Editing Constantine (Briton) (section)

==History==
[[File:Britain.circa.540.jpg|thumb|250px|Southern Britain in c. 540, the time of [[Gildas]]. Constantine's likely kingdom of [[Dumnonia]] is in the southwest; the territory of the [[Damnonii]] is in the northwest.]]
The 6th-century monk [[Gildas]] mentions Constantine in chapters 28 and 29 of work ''[[De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae]]''.<ref name=Gildas>[[s:The Ruin of Britain#28|''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', ch. 28–29]].</ref> Constantine is one of five [[Britons (historical)|Brittonic]] kings whom the author rebukes and compares to Biblical beasts. Gildas calls Constantine the "tyrannical whelp of the unclean lioness of Damnonia", a reference to the books of [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]], and apparently also a slur directed at his mother. This ''Damnonia'' is generally identified as the kingdom of [[Dumnonia]] in present-day [[South West England]].<ref>Lloyd, pp. 131–132.</ref> Scholars such as [[Lloyd Laing (archaeologist)|Lloyd Laing]] and [[Leslie Alcock]] note the possibility that Gildas may have instead intended the territory of the [[Damnonii]], a tribe in present-day [[Scotland]] mentioned by [[Ptolemy]] in the 2nd century, but others such as Thomas D. O'Sullivan consider this unlikely.<ref>O'Sullivan, p. 92 & note.</ref>

Gildas says that despite swearing an oath against deceit and tyranny, Constantine disguised himself in an [[abbot]]'s robes and attacked two "royal youths" praying before a church altar, killing them and their companions. Gildas is clear that Constantine's sins were manifold even before this, as he had committed "many adulteries" after casting off his lawfully wedded wife. Gildas encourages Constantine, whom he knows to still be alive at the time, to repent his sins lest he be damned.<ref name="Gildas"/> The murders may relate to a 6th-century cult in [[Brittany]] honoring the ''Saints Dredenau'', two young princes killed by an ambitious uncle.<ref>Wasyliw, pp. 80–81.</ref>

Scholars generally identify Gildas' Constantine with the figure ''Custennin Gorneu'' or ''Custennin Corneu'' (Constantine of Cornwall) who appears in the genealogies of the kings of Dumnonia.<ref>O'Sullivan, pp. 92–93.</ref> Custennin is mentioned as the father of [[Erbin of Dumnonia|Erbin]] and the grandfather of the hero [[Geraint]] in the ''[[Bonedd y Saint]]'', the prose romance ''[[Geraint and Enid]]'', and after emendation, the [[genealogies from Jesus College MS 20|genealogies in Jesus College MS 20]].<ref name=Bromwich>Bromwich, pp. 318–319; 356–360.</ref><ref>[[s:The Mabinogion/Geraint the Son of Erbin|''Geraint and Enid'']].</ref> Based on Custennin's placement in the genealogies, Thomas D. O'Sullivan suggests a ''[[floruit]]'' for Constantine of 520–523.<ref>O'Sullivan, p. 95.</ref>