It was in this monastery where he penned On the Ruin of Britain, and where he was ultimately buried at the end of his life.ĭe Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (often translated as “On the Ruin of Britain”) is a sermon in which Gildas condemns his contemporaries–secular and religious–for their immorality. His devoted students followed him so he was unable to pursue a life of solitude and instead founded a monastery for them, St-Gildas-de-Rhuys, which still stands today. At some stage in later life, he made a pilgrimage to Rome and then continued onward toward Brittany to become a hermit. 500 CE) and, it appears, he was a renowned teacher who converted many to Christianity while founding numerous churches, abbeys, and monasteries throughout Britain and Ireland. He himself cites his birth year as the same as the Battle of Mount Badon (c. Modern scholars, however, think this is incorrect and that he was actually born in present-day England (“Gildas”). Both agree that he was born in Scotland, on the banks of the Clyde River, and into a royal family. There are two versions of Life of Saint Gildas, one from the 9th century and one from the 11th. Many historical figures are mentioned in his brief history of Roman occupation, including Emperor Constantine, but it is his history of the British kings who followed–such as Aurelius Conanus, and Ambrosius Aurelianus (thought to be a “template” for King Arthur)–that has been of particular interest to historians as it documents the little-known period of Britain history immediately after the end of Roman occupation.Īll that we know about Gildas’ life can be found within two hagiographical biographies that attempt to piece together an origin story 400-600 years after his death. In it, he chastises the British for their sins even as he lauds their heroic attempts at repelling the invading Saxons after the fall of Rome.

“Grumpy Gildas,” as he came to be known, was a 6th-century British monk best known for the religious polemic you will read below, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae.

Gildas the ruin of britain