When the victorious invaders had scattered and destroyed the native peoples and returned to their own dwellings, the Britons slowly began to take heart and recover their strength, emerging from the dens where they had hidden themselves, and joining in prayer that God might help them, to avoid complete extermination. Their leader at this time was Ambrosius Aurelianus, a man of good character and the sole survivor of Roman race from the catastrophe. Among the slain had been his own parents, who were of royal birth and title. Under his leadership the Britons took up arms, challenged their conquerors to battle, and with God’s help inflicted a defeat on them. Thenceforward victory swung first to one side and then to the other, until the battle of Badon Hill,1 when the Britons made a considerable slaughter of the invaders. This took place about forty-four years after their arrival in Britain: but I shall deal with this later.
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The battle of Badon Hill (Mons Badonicus) was an important defeat for the Anglo-Saxons, some of whom returned to the Continent, but it did not in the long run hinder their steady advance. Its date was c. 495: its place has been variously conjectured as Bath, Badbury Hill (nr. Swindon) or somewhere in Dorset. ↩