History of the Britons (Historia Brittonum)Nennius, active 796
History
History of the Britons (Historia Brittonum)
Nennius, active 796
Britons; Great Britain -- History -- Roman period, 55 B.C.-449 A.D.
* And forty, according to Stevenson's new edition. The rest
of this chronology is much contracted in several of the
manuscripts, and hardly two of them contain it exactly the
same.
6. The first age of the world is from Adam to Noah; the second from Noah
to Abraham; the third from Abraham to David; the fourth from David
to Daniel; the fifth to John the Baptist; the sixth from John to the
judgment, when our Lord Jesus Christ will come to judge the living and
the dead, and the world by fire.
The first Julius.
The second Claudius.
The third Severus.
The fourth Carinus.
The fifth Constantius.
The sixth Maximus.
The seventh Maximianus.
The eighth another Severus Aequantius.
The ninth Constantius.*
* This list of the Roman emperors who visited Britain, is
omitted in many of the MSS.
Here beginneth the history of the Britons, edited by Mark the anchorite,
a holy bishop of that people.
7. The island of Britain derives its name from Brutus, a Roman consul.
Taken from the south-west point it inclines a little towards the west,
and to its northern extremity measures eight hundred miles, and is in
breadth two hundred. It contains thirty three cities,(1) viz.
1. Cair ebrauc (York).
2. Cair ceint (Canterbury).
3. Cair gurcoc (Anglesey?).
4. Cair guorthegern (2)
5. Cair custeint (Carnarvon).
6. Cair guoranegon (Worcester).
7. Cair segeint (Silchester).
8. Cair guin truis (Norwich, or Winwick).
9. Cair merdin (Caermarthen).
10. Cair peris (Porchester).
11. Cair lion (Caerleon-upon-Usk).
12. Cair mencipit (Verulam).
13. Cair caratauc (Catterick).
14. Cair ceri (Cirencester).
15. Cair glout (Gloucester).
16. Cair luillid (Carlisle).
17. Cair grant (Grantchester, now Cambridge).
18. Cair daun (Doncaster), or Cair dauri (Dorchester).
19. Cair britoc (Bristol).
20. Cair meguaid (Meivod).
21. Cair mauiguid (Manchester).
22. Cair ligion (Chester).
23. Cair guent (Winchester, or Caerwent, in Monmouthshire).
24. Cair collon (Colchester, or St. Colon, Cornwall).
25. Cair londein (London).
26. Cair guorcon (Worren, or Woran, in Pembrokeshire).
27. Cair lerion (Leicester).
28. Cair draithou (Drayton).
29. Cair pensavelcoit (Pevensey, in Sussex).
30. Cairtelm (Teyn-Grace, in Devonshire).
31. Cair Urnahc (Wroxeter, in Shropshire).
32. Cair colemion (Camelet, in Somersetshire).
33. Cair loit coit (Lincoln).
(1) V.R. Twenty-eight, twenty-one.
(2) Site unknown.
These are the names of the ancient cities of the island of Britain. It
has also a vast many promontories, and castles innumerable, built of
brick and stone. Its inhabitants consist of four different people; the
Scots, the Picts, the Saxons and the ancient Britons.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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