on his feet.
Because of his less than impressive frame, Arthur's had a penchant for flare and elegance in his dress in the past - long tailed coats, high collars, captured gems and gold sewn in to heavily embroidered silks, anything to make up for his lack of definition in actual stature. Now a days, though he saves the dramatics for the stage, and for his actors, and instead sticks to comfortable wear like cardigans and sweatervests when he's around his fellow nations. Which is not to say he's lost his sense of flare or love for the dramatic in the least, (after all, London is one of the four fashion capitols of the world) he just keeps it away from the other nations. He certainly dresses to impress when he falls back into his punk rock scene (because punk is not and will never be dead if you ask him), where a shock of green hair, glinting piercings, and a rather heavy set of tattoos are likely to catch the eye. He's just learned to tone it down around his peer, really.
As far as scars go, he's rather littered with them, anyone would be if they'd lived through all he has. He can only really place the two burn marks, one along each side (from the great London fires) and his left arm because of how distinct they are, the rest he can no longer remember the origins of. Besides, some of them are hard to find through the ink on his skin and the piercings he doesn't bother to take out if they're not visible to the public at large (that is to say, if they're not on his face, he doesn't take them out - what would be the point? He's just going to put them in again).
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Man up or I'll beat you with my peace prize!
★ The high seas
★ Brandy
★ Bourbon
★ Liquor
★ Beer (but not that American piss-water)
★ Scotch
★ Rum
★ Gi- you get the idea
★ The fair folk
★ Reminiscing about the good old days, whether they be a hundred years ago or a thousand, as long as they aren't now
★ Football (not that rubbish American sort, you git!)
★ Rugby
★ Cricket
★ Winning the Ashes (even if it almost never happens)
★ His Empire (when he still had it, anyway)
★ Bickering with France (yes, he actually enjoys it, though he might never admit to as much)
★ Once upon a time just France, without the bickering
★ A nice cuppa
★ Embroidery
★ Portugal
★ Winning
★ Scones
★ Knitting, crocheting, and embroidery
★ His extensive rose garden
★ Cleaning his… well lets just call them historical relics, shall we?
★ His. Ahem. Collectibles.
★ A good shag.
★ Those weekends when he can fall off the map, take up his guitar, and have a night among his people.
★ A good moan.
★ Aleksandr Orlov (so cute!)
Dislikes:
✖ Loosing
✖ Being reminded that he's no longer an Empire.
✖ Riots
✖ Clutter
✖ His brothers (the actual ones, America you have your own special level of Dislike)
✖ Most of the Tudor household (with one notable exception)
✖ His heart and it's habit of suicide jumping
✖ Most people, to be honest
✖ Spain
✖ France (well, certain things about him, anyway)
✖ America (well… No. Yes. America. America but not Alfred.)
✖ The weather
✖ Insults to his cooking
✖ Cheating tarts
✖ The Welsh
✖ Tube strikes
✖ Late trains
✖ That ruddy cell phone that he still can't figure out how to answer
✖ December
✖ Yule, in particular
✖ The fact that it's illegal, now, to burn people at the stake. It was such a nice past time!
✖ The constrictions of being a cultured, civilized, first-world country.
✖ Being held back.
✖ Russia. Good lord, he hates Russia almost as much as he hates Wales.
✖ Letting go.
✖ Running out of drink
✖ Getting too drunk to open the liquor cabinet for more.
✖ when the usual drizzle turns into real heavy-business rain.
Strengths:
+ He's never been monstrously strong, but he's bloody fast. Years of being beaten and stolen from by his brother's taught him well how to fight against people bigger than him, and how to cheat.
+ He's heavily trained with sword play - rapier, foil, and swash, he's no good shakes with a broadsword, never has been.
+ He is a pirate king~ He is a pirate king~ Oh it is it is a glorious thing to be a pirate king~ (seriously though, don't mess with him on the open sea, you won't like the results)
+ WWII lead him to be brilliant in a fighter, even if he hates flying with every fiber in his being because of it.
+ He knows what every piece of cutlery is for and where it goes in a place setting.
+ He can knit, crochet, and embroider incredibly well, and quite quickly. He's also very good at mending torn clothing.
+ While he can't grow anything actually useful his thumb is greener than his hills when it comes to roses. He can cross breed - and in fact, does - and can tell you the meaning of each and every bloom you might think to show him, be they opened or closed, and in what numbers they come in. That is to say, he's not just fluent in the language of roses, he invented it.
+ He has a cast iron liver.
+ He's incredibly OCD
+ He never gives up. He doesn't know the meaning of the word. The English are the pluckiest men on earth, even when the world wars are being fought in their kitchen they still observe tea time and have the time to kick anyone who dares try to interrupt it in the shins. Keep calm and carry on indeed.
Weaknesses:
- He never gives up. He doesn't know the meaning of the word. He'll drag himself to the brink of death and keep fighting, he'd rather die then surrender, and in fact nearly has a few times in his past because of this.
- He's a jealous bugger. He can't control his jealousy at all, especially when he sees someone moving in on what he wants, or notices someone he wants moving to someone else. Just look at Jeanne d'Arc. And Guinevere/Gwenhyfar. And Sir Walter Raleigh. He has a problem.
- He… has this nasty little habit of burning women to death.
- He's proud. His pride often won't let him step back and forgive, or start again when any normal person would have let it go long ago.
- He falls in love with humans far too easily. He even married one.
- He never forgets, and he never stops loving. When he's fallen for someone he never gets over it, even long after it's over and/or they're dead. Or if nothing happens. He just can't stop, even if he can fall again, it's still there, in part of him.
- He's an alcoholic, and manic-depressive so it doesn't help when he binge drinks.
- He's incredibly OCD.
Fears:
☣ This confident, calm gentleman is autophobic. He's terrified of being on his own.
☣ That the few remaining fae will leave for Avalon and he'll have no one (related to the above. If this ever happened he'd probably go mad)
☣ Flying. After WWII Arthur claims to absolutely detest flying, but in truth, it terrifies him. While commercial airlines aren't as bad as flying in, say, a biplane, he can't help but get a feeling like his skin is crawling off his bones every time he gets up in the air.
☣ being wrong about a certain promised return. If he's waited this long, it better not fall through. He's not sure what he'd do if he didn't think he'd be coming back.
☣ Demilitarisation. He feels utterly defenseless without a strong working military.
☣ Opium. Funny, that his own weapon would terrify him so much, but it does.
Secrets:
♦ Arthur has an addiction problem - actually, he's had several. His problem isn't so much what he gets addicted to - he's a nation, it won't kill him - it's how susceptible to falling into the hole of addiction he is. He goes through phases, but every time he tries something new he finds it next to impossible to stop, ever since the opium wars. He tries not to let the other nations know, but he can't help but delve into whatever's popular.
♦ He hates any nicknames he may get because he's borrowing the name he has. It was a gift from a very special boy who used to be his king, and he treasures it more than… possibly anything.
♦ There's a ring Arthur wears on a chain around his neck - carved jade, in the shape of an ivy vine. It's a wedding ring, and it's identical partner was buried with Queen Elizabeth the first - Arthur has never worn his - it belongs to England more than him, and he'd rather keep it next to his heart.
♦ England didn't burn Jeanne d'Arc because of the military advantage. He did it because he was jealous beyond reason and couldn't stand to see anyone that France loved more than him live. He was the one that ripped her dress from her and forced her into pants - if she would take what he so wanted he would take what she protected so jealously. She didn't die a virgin.
♦ He's actually incredibly proud of Alfred and all he's accomplished. He just wants to tell his son how pleased he is with him despite his mistakes, to be there for Alfred as a father should, but he's too proud to allow himself to mend their broken relationship.
♦ England run's the porn industry now - but that's no secret. What is is that one Arthur Kirkland has actually starred in a few pornos.
♦ He has an extensive collection of sex toys - most of them he'll never use. It's quite literally a collection - if it's been made, he has one, even if it doesn't play into any of his kinks.
♦ He leads a secret life on the weekends as the guitarist in a punk rock band.
♦ Contrary to popular belief his eyebrows are not an erogenous zone…but the pulsepoints on his wrists are. The eyebrows are just a backfired curse he'd tried to set on France centuries ago.
♦ Arthur hates what becoming settled and civilised has done to him, no matter that he's fallen into the role of a gentleman as well as he could, and accepted it as the price of progress. He hates it and maintains that the collar on a shirt is no different from that you would put on a dog. He longs for the days when he could just take off across the seas and live as he wanted to, with no one to tell him otherwise.
Any Quirks/Habits:
He's an alcoholic, I'm not sure if that counts as a habit or not. Hmm. I'm not sure what to put here. Hmm. He can't lie when he's drunk, is that a weird quirk?
Random fact! Every morning he brushes his hair nice and flat, and keeps it incredibly neat. But the faeries like to use it for nesting, so they pluck and pull at it so that by the time he leaves his house it's a right mess. Also, he can speak French. It was his national language for over six-hundred years. Of course he can speak it. Fluently and perfectly. He just pretends he can't - and speaking the langauge means he knows how to pronounce everything wrong.
Overall Personality: Arthur is a walking contradiction, the king of hypocrisy, and bloody proud of it at that. He's contrary for the sake of being contrary. He doesn't have trouble expressing his feelings, he's just a dick. If he doesn’t like you he doesn't mind telling you as much, and he definitely doesn't spare the details. He's a rude, belligerent man grown harsh and cold as the world and turned him from a hopeful romantic to a jaded and bitter man, old beyond his time (because as far as Europe is concerned, Arthur's a bit of a young whipper snapper, even if he's quite old compared to, say, America or Mexico). He was born a scrapper, and will die a scrapper and will remain one for all the years in between, no matter how civilised he may be now, and he has a bad habit of looking at everything as a competition or a fight that he should probably be in the middle of.
His temper is so short it's amasing to think that there's a fuse at all, and he's quick to jump to conclusions - especially if they can be solved with a fist, the product of being raised on the British aisles with influences like Scotland, Cyrmy, Wales, and Ireland about. Now a days he's calmed down considerably, but he's still a terribly argumentative old thing. Like I mentioned in his appearance bit, he's rather like a ferret, or perhaps a viper. Quick to anger and strike, and generally irritable all the time. He wasn't always like this, in fact, he used to be a rather timid child, more prone to running and hiding out, living with his faeries rather than fighting back. Running was easier, and as a general rule, more effective. But in time he started to grow and become more unified - thanks to a certain king and legend who's name Arthur is proud to share, to hold onto, until he returns - and he learned to start fighting back. And it felt good. No more bending over, bowing down, giving in. Fighting, tooth and nail, no matter how long it took. Surrendering fell out of his vocabulary, and never truly re-entered. And now, even if beaten into the ground, he'll never fail to try until he can rise again. After all, it's only a flesh wound!
When it comes to ladies, however, he as a completely different attitude. England is a gentleman, even if he wishes for freer days, and while he might be a right cad to anyone else, any woman he meets, be she completely stranger or age-old acquaintance, she will always be treated with the respect a lady deserves (unless she's a whore or he's in a fit of jealous rage: See Gwenhyfar and Jeann d'Arc). He'll open doors for you, pull out your chair, take your coat, offer his, throw it down in a puddle for you, what have you. Chivalry is not dead, at least not to Arthur Kirkland.
He's a very nostalgic nation, and when he latches on to a particular person or time period, he cannot let it go. Now, I've tried to explain this about a million times, and I can never do it quite so well as I want to other than in the following, so please enjoy a little ficlet that describes exactly how he handles his nostalgia, and the pain points therein.
--
England's house is large, even for a country, though it may not look so from the outside. He needs it to be, for the family reunions where Scotland makes it reek of alcohol, and the Irelands break his furniture while New Zealand and Australia cheer one or the other on until they two turn to brawling themselves. Needless to say it has more winding halls and odd passages than the British Museum. Indeed, enough to keep even young New England entertained when he was taken to the big house. But even Alfred has not discovered what lies behind all of the rooms in that grand house - no, there is one hall kept in a state of near-perfect repair that no one but England has ever been allowed to go down. Not even Francis has seen behind the four great doors kept along that way, though he more than anyone might have some small inkling to what they might hold.
Not even the faeries dare to try going back into the well kept rooms along that hall, and while England will frequent the boards before each door even he has trouble going past some of them. It takes a great deal of time for him to push past the threshold, and for one of the four rooms found there it's all he's managed. Nearest to the open end of the hall, to the rest of the house, he'll sit in the doorway when the rain has grown to thick to bear, several bottles of heavy drink - brandy, scotch, bourbon, and gin - about him. He'll finger the edges of the rug laid out below the small cot of a bed, fitted with the best mattress of it's time, he'll look up at the scratch drawings on yellowing parchment that line the walls and the toys that still litter the floor - he never was good at putting his things away, was he? He'll stare at the child's room that will never be used and see a form that will never again be so little run about the room and laugh and smile, and he'll stare until the image fades or grows to clear to watch any longer, until he can't look, until he turns his eyes away and lets out wrenching sobs, broken cries that wrack his whole body until he's nothing but a shaking pile of tears and flesh upon the floor.
More opened is the delicately carved door across the way, painted white with a polished brass knob and careful carvings along door and frame. On days when he remembers strongest the smell of wild roses and powder rooms, or when the girl behind the counter at the tea house down the road has eyes that look just a bit too much like the shining grey-green of old Queen's or when her hair catches the sun in just the way to make it look like flame, when the ring strung about his neck weighs down heavier than a small piece of gold and jade should be able to, those are the days he comes here. He does not bother to drink -she had never approved of such - and he sees no phantom lady moving about the rooms he'd had re-created here, but that doesn't stop him from taking down the gown of white that only he got to see her wear. It doesn't stop him from holding it close as he falls upon the bed that was considered soft for it's time, and it certainly doesn't stop the silent tears that fall into the material he's spent so much time and care preserving. It doesn't stop him from pulling the ring off that chain about his neck to hold it on his finger as he never could wear it, from running his fingers over the engravings and from repeating the vows over and over, always cutting out over the last line - "until death do us part."
The third door down is rarely opened, and when it is he's more of a wreck then when he sits in the doorway of the first. His breath is always thick with the scent of rum, and he throws the door to the hull-turned-chamber found within open with enough force that he's had to have her repaired on countless occasions. When he runs in here he is cursing Spain and the sea and his brother and above all everything French until he has no more words left in him, nor the ability to say any that he might find. He screams and throws about old bits of sails and maps he'll never use again, old hats and cutlasses and any number of nautical paraphernalia that he once used to drive off his own happiness. He will curse his voice away until he can do nothing more than drop to his knees in the hull of his old ship and read over letter after letter, lips moving in the echoing sounds of his pained rage. Until he can do nothing but read over words he's never been able to forget, and pretend that the man who wrote them meant what he said. Until he falls into a drunken sleep surrounded by memories he can never throw out, dreaming of a time when he was still 'mon amour Angleterre.'
The last room, at the end of the hall, has never seen him so broken as all that, or perhaps has witnessed a much deeper crack in the Englishmen. In there he allows his faerie friends, though they refuse to enter. To that hall he makes a regular, almost religious pilgrimage, to set down and carefully keep polished and bright each and every artifact he has collected, from that most famous sword kept safe in the center next to it's sheath, to the armor kept standing by the wall, to the iron shoe he once played toss with as a not-child. Here he smoothes out robes and sits at a seat with the name that shouldn't be his at the back of it, looking over a huge table where no one, now, will sit. He touches with reverent delicacy each precious object from a time when he could laugh, and whispers the happenings of the day. He informs ears that have been deaf for centuries about his accomplishments and failings with the hope of praise carried in the hearts of young children speaking to someone they've looked up to all their life, and at the same time with the familiarity and warmth adopted when talking to one with whom love is shared. Here he promises, and pleads, and waits for a king who will never return.
England's house is large, but it's too small for him to escape the feel of ghost-filled rooms and empty halls.
--
So. Yes. England has had some losses in the past. Alfred, as a son, Elizabeth, as a wife and queen, France, as a lover (headcanon, of course, happy to discuss this with France if/when we get one), and Arthur, as a king, a friend, and a mentor. And he has never gotten over their loss. He's a nostalgic old man, and he carries all that weight with him wherever he goes, no matter what he does. He cannot let go of it, cannot set down the burden, will not allow himself to, and so he shoulders it through all. It's part of why he's such a downer now.
He believes in love, but wishes he didn't. He wish he were better at hating, and knows that it would behoove him to be less prideful. But he can't. He is who he is. Even if that's not necessarily who he, or others, want him to be.
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I'm the hero!
· 5000 - 2000 BC Stone Age settlers arrived by crossing English Channel, farming introduced
· 2200 BC Bleaker People constructed ring of stones at Stonehenge
· 600 - 50 BC Celtic peoples established their culture throughout the British Isles; Druids populated Wales
· Around 50 BC A town grows up at London, Arthur born.
· 55 BC Julius Caesar attempted invasion of Britain, forced to withdraw
· 54 BC Julius Caesar attempted second invasion; captured St. Albans
· 43 AD Roman Emperor Claudius and 40,000 troops invaded, land in Kent, Britannia became a Roman province
· 51 BC - Caratacus, British resistance leader, is captured and taken to Rome
· 61 AD Queen Boadicea organized rebellion against Romans, was defeated (Scotland tries to liberate his little brother), she burns down St. Albans, Colchester, and London. Arthur obtains the first of two major burn marks that he will retain for the rest of his life.
· 63 AD - Joseph of Arimathea came to Glastonbury on the first Christian mission to Britain.
· 75-77 AD - The Roman conquest of Britain is complete, as Wales is finally subdued; Julius Agricola is imperial governor
· 120 AD Emperor Hadrian ordered wall to be built to mark Roman territory of Britain in north
133 AD - Julius Severus, governor of Britain, is sent to Palestine to crush the revolt
167 AD - At the request of King Lucius, the missionaries, Phagan and Deruvian,were said to have been sent by Pope Eleutherius to convert the Britons to Christianity. This is, perhaps, the most widely believed of the legends of the founding of Christianity in Britain.
184 AD- Lucius Artorius Castus, commander of a detachment of Sarmatian conscripts stationed in Britain, led his troops to Gaul to quell a rebellion. This is the first appearance of the name, Artorius, in history and some believe that this Roman military man is the original, or basis, for the Arthurian legend. The theory says that Castus' exploits in Gaul, at the head of a contingent of mounted troops, are the basis for later, similar traditions about "King Arthur," and, further, that the name "Artorius" became a title, or honorific, which was ascribed to a famous warrior in the fifth century.
197 AD - Clodius Albinus, governor of Britain, another claimant to the Imperial throne, is killed by Severus at the battle of Lyon
208 AD - Severus goes to defend Britain, and repairs Hadrian's Wall
209 AD - St. Alban, first British martyr, was killed for his faith in one of the few persecutions of Christians ever to take place on the island, during the governorship of Gaius Junius Faustinus Postumianus (there is controversy about the date of Alban's martyrdom. Some believe it occurred during the persecutions of Diocletian, in the next century)
· 211 AD Britain divided into two parts - Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior
· 254 AD St. Alban beheaded, became first Britain Christian martyr
· c.270 AD - Beginning (highly uncertain dating) of the "Saxon Shore" fort system, a chain of coastal forts in the south and east of Britain, listed in a document known as "Notitia Dignitatum."
· 287 AD- Revolt by Carausius, commander of the Roman British fleet, who rules Britain as emperor until murdered by Allectus, a fellow rebel, in 293
· 290 AD Carausius rebelled against Roman Empire, took control of Britain and North Gaul
· 296 AD Emperor Caesar Constantius Chlorus invaded Britain, recovered it for the Roman Empire
303 AD - Diocletian orders a general persecution of the Christians
· 306 AD Constantine declared Emperor of Rome at York.
311 AD - Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.
312 AD - Constantine defeats and kills Maxentius at battle of Milvian Bridge; Constantine realizes Christian God may be a powerful ally and decides to attempt to co-opt him for his own purposes.
313 AD - Edict of Toleration proclaimed at Milan, in which Christianity is made legal throughout the empire.
314 AD - Three British bishops, for the first time, attend a continental church gathering, the Council of Arles.
324 AD - Constantine finally achieves full control over an undivided empire. He was a skillful politician who is popularly believed to have made Christianity the official religion of the empire because of his personal convictions. In actuality, that act was merely an expedient intended to harness the power of its "God" for the benefit of the state. He re-located the imperial headquarters to Byzantium, whose name he then changed to Constantinople.
337 AD - Constantine received "Christian" baptism on his deathbed. Joint rule of Constantine's three sons: Constantine II (to 340); Constans (to 350); Constantius (to 361)
367 AD - 'The Great Barbarian Raid'. A combined force of Irish, Scots and Picts attack Roman Britain
369 AD - Roman general Theodosius drives the Picts and Scots out of Roman Britain
383 AD - Magnus Maximus (Macsen Wledig), a Spaniard, was proclaimed Emperor in Britain by the island's Roman garrison. With an army of British volunteers, he quickly conquered Gaul, Spain and Italy.
388 AD - Maximus occupied Rome itself. Theodosius, the eastern Emperor, defeated him in battle and beheaded him in July, 388, with many of the remnant of Maximus' troops settling in Armorica. The net result to Britain was the loss of many valuable troops needed for the island's defense (the "first migration").
395 AD - Theodosius, the last emperor to rule an undivided empire, died, leaving his one son, Arcadius, emperor in the East and his other son, the young Honorius, emperor in the West. At this point the office of Roman Emperor changed from a position of absolute power to one of being merely a head of state.
396 AD - The Roman general, Stilicho, acting as regent in the western empire during Honorius' minority, reorganized British defenses decimated by the Magnus Maximus debacle. Began transfer of military authority from Roman commanders to local British chieftains.
397 AD - The Roman commander, Stilicho, comes to Britain and repels an attack by Picts, Irish and Saxons.
402 AD - Events on the continent force Stilicho to recall one of the two British legions to assist with the defense of Italy against Alaric and the Visigoths. The recalled legion, known as the Sixth Victrix, was said by Claudian (in "De Bello Gallico," 416) to be "that legion which is stretched before the remoter Britons, which curbs the Scot, and gazes on the tattoo-marks on the pale face of the dying Pict." The barbarians were defeated, this time, at battle of Pollentia.
403 AD - Victricius, Bishop of Rouen, visited Britain for the purpose of bringing peace to the island's clergy, who were in the midst of a dispute, possibly over the Pelagian heresy.
405 AD - The British troops, which had been recalled to assist Stilicho, were never returned to Britain as they had to stay in Italy to fight off another, deeper penetration by the barbarian chieftain, Radagaisus.
406 AD - In early January, 406, a combined barbarian force (Suevi, Alans, Vandals & Burgundians) swept into central Gaul, severing contact between Rome and Britain. In autumn 406, the remaining Roman army in Britain decided to mutiny. One Marcus was proclaimed emperor in Britain, but was immediately assassinated.
407 AD - In place of the assassinated Marcus, Gratian was elevated "to the purple," but lasted only four months. Constantine III was hailed as the new emperor by Roman garrison in Britian. He proceeded to follow the example of Magnus Maximus by withdrawing the remaining Roman legion, the Second Augusta, and crossing over into Gaul to rally support for his cause. Constantine's departure could be what Nennius called "the end of the Roman Empire in Britain. . ."
408 AD - With both Roman legions withdrawn, Britain endures devastating attacks by the Picts, Scots and Saxons.
409 AD - Prosper, in his chronicle, says, "in the fifteenth year of Honorius and Arcadius (409), on account of the languishing state of the Romans, the strength of the Britons was brought to a desperate pass." Under enormous pressure, Britons take matters into their own hands, expelling weak Roman officials and fighting for themselves.
410 AD - Roman troops withdraw from Britannia; Roman occupation officially over
c.410 - y'all know it's AD now, Imma stop - Governor Owain Finddu of Glywysing is assassinated in Gwynedd. Irish incursions into Gwynedd, Powys, Garth Madrun, Dyfed & the Gower Peninsula.
411 - Capture, at Arles, of Constatine, last Emperor of Britain. He was executed at Ravenna soon afterward.
413 - Pelagian heresy said to have begun, by Prosper (Tiro) of Aquitaine in his "Chronicle".
420 - Pelagian heresy outlawed in Rome (418) but, in Britain, supposedly enjoys much support from "pro-Celtic" faction. Traditionalists (pro-Romans) support Roman church. During this time, according to Prosper, Britain is ruled by petty "tyrants".
c.420 - Death of Coel Hen, probably the last Roman Dux Brittanniarum. The lands of his office in Northern Britain are divided between his descendants and become petty kingdoms of the "Gwyr y Gogledd".
421 - Supposed death of King Gradlon Mawr of Brittany. Probable division of Brittany into sub-kingdoms of Cornouaille and Domnonée.
c.423 - Birth of St. Patrick in Banna Venta Burniae, thought to be near Birdoswald.
425 - Vortigern usurps Imperial power in Britain, possibly as High-King.
c.425 - Cunedda Wledig and his retinue are moved south from Manau Gododdin to Gwynedd in order to expel the invading Irish.
c.425-50 - King Conomor flourishes in Dumnonia, probably from his capital at Castle Dore.
428 - Vortigern invites a number of Germanic warriors to aid him in consolidating his position in Britain according to the Historia Brittonum. This appears to have been an early use of German mercenaries, who probably settled in the Dorchester-upon-Thames area.
429 - At the request of Palladius, a British deacon, Pope Celestine I dispatches Bishops Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes to Britain to combat Pelagian heresy. While in Britain, Germanus, a former military man, leads Britons to "Hallelujah" victory on the Welsh border. St. Cadfan founds the Monastery of Barsdey.
c.434 - St. Patrick is captured by pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave.
435 - Tibatto leads Armorican movement for independence from Roman Gaul.
c.435 - War breaks out between the Irish settlers in Garth Madrun and Powys. King Anlach of Garth Madrun is defeated and forced to send his son, Brychan, as a hostage to the Powysian Court.
437 - Ambrosius Aurelianus appears as leader of the Pro-Roman faction in Britain (traditionally returning from exile in Brittany). Vortigern's apparent relative, Vitalinus (Guitolinus), fights against Ambrosius at the Battle of Wallop. The latter is probably victorious and is "given all the kingdoms of the western side of Britain".
c.437 - The Irish chieftain, Triffyn Farfog takes the Kingdom of Dyfed by marrying the daughter of King Clotri.
c.440 - St. Patrick escapes from his captors and returns to Britain.
c.440-50 - Period of Civil War and famine in Britain, caused by ruling council's weakness and inability to deal with Pictish invasions; situation aggravated by tensions between Pelagian/Roman factions. Vacated towns and cities in ruin. Migration of pro-Roman citizens toward west. Country beginning to be divided, geographically, along factional lines. King Glywys of Glywysing flourishes in Glywysing.
· 440 - 450 AD - Assorted tribes including the Picts, Saxons, Angles and Jutes invaded unprotected Britain
c.440-50 - Period of Civil War and famine in Britain, caused by ruling council's weakness and inability to deal with Pictish invasions; situation aggravated by tensions between Pelagian/Roman factions. Vacated towns and cities in ruin. Migration of pro-Roman citizens toward west. Country beginning to be divided, geographically, along factional lines. King Glywys of Glywysing flourishes in Glywysing.
c.440-90 - King Brychan flourishes in Brycheiniog. His three wives give birth to many saintly children who evangelize Dumnonia.
c.441 - Gallic Chronicle records, prematurely, that "Britain, abandoned by the Romans, passed into the power of the Saxons."
443 - Death of King Constantine Corneu of Dumnonia. His kingdom was divided between his two sons as Dumnonia and Cerniw.
446 - Britons (probably the pro-Roman party) appeal to Aetius, Roman governor of Gaul, for military assistance in their struggle against the Picts and the Irish/Scots. No help could be sent, at this time, as Aetius had his hands full with Attila the Hun.
c.446 - Vortigern authorizes the use of Saxon mercenaries, known as foederati, for the defence of the northern parts against barbarian attack and to guard against further Irish incursions. The Saxons are given a little land in Lincolnshire.
447 - Second visit of St. Germanus (this time accompanied by Severus, Bishop of Trier) to Britain. Was this visit spiritually motivated, to combat a revived Pelagian threat or was Germanus sent in Aetius' stead, to do whatever he could to help the desperate Britons? Vortigern is accused of incest. Battle of Aylesford (Kent) in which the rebellious sons of Vortigern, Vortimer and Cadeyrn, defeat Hengest for the first time. Cadeyrn is killed in the fighting. Germanus expells the Irish from Powys and restores Cadeyrn's son, Cadell Ddernllwg, to the throne.
c.447 - Britons, aroused to heroic effort, "inflicted a massacre" on their enemies, the Picts and Irish, and were left in peace, for a brief time. Could this heroic effort have been led, again, by St. Germanus?
c.448 - Civil war and plague ravage Britain.
c.450 - In the first year of Marcian and Valentinian, Hengest arrives on shores of Britain with "3 keels" of warriors, and are welcomed by Vortigern. This event is known in Latin as the "Adventus Saxonum," the coming of the Saxons.
c.452 - Increasing Saxon settlement in Britain. Vortigern marries Hengest's daughter, Rowenna, and supposedly offers the Jutish leader the kingdom of Kent. Hengest invites his son, Octha, from Germany with "16 keels" of warriors, who occupy the northern lands, to defend against the Picts. Picts never heard from, again.
c.453 - Raids on British towns and cities becoming more frequent. Increasing Saxon unrest.
455 - Prince Vortimer apparently rebels against the pro-Saxon policies of his father, Vortigern, and fights Hengest at the Battle of Crayford. Hengest is victorious and the British army flees back to London.
456 - The indecisve Battle of Aylesford between Hengest's Saxons and the British under Prince Vortimer. Prince Cadeyrn of Britain and King Horsa of Kent are killed in the fighting.
c.456 - St. Patrick leaves Britain once more to evangelise Ireland. Geoffrey of Monmouth tells us of a probably fictitious, but entirely believable, event in which Saxons massacre 300 leading British noblemen at a phony "peace" conference.
c.458 - Saxon uprising in full-swing. Hengest finally conquers Kent, in south-eastern Britain.
c.458-60 - Full-scale migration of British aristocrats and city-dwellers across the English Channel to Armorica, in north-western Gaul (the "second migration"). British contingent led by Riothamus (perhaps a title, not a name).
c.459 - Vortigern is burnt to death while being besieged by Ambrosius Aurelianus at Ganarew.
c.460-70 - Ambrosius Aurelianus of pro-Roman faction takes full control of Britain; leads Britons in years of back-and-forth fighting with Saxons. British strategy seems to have been to allow Saxon landings and to then contain them there.
464 - Supposed death of the legendary King Aldrien of Brittany.
465 - Battle of Wippedsfleet (or Richborough), in which the Britons defeat the Saxons, but with great slaughter on both sides. The latter are confined to the Isle of Thanet and there is a respite from fighting "for a long time."
c.465 - 'King' Arthur probably born around this time. Birth of St. Dyfrig also.
c.466-73 - Period of minimal Saxon activity. Re-fortification of ancient hillforts and construction of the Wansdyke possibly takes place during this time.
c.469 - Roman emperor, Anthemius, appeals to Britons for military help against the Visigoths. Reliable accounts by Sidonius Apolonaris and Jordanes name the leader of the 12,000 man Breton force, Riothamus. The bulk of the British force was wiped out in battle against Euric, the Visigothic king, and the survivors, including Riothamus, vanished and were never heard from, again.
c.471 - The army of King Ceretic of Strathclyde raids the Irish Coast and carries off some of St. Patrick's new flock and sells them into slavery. The king receives a written repremand from the Irish Evangelist.
473 - Men of Kent, under Hengest, move westward, driving Britons back before them "as one flees fire."
477 - Saxon chieftain, Aelle, lands on Sussex coast with his sons. Britons engage him upon landing but his superior force besieges them at Pevensey and drives them into the Weald. Over next nine years, Saxon coastal holdings are gradually expanded in Sussex.
c.480 - King Erbin of Dumnonia abdicates in favour of his son, King Gerren Llygesoc. Death of King Glywys of Glywysing. His kingdom is divided into Gwynllwg, Penychen, Gorfynedd, Edeligion and others.
c.485 - Birth of St. Samson.
c.485-96 - Period of Arthur's "twelve battles" during which he gains reputation for invincibility.
486 - Aelle and his sons overreach their normal territory and are engaged by Britons at battle of Mercredesburne. Battle is bloody, but indecisive, and ends with both sides pledging friendship.
c.487 - Birth of St. David.
c.490 - Hengest dies. His son, Aesc, takes over and rules for 34 years. Death of Einion Yrth of Gwynedd. His kingdom is divided into Gwynedd and Rhos. St. Cybi Felyn is born in Callington in Cerniw.
493 - Death of St. Patrick, in Glastonbury according to local legend. Down Patrick seems more likely.
c.495 - The Germanic King Cerdic and his son, Cynric, land somewhere on the south coast, probably near the Hampshire-Dorset border. Their followers establish the beginnings of the Kingdom of Wessex. King Gwynllyw of Gwynllwg carries off Princess Gwladys of Brycheiniog. War between the two kingdoms narrowly avoided by the intercession of the legendary Arthur. The couple marry.
c.496 - The Siege of Mount Badon. Britons, under the command of the "war leader" Arthur, defeat the Saxons, under King Esla of Bernicia and possibly Cerdic of Wessex.
c.496-550 - Following the victory at Mt. Badon, the Saxon advance is halted with the invaders returning to their own enclaves. A generation of peace ensues. Corrupt leadership, more civil turmoil, public forgetfulness and individual apathy further erode Romano-British culture over next fifty years, making Britain ripe for final Saxon "picking."
497 - Birth of St. Cadog. Death of King Erbin of Dumnonia.
c.500-17 - King Cadwallon Lawhir expels the Irish from Anglesey.
c.505 - Death of St. Paulinus.
508 - King Cerdic of Wessex begins to move inland and defeats British king, Nudd-Lludd (Natanleod), at the Battle of Netley.
c.510 - The Battle of Llongborth (possibly Langport or Portsmouth), where King Gerren Llyngesoc of Dumnonia, was killed. Prince Rivod of Brittany murders his brother, King Maeliaw, and usurps the Breton throne. Many of the Breton Royal family flee to Britain, including Prince Budic who seeks refuge at the court of King Aircol Lawhir in Dyfed.
c.515 - Death of Aelle. Kingdom of Sussex passed to his son, Cissa and his descendents, but over time, diminished into insignificance.
517 - Death of King Cadwallon Lawhir of Gwynedd. His son, Maelgwn takes the throne, murders his uncle, probably King Owain Danwyn of Rhos, and re-unites the two kingdoms.
517-49 - King Maelgwn flourishes in Gwynedd. Invades Dyfed and generally tries to assert himself as High-King of Britain.
519 - Kingdom of the West Saxons (Wessex) founded with Cerdic its first ruler.
c.520 - King Pabo Post Prydain of the Pennines abdictaes his throne and divides the kingdom between his two sons. He retires, as a hermit, to Anglesey. Death of King Riwal Mawr Marchou of Domnonée. King Budic II of Brittany returns to Cornouaille to claim the Breton throne.
521 - St. Samson is consecrated a bishop by St. Dyfrig, Archbishop of Glywysing & Gwent.
523 - Death of King Gwynllyw of Gwynllwg. Gwnllywg and Penychen united under his son, St. Cadog
c.525 - St. Samson founds the Monastery of Dol and becomes its first Abbot.
· 525 AD Dating system introduced; Saxons attacked between London and St. Albans; formed Kingdom of Essex
c.528 - King & Saint Cadog of Glywysing abdicates in favour of King Meurig of Gwent, who is joined in marriage to Cadog's aunt. Banishment of Princess Thaney of Gododdin. Birth of her son, St. Kentigern.
530 - Saint Pabo Post Prydain, ex-King of the Pennines dies at Llanbabo. The British of the Isle of Wight are defeated by King Cerdic of Wessex at the Battle of Carisbrooke.
c.535 - Kings Sawyl Penuchel of the Southern Pennines is expelled from his kingdom (enemy uncertain) and flees to Powys. Death of King Meirchion Gul of Rheged. The kingdom is divided into North and South. Death of St. Illtud, Abbot of Llanilltud Fawr.
537 - Battle of Camlann, according to Annales Cambriae. Fought between the forces of Arthur and Mordred. Death (or unspecified other demise) of Arthur (according to Geoffrey of Monmouth). Saint and King Constantine ruling in Dumnonia.
c.538 - King Cynlas Goch of Rhos abandons his wife in favour of his sister-in-law, a nun who he drags from her convent. Civil War between Cynlas and his cousin, King Maelgwn of Gwynedd. Maelgwn enters a monastery, but soon returns to secular life and murders his nephew in order to marry his widow! Civil War also in Powys due to the tyranny of King Cyngen Glodrydd.
540 - King Jonas of Domnonée is murdered by King Cono-Mark of Cerniw and Poher. Cono-Mark marries Jonas' widow and rules Domnonée.
c.540 - Probable writing of Gildas' "De Excidio Britanniae." King Caradog Freichfras of Gwent gives Caerwent to St. Tathyw and moves the Royal court to Portskewett
545 - Death of the joint-Kings Budic II and his son Hoel I Mawr of Brittany. King Tewdwr Mawr succeeds to the throne, but is quickly ousted from Cornouaille by King Macliau of the Vannetais. Tewdwr flees to Cerniw and sets himself up as King of the Penwith region.
c.545 - The Synod of Brefi is held at Llandewi Brefi to condemn the Pelagian heresy. St. Dyfrig, Archbishop of South Wales resigns his position in favour of St. David. David moves the Archdiocese from Caerleon to St. Davids. Death of St. Dyfrig. He is succeeded as Bishop of Glywysing & Gwent by St. Teilo. Prince Judwal of Domnonée flees from his murderous step-father to the court of King Childebert of the Franks.
546 - St. Gildas returns to Brittany with St. Cadog.
547 - The King of Bryneich is expelled from his fortress of Bamburgh by King Ida of Bernicia. Apparent death of the, probably joint-king, Hoel II Fychan of Brittany.
c.548 - King Cono-Mark of Cerniw, Poher and Domnonée marries Princess Triphine of Broërec.
549 - "Yellow" Plague hits British territories, causing many deaths, including King Maelgwn of Gwynedd. Ireland also affected. Saxons, for whatever reason, are unaffected by it.
c.550 - Death of St. Ninian, Bishop of Whithorn. Birth of St. Tremeur. Murder of his mother, Triphine, by his father, King Cono-Mark of Cerniw, Poher and Domnonée. Prince Judwal of Domnonée retakes his throne. Cono-Mark flees to Cornwall. The semi-legendary Kingdom of Lyonesse possibly inundated by the sea.
552 - King Cynric of Wessex lays siege to the British at Old Sarum and put them to flight.
555 - St. Cybi Felyn, Abbot of Holyhead, dies at his monastery. Murder of St. Tremeur. Death of his father, King Cono-Mark of Cerniw and Poher.
c.555 - Death of King Erb of Gwent. The kingdom is divided into Gwent and Ergyng.
556 - King Cynric of Wessex lays siege to the British at Barbury Castle and is victorious.
· 556 Saxons set up seven kingdoms in Britain
558 - Broërec is attacked by King Childebert of the Franks. King Canao II leads resistance.
c.560 - Prince Elidyr of Strathclyde invades Gwynedd in right of his wife. He tries to expel his brother-in-law, King Rhun Hir of Gwynedd, at the Battle of the Cadnant Brook, but is killed in the process.
564 - Death of St. Tugdual, Bishop of Tréguier.
c.564 - St. Cadog settles in Weedon in Calchfynedd and is made Bishop there. St. Samson attends the Council of Paris and witnesses several Royal decrees.
c.565 - King Riderch Hael of Strathclyde mounts an unsuccessful revenge attack on King Rhun Hir of Gwynedd. Rhun marches on Strathclyde and reinforces the armies of his half-brother, Brudei, in Pictland. Death of St. Samson.
569 - St. David holds the Synod of Victoria to denounce the Pelagian heresy once more.
570 - Death of St. Gildas.
c.570-75 - The Northern British Alliance is forged between the kingdoms of North Rheged, Strathclyde, Bryneich and Elmet. They fight the Northumbrians at the Battles of Gwen Ystrad and the Cells of Berwyn
571 - King Cuthwulf of Wessex invades Midland Britain and defeats the British, probably under the King of Calchfynedd, at the Battle of Bedford.
573 - Kings Peredyr and Gwrgi of Ebrauc ally themselves with Kings Dunaut Bwr of the Northern Pennines and Riderch Hael of Strathclyde. They march north to claim the fort at Caerlaverock from King Gwendoleu of Caer-Gwendoleu. The latter was killed in the Battle of Arthuret and his bard, Myrddin, is forced to flee into the Caledonian Forest.
575 - Prince Owein of North Rheged kills King Theodoric of Bernicia at the Battle of Leeming Lane.
577 - Wessex invades the lower Severn Valley. Kings Ffernfael of Caer-Baddan, Cyndyddam of Caer-Ceri and Cynfael of Caer-Gloui are killed at the Battle of Dyrham. Wessex overuns the Cirencester area. King Tewdwr Mawr of Brittany returns to Cornouaille, reclaims his throne and kills King Macliau of the Vannetais in battle.
580 - The army of Kings Peredyr and Gwrgi of Ebrauc march north to fight the Anglians of Bernicia. Both are killed by King Adda's forces at Caer Greu. The Deirans rise up, under King Aelle, and move on the City of Ebrauc. King Peredyr's son is forced to flee the Kingdom. St. Cadog is martyred in Calchfynedd by invading Mercians.
584 - Death of St. Deiniol Gwyn, Bishop of Bangor Fawr. The British are victorious over King Ceawlin of Wessex at the Battle of Fethanleigh and kill his brother, Cuthwine. Ceawlin ravages the surrounding countryside in revenge.
585 - Death of King Alain I of Brittany.
586 - Death of King Rhun Hir of Gwynedd. Death of King Judwal of Domnonée.
588 - King Edwin of Deira is ousted from his Kingdom by the Bernicians and seeks refuge at the court of King Iago of Gwynedd.
589 - Death of Saint and King Constantine of Dumnonia. Death of St. David, Archbishop of St. Davids.
590 - The Siege of Lindisfarne. The Northern British Alliance (North Rheged, Strathclyde, Bryneich and Elmet) lays siege to King Hussa of Bernicia and almost exterminates the Northumbrians from Northern Britain. King Urien of North Rheged is assassinated at the behest of his jealous ally King Morcant Bulc of Bryneich. The Northumbrians recover while internal squabbles tear the British Alliance apart.
c.591 - King Dunaut Bwr of the Northern Pennines mounts an invasion of North Rheged, but is repulsed by its King, Owein, and his brother, Prince Pasgen. Prince Elffin of North Rheged is simultaneously attacked by King Gwallawc Marchawc Trin of Elmet.
c.593 - King Morcant Bulc of Bryneich invades North Rheged and kills King Owein in battle. Prince Pasgen of North Rheged flees to the Gower Peninsula. A greatly diminished North Rheged probably continues under the rule of their brother, Rhun.
595 - The aging King Dunaut Bwr of the Northern Pennines dies fighting off a Bernician invasion. His kingdom is overrun and his family flee to join his grandson in Gwynedd.
597 - Saint Augustine sent to Britain to convert English to Christianity
598 - Kings Mynyddog Mwynfawr of Din-Eidyn & Cynan of Gododdin ride south to fight Saxon Bernicia against enormous odds at the Battle of Catterick. The British are victorious, though King Gerren of Dumnonia is killed in the fighting. He is buried at Dingerein. Probable expansion of North Rheged to fill the vacuum left in North Yorkshire.
c.600 - Welsh bard, Prince Aneirin of the Northern Pennines, writes the poem, Y Gododdin, recording the events of the Battle of Catterick.
601 - The Synod of Chester. Death of St. Asaph, Bishop of Llanelwy.
602 - St. Augustine of Canterbury meets with the Welsh Bishops at Aust near Chepstow. He accuses them of acting contrary to Church teachings, failing to keep Easter at the prescribed Roman time and not administering baptism according to the Roman rite. He also insists that they help in the conversion of their enemy, the Saxons, and look to Canterbury as their spiritual centre. The Welsh tactfully decline.
604 - The Welsh Bishops meet for a second time with St. Augustine of Canterbury. He neglects to rise to greet them, lectures them again and insists they submit to him. The Welsh send him packing. They refuse to recognise the authority of a church within their enemies' territory under such a disrespectful bishop.
607 - Death of King Judhael of Domnonée. His son, Haelioc takes the throne and attempts to exterminate his brothers.
612 - Death of St. Kentigern, Bishop of Glasgow. Death of King Hoel III of Brittany.
613 - King Aethelfrith of Bernicia invades Gwynedd in order to route out his old enemy, King Edwin of Deira. A united British force (Gwynedd, Powys, Pengwern and Dumnonian warriors) clashes with his army at the Battle of Chester. Kings Iago of Gwynedd and Selyf Sarffgadau of Powys and Prince Cadwal Cryshalog of Rhos are all killed but the victor is unclear. The Battle of Bangor-is-Coed follows in quick succession. King Bledric of Dumnonia is killed in the fighting and 1000 monks are massacred by the Northumbrians.
· 613 Anglo-Saxons conquered all of Britain; land divided into 30 kingdoms
614 - King Cynegils of Wessex invades Dumnonia and defeats the local army (possibly under a King Clemen) at the Battle of Bindon.
c.614 - Proposed annexation of Powys by the Dogfeiling Prince, Eluan Powys, with the help of his brother, King Cynddylan of Pengwern, "oppressor of the Cadelling". The sons of the Cadelling king, Selyf Sarffgadau of Powys, are later described as "landless oafs". The Tarvin-Macefen boundary between Powys and Mercia is delineated.
617 - King Edwin of Deira invades and conquers Elmet. King Ceretic of Elmet is killed in the fighting.
· 617 - 685 - Northumbrian kingdom reigned supreme
· 620 - Ireland invaded by Norsemen
c.620 - King Tewdrig Fendigaid of Glywysing & Gwent abdicates in favour of his son, Meurig. King Llywarch Hen is expelled from South Rheged, probably by King Edwin of Deira. Llywarch flees to Powys and becomes a famous bard.
c.623 - King Edwin of Deira is baptised by Prince Rhun of North Rheged, according to the Historia Brittonum. This may have been at the Royal Court of Gwynedd.
625 - King Cadfan of Gwynedd dies and is buried at Llangadwaladr where his memorial stone can still be seen. His son, King Cadwallon, succeeds to the throne. St. Tysilio re-founds the Monastery of Meifod.
c.625 - Death of King Haelioc of Domnonée. His brother, Judicael, succeeds to the throne.
c.626 - The rivalry between King Cadwallon of Gwynedd and King Edwin of Deira reaches a climax. Edwin invades the Isle of Man and then Anglesey. Cadwallon is defeated in battle and is besieged on Puffin Island. He eventually flees to Brittany.
629 - St. Paulinus meets Blecca, the Praefectus Civitatis of Lincoln, and converts him to Christianity.
630 - The West Saxons invade Gwent. King Meurig defeats them, with the help of his aging father, at the Battle of Pont-y-Saeson. Death of King Neithon of Strathclyde.
c.630 - King Penda of Mercia besieges Exeter (possibly held by King Clemen of Dumnonia). King Cadwallon of Gwynedd lands nearby, from his Deiran imposed exile in Brittany. He negotiates an alliance with King Penda of Mercia and a united British and Saxon force moves north to re-take Gwynedd. The Deirans are defeated at the Battle of the Long Mountain and Cadwallon chases them back to Northumbria. The British ransack Northumbria and bring the kingdom to its knees.
632 - King Idris of Meirionydd is killed fighting the West Saxons on the Severn.
CONTINUED NEXT POST. It got too big, orz
