Mons Badonicus

Battle in about 493–516, probably in southwest England, in which indigenous Britons defeated the Anglo-Saxons and other settlers from the continent. Little else is definitely known, but this battle appears to have been the culmination of some 12 battles fought to drive the Saxons back and it apparently halted further incursions into the west of England for the next two generations. According to Gildas, a 6th-century Welsh monk, the encounter took the form of a siege, with the Britons probably led by a Roman, Ambrosius Aurelianus, against an enemy sent by God to punish them for their moral laxity. Some sources identify the victorious leader as ‘Arturus, Dux Bellorum’, the legendary King Arthur. The fortifications at Wansdyke may also have formed part of this campaign.