Editing Locrinus

{{Short description|Second legendary king of the Britons}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image        = Locrinus (MS Roll 1066).jpg
| caption      = Locrinus from the ''Genealogical Chronicle of the Kings of England to Edward IV'' ({{circa|1461}})
| succession   = King of [[Loegria]]
| reign        = fl. 1125BCE
| predecessor  = [[Brutus of Troy]]
| name         = Locrinus
| successor    = [[Queen Gwendolen]]
| spouse       = [[Queen Gwendolen]]
| issue        = {{plainlist|
*[[Maddan]]
*[[Habren]]
}}
| father       = [[Brutus of Troy]]
| mother       = [[Innogen]]
| succession1  = King of [[Alba]]nia
| predecessor1 = [[Albanactus]]
| successor1   = [[Queen Gwendolen]]
}}
'''Locrinus''' was a legendary king of the [[Britons (historic)|Britons]], as recounted by the 12th-century chronicler [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]] in his ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]''. He came to power in 1125BC.<ref>[http://www.monarchie-noblesse.net/angleterre/bretons/bretons.htm Monarchie Nobelesse website, ''Bretons'']</ref>

According to Geoffrey, Locrinus was the oldest son of [[Brutus of Troy|Brutus]] and [[Innogen]], and a descendant of the [[Troy|Trojans]] through [[Aeneas]].  Following Brutus's death, Britain was divided amongst the three sons, with Locrinus receiving the portion roughly equivalent to England except for Devon and Cornwall, [[Albanactus]] receiving Scotland (Albany), and [[Kamber]] receiving Wales (Cymru).<ref>{{Cite book|title=The History of Wales|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofwales00poweiala|last=Wynne|first=William|last2=Price|first2=John|publisher=T. Evans|year=1774}}</ref> Locrinus ruled a portion of [[British Iron Age|Britain]] called [[Loegria]], named after him, which had roughly the boundaries of modern-day [[England]], other than [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Observations on the Snowdon Mountains: With Some Account of the Customs and Manners of the Inhabitants : To which is Added a Genealogical Account of the Penrhyn Families|last=Williams|first=William|publisher=E. Williams|year=1802|pages=164–165}}</ref> He reigned 10 years, most of which were peaceful.

He avenged his brother [[Albanactus]]'s death at the hands of [[Humber the Hun]] by allying with his other brother, [[Kamber]], and fighting Humber to the banks of a river where he drowned. The river was named [[Humber]] after this battle. Locrinus divided up the spoils of war with his allies, only keeping gold and silver found on their ships for himself. He also took the daughter of the king of the [[Germany|Germans]], [[Estrildis]], whom the [[Huns]] had captured. This angered [[Corineus]], an ally of his father Brutus, who had arranged a marriage between Locrinus and his own daughter, [[Queen Gwendolen]]. Locrinus submitted and married Gwendolen but still secretly loved Estrildis, whom he locked in a cave beneath [[Trinovantum]] ([[London]]) for seven years.

Locrinus became the father of a girl, [[Hafren|Habren]], by Estrildis, and a boy, [[Maddan]], by Gwendolen. Soon after Maddan's birth, Locrinus sent him off to Corineus, the child's grandfather. When Corineus finally died, Locrinus left Gwendolen and took Estrildis as his queen. Gwendolen went to [[Cornwall]] and assembled an army to harass Locrinus. The two armies met near the River Stour and there Locrinus was killed. His wife, Gwendolen, ruled after his death.<ref>[https://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/gem/gem03.htm Sacred Texts website] ''Histories of the Kings of Britain (Book II)'', by Geoffry of Monmouth, tr. by Sebastian Evans (1904)</ref>

==Later tradition==
In the 13th century [[Prose Merlin|Prose ''Merlin'']], Locrinus is called Logryn, and arrives in Britain a long time after the death of Brutus. He "a-mended gretly the Citee {{bracket|[[London]]}}, and made towres and stronge walles enbateiled", and then renamed it from New Troy to Logres, which it continued to be called until after the death of [[King Arthur]].<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Wheatley | editor-first=Henry Benjamin | title=Merlin, Or, The Early History of King Arthur: A Prose Romance | volume=2 | publisher=Early English Text Society | year=1866 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yUEbTB5nKNYC&pg=PA147 | page=147}}</ref>

Locrinus is the subject of the anonymous [[Elizabethan]] play ''[[Locrine]]'',<ref>[https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/locrine-play-curious-complicated/ Folger Shakespeare Library website, ''The curious and complicated case of Locrine'', article by Alexandra E LaGrand, dated January 8, 2021]</ref> published in 1595 as "Newly set forth, overseen and corrected by W.S.," on account of which it was later included in the [[Shakespeare Apocrypha]].

{{House of Brutus|navbox=yes}}

==Notes==
 
{{reflist}}

==References==

{{s-start | noclear = true }}
{{s-reg | leg }}
{{s-bef | before = [[Brutus of Troy|Brutus I]] }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[List of legendary kings of Britain|King of]] [[Logres|Loegria]] }}
{{s-aft | after = [[Queen Gwendolen|Gwendolen]] | rows = 2 }}
{{s-bef | before = [[Albanactus]] }}
{{s-ttl | title = King of [[Alba]]nia }}
{{s-end}}

{{Geoffrey of Monmouth}}

[[Category:Welsh mythology]]
[[Category:Legendary British kings]]