Gildas’s De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae

E738799

Latin prose work historical source sermon-treatise

Gildas’s De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae is a 6th-century Latin sermon-treatise that provides one of the earliest and most important narrative accounts of post-Roman Britain, blending moral critique with a sketchy history of the island’s political and religious decline.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form	Occurrences
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae	1

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Latin prose work ⓘ historical source ⓘ sermon-treatise ⓘ
audience	contemporary Brittonic Christian community ⓘ
author	Gildas NERFINISHED ⓘ
authorshipStatus	generally accepted as work of a single author ⓘ
criticizes	corrupt clergy ⓘ five contemporary British kings ⓘ
dateWritten	6th century ⓘ
describesEvent	Saxon incursions into Britain ⓘ appeal of Britons to Rome for help ⓘ battle against Saxon invaders ⓘ withdrawal of Roman authority from Britain ⓘ
fieldOfStudy	Late Antiquity ⓘ early medieval British history ⓘ patristic and early medieval Latin literature ⓘ
genre	historical narrative ⓘ moral treatise ⓘ sermon ⓘ
geographicFocus	Britain NERFINISHED ⓘ
historicalPeriodDescribed	post-Roman Britain ⓘ
historicalScope	from Roman rule to early Anglo-Saxon settlement ⓘ
historicalValue	one of the earliest narrative sources for post-Roman Britain ⓘ primary source for early Anglo-Saxon period ⓘ
influenceOn	Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum NERFINISHED ⓘ later medieval British historiography ⓘ
keyConcept	history as moral exemplum ⓘ sins of rulers cause national disaster ⓘ
language	Latin ⓘ
literaryStyle	biblically allusive ⓘ rhetorical ⓘ
mainTheme	divine punishment for sin ⓘ moral critique of British rulers and clergy ⓘ political and religious decline of Britain ⓘ
part	condemnation of clergy ⓘ condemnation of secular rulers ⓘ historical prologue ⓘ
purpose	moral exhortation ⓘ warning of divine judgment ⓘ
religiousPerspective	Christian ⓘ
scholarlyDebate	chronology of composition ⓘ historical reliability of narrative ⓘ
structure	divided into three main parts ⓘ
survival	preserved in medieval manuscript tradition ⓘ
titleTranslation	On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain NERFINISHED ⓘ
usesSourceType	biblical quotations ⓘ
workLength	relatively short treatise ⓘ

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Aurelius Ambrosius → appearsIn → Gildas’s De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae ⓘ

this entity surface form: De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae

sub-Roman Britain → hasSource → Gildas’s De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae ⓘ