GILDAS, ST.

Called "the Wise"; author of a history of the Britons; b. early sixth century; d. c. 570. He appears to have been a native of Scottish Strathclyde, but his early life is obscure. He was an ecclesiastic, probably a monk; he worked in Wales, visited Ireland, and is at least reputed to have founded the monastery of saint-gildas-derhuys in Brittany. Sometime before 547, at the age of 44, Gildas wrote what bede refers to as a "tearful discourse concerning the ruin of Britain," that is, the De exicidio et conquestu Brittaniae. Intended as an indictment of Gildas's contemporaries in Britain for their moral shortcomings, the work relates a course of events that seems probable. Once the Roman occupation ended, the Britons appealed for aid against Pict and Scottish marauders to the Consul of Gaul, Aetius (c. 446). When he refused aid, the Britons used their own resources against these enemies until a "proud tyrant," usually considered to be Vortigern, invited Saxons led by Hengist and Horsa to become the Britons' foederati —a common practice throughout the empire. Gildas then recounts the settling of the Saxons on the Isle of Thanet and their ensuing revolt against the Britons. He discusses the precarious condition of life in Britain and seems to suggest that town life was destroyed only at this time, a very questionable conclusion as archeological evidence points to a much earlier date. He makes no mention of permanent German settlements, though here, too, evidence indicates their existence. Much more probable is Gildas's description of a temporary British resurgence led by a certain Ambrosius Aurelianus, which culminated in the Saxon defeat at the Battle of Mons Badonicus (Mount Badon) c. 500. His failure to mention King Arthur in connection with the battle does not discount his existence since Gildas was strangely reluctant to use personal names. Gildas remained a popular saint in Brittany, where a monastery (Saint-Gildas-du-Bois) was founded near Nantes as late as 1026. He may also have written a Penitential, the hymn Lorica, and a travel prayer.

Feast: Jan. 29.

Bibliography: Analecta hymnica 51:358–364. Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Poetae 4:618–619. Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Auctores Antiquissimi 13:1–85. t. f. tout, The Dictionary of National Biography from the Earliest Times to 1900 (London 1885–1900) 7:1223–25. r. g. collingwood and j. n. l. myres, Roman Britain and the English Settlements (2d ed. London 1937). c. e. stevens, "Gildas Sapiens," English Historical Review 56 (1941) 353–373. f. m. stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (2d ed. Oxford 1947). c. gross, Sources and Literature of English History from the Earliest Times to About 1485 (2d ed. New York 1915; repr. 1952) 245–246. g. o. sayles, The Medieval Foundations of England (2d ed. London 1952). p. grosjean, "Notes d'hagiographie celtique," Analecta Bollandiana 75 (1957) 158–226. n. k. chadwick et al., Studies in the Early British Church (Cambridge, Eng. 1958).

[b. f. byerly]