Aurelius Ambrosius

by Brian Edward Rise

Uncle to Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth. Brother to Uther Pendragon and son of King
Constantine, he is raised in Brittany with his brother to avoid the scheming of the usurper
Vortigern. Upon reaching manhood, the brothers return to England and overthrow Vortigern,
making Aurelius king. He defeats and executes the Saxon chief, Hengist and erects Stonehenge
with the aid of Merlin as a monument over the mass grave of 460 nobles massacred by Hengist.
Shortly after, Ambrosius is poisoned by a son of Vortigern seeking vengeance and Uther
succeeds the throne.
Gildas mentions the war leader Ambrosius Aurelianus and Geoffrey takes his cue from him. A
few words in the Historia Brittonum are the sole basis of this supposed kingship. Geoffrey keeps
the reign short "dating" the whole of it in the 430's while Gildas implies that Ambrosius was
active for many years.

Article "Aurelius Ambrosius" created on 16 December 1999; last modified on 20 June 2000
(Revision 2). 143 words.
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Encyclopedia > Aurelius Ambrosius

Ambrosius Aurelianus (incorrectly referred to in the Historia Regum Britanniae as Aurelius Ambrosius ) was a
leader of the Romano-British, who won important battles against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to
Gildas and to the legends preserved in the Historia Britonum. According to the Annal Chronicon Maiora Ambrosius
came to power in 479. Some scholars have speculated that he was the leader of the Romano-British at the Battle of
Mons Badonicus and as such may have become a historical basis for King Arthur.

Aurelianus according to Gildas

Ambrosius Aurelianus is one of the few people Gildas identifies by name in his sermon De Excidio Britonum.
Following the destructive assault of the Saxons, the survivors gather together under the leadership of Ambrosius,
who is described as "a gentleman who, perhaps alone of the Romans, had survived the shock of this notable storm.
Certainly his parents, who had worn the purple, were slain in it. His descendants in our day have become greatly
inferior to their grandfather's [avita] excellence." According to Gildas, Ambrosius organised the survivors into an
armed force, and achieved the first military victory over the Saxon invaders. However, this victory was not decisive:
"Sometimes the Saxons and sometimes the citizens [meaning the Romano-British inhabitants] were victorious."

Two points in this brief description have attracted much scholarly commentary. The first is what Gildas meant by
saying Ambrosius' parents "had worn the purple": does this mean that Ambrosius was related to one of the Roman
Emperors, perhaps The House of Theodosius or a usurper like Constantine III? The second question is the meaning
of the word avita: does it mean "ancestors", or did Gildas intend it to mean more specifically "grandfather" -- thus
indicating Ambrosius lived about a generation before the Battle of Mons Badonicus? The lack of information for this
period prevents us from decisively answerering these questions.
Other accounts of Aurelianus
The Historia Britonum preserves several snippets of lore about Ambrosius. The most significant of these is the story
about Ambrosius, Vortigern, and the two dragons beneath Dinas Emrys 'Fortress of Ambrosius' in Chapters 40–42.
This story was later retold with more detail by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae, conflating the
personage of Ambrosius with the Welsh tradition of Merlin the visonary, known for oracular utterances that foretold
the coming victories of the native Celtic inhabitants of Britain over the Saxons and the Normans.

But there are smaller snippets of tradition preserved in Historia Brittonum: in Chapter 31, we are told that Vortigern
ruled in fear of Ambrosius; later, in Chapter 66, various events are dated from a battle of Guoloph (often identified
with Wallop, 15km ESE of Amesbury near Salisbury), which is said to have been between Ambrosius and Vitolinus;
lastly, in Chapter 48, it is said that Pascent, the son of Vortigern, was granted rule over the kingdoms of Buellt and
Gwrtheyrion. It is not clear how these various traditions relate to each other or that they come from the same
tradition, and it is very possible that these references are to a different Ambrosius. The Historia Brittonum dates the
battle of Guoloph to 439, forty to fifty years before the battles that Gildas says were commanded by Ambrosius
Aurelianus.

Because Ambrosius and Vortigern are shown in the Historia Brittonum as being in conflict, some historians have
suspected that this preserves a historical core of the existence of two parties in opposition to one another, one
headed by Ambrosius, and the other by Vortigern. J.N.L. Myres built upon this suspicion and put forth the hypothesis
that belief in Pelagianism reflected an actively provincial outlook in Britain, and that Vortigern represented the
Pelagian party, while Ambrosius led the Catholic one. Some later historians accepted this hypothesis as fact, and
have created a narrative of events in fifth-century Britain with various degrees of elaborate detail. Yet a simpler
alternative interpretation of this conflict between these two figures is that the Historia Brittonum is preserving
traditions hostile to the purported descendants of Vortigern, who at this time were a ruling house in Powys. This
interpretation is supported by the negative character of all of the stories retold about Vortigern in the Historia
Brittonum, which include his alleged parctice of incest.

Ambrosius Aurelianus appears in later pseudo-chronicle tradition beginning with Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historiae
Regum Britanniae with the slightly garbled name Aurelius Ambrosius, now presented as son of a King Constantine.
When King Constantine's eldest son Constans is murdered at Vortigern's instigation, the two remaining sons,
Ambrosius and Uther, still very young, are quickly hustled into exile in Brittany. (Note that this does not fit with Gildas'
account in which Ambrosius' family perished in the turmoil of the Saxon uprisings.) Later, when Vortigern's power has
faded, the two brothers return from exile with a large army, destroy Vortigern and become friends with Merlin. The
Welsh possibly had traditions of two different Ambrosianii, whom Geoffrey of Monmouth confused.

In Welsh Ambrosius appears as Emrys Wledig. In Robert de Boron's Merlin he is called simply Pendragon and his
younger brother is named Uter, a name which Uter changes after the death of Pendragon to Uterpendragon. This is
probably a confusion that entered oral tradition from Wace's Brut. Wace usually only refers to li roi 'the king' without
naming him and someone has taken an early mention of Uther's epithet Pendragon as the name of his brother.

S. Appelbaum has suggested that Amesbury in Wiltshire might preserve in it the name of Ambrosius, and perhaps
Amesbury was the seat of his power base in the later fifth century. Place name scholars have found a number of
place names through the Midland dialect regions of Britain with placenames incorporating the ambre- element:
Ombersley in Worcestershire, Ambrosden in Oxfordshire, Amberley in Herefordshire, and Amberley in
Gloucestershire. These scholars have claimed this element rerpresents an Old English word amor, the name of a
woodland bird. However, Amesbury in Wiltshire is in a different dialect region, and does not easily fit into the pattern
of the Midland dialect place names. This makes Appelbaum's suggestion more likely. If we combine this etymology
with the tradition reported by Geoffrey of Monmouth stating Ambrosius Aurelianus ordered the building Stonehenge
— which is located within the parish of Amesbury (and where Ambrosius was supposedly bured) — and with the
presence of an Iron age hill fort also in that parish, then it is extremely tempting to connect this shadowy figure with
Amesbury.

Aurelianus in fiction
In Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Aurelianus is depitced as the aging High King of Britain, a "too-
ambitious" son of a Western Roman Emperor. His sister's son is Uther Pendragon, but somehow, Uther is described
as not having any Roman blood in him. Strangely, Aurelianus is unable to gather the leadership of the native Celts,
who refuse to follow any but their own race.

In the Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead, Ambrosius Aurelianus (referred to as "Aurelius") is a minor
character, being assassinated soon after becoming High King of Prydein. Lawhead alters the standard Arthurian
story somewhat, in that he has Aurelius marry Igraine and become the true father of King Arthur.

Judging by his situation (a Romano-British living in post-Roman Britain and fighting Mons Badonicus), the titular
character from the 2004 movie King Arthur was based on Aurelianus, despite the fact that his name (Artorius Castus)
comes from another historical source for the Arthur.

Ambrosius Aurelianus
..............................................................

Ambrosius Aurelianus, the second son of the Emperor Constantine, was known to the Welsh as
Emrys Wledig (the Imperator) or Emrys Benaur (the Golden-Headed). Geoffrey of Monmouth
tells us how he was still a young child when his teenage brother, Constans' short-lived reign
came to an abrupt end. With his father executed and his brother murdered, little Ambrosius,
along with his brother, Uther, was bundled up and taken across the Channel to the safety of the
court of his cousin, Budic I of Brittany. Here he grew up, while the evil Vortigern reigned in
Britain, but always Ambrosius planned to return and claim his rightful inheritance.
His chance arrived some years later. Ambrosius returned to Britain, landed at Totnes (Devon) and
it may be at this point in history that he clashed with Vitalinus (probably Vortigern or a
supporter) at the Battle of Guoloph (Nether Wallop in Hampshire) as recorded by Nennius. This
may have resulted in Victory for Ambrosius who was, at some point in history, "given all the
kingdoms of the western side of Britain" by Vortigern. Ambrosius was, however, unsatisfied with
such a compromise and the struggle between the two continued for most of his life. Vortigern's
pro-Saxon policies eventually led to his downfall though and, (probably) in the late 450s, the
British people finally rallied behind Ambrosius. Vortigern was hounded into taking refuge in his
mountain strongholds. While under siege at Caer-Guorthigirn (Little Doward, Herefordshire), the
fortress was miraculously struck by lightning. Vortigern and his entire garrison were burnt to
death.
After Vortigern's death, Ambrosius was conciliatory towards his sons and let them keep their
lands in Buellt, Gwerthrynion, Gwent and Powys. Despite this magnanimity, King Pasgen of
Buellt & Gwerthrynion later rebelled against Ambrosius and twice attempted to overrun Britain
with help from the Saxons and the Irish. The main Anglo-Saxon forces had retired North of the
Humber and Ambrosius met Hengist in Battle at Maesbeli and then Conisburgh (Caer-Conan).
Later he besieged Octa and Osla at York (Caer-Ebrauc). All were defeated, but Ambroius let
them settle their people in Bryneich (Bernicia).
Ambrosius is credited, by Geoffrey, with the building of a monumental stone circle, the "Giant's
Ring" (possibly Stonehenge or Avebury) on Mount Ambrius as a memorial to those massacred by
the Saxons at the "Night of the Long Knifes" during King Vortigern's reign. He was buried there
himself after being poisoned by a Saxon at Winchester (Caer-Guinntguic).
Ambrosius was certainly an historical figure as recorded by his near contemporary commentator,
St. Gildas. In his "Ruin of Britain," the monk describes how the Saxons rampaged through the
country before they "returned home". Then:
"The remnants (of the British)...take up arms, and challenge their victors to battle under
Ambrosius Aurelianus. He was a man of unassuming character, who, alone of the Roman race,
chanced to survive the storm in which his parents, people undoubtedly clad in the purple, had
been killed. Their offspring in our days have greatly degenerated from their ancestral nobleness.
From that time the citizens were sometimes victorious, sometimes the enemy...up to the year of
the Siege of Mons Badonicus."
Added to this are the comments of the 9th century chronicler, Nennius, who, in-line with
Geoffrey, recorded Ambrosius as one of the chief dreads of King Vortigern. Nennius also
describes Ambrosius as a young boy without a father, called to help Vortigern out during the
building of his fortress at Dinas Emrys (see Vortigern), a role later taken on by Merlin. He ties
the period down by implying that Vortigern's reign had begun by at least 425, and that Ambrosius
fought at Guoloph twelve years later. This is most interesting for it poses a bit of a problem.
Many people take Gildas' reference to Mons Badonicus to imply that it was Ambrosius, rather
than the usually attributed King Arthur, who was the commander at the famous battle of Mount
Badon, the decisive British victory over the Saxons around 495-500. In the year 495, Ambrosius
would have been at least 74 years old, and it would, indeed, be difficult to imagine a man of this
period living to such an age, let alone wielding a heavy sword and leading a mounted charge
against the Saxon positions. So what is the solution?
There isn't a definitive one, but some have solved the problem by postulating two men named
Ambrosius; the elder, whom Vortigern dreaded, and the younger, the hero of the British
resistance of the mid-to-late fifth century and the victor of Mount Badon. This is certainly
possible. . .as there seem to have been a number of people with the same name in those days (ie.
Maximus, Constantine, etc.). Why not two Ambrosii?
The more likely possibility, though, is that there was just one Ambrosius. Arthur may indeed
have been the real commander of the victory at Mount Badon; or perhaps as "the great king
among all the kings of the British nation," Ambrosius Aurelianus could have been the aging
overall supreme commander of the engagement, with the function of front line battle leader
going to a younger man, perhaps Arthur.
Sources
..............
Geoffrey Ashe (1980) A Guidebook to Arthurian Britain.
Gildas Badonicus (c.540) The Ruin of Britain.
Peter C. Bartrum (1993) A Welsh Classical Dictionary.
E.K. Chambers (1964) Arthur of Britain.
Ronan Coghlan (1991) The Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends.
Jack Lindsay (1958) Arthur and his Times.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (1136) The History of the Kings of Britain.
John Morris (1973) The Age of Arthur.
Nennius (c.829) The History of the Britons.
John Rhys (1901) Celtic Folklore.
Hugh Williams (1901) Gildas.
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