Queen Gwendolyn

Said to have lived in the 11th century BCE, Gwendolyn was a legendary ruler of ancient Briton.

 

Gwendolyn was born a daughter of King Corineus of Cornwall, who had previously been one of King Brutus’ warriors. (King Brutus is the legendary and eponymous founder of Briton and a descendant of Aeneas, a hero of Troy).

 

Gwendolyn was wed to the eldest of Brutus’ three sons, Locrinus. Together, they had a son, Maddan. However, when her father passed away, Locrinus repudiated the marriage, setting aside his wife for another. This was a common practice in the history of the British monarchy in both the Dark Ages and early Medieval times. Long ago, before lands in Briton formed together to make the Kingdom of England, marriages were not formalised in the way they were in the later Medieval age, so repudiating the marriage and setting aside one wife for another was a fairly common practice.

Locrinus, having effectively annulled his marriage to Gwendolyn, wed his Germanic mistress, Estrildis, with whom he already had a daughter, Habren.

 

Gwendolyn had to flee to the safety of Cornwall, where she lay low for a few years. However, she was not simply lying down and accepting defeat. While in Cornwall, Gwendolyn raised an army large enough to invade her ex-husband’s lands. She waged a war against him, which she won, killing her husband in battle by the River Stour, which was a key dividing line between the Kingdoms of Cornwall and Loegria in ancient Briton.

 

Gwendolyn then assumed the throne herself as the first Queen Regnant of the Britons.

 

Her reign began harshly, as she had Estrildis and her daughter, Habren, drowned in the River Severn. The river was named after Habren, (Severn in old Welsh is Hafren), and is one of the most ancient-named rivers in Britain. After this act, Queen Gwendolyn ruled her lands peacefully for fifteen years before abdicating in favour of her son.

 

Gwendolyn was said to have lived out the remainder of her life peacefully and happily, in Cornwall.

 

20th century feminist critics have cited her as an example of a powerful woman healing a fractured Britain in her reign.