Brutus of Troy
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Brutus of Troy or Brutus I of the Britons (Welsh: Bryttys), according to the accounts of the early Welsh historians Nennius and Geoffrey of Monmouth, was the first king of the Britons. They described him as a grandson (or perhaps a great grandson) of the Trojan hero Aeneas who had been forced into exile after the Sack of Troy.
He is speculated to have lived approximatedly 1100 BC and reigned for 23 years in Britain.Template:Fact
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Nennius’ eighth-century account
In his Historia Brittonum Nennius derives the name of the island of Britain from one Brutus, a Roman consul.
AEneas, after the Trojan war, arrived with his son in Italy; and having vanquished Turnus, married Lavinia, the daughter of king Latinus, who was the son of Faunus, the son of Picus, the son of Saturn. After the death of Latinus, Aeneas obtained the kingdom of the Romans, and Lavinia brought forth a son, who was named Silvius. Ascanius founded Alba, and afterwards married And Lavinia bore to Aeneas a son named Silvius; But Ascanius married a wife, who conceived and became pregnant. And Aeneas, having been informed that his daughter-in-law was pregnant, ordered his son to send his magician to examine his wife, whether the child conceived were male or female. The magician came and examined the wife and pronounced it to be a son, who should become the most valiant among the Italians, and the most beloved of all men. In consequence of this prediction, the magician was put to death by Ascanius; but it happened that the mother of the child dying at its birth, he was named Brutus; and after a certain interval agreeably to what the magician had foretold, whilst he was playing with some others he shot his father with an arrow, not intentionally but by accident. He was, for this cause, expelled from Italy, and came to the islands of the Tyrrhene sea, when he was exiled on account of the death of Turnus, slain by Aeneas. He then went among the Gauls, and built the city of Turones, called Turnis. At length he came to this island, named from him Britannia, dwelt there, and filled it with his own descendants, and it has been inhabited from that time to the present period. Template:Ref
Geoffrey’s twelfth-century version
In Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae Brutus was exiled from Italy for the accidental killing of his biological father Silvius. In exile, he liberated a group of Trojans living in slavery in Greece. He apparently received a vision during this wandering, foretelling of a kingdom inhabited by giants that Brutus would conquer. He led his people westward and, after numerous battles in the region of the Gallic city of Tours, he settled on the island of Albion.
With the aid of Corineus, the Trojans slew the giant Gogmagog and Brutus renamed the land Britain, founding a new kingdom therein. He is said to have founded the city Troia Nova, much later named London. He created a code of laws for his people before his death. By his wife, Ignoge, he had three sons-Locrinus, Kamber, and Albanactus-whom on Brutus's death divided the island between them.
Geoffrey fixes the time of his death with the statement that Eli was priest in Judea and the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, the sons of Hector reigned in Troy, and Aeneas Silvius was ruling Alba Longa in Italy.
Speculation and Facts
Despite Monmouth's claim that Britain is named after Brutus, this personage has no basis thus far in history. He is generally considered a medieval fiction created to provide a distinguished genealogy for one or more Welsh royal families which survived the Norman Conquest.
The claim that London was first named "Troia Nova" may derive from the fact that the Celtic tribe that dwelt in the area of London was called the Trinovantes, and one early name of the city named it after them. Use of the Welsh Chronicles as well as such speculative authors as Nennius and Gildas creates many problems, especially with the genealogy of Brutus. Nennius places him in a Trojan Genealogy which was most likely fabricated to relate the ancestors of the Trojans to the Christian God. The contradictions this presents with the classical Trojan genealogies, relating the Trojan royal family to Greek gods, is only too apparent.
Brutus Now
Brutus became part of the Matter of Britain, a pseudo-historical account of the events of that island that was widely accepted as historical fact until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when reliable historical records and inscriptions were available. Brutus has been studied by scholars for generations and they gradually disproved much of it although it is still occasionally cited in popular or ceremonial accounts in contemporary England.
Notes
- Template:NoteTranslation of Historia Brittonum from J.A. Giles, Six Old English Chronicles, London: Henry G. Bohn 1848. Full text from Fordham University. (‘Ascanius founded Alba, and afterwards married And Lavinia bore to Aeneas…’ must be corrupt.)
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fr:Brutus de Bretagne
nl:Brutus van Troje
no:Brutus trojaneren