The year 501
It is proposed that the ASC entry for this year is significant and supports one in the Annales Cambriae. For that year these ASC versions state:
ASC A
Her cuom Port on Bretene 7 his .ii. suna Bieda 7 Mægla mid .ii. scipum on þære stowe þe is gecueden Portesmuþa 7 ofslogon anne giongne brettiscmonnan, swiþe ęþelne monnan.
Jebson T., 2007. Swanton M., 2000, 14.
Here Port and his 2 sons, Bieda and Mægla, came with 2 ships to Britain at the place which is called Portsmouth, and killed a certain young British man – a very noble man.
ASC B
Her com Port on Brytene 7 his twegen suna, Bieda 7 Mægla, mid twæm scipum on ðære stowe þe is nemned Portesmuða 7 þær ofslogan anne Bryttiscne man swyþe æþelne.
Jebson T., 2007.
ASC C
Her com Port on Brytene 7 his twegen sunu, Bieda 7 Mægla, mid twam scipum on þære stowe þe is nemned Portesmuþa 7 þær ofslogan anne Brittiscne man swiþe æþelne.
Jebson T., 2007.
ASC D
No entry.
ASC E
Her com Port on Brytene 7 his twegan sunan Bieda 7 Mægla mid .ii. scipum in þære stowe þe is gecweden Portesmuða, 7 sona land namon 7 ofslogon ænne gungne Brytiscne man swiðe æðelne.
Jebson T., 2007.
Dating the event
There are reasons to doubt the correctness of the dating for the 501 event.
The previous entry to that of 501, namely for the year 495, is similar to the 514 entry in that they refer to a Saxon landing at a place called Cerdicesora. Moreover, the following entry to the 501 one, that for the year 508, is similar to the 527 entry by referring to battles at locations with similar names, Cerdicesford and Cerdicesleaga (Certices ford in ASC E). The two dates in both these instances of similarities are seperated by one Metonic cycle, that is 19 years.
The above reasoning would suggest there should have been an entry for the year 500,19 years prior to the 519 entry. If Sims-Williams is correct, this appears to be the case in Æthelweard’s Chronicle:
Sexto etiam anno aduentus eorum occidentalem circumierunt Brittanniæ partem, quae nunc Vuestsexe nuncupatur.
Campbell A., 1962, 11.
In the sixth year from their arrival they encircled that western area of Britain now known as Wessex.
That Æthelweard meant A.D. 500 is confirmed by his comment on Ecgberht’s accession in A.D. 800: ‘From the reign of Cerdic, who was King Ecgberht’s tenth ancestor, 300 years elapsed (reckoned from when he conquered the western area of Britain).’
Sims-Williams P. (ed.), 2007. Clemeos P. et al., Anglo-Saxon England vol. 12, 38.
Curiously, the 501 entry has no parallel under the year 520. It is proposed that it refers to an event two Metonic cycles later, that is in the year 539, the very year that Camlan occurred according to the Annales Cambriae:
[a93] annus
Gueith cam lann17 inqua arthur & medraut corruerunt .[b566] Anus
Gough-Cooper H.W., 2015, the A text, the B text.
Bellum camlam in quo inclitus arthurus rex britonum et modredus prodítor suus · mutuís wlneribus corruerunt
Misdatings
The entries in the ASC from 514 to 544 are one Metonic cycle too early (coloured black in the table) while the repetitions from 495 to 508 have been pre-dated by two cycles (coloured red). So, for example, Cerdic’s arrival supposedly in 495 occurred in 533. His coronation said to have been in 519 actually happened in 538, a date also suggested by Dumville for the event in his 1985 paper. This date can be arrived at by subtracting the total for the regnal years given in the 9th c. West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List from Alfred’s accession in the year 871. That the eclipses of 538 and 540 were correctly dated suggests these misdatings were not the result of accidental Metonic cycle misplacement but done in order to remove from the record a period of military defeats.
The Adventus Saxonum
Although Wessex maintained that its founder was Cerdic it is likely his was a second Wessex dynasty. The ASC would in a much later entry indicate they arrived in the year 475, see The Adventus Saxonum. This first dynasty, founded by Giwis, came to an end during the battles with Arthur.
A very noble British man
It was not usual for the ASC to name the enemy combatants they killed if such a listing was not excessively large for the document. Instances of this included:
465. Wipped
508. Natanleod
577. Coinmail, Condidan and Farinmail
However, the individual who was slain, supposedly in 501, went unnamed, despite his acknowledged nobility, which might indicate that he was an individual whose name the Saxons wished to obliterate from history. The only individual we know who could just possibly have been a taboo person for the Saxons is Arthur. The fact that the 501 event actually occurred in the year 539 reinforces this possibility.
The 501 description of the murdered Briton as young, which Arthur was not at the time of Camlan, although present in mss. A and E, is absent from mss. B and C. It, therefore, may have been an insertion into the A text. If it was common knowledge that the victim was Arthur, this word could have been inserted to justify the early date, 501, being given for his death.
Camlan
August Hunt independently in his blog came to the same conclusion that Camlan may have occurred in the Portsmouth area as he noticed the presence of the name Cam located nearby. If the above redating of the ASC events is correct and the 501 entry happened in the year 539 then there is a high probability that Camaln did occur in the Portchester area which archaeology tells us was occupied by Saxons at the time. The name Camlan may have derived from Camboglanna. This could mean crooked shore, an apt term for the coastline at the Cam. The map below identifies the former village of Bedhampton, possibly named in honour of Bieda.
Conclusion
The resequencing of the ASC entries would suggest the following chronological order:
| Historical date | Chronicle entries |
| 533 | 495 Here two chieftains; Cerdic and Cynric his son, came to Britain with 5 ships at the place which is called Cerdic’s Shore and the same day fought against the Welsh. 514 Here the West Saxons (Stuf and Wihtgar) came to Britain with 3 ships in the place which is called Cerdic’s Shore, and fought against the Britons and put them to flight. |
| 538 | 500 In the sixth year from their arrival they encircled that western area of Britain now known as Wessex. 519 Here Cedric and Cynric suceeded to the kingdom of the West Saxons; and the same year they fought against the Britons at the place they now name Cerdic’s Ford. And the royal family of the West Saxons ruled from that day on. |
| 539 | 501 Here Port and his 2 sons, Bieda and Mægla, came with 2 ships to Britain at the place which is called Portsmouth, and killed a certain young British man – a very noble man. |
| 546 | 508 Here Cerdic and Cynric killed a certain British king, whose name was Natanleod, and 5 thousand men with him – after whom the land as far as Charford was named Netley. 527 Here Cerdic and Cynric fought against the Britons at the place which is called Cerdic’s Wood. |
| 549 | 530 Here Cerdic and Cynric took the Isle of Wight and killed a few men at Wihtgar’s stronghold. |
| 553 | 534 Here Cerdic passed away, and his son Cynric continued to rule 26 years. And they gave all Wight to their two nephews Stuf and Wihtgar. |
| 563 | 544 Here Wihtgar passed away and they buried him at Wihtgar’s stronghold. |
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