Queen Gwendolen

Queen Gwendolen
Queen Gwendolen
Queen of Cornwall
Predecessor	Corineus
Successor	Maddan
Queen of Loegria and Albania
Predecessor	Locrinus
Successor	Maddan
Queen of Kambria
Predecessor	Kamber
Successor	Maddan
Spouse	Locrinus
Issue	Maddan
Father	Corineus

Gwendolen, also known as Gwendolin, or Gwendolyn (Latin: Guendoloēna) was a legendary ruler of ancient Britain. She came to power in 1115BC.^[1]

As told by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his historical account Historia Regum Britanniae, she was the repudiated queen of King Locrinus until she defeated her husband in battle at the River Stour. This river was the dividing line between Cornwall and Loegria, two key locations in ancient Britain. After defeating the king, she took on the leadership of the Britons, becoming their first queen regnant.

Life

According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Gwendolen was one of the daughters of Corineus, king of Cornwall, and one of Brutus's warriors. Gwendolen was married to Locrinus, the eldest of King Brutus' three sons, and had a son named Maddan.^[2] Upon her father Corineus' death, Locrinus divorced her in favour of his Germanic mistress, Estrildis (by whom he already had a daughter who was named Habren). Gwendolen then fled to Cornwall, where she lived for a few years. After having built up a large army, she waged war against her ex-husband, King Locrinus. In a battle near the River Stour, Locrinus was killed. Gwendolen then assumed his throne and ruled independently, as her father had reigned in Cornwall. After having both her husband's mistress, Estrildis, and her daughter, Habren, drowned in the River Severn (Old Welsh: Habren), the ancient British monarch reigned peacefully for fifteen years. She then abdicated in favour of her son and lived out the remainder of her life in Cornwall.^[3]

Legacy

The Historia Regum Britanniae says that at the time of her death Samuel was judge in Judaea, Aeneas Silvius was ruling Alba Longa, and Homer was gaining fame in Greece. She is mentioned in Spenser's poem The Faerie Queene (1590) as Gwendolene, and appears in the mythopoeic writings of William Blake as one of the twelve Daughters of Albion. In the 20th century feminist critics have cited her as an example of a powerful woman healing a fractured Britain with her rule.^[4]

References

^ Monarchie Nobelesse website, Bretons
^ Sacred Texts website Histories of the Kings of Britain (Book II), by Geoffry of Monmouth, tr. by Sebastian Evans (1904)
^ Evans, Zteve. Gwendolen: Legendary Queen of the Britons (5 July 2016) Retrieved 14 October 2017
^ Olson, Katherine (2008). "Gwendolyn and Estrildis: Invading Queens in British Historiography". Medieval Feminist Forum. 44 (1): 36–52. doi:10.17077/1536-8742.1708. ISSN 1536-8742.

Legendary titles
Preceded by Corineus	Queen of Cornwall	Succeeded by Maddan
Preceded by Locrinus	Queen of Loegria and Albania
Preceded by Kamber	Queen of Kambria