Battle of Mount Badon, Documentary Britons vs Saxons

The battle of Mount Badon was a major battle between the Roman-Britons and the Germanic Saxons after a period of the western Roman empire's withdrawal from Britain.
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Twitter- / embracehistori1
Sources-
Gildas-On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain
Bede-Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
Famous battles of the Midlands- Philip Warner
The History of the Britons- Nennius
The History of the Kings of Britain-Geoffrey of Monmouth used sparingly.
#BattleofBaden #Documentary #Saxons

[@serpentine6171]

The interesting thing about this battle is, for years to come the Welsh would use this style of warfare against the Anglo Saxon English. Hit and run techniques with terrain advantages and ambushes. Hence why the longbow came from Wales. It suited their combat style and actually did so well, it was even adopted by the English and was very successful and against the Scotts (Scottish Independence) and the French (The 100 Years War).

[@Rannsack]

Its amazing the saxons were so successful overall given they didnt have a cavalry. Apparently they had horses and would ride them to the battle, but would dismount to actually fight.

[@luke8264]

Honorable men they were.

[@roderickclerk5904]

It was a cultural thing for the Anglo Saxons, though Anglo Saxon battles did have Calvary just not many. Also the reason for why Normans liked calvary is because the Normans had to assimilate to a Frankish nobility of whom before the Merovingian dynasty were auxiliary light Calvary units in the Roman army. That carried over into culture of the Frankish kingdoms and thus the Normans.

[@coinneachreid8971]

As a Celt (Scot) there is a deep irony in that comment given that the English would one day go on to use Cavalry (extremely ineffectually) against us .

[@edwardmortimer8643]

They fought in a shield wall. From what I e always heard, a horse won’t charge a shield wall. The Saxons would have cavalry to run down survivors after the opposing shield wall had been broken.

[@crazyprophet3276]

How is it amazing? All they did was flood the unorganized roman britons and massacred anyone who stood against them, they were the beginning of the dark age and the complete loss of technology, abundance, and prosperity that roman settlements had. Thanks to them we now have these anglo saxon inbreds all over England.

[@thecrusaderhistorian9820]

love the video! Especially that fact at the end. haha!

[@hansfabri6906]

Good stuff! Cant wait to finish the rest of your videos.,

[@daguroswaldson257]

Such a pity the King Arthur film from 2004 portrayed Badon hill to be near Hadrian's wall. Plus, Cerdic never attacked the north of Britain, he attacked the south, especially given the cold climate conditions setting in.

[@Lee_River]

A little correction: the kingdom of the west Saxons was Wessex, not Sussex.

[@elephantpenis123]

There was also a kingdom called Sussex as well created by the saxons which is what he is referring to. This kingdom bordered Wessex. Sussex= South Saxons Wessex = West Saxons

[@Lee_River]

@@elephantpenis123 Yup, that’s what I thought.

[@antoniobautista6718]

I like the way you make the battles! It’s cool how we can see how the battles look like.

[@Embracehistoria]

Thanks very much!

[@d.c.8828]

Omg, I was thinking of the Monty Python reference the whole time. Thank you, m'lord. Praise be. 🙏

[@Briselance]

So many dead, at Mount Badon. So much equipment lying around. Swords, shields, armours, and all manners of stuff the Brittons could use for their own forces, or recycle in the civilian sector.

[@justinfowler5761]

Excellent

[@jaycrandell147]

Sorry to be so slow to find this... but ...Thank you. A picture is worth a thousand words...Give this man a few million, for starters, and get him to make a real movie! After 45 years, on and off (life gets in the way sometimes), of studying Ambrosius.....Well done ! I actually had a few tears in my eyes(joyful ones). Thank you.

[@lukedavies1344]

Mynydd y gaer is where the Saxons turned on the Britons at a peace conference.

[@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014]

The night of the long knives (seax)

[@alastairbrewster4274]

It it happened we have to have some scepticism , a lot of societies have a very similar semi legendary event. It’s impossible to confirm or not confirm.

[@largelester]

Blueprint for William the Conqueror's Norman Breton forces defeat of Harold"s horseless Saxon army 500 years later. Britain, France, Spain, Rhine or Danube, Celts would have been a superpower if only they could have remained united for more than 3 battles!

[@Embracehistoria]

What could have been eh?

[@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014]

@@Embracehistoria The Hen Ogledd almost pushed the anglo-saxons back to the sea, but a civil war ruined everything

[@Steve-ps6qw]

@@Embracehistoria the same can be said of the Germanic peoples....anyway, i love the dark ages and the migration period.

[@alastairbrewster4274]

The “ Celts” were not a homogenous group but a disparate collection of cultures bonded by language and other cultural similarities. Also the Germanic “invaders” were also disunited and often clashed amongst themselves. And importantly dna studies and the archeology by notable historians such as Barry Cunliffe does not support this construct that the indigenous Romano Britain’s were wiped out or literally pushed into the extremities of the island. The facts seem to support the idea that the Romano British culture was exchanged for a Germanic culture , meaning that the invasion was probably limited to warrior elites rather than wholesale migration.

[@alastairbrewster4274]

@RUKMINI TALUKDER well there has been much research on that particular topic. One of the outcomes of that research is that they found there is strong evidence of a Celtic substrate language to old English. Then you are making assumptions that the ppl of eastern England were speaking Cumbric? Again that’s a strong assertion, there had been much cultural hybridisation between eastern England and the Germanic tribes for centuries. Please also let’s not call it “bullshit” if you do your research you will find that there is little archeological evidence which supports this “mass” invasion. You only have to look at what’s happening in the U.K. at this very moment , in my life time I’ve seen accents shift and completely alter and that’s in the space of just three decades whereas we are talking a longer period here. Imagine you’re a Saxon warlord you’ve totally taken control of an area with an elite force and you’ve as a result inherited large areas of land , your “subjects” to get ahead in the world will need to start talking your lingo. It would have been gradual this linguistic evolution for many areas but forced in others. I’m from Lincolnshire albeit of Scottish descent and there is strong archeological evidence that the city of Lincoln remained a distinct Romano British polity for at least a century after the migrations of the Anglo Saxon warriors. We are talking a conversion of language which took three to four centuries. The overwhelming majority of people were illiterate also that makes any language vulnerable to change. Also there are a number of place names across England which tantalisingly give us a glimpse of a remnant Celtic language. For example in the Lincolnshire wolds (a remote hilly area in the east of England) there are several place names with the prefix “ Wales” or “wal” this in old English means foreigner. So there were most definitely pockets of Cumbric speakers probably living alongside old English speakers for some time before this “ shift” in language.

[@thehistoricalhierophant6019]

Very cool video! I'm glad someone covered early dark age Britain.

[@Embracehistoria]

The main problems doing this kind of video is that the sources are quite incomplete.

[@thehistoricalhierophant6019]

@@Embracehistoria I can certainly imagine.

[@jamieyoung9392]

I agree that Liddington Hill Fort is the most plausible site of Gildas' 'Siege of the Hill of Badon'. I think it's at least arguable that 'Arthur' was Ambrosius (although I don't agree, on generational grounds).Alas, we know next to nothing of the period. I like this presentation, which is a plausible best-guess of what might have happened.

[@daguroswaldson257]

11:45 So that explains how we got Greek and Latin into English!

[@alunrees313]

There’s a mountain called mount Baden in Glamorgan and it’s still there and there are numerous buried mounds around the area

[@Embracehistoria]

There are numerous places that claim to be the actual site of the battle. However, when I recreate the battle/telling the story I have to pick a location.

[@alunrees313]

Point taken

[@jaycrandell147]

@@Embracehistoria Yes many locations, depending on ones geo-centric opinion. As an Australian, we can absolutely prove that Mons Badonicus happened just up the road...we a have a natural spring called 'The Bathes'...and Gildas was a guest on St.Brendans voyage ...hence...New South Wales....Ha ha ha

[@petrovonoccymro9063]

But there is more to the Welsh Mynydd Baedan than just that. The defensive ditches are hundreds of metres long and in places still eight feet deep, after fifteen centuries. The road to the summit is called Fordd Y Gyfraith, which is Welsh for the road to the tumult. And the main field at the top is called Maescadlawr, Welsh for battlefield. The grave mounds are on maps as Mynwent Y Milwyr, cemetery of the soldiers in English, and are very large, so a huge battle took place there. And the nearby Church of St Peter’s Super Montem is where Wilson and Blackett discovered the silver cross dated to the sixth century engraved with Pro Anima Artorius (For the soul of Arthur) plus a gravestone marked Rex Artorius Fili Mauricius, a decent stab by the early Welsh at Latin, meaning King Arthur, son of Meurig. Meurig was King of Gwent before Arthrwys, also called King Arthur in the Llandaff Charters. The Bruts of England in the Bodlian Library also state that Arthur was crowned kynge at Glamorgan. Seems like Nennius, Gildas, Geoffrey of Monmouth (south Wales again) the poem y Gododdin and the Welsh Mabinogion were all correct. In any event, the Llandaff Charters mention Arthur at several episcopal meetings with Meurig and thank him for his land donations to the early Welsh Church. The evidence for Arthur as a king in South Wales is simply so,large that it becomes ludicrous to try to find him anywhere else.

[@jaycrandell147]

@@petrovonoccymro9063 The details about Arthwys, son of Meurig, is so convincing that I forgot if I had a previous thought of my own. Not that it would have contradicted it anyway. I had studied Arthwys, but never achieved the clarity that you provided. Thank you.

[@bigbitehood1353]

Nice to see a TW Attila fan lol

[@Jtworthy1]

Its "Badon" I believe

[@rhythmstic]

Nonsense to deny the existence of King Arthur. He 'IS mentioned by name' in the Bruts of England. If you want to know about the time of Arthur ask a Welshman.

[@Embracehistoria]

I'll ask my granddad next time I'm in Swansea then.

[@andrewwilson4175]

@@Embracehistoria Don't bother reading English history books on this period they are fiction and guesswork. They just make you look like an idiot. No disrespect intended.

[@dariusgreysun]

@@andrewwilson4175 says some rando jackass on YT We're good bruh....lol

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

@@andrewwilson4175 thats true Recently I was going through Breton and Welsh sources and learning some Welsh and Breton language words. I have entirely different views and contexts or king Arthur I never had by reading French and Anglo-Norman sources. English and French documentaries never talk about such extra info.

[@jamesbyersmusic]

I have no doubt about the existence of Arthur the warrior and/or battle leader, but sadly he has been swamped, buried and discredited due to the Legends, so people try to find or prove Camelot, Excalibur, Merlin and the Grail and then because "that" Arthur never existed they conclude that "no" Arthur existed. Legends and Myths aside, given the timeline of Badon, I see no issue in accepting the existence of a warrior leading the British forces, defeating the Saxons most likely led by Oisc (Son of Octa, grandson of Hengist) in a series of battles which brought about a period of relative peace. Even though the stories built over hundreds of years have muddied his case historically, I have no issue in accepting these being the basic and most likely only facts about him.

[@Fatherofheroesandheroines]

Interesting. Except for the real weapon that gave the Saxons the land was the plague of Justinian. It opened up a huge amount of land. Also good job throwing in the Monty Python lol

[@ZKG754]

Where did you get all of this info?? What’s the source?

[@MrImastinker]

I like the idea that Arthur was an up and coming soldier in Ambrosius’s army. Using that idea in my own book on the Arthur legend.

[@spartanwarrior1]

Ambrosius Aurelianus was probably the historic figure Arthur was based on. Ambrosius Artorius Aurelianus.

[@stump4522]

The only documentated someone name close to Aurelianus Ambrosia is St. Ambrose' Father who is probably a Centurion in 4th Century. We're not even sure the Ambrosis that St Gildas even existed on the 5th century. The only warlord that arguably actually existed along it's contemporary is Riothamus from Sidonus Apollinaris. /Jordanes or Coroticus from St Patrick.

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

Personally I imagine Arthur Pendragon and Ambrosius Aurelianus were friends, colleagues or something of such.

[@MrImastinker]

@@noahtylerpritchett2682 Yeah. The approach I'm taking with my novels is that Ambrosius was a friend and comrade of Arthur's father. When Arthur grows up, Ambrosius basically takes him under his wing and trains him to be a war leader.

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

@@MrImastinker oh shit I am definitely gonna buy your book. Is it more grounded in historical accuracy or Arthurian high medieval mythology?

[@coleride]

lking arthur starring clive owen is s good fun movie , Mads Mikkelsen was fantastic in it. But probably bunk historically, Tristan sword is Asian and 11th century, and I’m pretty sure the actors have stirrups, but I am curious about the history

[@jilljones3616]

Pure conjecture. Where are the supporting references?

[@saguntum-iberian-greekkons7014]

Problems with Celts is the same as for Greeks (Diadochi as best example) is that united they are unstopable, divided, they fall as leafs by a scythe. Even the norman conquest of Wales by Edward "1st" was army made of Welsh/Britons, just to shpw that they were so divided that they didn't cared to fight their brothers, it would be like england conquering scotland with an army of scots

[@MonikaEscobar1965]

Where is the battle leader commander in Chief, King Arthur ??

[@user-eb7pe9bp2q]

Ambrosius Aurelianus is often thought to be the historical King Arthur

[@MonikaEscobar1965]

@@user-eb7pe9bp2q No. The historical King Arthur of the legend was Arthwyr ap Meurig ap Tewdrig.

[@lukedavies1344]

We had already built roads when the romans turned up.

[@mottthehoople693]

hahahaha what ever the roads were they were just a dirt track compared to what the romans called a road...in fact we still build roads in a similar way to the romans now

[@OptimusDime89]

Not true I'm afraid. The Romans had better skill in building.

[@gallantscotland8590]

@@OptimusDime89 the Roman's copyed the celtic armor like chainmail helmets and even long shields so they weren't that skilled and am sure a dirt path back then was probably used like a road today

[@pablorojas103]

Althought I'm a big fan of Roman History, I must side with you on this one. Celtic legacy on road buildings is highly underestimated due to greco-latin historical bias. In preclassic Europe's history, they were also pioneers on metallurgy, agriculture techniques and military tactics (not only raiding and guerrilla-like warfare). They also build many fortresses along their land. Respect for the Celts

[@alanlewis4713]

As a general rule, I don't watch fiction. So, this is a considerable departure for me. I have read extensively about the Arthurian period and this video disagrees wildly with the prevailing datings I have seen. It does agree with very old, highly questionable dates and related information. I'm wondering whether more time could have been budgeted for up-to-date research. Details given here do not exist as far as I am aware and this video must rely on then-contemporary reporting by the BBC and the Times of London. One's time would be far better spent reading "The Reign of Arthur" by Christopher Gidlow, along with classic books by Leslie Alcock and the prolific (to say the least) Geoffrey Ashe. On the positive side, this video has a good look to it, except for the ancient electric lights that are clearly shown in one spot. It is enjoyable to watch. Think what you will. To me, this is entertaining Arthurian fiction; but it is not getting a Thumbs Up from me. I am going to check some of the other Mons Badonicus videos and I have just gotten a hankering to reread "The Reign of Arthur."

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

This isn't so much wholly Arthurian legends. Largely speaking it's a German vs Briton situation.

[@thomasdaywalt7735]

Pre arthur

[@Jesusandbible]

Why is it King Arthur is stated as "only legend" but the history of Popes and the Orthodox and Catholic pre 1054 is just as spurious but is stated like its fact?

[@Embracehistoria]

Geoffrey of Monmouth is credited with the whole King Arthur saga. The problem is Geoffrey existed around the 11th century and most of his work is considered historically inaccurate.

[@ajithsidhu7183]

@@Embracehistoria please do more on celtic and anglo saxon battles

[@alastairbrewster4274]

@@Embracehistoria I’m sorry but the earliest sources for Arthur are actually the poem Gododdin and the Welsh poet Nennius. Everyone knows Geoffrey of Monmouth is not creditable.

[@mottthehoople693]

Defal were are you defal?

[@alunhughes2632]

Defal is having a cwtch with Ceinwyn

[@mijanhoque1740]

Apparently in a monastery with a sword in hand

[@KingRichard262]

@@mijanhoque1740 But did he die that night and that is why the tale ended after Camlan?

[@OptimusDime89]

@@mijanhoque1740 the one hand he has left ...

[@bensonfang1868]

If only more britons had signed up to be auxiliaries and create a strong fighting force and if only they were politically United under one leader.

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

Your basically saying "if only Britons had a strong united army"

[@rafaelf.espindolams]

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇩🇪

[@MFC343]

As an Englishman, who should i cheer for?

[@theemissary1433]

That honestly depends on who you side with. The English are decended from the Saxons and more, but the Britons were the natives of Britannia until the Germs arrived. Even tho I'm nowhere NEAR from Britain, I'll always side with the Britons. For Arthur's Glory

[@dariusgreysun]

Both....considering without the combination you most likely wouldnt exist. Thats like saying you love hamburgers but can't decide if you like the meat or the bread more. It doesnt matter

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

Your a descendant of both. Cheer for whoever.

[@noahtylerpritchett2682]

@@dariusgreysun there's a theory that souls from heaven chose our vessels on earth. Vessel i.e body. Meaning he'd still exist (soul and personality) but just chose a different body. Assuming the theory is correct. Meaning everyone that ever existed in a personality since would still exist depending on choice of soul in what body. No I'm not talking about reincarnation shit if that's what it sounds like which is does.

[@viviansimons7954]

crap myndd baden is in maesteg common knowledge read wilson and blackett

[@alunrees313]

This business of the Romans leaving Britain in 420 is a load of rubbish Macsen wledig took a British army out of Britain around 380

[@lukedavies1344]

Alun look at the work of Alan Wilson.

[@thewhitedoncheadle8345]

why is the symbol of the britons the standard of wessex?