![Guithelinus is the Welsh name penned by Geoffrey of Monmouth whereby The Historia Brittonum uses the proper name Vitalinus for Arthur’s ward, which must be emended to Ambrosius Aurelianus’s ward, who protects the young boy from being assassinated by Vortiern, the usurper of the British throne. “King Arthur’s” historicity of the fifth century points to Ambrosius.
GUITHELINUS/CYHELIN/VITALINUS
(WELSH) / (ROMAN)
KING ARTHUR’S GUARDIAN
Photos (3) at bottom of page
Like so many other enigmatic figures such as Utherpendragon, Vortimer, and Ambrosius Aurelianus in the saga of King Arthur, Guithelinus/Vitalinus is hidden in a haze. In both John Morris’s Nennius: British History and The Welsh Annals, and Josephus Stevenson’s recension of Nenni: Historia Britonum (sic), the name appears in its Welsh form Guithelinus. Morris translates the name as Vitalinus, whereby Stevenson is a recensionist and not a translator. Section 49, the genealogical section, lists Guithelinus as the son of Gloui, one of four brothers whose father built the great city of Caer Gloui, now known as Gloucester. Section 66 contains a passage which reads, "And from the [beginning of the] reign of Vortigern to the discord between Guithelinus and Ambrosius [Aurelianus] are 12 years." This last piece of information is crucial because other scholastic sources have firmly calibrated the beginning of Vortigern’s reign in the year 425, which means that there was discord between Guithelinus and Ambrosius.
Those are the only two segments giving the name Guithelinus in British history, deceptively suggesting that Guithelinus must indeed be a very minor character in the Arthurian saga.
Yet once again, there is a gossamer thread about Guithelinus which can be traced, and the key lies in the variant of his name, Guitolin rendered into English as Guithelinus. Geoffrey of Monmouth transforms Guithelinus’s seemingly minor part into a role of major importance. Piecing together Monmouth’s information, Guithelinus:
1. is the Archbishop of London who is sent to Rome to seek military aid but was denied (Section vi.2);
2. petitions King Aldroneus of Brittany whose brother Constantine and two thousand soldiers return to
Britain with Guithelinus;
3. becomes the guardian of Aurelius Ambrosius (Ambrosius Aurelianus) and Utherpendragon who rears
the two brother after Constantine’s death (section vi.5).
A third source, Brut Tysilio, uses the name Cyhelin for Guithelinus/Vitalinus. The Brut is a close parallel to Monmouth’s narrative. When the Romans evacuated Britain, Cyhelin informed his countrymen that the Roman would not return again, and Britain would have to defend itself.
Connecting Monmouth’s information with that of The Historia Brittonum, the story unfolds in this manner:
Gildas Badonicus describes in detail the Roman withdrawal, returning after their first withdrawal, but then telling the Britons that they had to fend for themselves. There was great slaughter from the Picts and the Scoti, after which the Britons sent a messenger to Aetius, supreme commander of the Western Empire. After a passage of time, because the Britons were unable to repel the Scoti and the Picts, Cyhelin, the Archbishop of London, was sent to the continent to solicit help. He returned with two thousand soldiers commanded by Constantine, who successfully repelled the enemy, later marrying the daughter of a Roman chieftain.
(At this point, a segment of the Brut Tysilio is missing, and the remaining information is related by the Book of Basingwerke Abbey.) Two of Constantine’s three sons--Emrys (Ambrosius) and Uther-pen-dragon--were given into the care of Cyhelin. Upon the death of Constantine, Vortigern usurps the throne, and Cyhelin, fearing that his wards would be assassinated, fled with them to Armorica. Cyhelin then drops from the history.
If the information from History of the Kings of Britain, the Brut Tysilio, and the Book of Basingwerke Abbey are combined with the Historia Brittonum, the totality of Guithelinus’s biography is as follows:
1. Guithelinus is the son of Gloui, who is chieftain of the Dobunni territory in Britain.
(Historia Brittonum, Section 49)
2. He has three brothers, Mauron, Paul, and Bonus.
(Nennius, Historia Brittonum, Section 49)
3. As Archbishop of London he addresses the Britons that the Romans will be withdrawing from the
island.
(Brut Tysilio, Peter Roberts, page 104)
4. Afterward, the Britons were not able to protect themselves and implored Aetius, Supreme Commander
of the Western Empire to send military aid, but aid was not forthcoming because of wars in Gaul.
(Gildas, The De Excidio, Section 20.1; Bede, History of the English, Book 1.13; Brut Tysilio, page 105;
Geoffrey of Monmouth, HKB, Section vi.3
5. Guithelinus was then sent to the continent to seek aid from Aldroneus, King of Brittany.
6. Aldroneus assents, sending his brother Constantine and 2,000 soldiers o Britain with Guithelinus.
(Roberts, BT, page 106; Monmouth, HKB vi.4)
7. Constantine is victorious in battle, marries a Celt of royalty and sires three children.
8. Two of the sons--Ambrosius and Uther-pen-dragon--are “committed to the tuition of Guithelinus.”
9. When Constantine is murdered, Vortigern usurps the throne, and Guithelinus, “apprehensive of
treachery to his wards, fled with them to Armorica.
(Roberts, BT, page 111; Monmouth, HKA, vi.6.
10. In the year 437, Guithelinus quarrels with Ambrosius. (The Latin passage reads “Et a regno
Guorthigirni usque ad discordiam Guitolini et Ambrosii, anni sunt duodecim.” Nennius,
Section 66.24) The literal translation is
“And from the reign of Vortigern to the discord between Guithelinus and Ambrosius are twelve years.”
John Morris translates the Latin word discordiam as “quarrel,” which is quite acceptable, since
Cassell’s Latin dictionary defines the word as “dissension, disagreement, discord.” Unfortunately, the
scribal interpolation in The Historia Brittonum interprets discordium as a battle, and falsely
assumes that Guithelinus is Vortigern’s ally and Ambrosius’s enemy.
In 437, Ambrosius would have been in his early teens, and, knowing his heritage, undoubtedly wanted to rightfully claim the throne rather than acquiescing to Vortigern's usurpation. Guithelinus realized the folly of that, knowing that Vortigern would probably assassinate the young aspirant. Because of the discord and Guithelinus's sense of duty as a guardian, he crossed to Brittany with his young ward to wait for a more auspicious time.
Although there are critics who deride Monmouth's work as an unreliable historic source, he has no hidden agenda or motive in relation to Guithelinus. In truth, in this instance he can be portrayed as a copyist because he doesn't grandstand Guithelinus' role nor does he pad the story with his imaginative creations. In his narrative at the end of the chapter about the "Coming of the Romans" and the beginning of the chapter about the "House of Constantine", Monmouth gives a great deal of information about Guithelinus the Archbishop of London addressing the Britons at the moment of Roman evacuation, about his crossing to Brittany to seek help, about his becoming the guardian of Utherpendragon and Ambrosius, and about his fleeing to Brittany with Ambrosius and Uther to prevent their assassination by Vortigern.
There is one historical artifact which clinches Guithelinus’s role in British history. At the Church of Saint Brynach in Nevern, Wales, there is a significant gravemarker dedicated to Guithelinus](Guithelinus-Cyhelin-Vitalinus_files/shapeimage_1.png)
A booklet distributed by the vicar, churchwardens and parishioners, independent of any reference to Ambrosius or the King Arthur legend, describes the Vitalianus stone which is located to the right of the entryway. It is a bilingual gravemarker dating to the fifth century and is one of the oldest examples of this type of monument. A sketch in the British Museum made about 1698 by Edward Lhuyd, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford, shows that there has been no change in either the size of the stone or the legibility of the faint lettering since that date. The inscriptions listed in the booklet are:
Latin: Vitaliani Emerto
Ogham: Vitaliani
In Latin and Ogham alike the meaning is “ ‘(THE MONUMENT) OF VITALIANUS.’ EMERETO is unexplained, but is conceivably a territorial adjective. Alternatively it may be a corrupt and ungrammatical derivative of Emeritus, ‘discharged with honour’. ”
As stated earlier Vitalinus is the Roman term for Guithelinus, which would be typical for such a monmument of the fifth century, since the Roman influence was still very strong, and even though a part of the legion had been evacuated to Gaul, the Western Empire had not forsaken Britain as a province.
When this close-up of the inscription on the Guithelinus/Vitalianus marker was taken in 1995, the engraving was fairly easy to read, but by my 1998 visit, weathering and lichen had taken its toll on the stone.
The second artifact at the church which links to Welsh history is the Maglocunus Stone, now installed as a window sill in the church. Estimated to be from the fifth century, it is described as
. . . an irregularly-shaped inscribed stone 62 and one-half inches long whose inscriptions are considered to be as
follows:
Latin: MAGOLCVNI (miscut MAGLOCVVI) FILI CLUTOR
Ogham: MAGLICUNAS MAQI CLUTAR [I]
The meaning of both is "(THE MONUMENT) OF MAGLOCUNUS (MAELGWN) SON OF CLUTORIUS".
It is a safe assumption that Maglocunus ap Clutor would have been an early relative of Maglocunus ap Catgolaun Lauhir, the latter being the tyrant castigated by Gildas Badonicus. Additionally, Ambrosius Aurelianus fits well into the chronology: Ambrosius belongs in this era, he's in the proper locale of his final battle, and Guithelinus is buried at this site.
Photo © FDR
Photo © Frank D. Reno
Photo © Frank D. Reno
Photo © Frank D. Reno