The Passing of Kings and Old Testament Models for “Regime Change”

Given the geographical range and narrative context, the primary frame of ref-erence for the DGB Book I is unsurprisingly Virgilian, and no more surprising are the Old Testament models which come to the fore in Books II–III where the succession of pre-Roman kings is narrated. Old Testament kings are usually defined by their heroic stature and courage, their fertility, and their ambitious urban planning. As Feuerherd noticed, the depiction of Ebraucus, which is a composite of Saul, David, and Solomon, does this and more:80

By his twenty wives Ebraucus fathered twenty sons and thirty daughters and ruled the kingdom of Britain with great energy for sixty years. His sons were named Brutus Greenshield, Margadud, Sisillius, Regin, Morvid, Bladud, Iagon, Bodloan, Kincar, Spaden, Gaul, Dardan, Eldad, Iuor, Cangu, Hector, Kerin, Rud, Assarach, Buel; the names of his daughters were Gloigin, Innogin, Oudas, Guenlian, Gaurdid, Angarad, Guenlodee, Tangustel, Gorgon, Medlan, Methahel, Ourar, Mailure, Kambreda, Ragan, Gael, Ecub, Nest, Chein, Stadud, Gladus, Ebrein, Blangan, Aballac, Angaes, Galaes (in her day the most beautiful woman in Britain or Gaul), Edra, Anor, Stadiald and Egron. Ebraucus sent all his daughters to Italy to Silvius Alba, who had succeeded Silvius Latinus. There they wedded Trojan nobles, whom the Latin and Sabine women refused to marry. His sons, led by Assaracus, took ship to Germany, where with Silvius Alba’s help they subdued the inhabitants and conquered the kingdom.81

79  J.J. O’Hara, True Names. Vergil and the Alexandrian Tradition of Etymological Wordplay, Ann Arbor, 1996, pp. 207–08. For the use of names in Roman poetry, see O’Hara, True Names, pp. 66–73 on proper names, and 115–242 for a catalogue of the etymological word-play in the Aeneid, and the essays in J. Booth and R. Maltby (eds.), What’s in a Name? The Significance of Proper Names in Classical Latin Literature, Swansea, 2006.

80  Feuerherd, Geoffrey of Monmouth, pp. 36–39. We may note too that this paragraph is wrapped around with synchronisms referring to these kings; see above, pp. 84–86.

81  DGB, ii.27.95–108 (the following Latin quote omits the lists of names): “[sc. Ebraucus]

[g]enuit etiam .xx. filios ex uiginti coniugibus quas habebat nec non et .xxx. filias reg-numque Britanniae .lx. annis fortissime tractauit. Erant autem nomina filiorum eius …;

nomina autem filiarum …, Galaes (omnium pulcherrima quae tunc in Britannia siue in

Furthermore, like any self-respecting Old Testament king, Ebraucus had ter-ritorial ambitions not only in Britain, where he founded York (eponymously Kaerebrauc) and Dumbarton, but most of his sons went off and conquered Germany. He also sent his daughters off to marry the Trojans in Italy quorum cubilia et Latinae et Sabinae diffugiebant, “whom the Latin and Sabine women refused to marry”, thus side-stepping the tale of the rape of the Sabine women.82 But, like all sensible rulers of Britain, Ebraucus was careful to maintain links with Europe, and the effect of such European integration is, of course, that everyone who then comes back to Britain, whether the Romans or the English (and later the Bretons), is genetically related. So even when Geoffrey is in Old Testament mode, he is careful not abandon the other strands of the narrative.

Not all reigns are explored in such detail. Variation of pace is characteristic of Geoffrey’s style. After the long slow narrative of King Lear, in the passage which follows, we run through six generations in as many lines, beginning with the death of Cunedagius, briefly pausing to record (but not to dwell upon) some Old Testament plagues, bloody rain and flies, before slowing for another thematically significant moment:

When Cunedagius finally died, he was succeeded by his son Rivallo, a peaceful and fortunate youth, who ruled the kingdom well. While he was king, it rained blood for three days and people died from a plague of flies. He was succeeded by his son Gurgustius; next came Sisillius, next Iago, Gurgustius’s nephew, then Kinmarcus, Sisillius’s son, and fi-nally Gorbodugo. He had two sons, called Ferreux and Porrex. When their father grew old, they quarrelled about which ones of them should succeed to the throne. Porrex felt the greater desire and tried to kill his brother Ferreux by setting an ambush, but the latter discovered the plot and escaped his brother by crossing to France. Aided by the French king, Suhardus, he returned to fight his brother, In the battle Ferreux and all the troops with him were killed. Their mother, named Iudon, was greatly angered by the news of the death of one of her sons and came to hate the other, whom she had loved less. She burned with such fury over Ferreux’s death that she desired to take revenge on his brother. Waiting until he was asleep, she and her serving women fell upon him and tore him to

Gallia fuerant), … Has omnes direxit pater in Italiam ad Siluium Albam, qui post Siluium Latinum regnabat. Fuerunt ibi maritatae nobilioribus Troianis, quorum cubilia et Latinae et Sabinae diffugiebant. At filii duce Assaraco fratre duxerunt classem in Germaniam et auxilio Siluii Albae usi subiugato populo adepti sunt regnum.”

82  DGB, ii.27.106.

pieces. For a long time after that, civil strife troubled the people and the kingdom was ruled by five kings, who inflicted defeats on one another.83 One of the major themes of the DGB involves brothers falling out over the king-ship and the inevitable descent into civil war (civilis discordia) which follows.84 Here Ferreux and Porrex fall out in time-honored fashion. Whether we see the model for this as Cain and Abel, other Old Testament examples, Romulus and Remus, or simply Geoffrey’s own experience of 12th-century Britain (where es-pecially in Wales royal siblings were always in dispute), the message is that this is the way it was and always will be, and the consequences are never good.85 Here we also have a maternal strand to the narrative with their mother Iudon and her maid-servants conspiring to dismember Ferreux.86 The consequence is civil war, which thematically takes us back into the world of Lucan.

But all is not lost. The last episode of Book II ushers in Dunuallo Molmutius, who is depicted as a Solomonic figure, fearless in battle and wise in peace.

Once he has gained control and quelled the civil strife, he sets about handing down laws to the Britons, and generally rules like Solomon.87 But there are other echoes in this episode as well: in the midst of the battle against Rudaucus and Staterius, Dunuallo dresses 600 of his men in enemy armor and succeeds

83  DGB, ii.33.286–304: “Postremo defuncto Cunedagio successit ei Riuallo filius ipsius, iuue-nis pacificus atque fortunatus, qui regnum cum diligentia gubernauit. In tempore eius tri-bus dietri-bus cecidit pluuia sanguinea et muscarum affluentia homines moriebantur. Post hunc successit Gurgustius filius eius, cui Sisillius, cui Iago Gurgustii nepos, cui Kinmarcus Sisillii filius, post hunc Gorbodugo. Huic nati fuerunt duo filii, quorum unus Ferreux, alter Porrex nuncupabatur. Cum autem pater in senium uergisset, orta est contentio inter eos quis eorum in regno succederet. At Porrex, maiori cupiditate subductus, paratis insidiis Ferreucem fratrem interficere parat. Quod cum illi compertum fuisset, uitato fratre trans-fretauit in Gallias sed usus auxilio Suhardi regis Francorum reuersus est et cum fratre dimicauit. Pugnantibus autem illis, interfectus est Ferreux et tota multitudo quae eum comitabatur. Porro mater eorum, cui nomen erat Iudon, cum de nece filii certitudinem habuisset, ultra modum commota in odium alterius uersa est. Diligebat namque illum magis altero. Vnde tanta ira ob mortem ipsius ignescebat ut ipsum in fratrem uindicare affectaret. Nacta ergo tempus quo ille sopitus fuerat, aggreditur eum cum ancillis suis et in plurimas sectiones dilacerauit. Exin ciuilis discordia multo tempore populum af-flixit et regnum quinque regibus summissum est, qui sese mutuis cladibus infestabant.”

On this passage, see Faral, LLA, vol. 2, pp. 115–17; on the (rejected) possibility that the plague of bloody rain may derive from William of Malmesbury, see Feuerherd, Geoffrey of Monmouth, pp. 44–46.

84  Feuerherd, Geoffrey of Monmouth, pp. 16, 21.

85  Tatlock, LHB, p. 383; cf. 2 Samuel 5:13–14, 1 Kings 11:1, 3 (Feuerherd, Geoffrey of Monmouth, pp. 36–39).

86  For other powerful mothers in the DGB, cf. iii.41 (Tonwenna), iii.47 (Marcia), vi.107 (Merlin’s mother).

87  Feuerherd, Geoffrey of Monmouth, pp. 39–44.

in turning the tide of the battle, but timens ne a suis opprimeretur, “appre-hensive of being killed by his own men”, he changes his armor back again.88 Tausendfreund has noted the parallel with an episode in Aeneid II.386–437 where Aeneas and his men change into enemy-armor: “dolus an uirtus quis in hoste requirat?” “ ‘deceit or valour, who would ask in battle?’ ” shouts Coreobus.89 In the Aeneid, however, dolus is always associated with Greeks and not with Trojans (who are course Romans-to-be);90 the wooden horse is described as a dolus;91 the trickery of Sinon is characterized as uersare dolos, “employing tricks”;92 and the gifts of the Greek should rightly be viewed with suspicion:

aut ulla putatis dona carere dolis Danaum? “or do you think that any gifts from the Greeks are free from deceit?”93 The Trojans, of course, fall for it and, as in the episode where they change arms, it all goes wrong; Trojans simply cannot do dolus. In the DGB Book II.34, Dunuallo’s concern is probably well-placed; as a genetic Trojan he is not well-equipped for this, and as a wise king he knows when to stop.