Aurelius Conanus

Aurelius Conanus was a Brittonic king in 6th-century sub-Roman Britain. The only certain historical record of him is in the writings of his contemporary Gildas, who excoriates him as a tyrant. However, he may be identified with one of the several similarly named figures active in Britain during this period. In the 12th century Geoffrey of Monmouth adapted Gildas' account for his chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae, and thereafter Aurelius Conanus was remembered as a legendary King of Britain.

Gildas calls Conanus the "lion's whelp", castigates him for his "horrible murders, fornications, and adulteries", and beseeches him to repent his sins before he ends up like the rest of his family, who have already died pursuing similar ends. …more