The Battle of Guoloph, also known as the Battle of Wallop, took place in the 5th century. Various dates have been put forward: 440 AD by Alfred Anscombe, 437 AD according to John Morris, and 458 by Nikolai Tolstoy. It took place at what is now

Nether Wallop Nether Wallop is a village and civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. It is located approximately northwest of Stockbridge, and approximately southwest of Andover. Nether Wallop is the easternmost of the three villages ...

, 15 kilometers southeast of

Amesbury Amesbury () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settle ...

, in the district of

Test Valley Test Valley is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England, named after the valley of the River Test. Its council is based in Andover. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by a merger of the boroughs of Andover and Romsey, a ...

, northeastern

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. The battle was an internal conflict between the rival Britonnic forces of

Ambrosius Aurelianus Ambrosius Aurelianus ( cy, Emrys Wledig; Anglicised as Ambrose Aurelian and called Aurelius Ambrosius in the ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' and elsewhere) was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Sa ...

and

Vortigern Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in ...

(Vitalinus). Britain

Context

In his book ''

Historia Brittonum ''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British (Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Bri ...

'',

Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...

affirms that "The reign of

, and the fight between Vitalinus and

Ambrosius Ambrosius or Ambrosios (a Latin adjective derived from the Ancient Greek word ἀμβρόσιος, ''ambrosios'' "divine, immortal") may refer to: Given name: *Ambrosius Alexandrinus, a Latinization of the name of Ambrose of Alexandria (before 21 ...

in Guoloppum, the Battle of Guoloph, are separated by twelve years". The battle is thought to have been part of the long rivalry between rival British kings Vortigern and Ambrosius Aurelianus for control of southern Britain in the wake of the Roman withdrawal in 410. In the 12th century A.D. (largely fictitious) pseudo-history written by

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...

– the ''

Historia Regum Britanniae ''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...

'' –

(''Emrys Wledig'', ''the imperator'') is considered the son of the emperor

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

. Geoffrey of Monmouth states that while Ambrosius was a child, his entire family was assassinated with only him and his brother

Uthyr Pendragon Uther Pendragon (Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur. A few mi ...

making their escape via a canal at the court of their cousin, Budic I of Brittany. This attack was allegedly perpetrated by

, governor of the city of

Dubris Dubris, also known as Portus Dubris and Dubrae, was a port in Roman Britain on the site of present-day Dover, Kent, England. As the closest point to continental Europe and the site of the estuary of the Dour, the site chosen for Dover was ideal ...

, one of the most important ports in the kingdom. Vortigern had formed a pact with the powerful

Jute Jute is a long, soft, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', which is in the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ''Corchorus olit ...

kings,

Hengist and Horsa Hengist and Horsa are Germanic brothers said to have led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in their invasion of Britain in the 5th century. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kent. Most modern scholarly consensus now rega ...

.Whilst some authors categorize them as Saxons, they were originally from Jutland. They led a combined force of Saxons, Jutes and Britons and established themselves in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

as a Jute faction. (,

''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'' de Barbara Yorke, ''History of England'', de Charles W. Oman, ''The origin of the English, Germanic, and Scandinavian languages, and nations'', Longman, etc.). Years later, Ambrosius returned to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, disembarking at

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-so ...

(

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

), a reunion of the monarchs of all the kingdoms of the south with the purpose of forging alliances and solving collective problems. It was there that he was able to convince the

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

leaders of the Jute menace and of their alliance between Vortigern.

References

Bibliography

, ''

''. *

, ''

''.

External links

The Wallops web site.Britannia: the threat within.
*

{{Authority control Guoloph Guoloph Guoloph Guoloph Geoffrey of Monmouth Guoloph 5th century in England 440