Gildas

Gildas, the supposed author of De Excidio Britannic?, a history of Britain from the birth of Christ till 560, is thought by some to have been born about 520, by others some years earlier. He was probably a British monk, and is said by an early biographer to have gone to Brittany in his thirtieth year, and there to have founded a monastery and written his book (first printed in 1525). His death is placed at about 570. Alcuin called him "the wisest of the Britons," and Baeda made great use of his writings. In the monastery of St. Gildas, near Vannes, in Brittany, Abelard sought refuge. There are translations of Gildas's work by Jos. Stevenson (1838) and Dr. Giles (1841). Their historical value has been impugned by Gibbon and Sir J. Duffus Hardy, but defended by Dr.

Guest.