Sources
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Bede
Gildas
Historia Brittonum
Confession of St Patrick
Articles
End of Roman rule
Tribal Militias
After Roman Rule
Post-Roman Britain
The Saxon Invasion
The Age of Saints
Pagan Religions in Britain
Nations
Evidence
The Picts
Ogham and the Irish in Britain
Scotti and Scots
'Teutonic' England
Books
Dark Age Books
Anglo-Saxon Books
Orkney Books
Pict Books
Viking Books
Early Welsh History

Who Are The Celtic Saints? by Kathleen Jones. Cutting through the mists of Celtic myth, this historical account introduces the saints as real men and women in the pursuit of holiness. The Celtic period began with Patrick's mission to Ireland in 435 and ended with the submission of the British church to Rome in 715. This book tells the stories of the various branches of the Celtic church during this period and includes biographies of the outstanding personalities of the era.
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On The Ruin of Britain (De Excidio Britanniae) by Gildas
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II. The History
3. The island of Britain, situated on almost the utmost border
of the earth, towards the south and west, and poised in the divine
balance, as it is said, which supports the whole world, stretches
out from the south-west towards the north pole, and is eight
hundred miles long and two hundred broad[1], except where the
headlands of sundry promontories stretch farther into the sea.
It is surrounded by the ocean, which forms winding bays, and is
strongly defended by this ample, and, if I may so call it,
impassable barrier, save on the south side, where the narrow sea
affords a passage to Belgic Gaul. It is enriched by the mouths
of two noble rivers, the Thames and the Severn, as it were two
arms, by which foreign luxuries were of old imported, and by
other streams of less importance. It is famous for eight and
twenty cities, and is embellished by certain castles, with walls,
towers, well barred gates, and houses with threatening battlements
built on high, and provided with all requisite instruments of
defence. Its plains are spacious, its hills are pleasantly
situated, adapted for superior tillage, and its mountains are
admirably calculated for the alternate pasturage of cattle, where
flowers of various colours, trodden by the feet of man, give it
the appearance of a lovely picture. It is decked, like a man's
chosen bride, with divers jewels, with lucid fountains and abundant
brooks wandering over the snow white sands; with transparent
rivers, flowing in gentle murmurs, and offering a sweet pledge
of slumber[2] to those who recline upon their banks, whilst it
is irrigated by abundant lakes, which pour forth cool torrents
of refreshing water.
[1] The description of Britain is given in very nearly the same
terms, by Orosius, Bede, and others, but the numbers denoting
the length and breadth and other dimensions, are different in
almost every MS. Copy.
[2] "Soporem" in some MSS., "saporem" in others; it is difficult
from the turgidity and superabundance of the style to determine
which is the best meaning.
4. This island, stiff--necked and stubborn--minded, from the
time of its being first inhabited, ungratefully rebels, sometimes
against God, sometimes against her own citizens, and frequently
also, against foreign kings and their subjects. For what can
there either be, or be committed, more disgraceful or more
unrighteous in human affairs, than to refuse to show fear to God
or affection to one's own countrymen, and (without detriment to
one's faith) to refuse due honour to those of higher dignity, to
cast off all regard to reason, human and divine, and, in contempt
of heaven and earth, to be guided by one's own sensual inventions?
I shall, therefore, omit those ancient errors common to all the
nations of the earth, in which, before Christ came in the flesh,
all mankind were bound; nor shall I enumerate those diabolical
idols of my country, which almost surpassed in number those of
Egypt, and of which we still see some mouldering away within or
without the deserted temples, with stiff and deformed features
as was customary. Nor will I call out upon the mountains, fountains,
or hills, or upon the rivers, which now are subservient to the
use of men, but once were an abomination and destruction to them,
and to which the blind people paid divine honour. I shall also
pass over the bygone times of our cruel tyrants, whose notoriety
was spread over to far distant countries; so that Porphyry, that
dog who in the east was always so fierce against the church, in
his mad and vain style added this also, that "Britain is a land
fertile in tyrants."* I will only endeavour to relate the
evils which Britain suffered in the times of the Roman emperors,
and also those which she caused to distant states; but so far as
lies in my power, I shall not follow the writings and records of
my own country, which (if there ever were any of them) have been
consumed in the fires of the enemy, or have accompanied my exiled
countrymen into distant lands, but be guided by the relations of
foreign writers, which, being broken and interrupted in many places
are therefore by no means clear.
* Gildas here confuses the modern idea of a tyrant with that
of an usurper. The latter is a sense in which Britain was said
to be fertile in tyrants, viz. In usurpers of the imperial dignity.
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The Tribes of Britain
by David Miles. The diverse peoples of Britain and Ireland are revealed not only by physical characteristics but also through structures and settlements, place names and dialects. Using the latest genetic and archaeological research, the author shows how different peoples traded, settled and conquered, establishing the 'tribal' and regional roots still apparent today. Its vast scope considers the impact of prehistoric peoples and Celtic tribes, Romans and Vikings, Saxons and Normans, Jews and Huguenots, as well as the increasing population movements of the last century. Available from:
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