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Vilti, the British ruler in the 5th century, was famous for inviting Saxons to Britain to stop the Picts and Scots from invading and allow them to control the land. Vortigern is a title, not a name, which means "great chief" or "supreme Lord". Vortigern's real name and many details of his life are unknown. The history of telling his story is reliable enough to support the statement that he existed and played an important role in the process of Saxon migration to England, but the main records were written by his enemies, so his motives are not clear.

historical materials

Historian gildas recorded his decision to invite Saxons to help stop the Picts and Scots from attacking (500-570 AD, he first called him "the Supreme Lord" and accused him of Saxon invasion); Bede (672-735 AD, he first called him "Vilti Root", who was in charge of the Saxons), Ninius (in the 9th century AD, he was described as a weak-willed and stupid person) and William of Mamsbury (AD1095-143), they. Geoffrey of Monmouth (A.D. 1 100- A.D.155, who described him as a villain most completely) and the French poet Weiss (A.D.1165438)

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is one of the objective evidences supporting VORTIGERN's historicity.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (late 9th century AD) also mentioned him, but did not judge his behavior. Chronicle is the historical objective evidence supporting Verdi Jayne. His entry is: "A.D. 449. In their time, Votigern invited the Angles here, and they came to England by three ceol[ ships], in a place called Wipppidsfleet [Kent]. The place names related to him in Wales also confirmed his historicity.

Apart from the chronicle, these early histories more or less portrayed Vertigan as a reckless king, who cared more about his own happiness and comfort than the people's well-being, and engaged in "pagan behavior", ignoring Christian values and morality. Saxons are described as "pagans". They set out to destroy the country immediately after expelling the Picts and Scots, and are often described as fierce dogs or lions in animal images. Vortigern was criticized not only for his personal beliefs and actions, but also for his policy of opening the door for what these writers thought was Saxon invasion.

Britain in the fifth century

In 55 and 54 BC, Julius Caesar came to this island, but he did not seriously seize this land for Rome. Under the rule of AD 43, when the Roman invasion began, Croix and Britain would be occupied until AD 4 10. In 4 10 AD, Rome encountered its own problems, because the Goths had just looted the city and the Western Roman Empire was crumbling. By the 5th century, these difficulties lasted for about 200 years. Because the European continent needed troops, Rome had been steadily reducing its troops in Britain.

Although it is understandable that Rome needs to protect itself, their decision to redeploy troops left the British people powerless against the invaders. By this time, Roman troops stationed along Hadrian's Great Wall and other places had provided them with protection for more than 300 years. As soon as Rome left, the Picts and Scots in the north saw their opportunity, crossed the border wall and attacked British farms and villages. Almost at the same time, the Saxon Confederacy fell apart on the European continent, and Saxon immigrants and looters began to appear on the southeast coast of England.

Gildas recorded how the British sent messages to Rome for help many times (known as the * * * of the British), but Rome could not spare any troops. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle summed up the situation in one line: "AD 443. This year, the British sent to Rome from the sea to ask the Picts for help; But they didn't, because the Romans were at war with King Attila. The Huns then sent their views and demanded the same from the nobles of the country.

The Romans did not encourage people to be independent in any form, and the British nobility had been romanized to the point where they forgot the era when the indigenous chiefs led the tribes. In this case, it is understandable if the chief asks for help from any available armed forces.

VORTIGERN in Ninius account

In his History of England, Ninius, a Welsh monk, described Vodken as a proud anti-Christian villain who betrayed his country to the Saxons. According to Ninius, after the Romans left Britain, Picts and Scots invaded continuously. It was futile to ask Rome for help, so Vodkeen thought he could benefit from this arrangement and invited the Saxons to help.

In chapter 37, Ninius describes Vortigern's welcome to the Saxons by using a translator called Ceretic, which is considered as the Saxon king Cerdic. Ceretic got along well with Hengist, the Saxon king who Nennius thought was scheming. Hengist has brought his troops to help the invasion, but according to Ninius, he didn't bring enough people. To make matters more complicated, they had almost no supplies, so they began to take them from neighboring villages until Vortigern felt that their problems were more serious than Picts people and asked them to leave. Ninius described hengist's reaction and consequences:

But hengist combined skill and insight, thinking that he had to act with an ignorant king and a people who could not resist too many fluctuations. He replied Vortigern: "We are really small; However, if you are willing to let us leave, we will send more troops to our country and we will fight for you and your subjects. "

Vilti's agreed to this proposal, and sent messengers to skeat, where he selected some militant troops and came back with a 16 ship, bringing back hengist's beautiful daughter. Now the Saxon leader has prepared a reception. He invited the king, his officials and his translator Seretik to attend. He previously ordered his daughter to provide them with a lot of wine and beer so that they would get drunk soon. The plan succeeded; Egged on by the devil, Vilti root fell in love with the girl's beauty, and made a request to her father through the media of translation, promising to provide her with anything he should ask.

Then hengist, after consulting the elders of his Oggur race, asked his daughter to be in the middle of England, in the province of Ceint, [Kent] in England. This cession was carried out without the knowledge of Guo Ziyu Ilanjinas, who was then ruled by Kent. He is not sad to see his kingdom so secretly, fraudulently and rashly ceded to foreigners. In this way, the maid was handed over to the king, who slept with her and loved her very much. (Chapter 37)

Once Wotigan married hengist, the Saxon king made more and more demands, which were all met. Vodka's son, Vortimer, resisted and won many battles before being killed. However, the Saxons have been expelled from this land and their power has collapsed; Until Vortigern invited them back again. The rest of Nennius tells the story of Vodka's inability to deal with the Saxons, his death and the appearance of Arthur, the hero who defeated the Saxons in the Battle of Barton Mountain.

King Wilty Jayne of England with a history of 100 years.

Geoffrey in monmouth's History of Kings of Britain (about 1 136) is mainly fictional, describing the land rulers from the first king bulut (about12nd century BC) to cadwallader (about 7th century AD). Jeffrey is known as the father of Arthurian literature, because he developed the image of King Arthur as a war leader in A Brief History by Nanius into a legendary powerful and noble king of Britain. Although there is no doubt that Jeffrey constitutes most of the contents of this book, it is still regarded as semi-historical, because some events can be confirmed by other sources.

Jeffrey follows Ninius's narrative, but embellishes it with details, dialogues and deeper characterization. Jeffrey's Vortigern is a weak-willed man, struggling between his self-proclaimed religion and his own desires. Vodka invited Saxons to help Britain, but Jeffrey made it clear that he could not control them from the beginning. Hengist manipulated the king, introduced him to his beautiful daughter Long Wen, got him drunk, and then made Vodka think it was his own idea to marry this woman. Once they got married, just like in Nennius, hengist made more demands on the king, Vodka En rebelled and was killed, and then Vodka En invited the Saxons back because of his love for his young wife.

However, Jeffrey went on to introduce the wizard Merlin (also known as Ambrosius Merlin). Since Vodka was first introduced, his Christian values have been questioned, and Jeffrey often associates him with Satan and darkness. When Vortigern first met Tam and fell in love with her, Jeffrey wrote that Satan entered his heart, and then elaborated: "I said Satan entered his heart because as a Christian, he really wanted to mate with a pagan woman" (6, 12). When he introduced Merlin, he made it clear that Vodka En was surrounded by wizards, and their strength was nothing more than hypocrisy and lies to Merlin.

Vortigern tried to build a tower to resist the attack, but no matter how skilled the masons were, the building would collapse during the construction. Vortigern's magician told him that he had to sacrifice a young man without a father and sprinkle blood on the foundation before the tower rose. Merlin was chosen as the victim, but instead of giving in, he despised the king and said, "Let your wizards come to me, and I will judge that they made up a lie" (VI, 19). Then he told them that if they demolished the tower, they would find a pool that caused problems under it.

As Merlin predicted, the tower was demolished and the swimming pool was there. Then he asked Vodka to let the water out of the pool. He would find two hollow stones with two dragons sleeping inside. Then the king drained the water in the pool and found stones and dragons, one white and the other red. Two dragons began to fight, vodka. Well, let Merlin explain what it means. Merlin responded with the words of the old testament prophet:

Woe to the red dragon, because its extinction is imminent; His cave will be occupied by the white dragon represented by the Saxons you invited. But red symbolizes the British race that will be oppressed by white people. So the mountains and valleys will be flat, and the streams in the valleys will bleed. Religious ceremonies will be abolished and the destruction of the church will be revealed. In the end, oppressed, she will win and resist the cruelty from outside. Because the wild boar in Cornwall will help and step on their necks. (7) and (3)

Merlin, a wild boar in Cornwall, mentioned that King Arthur would defeat the Saxons, continue to conquer most of Europe, and even overthrow Rome in Jeffrey's story. Vodka died and was succeeded by Ambrose Aurelius, the brother of Uther Pendragon (Arthur's father). Ambrose and Wu Seer will both fight the Saxons launched by Vodka in this land, but Arthur will avenge them and liberate England through his victory in the Battle of Bath.

Possible motives

According to the historian and scholar Ward Rutherford, Votigern may actually have been counting on the Saxons to realize a long-standing Celtic custom called celsine, that is, the weaker party will serve the stronger party when needed, and this relationship will end after the crisis is resolved. Rutherford suggested Vodka put Britain under the protection of stronger Saxons, but once the threat of Picts and Scots was eliminated, Saxons could not recognize the common terms of Celsi.

Whatever his motives or personal weaknesses, Vortigern has been regarded as a villain for centuries.

In view of the chaotic situation in Britain after Rome quit the legion, Rutherford's statement is not unreasonable. Without the protection of Rome, the British were in trouble when they tried to resist the invasion from the north and the mainland at first, until a great leader, identified as Ambrosius Aureliano in some materials and King Arthur in others, stood up and led them. Even so, the records of early historians, especially Ninius, show that Vertigan was just weak-willed, unable to compete with Saxon King hengist and allowed himself to be ruled by Saxons.

Geoffrey Ashe, a scholar, thinks that Vortigern may just follow the standard practice of Rome and hire federal members to fight for his cause. The Federation is a barbarian. They got the promised land and some kind of allowance in exchange for military service. After more than 400 years of Roman occupation, the use of the United Kingdom has been widely known in Britain. Ashe pointed out that the use of Federation is not always smooth, which is very wrong in Vortigern's case, but it is not necessarily a bad thing for him.

Whatever his motives or personal weaknesses, Vortigern has been regarded as a villain for centuries. The title "Vortigern" comes from the Welsh, and people think that he may be the king of Wales. If so, mainly Welsh historians (especially Ninius and Jeffrey) may be particularly uneasy about making such a huge mistake by their own people. Ninos and Jeffrey didn't show that Vodka thought Celsi, but suggested that he might invite Saxons in this understanding, because he had nowhere to turn for help. After all, under the occupation of the Romans, the problem of northern invasion could have been solved, and nobles like Vertigan didn't need to do much at all. But since the Romans left, great changes have taken place in English life.

conclusion

No matter what his actual motivation is, later historians often give a negative description of Vertigan according to the above description. Rutherford cited the Welsh Yearbook and listed him as "one of the traitors of the British Isles" (135). William of Mamsbury claimed that after Vilti's death, the British felt helpless, but he still described him as a weak-willed man and a slave to his bad habits. Gildas claimed that he only asked the Saxons to come after consulting Parliament for the first time, but he still didn't show any respect to him. As mentioned above, because these writers are mainly Celtic Welsh, and Vertigan may be Welsh, their evaluation of him may be so low, not only because they invited Saxons to Britain themselves, but also because he was stupid enough to think that Celtic practices would be respected by non-Celtics.

As Rutherford pointed out, Vodkorn may think that the Saxons will understand the nature of his demands and respect Celsing's policies, or he may think that he can control the Saxons to some extent in the old way. If so, he seems to have never considered that non-Celts may not know this practice, or know that it may not respect it. Coincidentally, the Saxons were not portrayed as having any idea about this practice. After defeating the Picts and Scots, they turned to Britain. In the records of gildas and Bede, this is the time when Ann Brosius Aurelianos appeared to lead the people to liberate the land; Between Nineveh and Geoffrey, is King Arthur.

The real Vortigern may never be known, but the rulers who invited Saxons to Britain have been notorious for centuries. Just as Geoffrey of Monmouth is believed to have created the role of Arthur, he also established the accepted view that Votigan was a traitor who betrayed his country to satisfy his own desires. However, if scholars like Ashe and Rutherford are right and Vodkorn only gave the best advice to the Saxons, then he is more like a tragic hero than a villain.