In this ground breaking work, which has taken fourteen years of research, scholar and historian Dane Pestano examines the life and legends of the last Roman leader to defend Britain, Ambrosius Aurelianus, who lived in the late fifth to early sixth century at the time attributed to King Arthur, and shows how Arthur acquired the legends of Ambrosius over time. Ambrosius's life and exploits are thoroughly dissected and explored starting with the monk and historian of the Britons, Gildas, then onwards to Bede and other chronicles and histories up to and beyond Geoffrey of Monmouth's
De Gestis Britonum. A history of fifth and sixth century Britain is undertaken using contemporary and near contemporary sources and archaeology to arrive at a chronology of events that confirm when the Saxons arrived as federates in Britain, when they rebelled and when the seige and battle of Badon occurred and how the victor of that battle was Ambrosius. Pestano then presents the folkloric legends that developed over hundreds of years around Ambrosius and shows how these were later acquired by Arthur.
Revelatory discoveries include a new etymology for the name Arthur, the 'Jesus' acrostic hidden in the work of Gildas, and the source of that acrostic in other more ancient works; the astounding discovery that Gildas was embedding hidden incarnation dates into his work, all of which have been decoded and presented here; the source of the DGB and place where Geoffrey was writing it, the year Gildas wrote
De Excidio Britanniae; etymologies of all major Arthurian characters; material that claims Ambrosius was a heretic; a new meaning and etymology of the place name Tintagel and Celliwic; the source of the Round Table legends; the source of material in Arthur's battle list in the
Historia Britonnum, the discovery of Arthur's grave, the source of much of the Life of St Samson, and so much more.
Comments on the material include: Dr. David Howlett (M.A., D.Phil., F.S.A University of Oxford) "You seem to me to have made a convincing case for the change from Ambrosius Aurelianus to Arthur. Congratulations."
Dr Alan G. James (Read English philology and mediaeval literature at Balliol College, Oxford, and research in modern linguistics and place-name studies). "...it's certainly a splendid piece of work."
Dr. Sonya R Jenson (Historian and author of Ambrosius Arturus) "...it is well-argued, comprehensive, thoughtful, and interesting. It also contains a few real gems in terms of the general subject-area. Things that make you say "Wow! I never thought of that before." So, great work!"
Angelica Verandas (PhD in Medieval English Literature, M. A. in Medieval English Literature, Graduated in Modern Languages and Literature): "I loved it! I think it is not only a very insightful reflection about Ambrosius / Arthur but also a very original approach which takes into account very deep historical and linguistic views on the matter."
James Simister (Education Officer of Gesithas Engliscan, the Anglo-Saxon Society, lecturer and scholar) "Your explanations of the linguistic aspects are convincing, and you have clearly done a lot of work and gone into this in great detail and depth."
