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 Excidioaround 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 25 November 2024.]
