Mandubracius or Mandubratius was a king of the

Trinovantes The Trinovantēs (Common Brittonic: *''Trinowantī'') or Trinobantes were one of the Celtic tribes of Pre-Roman Britain. Their territory was on the north side of the Thames estuary in current Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk, and included lan ...

of south-eastern

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in the 1st century BC.

History

Mandubracius was the son of a Trinovantian king, named Imanuentius in some manuscripts of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

's ''

De Bello Gallico ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; en, Commentaries on the Gallic War, italic=yes), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' ( en, Gallic War, italic=yes), is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it C ...

'', who was overthrown and killed by the warlord

Cassivellaunus Cassivellaunus was a historical British military leader who led the defence against Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC. He led an alliance of tribes against Roman forces, but eventually surrendered after his location was revea ...

some time before Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC. Mandubracius fled to the protection of Caesar in Gaul. Cassivellaunus then led the British defence against the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, but the Trinovantes betrayed the location of his fortress to Caesar, who proceeded to besiege him there. As part of the terms of Cassivellaunus's surrender, Mandubracius was installed as king of the Trinovantes, and Cassivellaunus undertook not to make war against him.

Medieval traditions

He appears in

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 historiography ...

's ''

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. ...

'' (1136) as ''Androgeus'', eldest son of the legendary king Lud. The name change can be traced to copying errors in

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...

's ''Seven Books of History Against the Pagans'', a 5th-century Christian history which was influential in medieval Britain, where it appears in different manuscripts as "Mandubragius" and "Andragorius".

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom ...

, who follows Orosius almost verbatim for his account of Caesar's expeditions, calls him "Andragius" (a name which Geoffrey used for an earlier British king). Geoffrey might also have been influenced by the

Greek mythological A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of de ...

character Androgeus. When Lud died, Androgeus and his brother

Tasciovanus Tasciovanus (died c. 9 AD) was a historical king of the Catuvellauni tribe before the Roman conquest of Britain. History Tasciovanus is known only through numismatic evidence. He appears to have become king of the Catuvellauni c. 20 BC, rulin ...

were too young to rule, so the throne went to their uncle

. Androgeus was made Duke of

Trinovantum Trinovantum is the name in medieval British legend that was given to London, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae'', when it was founded by the exiled Trojan Brutus, who called it ''Troia Nova'' ("New Troy"), which was gr ...

(

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) and

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 fac ...

, and participated in the defence of Britain against

. After Caesar's first two invasions were repelled, the Britons held a celebration at which sacrifices were made to the gods and games played. Cuelinus, a nephew of Androgeus, wrestled with Hirelglas, Cassivellaunus's nephew, and killed him in a dispute over the result. Cassivellaunus demanded Androgeus hand over his nephew for trial, but fearing the king's intentions, Androgeus refused, offering to try him in his own court. Cassivellaunus made war on Androgeus, who appealed to Caesar for help. He gave hostages, including his own son Scaeva, as proof of his intentions, and Caesar invaded a third time. Between them, Androgeus and Caesar forced Cassivellaunus to submit and agree to pay tribute to Rome. Caesar spent the winter in Britain, and he and Cassivellaunus became friends. When he finally returned to Rome to fight the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...

against Pompey, Androgeus went with him, never to return. In

Middle Welsh Middle Welsh ( cy, Cymraeg Canol, wlm, Kymraec) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh ( cy, Hen G ...

versions of Geoffrey's ''Historia'', and in the

Welsh Triads The Welsh Triads ( cy, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, "Triads of the Island of Britain") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is ...

, he appears as ''Afarwy''. The Triads name him as one of the "Three Dishonoured Men of the Island of Britain" for inviting Caesar to invade. John Koch suggests that Mandubracius might be the historical basis of the Welsh mythological figure

Manawydan Manawydan fab Llŷr is a figure of Welsh mythology, the son of Llŷr and the brother of Brân the Blessed and Brânwen. The first element in his name is cognate with the stem of the name of the Irish sea god Manannán mac Lir, and likely origina ...

: he reconstructs the original form of his father's name as *''Mannuētios'', and an earlier form of Manwydan as *''Mannuētiagnos'', "son of Mannuetios".John Koch, "A Welsh Window on the Iron Age: Manawydan, Mandubracios", ''Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies'' 14 (1987), pp. 17-52.

References

External links

Trinovantes
a
Roman-Britain.co.uk
a
Romans in Britain
{{authority control Briton rulers Celtic warriors Traditional history of Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain Briton kings involved in Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain 1st-century BC rulers in Europe