Today is the day! The First Pendraig, the final book in the Dragon of the North trilogy is now available in print and for Kindle from Amazon! Grab your copy here! As with most of my other books, you can read The First Pendraig for free as part of Kindle Unlimited. While the eBook is exclusive to Amazon, you will be able to pick up print versions from other outlets soon.

To set the scene a little, here is a short post about a key battle in the development of sub-Roman Britain and an important part of the plot for The First Pendraig.

The Battle of Guoloph

And from the reign of Vortigern to the quarrel between Guitolinus and Ambrosius, are twelve years, which is Guolopum, that is Catgwaloph – The Historia Brittonum

Although much of The First Pendraig is set in North Wales and concerns Cunedag’s conquest of the territory and the founding of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, some of the early chapters deal with an obscure conflict in southern Britain that seems to have marked a turning point in its post-Roman history. 

The Battle of Guoloph is mentioned in the 9th century Historia Brittonum as being between Ambrosius and Vitalinus, though the chronicle does not state what the battle was about. Ambrosius no doubt refers to Ambrosius Aurelianus, whom other sources (starting with Gildas) claim was a great leader of Roman stock who rallied the Britons against the Saxons.

Ambrosius is mentioned several times in the Historia Brittonum, which states that Vortigern, the apparent king of the Britons, lived in fear of him as well as fear of Roman invasion. Could these two fears be one and the same? Did Ambrosius, a Roman and a rival leader, represent a return to Roman rule while Vortigern strove for an independent Britain under his own leadership?

Who then, was Vitalinus? Interestingly, the Historia Brittonum lists Vortigern’s father and grandfather as Vital(in)us, suggesting that it was a family name. Then there is the theory that Vortigern is a title, or at least, a chosen name meaning something like ‘overlord’ picked for political reasons much like Stalin or Lenin. Could Vortigern’s real name have been Vitalinus? Why then, does the author of the Historia Brittonum state that the Battle of Guoloph took place 12 years after the reign of Vortigern but then also has Vortigern playing a part in the later Saxon settlement of Kent and quarrelling with Bishop Germanus who visited Britain in the late 440s? 

There is a theory that there were two Vortigerns, a father and a son, who both ruled large portions of Britain. Perhaps they were both called Vitalinus and assumed the title ‘Vortigern’ upon their rise to power. These homegrown ‘overlords’ would naturally have come into conflict with men like Ambrosius Aurelianus who wanted to return Britain into the fold of the Roman Empire. Here, we may get a glimpse at the cause of the mysterious Battle of Guoloph which was perhaps between a pro-Roman faction and an anti-Roman one. 

Guoloph has been identified as Nether Wallop in Hampshire, with many modern historians referring to the incident as the ‘Battle of Wallop’. Nearby Amesbury is possibly named after Ambrosius and there are a few hillforts in the area including Old Sarum and Danebury which would have provided suitable encampments for warbands. I have named these locations as Cair Caradog and Din Belgae in my book respectively, the first being a name for Old Sarum in the Welsh Chronicle of the Britons and the second being named after the Belgae tribe who once inhabited the area and also gave their name to the Roman town of Venta Belgarum (Winchester). 

Here’s a map of south central Britain from The First Pendraig which shows the general area concerned with the Battle of Guoloph.