Chapter Text
In 473 AD Britain was ruled by Constantine Pendragon, a descendant of Magnus Maximus, the Emperor of Rome and the first to take the surname Pendragon.
Constantine had been invested in the Kingship several years before when Guethelin, the Archbishop of London, called on the Kingdom of Armorica, a land in the Roman province of Gaul, to give them a King as their previous line of rulers had died out.
Constantine's family were related to the British royal line as his ancestors had been Kings of Britain before moving to Gaul shortly after Magnus Maximus took the crown of Rome. Like the former British King Constantine traced his descent back thousands of years to Brutus of Troy, the first King of Britain in the 11th century BC.
For centuries thereafter Constantine's family had ruled Britain and he counted among his ancestors Alexander the Great, who's granddaughter married his ancestor Gorbonian. Caradoc, the British King who married the Roman Emperor Claudius's daughter Julia Venus, and through this line Constantine claimed descent from Rome's first King Romulus. He also proudly claimed descent from Joseph of Arimathea, the younger brother of Mary the mother of Jesus, and thus a descendant of King David and Aaron the High Priest. Constantine also descended from both the Constantinian and Theodosian Dynasties and the Roman Emperors Gordian I, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, Augustus, and Maximinus Thrax.
These lines of descent helped him claim the throne but, ironically, despite how eager he was to take the crown when the British delegation arrived in 463, he wasn't their choice. His brother Aldrian was.
Aldrian was a wise and respected King and, according to the laws of inheritance, the next in line for the British throne. Constantine would have known this yet he still harboured hopes he would be chosen.
Upon arriving in Armorica Guethelin was warmly received into the royal court by Aldrian and treated to all the pleasures and luxuries his host could offer. Over a meal a day later Aldrian asked the Archbishop why he had come, to which Guethelin informed him of the extinction of the main British royal line, something he no doubt already knew, and told him that the nobility of Britain wanted him to be their new King.
Aldrian, much humbled by the offer, respectfully turned it down, stating that once he would have loved to have taken the crown but now, given Britain's circumstances (it was suffering attacks from Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, and Irish marauders) and infighting amongst the different noblemen and women, he did not want it.
A reasonable choice to be sure, Armorica was enjoying peace and what decent King would want to subject his people to possible civil war and revenge raids? Aldrian, however, didn't leave the Archbishop 'out in the cold' so to speak, he offered Constantine in his place along with two thousand men.
The Archbishop thanked him and quickly accepted, becoming even more grateful when it was revealed Constantine was a capable soldier who could lead the British against their attackers.
A day later they set sail for Britain, landing at the port of Totness in the Kingdom of Cornwall, the very same place Constantine's ancestor Brutus had landed thousands of years earlier. From Totness Constantine quickly rallied the nobility and soldiers of the Kingdom and led them against the marauding Saxons and others, defeating them in several bloody battles, driving them from the country.
Once peace was restored, at least for the time being, Constantine and his new subjects made their way to the settlement of Calleva, a Roman town, where he was formally crowned by Archbishop Guethelin as King of Britain. He also soon married Ivoine, a young woman brought up in Guethelin's household. Not much is known of her besides the fact that she came from a noble family of Roman stock. Together the pair would have four sons:
Constans, born in 465.
Aurelius, born in 468.
Uther, born in 469.
David, born in 470.
King Constantine held court in Camulod which is now the modern city of Winchester, and here he ruled the British Isles successfully for ten years. During this time he gave his three eldest sons into the care of Guethelin to be educated with the hopes that Aurelius and Uther would become priests, allowing Constans to claim the throne uncontested when he was gone.
In the court at this time was a certain nobleman named Vortigern, who was a Prince of Wales. Vortigern descended from a junior branch of the British royal line and also descended from Magnus Maxinus through his daughter Sevira who married his ancestor, also named Vortigern.
The younger Vortigern craved power. It wasn't enough he ruled a portion of Wales, Powys, he wanted more and believed that his branch of the family had been snubbed in favor of Constantine's. He viewed the King as a foreigner with no rightful claim to the throne and while feigning loyalty outwardly, secretly plotted against him.
In the tenth year of Constantine's reign Vortigern finally decided to make his move on him. Hiring a Pictish assassin, the Welsh Prince ordered him to get the King alone and drive a dagger through him.
The Pict, who's name, unfortunately, has been lost, succeeded in luring the King into a false sense of security while out in the countryside. Bringing him under a canopy of trees out of sight of prying eyes the assassin pulled his dagger and stabbed Constantine to death.
it didn't take long for the news to spread across Britain that the King was dead and the royal court errupted into chaos. Vortigern, pretending to still be a loyal servant of the royal family, went to Guethelin's house and met with Constans, who was only eight years old, and told him he was to be King.
Of course being at such a young age the boy couldn't possibly rule yet and Vortigern, taking firm advantage of the situation, made himself Constans' regent, becoming the effective ruler of Britain.
Constans Pendragon was crowned in London soon after his father's assassination, invested with the regal robes, scepter, and crown. Vortigern, against custom, placing the crown on the boy's head himself, earning the ire of the Church.
After the coronation ceremony Constans was shipped off back to his educators while Vortigern settled in to his role of regnant. This lasted several months, all the while Vortigern ruled harshly and with an iron fist, though some did not allow him to treat them poorly as he was not the King.
These nobles who resisted made him realize that while he may in theory hold the power of the government, he wouldn't hold full control unless he became King in every sense of the word, and to that end he began planning a way to get rid of Constans and his younger brothers.
Before he did carry out these plans however, he made sure to assassinate other nobles within the court that would, he knew, oppose his rule, taking a dozen lives before moving on Constans.
To kill the boy Vortigern again hired a Pictish assassin, not having the stomach to do it himself. This Pict, possibly the same man who killed Constantine (though its unknown), broke into the monastery where Constan was being educated, kicked down the boy's bedchamber door, and slaughtered him in his own bed.
Seizing his chance Vortigern proclaimed himself King and quickly took control of all fortified cities and towns in Britain, crushing any possible revolts before they got started. He sent assassins to kill Constans' younger brothers but their mother and loyal servants were able to spirit them away to Armorica where they would be safe under the care of King Budic I, son of Aldrian, who made sure to give his three cousins a good education and a good home.
The first act he did as King was to execute the Pictish assassin, fearing he would in turn attack him for a high price. This execution prompted the Picts and Scots to form an alliance and invade from Scotland, plunging Vortigern into war almost immediately after taking the crown.
The usurper was no General and found this out the hard way when the combined Pictish-Scottish forces ravaged southern Britain and nearly brought his reign to an end before it even had a chance to truly begin.
Luckily for Vortigern (at least at first) around the time this invasion came a fleet of ships landed in Kent. These ships were full of Saxon warriors led by two brothers, Hengist and Horsa.
These two brothers were known warriors in continental Europe, Hengist having fought in the Battle of Finnsburg in 450 as a retainer for the Danish Prince Hnaef where he avenged his Lord's murder. After Hnaef's death Hengist left Denmark and returned to Germania where he settled down as a Chieftain before ultimately leading warriors to Britain with his younger brother.
As mentioned previously Saxon raids had been occurring in Britain before Constantine's time and can be traced back to the middle 300s. These raids were much like the later Viking raids of the 9th century, and its likely Hengist and Horsa, as younger men, had fought in some of these raids.
Now however, they did not come to raid but to settle.
Vortigern arranged a meeting with the two brothers in London and when asked why they were in Britain Hengist said they came to offer their services to the King in exchange for land. That Woden, the Saxon name for the God Odin, led them to Vortigern so that he may make use of them.
And make use of them he did. It was well known among the Britons how fierce and deadly Germanic warriors, and Saxons in particular, were. Like their later Viking cousins the Saxons had one class of warrior that struck fear into the hearts of any who encountered them.
The Berserkers.
These men were both warriors and Shamans, using drums and music to enter into trance like states to commune with the Germanic Gods, and take on the powers of the Wolf and Bear.
Berserkers could be broken down into two groups. The Bear Berserkers and the Wolf Berserkers, both are exactly what they sound like. The Bear Berserker wore a bear's headdress into battle while a Wolf Berserker wore a Wolf headdress, each class venerated and respected these animals and hoped to be able to emulate them on the battlefield.
The patron Gods of the Berserker Class were Woden and Tiw, the Saxon God of War better known by his Norse name Tyr.
Shortly after the Saxons arrived and joined the usurper's service, the Scots and Picts attacked again, tearing Northern Britain apart. Vortigern led his men against them but he need not have bothered. The Saxon brothers and their men eagerly leapt into battle, butchering the Scots and Picts so thoroughly thet they fled back across the border into Scotland.
This victory ended the rebellion in the North and secured Hengist and Horsa's place at Vortigern's side. So impressed and enthralled by the Saxons' battle prowess he gave them Kent as their own possession, making Hengist Duke of the Saxons.
Hengist worked this influence and used it to bring over more of his tribesmen, including his daughter Rowena, from Germania. Rowena, a beauty according to the histories, soon caught the eye of Vortigern, who lusted after her.
Seeing this Hengist knew he could wrap the infatuated King around his finger and so told his daughter to play along and seduce Vortigern. Rowena, a clever and intelligent woman, wasted little time in doing so.
This didn't sit well with Vortigern's lawful wife Eadmunda (who, given the name, was most likely also of Germanic origin, though a Christian) or their children Vortimer, Pascentius, and Flavia, all of whom objected to their father's advances towards a Pagan woman. But, as horny people have done throughout the ages, Vortigern ignored his family and pursued his desires.
Things became so bad that Pascentius and Flavia left London going places unknown. Vortimer and his mother stayed and bore witness to Vortigern casting aside all Christian customs and marrying Rowena, not even demanding she convert to Christianity first. Hengist, as the King's new father in law, was raised in rank to become Kent's King, Horsa became his General.
The marriage to a Pagan and allowing Pagans, especially Saxons who had harassed and killed them for a hundred years by this point enraged several British nobles, including Eldol, a leader of the city of Kaerglou, and they threatened rebellion. To settle matters Hengist advised the King to arrange a meeting between him, the Saxons, and the disgruntled British nobles, so they could come to terms beneficial to all of them. Vortigern did so.
Calling a meeting on what is now Salisbury Plains at the monastery of Ambrius, Vortigern and Hengist, along with hundreds of Saxon warriors, met Eldol and those he led. They sat around a table ready to discuss terms. The date was May 1st, 488.
Little did the British know that Hengist, before the talks, had given orders to his men that, upon his order, they were to draw their Seax long knives, and kill every noble there except the King and his son.
Hengist sat beside Vortigern, Horsa sat beside Vortimer and, at the opportune time, Hengist shouted for his men to draw their long knives and he and his brother gripped the man beside them and held their blades to their throats.
The butchery unleashed that day is hard to fathom. Told each party would be unarmed the British nobles brought no weapons and were unable to defend themselves from the Saxons.
By some miracle Eldol managed to escape after smashing his attacker's head into the table but the rest were not so lucky. In all over four hundred and sixty British noblemen were murdered that day.
The massacre at Ambrius monastery marked the turning point in Vortigern's reign. No longer would the nobles and common people sit by and let him continue to throw Britain into chaos. Soon after escaping the massacre Eldol raised an army, declaring his loyalty to the rightful heir Aurelius Pendragon, and swiftly moved against Vortigern and his Saxon masters.
Hengist and Horsa took control of the government, sending Vortigern to his estates in Wales, having no further use for him. Vortimer fled from London, joining his mother and siblings.
While civil war began in Britain, in Armorica Aurelius and Uther, now twenty and nineteen respectively, gathered a fleet of ships with the aid of Budic and sailed for Scotland.
Landing on the Scottish coast the two sons of Constantine immediately received a warm welcome and hundreds flocked to their Red Dragon Banner, including Pascentius, Vortimer, and Flavia.
Flavia and Aurelius, as soon as they met, became instantly attracted to one another. It didn't matter to Aurelius she was the daughter of his father's murderer, he didn't blame her for that and the two soon became lovers.
Eldol, learning of the landing of the Pendragons, raced to Scotland with his men, linking up with them. Now, with thousands swelling their ranks, Aurelius was crowned King of Britain in Scotland and he and Uther marched into Loegria, the British name for what is now England, to meet the Saxons.
Hengist and Horsa met them in a field known as Maisbeli in what is now Yorkshire.
The two sides clashed, Aurelius and Uther leading from the front alongside Eldol, Vortimer, and Pascentius. Hours past, the field's green pasture becoming soaked in dark red blood. Vortimer fell in the middle of the battle, earning his redemption.
Eldol, finding Hengist, went through the crowds of battling warriors and locked swords with him, the two men struggling back and forth to gain the upper hand. Hengist, victorious in so many other battles, could not beat the British warrior and fell, Eldol's sword chopping into his neck, slicing off his head.
Horsa also died in the Battle of Maisbeli but the details are unknown. Octa, Hengist's son and heir, and his nephew Eosa, retreated and would later make peace with Aurelius, being allowed to remain in Northern Britain if they swore loyalty to the crown, which they both did.
Aurelius had both Hengist and Horsa buried according to Germanic religious rites and then marched on to Wales where he and Uther intended to kill Vortigern.
Vortigern, hiding out in a castle he built years before, had nowhere run. His Saxon allies were dead, his British subjects abandoned him, and even his children hated him. His actions during his final days as Britain's official King are known only to him as no one attended him before Aurelius and Uther came.
Surrounding Vortigern's castle Aurelius ordered it attacked. Hundreds of British soldiers rushed in, dragging him out before the Pendragon brothers.
Dismounting Aurelius approached Vortigern, the man a shadow of his former self. He looked him over, no doubt remembering all the years of pain and sorrow this man caused him and his younger brothers.
Aurelius looked at Flavia and back at her father. Uther urged him to finish it, but he refused. Aurelius ordered Vortigern to be spared but exiled, and the usurper was removed from his sight. What happened to Vortigern after this is unknown, where he went or when he died went unrecorded.
Upon defeating Vortigern Aurelius married Flavia and by the next year, 489, they welcomed a son, Merlin. A year later they would welcome their second and final child, a daughter named Ganieda.