Assignment on Nennius, History of the British (Historia Brittonum)

Read Ashley, Chapter 6: "Nennius' Old Papers", pp. 114 - 139.

Be sure to read §56, Arthur's battle list. This is in Ashley, Chapter 7, p. 141.

Read it also in this edition at the Avalon site (Yale University). Here it is under §50. Search for "Arthur" and you'll jump right to it.

We are not going to bother with Ashley's lengthy summary of all the efforts to identify the sites of all the battles, though this discussion does play a role later when Ashley returns to the problem of trying to pick the correct "Arthur" out of a host of possible "Arthurs."

Ashley uses Nennius to narrow down the chronology -- when Arthur lived, when the Battle of Badon Hill was fought, and therefore who Arthur may have been.

Writing Assignment: Write 350 words or a bit more explaining Ashley's reasoning. How does he use Nennius (plus other texts) to narrow down the chronology?

Explain Ashley's reasoning carefully, but do not use any direct quotations. Put everything into your own words.

Email to me and to your group.