Battle of the City of Legion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Battle of the City of Legion was according to the Historia Brittonum the ninth battle commanded by King Arthur during the sub-Roman historical period in British history.

There are a number of possible candidates for the location of this battle. The historian K. H. Jackson identifies the location unhesitatingly as Chester, which was sometimes called Urbs Legionis in Latin and Caer Lleon Vawr ar Ddyfrdwy in Welsh meaning "City of the Great Legion on the River Dee".

There is also the possibility that the battle was at Castleford which the Romans called Legiolium or Legantium. Castleford is situated in West Yorkshire, where the River Calder flows into the River Aire. It was probably originally a Brigantian settlement before becoming a Roman military station from about 71AD onwards. This territory would have later fallen within the borders of the sub-Roman kingdom of Elmet. The Old Welsh or Cumbrian name for this place has been lost.

Geoffrey of Monmouth calls Caerleon the "City of Legion". This city was referred to as Isca Legionis and Isca Legionum in Latin and Caerlleon-ar-Wysg in Welsh or Cair Legion guar Uisc in early times. However, this city was not on the coast and was not as important as Chester.

It seems reasonable to think the although all three of these locations has a claim to be the City of Legions, the one to which most sources probably refer is Chester. The English monk Bede in his work Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum refers to Chester alone as "The City of the Legion, which is called Carlegion by the Britons and Legacaistir by the English". The fact that Chester was called the City of Legion by both the Anglo-Saxons and the Romano-Britons makes it likely that this is the place referred to in Historia Brittonum as the site of Arthur's ninth battle.

[edit] References

• http://www.bwpics.co.uk/chesterintro.html
• http://www.bwpics.co.uk/quotes/index.html
• http://www.castlefordchurches.co.uk/main_pages/parish.php