NOTE: Since working on this piece, I've proposed a new etymology for Baden, Morbihan, Brittany: Breton bodenn, 'harbor'. This may be for Port Blanc or the Port de Larmor-Baden. I do not think there is a problem with a form Baden, found relatively late (13th century). The real question is whether Gildas' Badon - supposedly in England - could have influenced the spelling of an earlier Bodenn. Or, as is equally possible, Badon is a misrendering of Bodenn and the battle in question was fought not in Britain, but in Brittany or Little Britain.
Baden Commune, Morbihan
For a very long time now, historians have been stymied or nonplussed by the short passages in Gildas on Ambrosius Aurelianus and Badon:
After a certain length of time the cruel robbers returned to their home. A remnant, to whom wretched citizens flock from different places on every side, as eagerly as a hive of bees when a storm is threatening, praying at the same time unto Him with their whole heart, and, as is said, burdening the air with unnumbered prayers, that they should not be utterly destroyed, take up arms and challenge their victors to battle under Ambrosius Aurelianus. He was a man of unassuming character, who, alone of the Roman race chanced to survive in the shock of such a storm (as his parents, people undoubtedly clad in the purple, had been killed in it), whose offspring in our days have greatly degenerated from their ancestral nobleness. To these men, by the Lord's favour, there came victory.
tempore igitur interueniente aliquanto, cum recessissent domum[38] crudelissimi praedones, roborante deo reliquiae, quibus confugiunt undique de diuersis locis miserrimi ciues, tam audie quam apes alueari procella imminente, simul deprecantes eum tot corde et, ut dicitur, innumeris ‘onerantes aethera uotis’, ne ad internicionem usque delerentur, duce ambrosio aureliano[40] uiro modesto, qui solus forte romanae gentis tantae tempestatis collisione occisis in eadem parentibus purpura nimirum indutis superfuerat, cuius nunc temporibus nostris suboles magnopere auita bonitate degenerauit, uires capessunt, uictores prouocantes ad proelium: quis uictoria domino annuente cessit.
26. From that time, the citizens were sometimes victorious, sometimes the enemy, in order that the Lord, according to His wont, might try in this nation the Israel of to-day, whether it loves Him or not. This continued up to the year of the siege of Badon Hill, and of almost the last great slaughter inflicted upon the rascally crew. And this commences, a fact I know, as the forty-fourth year, with one month now elapsed; it is also the year of my birth.
26. ex eo tempore nunc ciues, nunc hostes, uincebant, ut in ista gente experietur dominus solito more praesentem israelem, utrum diligat eum an non: usque ad annum obsessionis badonici montis[41], nouissimaeque ferme de furciferis non minimae stragis, quique quadragesimus quartus[42] (ut noui) orditur annus mense iam uno emenso, qui et meae natiuitatis est.
I came to realize after considerable research that Ambrosius Aurelianus was a strange, conflated version of the prefect of Gaul of that name and his son and namesake, St. Ambrose. I've written a considerable amount on this subject, and have confirmed (at least to my satisfaction) that the A.A. who appears in Britain, later under the Welsh guise of Emrys, is a complex folklore figure. One of my better pieces on this can be found here:
I was thinking along these lines the other day when it occurred to me that as the prefect of Gaul might well have been involved in Brittany or Little Britain, and Gildas himself was present on that peninsula. The Rhuys Peninsula of the Breton Gildas, as it happened, is very close to a Baden* place-name. In the Baden commune is actually found an ancient church dedicated to St. Gildas. The Baden place-name itself traces back to the 13th century and is of unknown etymology.
For some good links on Baden, see the following:
Baden - Baden
Baden , in Breton Baden , remains unexplained.
The oldest known spelling - in 1430 - is Badan , which we find in the year 1430 in the archives of the chapter of Vannes.
Hervé Abalain, professor at the UBO, would lean towards an anthroponym. No relation with the Baden of our Germanic neighbors has been demonstrated.
Shows back to the 13th century.
Etymology :
* Dauzat and Rostaing (1978): " Badan , 1430; obscure ".
* Erwan Vallerie (1995): " Baden , 1267; Baden , 1304; Baden , 1387; Badan , 1430; Baden , 1453; Baden , 1516; Badain , 1731"
* Éditions Flohic (1996): " It remains obscure and debated because the connection with the Anglo-Saxon name has not been demonstrated ."
* Hervé Abalain (2000): " Baden , anthroponym only "
St. Gildas in Baden.
Note 1 : au village de Moustérian ou Moustéran, on remarque quelques vestiges qui passe pour être ceux d'une chapelle de saint Gildas. C'est là, dit-on, que se serait embarqué saint Bieuzy (blessé à mort et se rendant chez l'abbé de Rhuys) dont la "vie" a été écrite qu'en 1659. Il est fort possible qu'il y ait eu à cet endroit un établissement monastique détruit par les Normands au Xème siècle.
In the village of Moustérian or Moustéran, we notice some remains that are believed to be those of a chapel of Saint Gildas. It is said that it was there that Saint Bieuzy embarked (mortally wounded and on his way to the abbot of Rhuys), whose "life" was only written in 1659. It is quite possible that there was a monastic establishment here, destroyed by the Normans in the 10th century.
From Professor Matthieu Boyd I have this (personal correspondence):
Short answer to an etymology: no.
But that seems like that's probably overreach. There are places in Brittany with "bath" names, from Latin balneus, but those are all Bain in French, Baen in Breton, e.g. Bain-de-Bretagne.
Hervé Abalain, Noms de lieux bretons (Jean-Paul Gisserot, 2000), in contrast to the "Bain" names gives "Baden" as:
- Baden (56 [=Morbihan]), Baden (anthroponyme seul)
I don't have Albert Deshayes' placename dictionary here to check what he says.
Now, something that we have overlooked when it comes to Gildas in Britain and in Brittany is the very real possibility that the movement of tradition from one place to the other may have been transmitted in either direction. What I mean by that is that a tradition of a battle near where a St. Gildas was in Brittany could have at any time been transferred in story to Britain. I'm talking about a sort of migrating legend here. The difference between a spelling like Badan and Badon may be important for modern linguists, but it was of negligible significance for ancient hagiographers and chroniclers. Non-standardized spelling was pretty much the rule of the day, in fact, in many instances. Of course, it is possible Baden in Morbihan was identified with a similarly spelled place in Britain, i.e. one of the Bath or Badbury place-names.
Sure, it is possible that this Baden name has been transported from Britain to Brittany, and plunked down amidst Gildas sites because, well, it was Gildas' Badon. But that seems rather unlikely to me. Especially given that his A.A. was in Gaul, of which Brittany was a part. Not in Britain.
However, the Breton specialists cannot make anything out of this Baden. In short, it does not look like a Breton place-name at all. That fact lends support to the idea that an immigrant from Britain brought it to Brittany and intentionally applied to to a region ripe with Gildas sites.
But, if we do have both an Ambrosius Aurelianus and a Badon in Brittany, not Britain, then I have no hestitation in saying that Arthur's name has merely been attached to the battle site because he was a famous legendary British hero.
AND WHAT MIGHT THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ARTHUR'S CAMLAN?
I feel the same lack of confidence regarding Arthur's Camlan. For one, if he were attached to a Badon battle dated traditionally c. 500-520, then his death-date at Camlan may well have been fudged to accord with Badon. We know Dyfed was at war with its Gwynedd neighbors to the North from early on (and, in fact, later struggles between the two regions is enshrined in the tale MATH SON OF MATHONWY). It is quite credible that an Arthur who dies at the Afon Gamlan/Camlan might actually be Arthur son of Pedr of Dyfed. The chronological adjustment would not have been difficult to make, especially given that the war-leader of the Camlan entry is not provided with a patronymic.
In fact, I will go further with this: Medraut/Modred is from L. moderatus. There is a very interesting Welsh word that conveys the same meaning:
GPC
pwyllus
[pwyll1+-us]
a.
Pwyllog, a chanddo’r gallu i wneud penderfyniadau cyfrifol, doeth, cymedrol, rhesymol, synhwyrol, dwys, call, meddylgar, ystyriol; gochelgar, gofalus, hamddenol, araf:
• characterized by deliberation, discreet, wise, moderate, rational, sensible, grave, prudent, thoughtful, considerate; cautious, careful, leisurely, slow.
This brings to mind the famous Pwyll Lord of Dyfed, hero of the Mabinogion story. Pwyll's son, Pryderi, is said to have conquered Ystrad Tywi and Ceredigion.
It would be fitting if Arthur son of Pedr of Dyfed died fighting with a warrior/chieftain whose Latin name had been chosen as a deckname for the mythical Pwyll.
I had earlier come up with an idea for Camlan as a reflection of the death of Arthur of Dalriada in battle against the Miathi:
While that is a possibility, it still leaves us with the problem of the Dalriadan Arthur fighting the Miathi, which itself looks to be a folk memory of L. Artorius Castus fighting the Maeatae.
And, indeed, the profound skepticism with which I now view both Badon and Camlan in an Arthurian context has me perilously close to seeing the HB Arthurian battles - excepting Badon, of course - as a perfect campaign list for L. Artorius Castus under Severus and Caracalla. More and more, I'm seeing the great Arthur of the HB as a ghost of an early 3rd century dux of British legions sent against the Maeatae and the Caledonii. A ghost whose name was taken by Irish coming into Britain centuries later, Irish who were intent on making themselves as British - and as Romano-British - as possible.
To have that, I must opt for my own proposed reading of ARM(ATAS) GENTES for the lacuna of the Castus memorial inscription.
*
My friend and fellow Arthurian enthusiast/independent scholar Chris Gidlow has notified me that the Baden site has been discussed before in 'Will the Real King Arthur Please Stand Up' by Ronald Miller. Thus I did not originate this idea.
