Arthur, Cerdic, and the Formation of Wessex
X. Conclusion
We believe we have made a convincing case that Arthur, the victor of Mount Badon, was
Cerdic, the founder of Wessex. Many other solutions have been proposed over the years, but
most leave unresolved problems which the Cerdic-Arthur theory explains. We now illustrate
these problems with a few quotations from various authors on the history of Dark Age
Britain.
"How, then, may we account for the series of Wessex battles which span the period
of supposed peace?" --Alcock (1971, p117)
"...a curious point about Arthur ... It is strange to find a King with an amply
described family and several male offspring, yet none with whom the question of
inheritance is so much as raised. Was his heir a senior son whose memory the Welsh chose
to suppress?" --Ashe (1985, p196)
"The reason why the early Anglo-Saxon immigrants there are so difficult to
identify from the finds is that culturally they were being more changed by the Romans with
whom they came into contact than the reverse."--Salway, p 484
"Arthur dominates and unites the history of two centuries; his victory was the
climax and consummation of the fifth-century struggles... He was at once the last Roman
emperor in the west, and the first medieval king of the country now called England."
--John Morris (1973, p141).
"This is that Arthur of whom modern Welsh fancy raves. Yet he plainly deserves to
be remembered in genuine history rather than in the oblivion of silly fairy tales; for he
long preserved his dying country." --William of Malmsbury (Morris, 1973, p141).
All of these puzzles are aspects of the same problem--that there is NO good solution to
the problem of Arthur presiding over the territory and time of the founding of the Saxon
kingdom of Wessex, unless he presided over it! If in the year 500 the ruler of
south-central Britain was Arthur, and the ruler of south-central Britain was Cerdic, then
Arthur was Cerdic. For over a thousand years, years the literature of Britain has had a
lost king and a forgotten victory. Now the identity of the national hero of Wales has been
discovered, and he has turned out to be the founder of the kingdom of England. The 1500th
anniversary of the coming of Cerdic to Southampton would be an appropriate occasion for
England and Wales to celebrate their common heritage.
John C. Rudmin, 864 Chicago Av, Harrisonburg, VA, 22801
Joseph W. Rudmin, Physics Dept., James Madison Univ., Harrisonburg, VA, 22807
(First submitted for publication in Oct 1993)
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