Vortiporius - Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey's mention of Vortiporius is contained in a brief chapter titled "Wortiporius, being declared king, conquers the Saxons". He says that Wortiporius succeeded Aurelius Conan, and after he was declared king, the Saxons rose against him and brought over their countrymen from Germany in a great fleet, but that these were defeated. Wortiporius then ruled peacefully for four years, beings succeeded by "Malgo" (Maelgwn Gwynedd). Geoffrey's fertile imagination is the only source of this information.

The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, an early 19th-century collection of Welsh histories, repeats Geoffrey's account, referring to him as 'Gwrthevyr' (though Vortiporius' proper Modern Welsh spelling is Gwrdebyr; here the name has been confused with that of Vortimer, the son of Vortigern). In his Brittanicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, James Ussher also repeats the account, attributing the information to Geoffrey.