Gildas

Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast)
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Gildas, a sixth-century British monk, is known as the author of

De Excidio Britonum

[

The Ruin of Britain

], an impassioned account in highly-wrought Latin of the downfall of his country-people and of their conquest by the pagan Anglo-Saxons, due to their sinfulness and the failings of their secular and ecclesiastical leaders. He calls upon the people to repent before they are completely swept away. The work is a key source for fifth-century Britain, though it is characterized by denunciatory fervour rather than attention to specific historical detail. Gildas wrote the

De Excidio

around the year 540, when, as he tells us, he was forty-three years old.

The few other reliable facts about his life are based on the internal evidence of the De Excidio. He was born in the kingdom of the Clyde but

354 words

Citation: Magennis, Hugh. "Gildas". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 September 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1743, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1743 Gildas 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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