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The Origins of Bristol : Myth and Archaeology

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“The arch and tower of St. John’s are curious and interesting objects. Two statues still adorn this tower, which till very lately, were inscribed with the names of ‘Brennus and Belinus,’ the reputed founders of Bristol.

….probable that they were executed posterior to 1480, about which period the exploits of these heroes began to be generally associated with the origin of Bristol.”

Brennus and Belinus (or vice versa) on St John’s Gate, Bristol
The Myth

The stories of Brennus and Belinus were included by Geoffery of Monmouth in his The History of the Kings of Britain (written c. 1130). Geoffery’s History was tremendously popular during the Middle Ages, revolutionising views of British history before and during the Anglo-Saxon period.

For centuries, the History was accepted at face value, and much of its material was incorporated into later works despite criticism from later historians, one of whom stated

“no one but a person ignorant of ancient history [can doubt] how impertinently and impudently he falsifies in every respect.”

William of Worcester, who compiled a detailed topography of Bristol in the 15th Century, incorporated Geoffery of Monmouth’s writings in his ‘Boke of Noblesse’ written for Edward IV and holds up Brennus as a noble King of Britain.

According to Geoffery’s account;

Brutus is recorded by ancient historians as the first King of Britain. He invaded Britain with an army of Gauls and having conquered the locals, who are described as a race of giants, he settled in the country and founded London.

Among his successors, Malmutius, King of Cornwall, was distinguished for his bravery and wisdom. He conquered the other provincial Kings, and was crowned King of Britain. He left a legacy of a legal code known as the Malmutian laws which were translated into Latin by Gildas, the renowned 6th Century British monk; and from Latin into Saxon by Alfred the Great. Malmutius is also recorded as the founder of town of Malmsbury, in Wiltshire.

After the death of Malmutius, his two sons Brennus and Belinus, being left as joint heirs of the kingdom, reigned together, as Kings of Britain. Belinus reigned in the south while Brennus ruled everything north of the River Humber.

Belinus founded several cities and castles, and Brennus enlarged and improved Bristol. Bristol was alleged to have already existed, as a place of some consequence, prior to the reign of the brothers; as it is mentioned as one of the towns on the Fosse, one of the principal roads in the kingdom made during the reign of Malmutius. Brennus copied his brother, who had improved many places in his lands, and contributed to the prosperity of Bristol.

(How Brennus came to favour Bristol, while ruling in the north, isn’t clear. However, Brennus appears independently of Belinus in a 1486 Bristol city pageant performed before Henry VII and in the Oxford University play Fuimus Troes (pub. 1633), in the latter as a conqueror of Rome. So, these later writings may have conflated Brennus’s heroic martial exploits and Belinus’s more stately lawmaking and roadbuilding in Britain into one character.)

Brennus ruled in the North but wanting more, he invaded Belinus’s lands in the south, marrying a Norwegian princess in order to gain her father’s military support. As he was crossing the sea, he was ambushed by the Danish king who abducted Brennus’s new wife. Brennus asks Belinus for help to win her back, but Belinus refuses and defeats Brennus in battle. Brennus manages to escape and takes refuge in Gaul.

Belinus, now the sole ruler of Britain, confirms the Mulmutine laws established by his father, completes the building of Britain’s four major roads, also begun by Multmutius, and builds Belin’s Gate (ie. Billingsgate in London).

Brennus meanwhile, marries the daughter of a local lord and becomes Duke of Amorica. With his new found army, Brennus invades Britain again and as the two armies meet, their mother intercedes and implores them to reconcile and restore peace. They agree to end their differences and instead lay plans to invade the continent. Together they conquer Gaul, and parts of Italy and Germany before conquering Rome at the head of a Gaulish army.

There was a historical Brennus who sacked Rome. He was a chieftain of the Senones, a Gallic tribe originating from northen France. In the Battle of the Allia, (387 BC), he led an army of Gauls in an attack on Rome. This part of Geoffrey’s chronicles is highly detailed but was also highly contested in terms of whether the historical army that conquered Rome was indeed led by Britons, as he claimed, or by Gauls, as continental sources claimed.

The “British” Brennus and Gaulish Brennus were both discussed in early texts, creating confusion, as to which Brennus was being discussed, and which accounts were reliable. As one writer put it…

“This Brennus is by the Britain & English Chronicles reported to be a Briton, and brother to Belinus king of Britain; but neither the Chronicles of Rome nor of Gaule doe speake of any such matter”

Geoffrey’s Brennus was mentioned by Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, in 1530, when the duke, while arguing in favour of the claims of the House of Tudor to imperial status, told the Holy Roman Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys that Brennius had founded Bristol and conquered Rome.

The Archaeology

Bristol has an extremely rich and varied archaeological heritage. Palaeolithic finds of national importance have been made in Shirehampton and at St Anne’s. Development on the low-lying Avonmouth Levels has revealed a complex Bronze Age landscape of seasonal settlement, probably associated with known contemporary settlements on the higher ground on Kings Weston.

Several tribes of native Britons lived in the area before the advent of the Romans. The Dobunni lived in the Bristol area and the area now covered by north Somerset, Gloucestershire and west Wiltshire. The Durotriges had their northern limit at Bristol and lived in the area now covered by south Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. The Dobunni appear to have readily submitted to the Romans but the Durotriges fought for a while before being subdued.

These Iron Age tribes established several hill forts, the remains of which can be seen in places such as Blaise Castle and there are three hill forts along the river Avon, Burwalls (or Burgh Walls) , Stokeleigh in Leigh Woods and Clifton Down in the area of the observatory. There are also the remains of a hill fort at Kings Weston Hill with three small round barrows near the site. Evidence has been found for farming settlements at Henbury, Hallen, Filwood and elsewhere.

The Romans arrived around 55 BC, peacefully at first, then in force around 40 AD. They set up a major town at Bath (Aquae Sulis) and a harbour at Sea Mills (Abona), probably to supply forts along the Bristol Channel. Although they didn’t build a large town at Bristol, there are Roman villas at Kings Weston, Brislington, and Keynsham and smaller farmsteads elsewhere in the area.

Exactly when Bristol itself was founded is unknown. The earliest relic is a silver coin in the Royal Collection at Stockholm, Sweden. The coin bears the image of Ethelred the Unready (978 – 1016) and was minted in ‘Bricgstowe’ (Bristol) by a man named Aelfweld. Saxon law restricted Mints to mercantile towns so Bristol must have been established by then.

In 577 two Saxon kings (Cuthwine and Ceawlin) fought and killed three British kings (Commail, Condidan and Farinmail) at Dyrham near Pucklechurch, just outside of the present city. Although the towns of Bath, Gloucester and Cirencester are mentioned in the account of this battle, Bristol isn’t mentioned at all, even though it would have been closer than those mentioned.

This suggests that Bristol was founded sometime between 577 and 978 AD.

References
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