High King Vortigern

High King of Britain
King of Logres
The Usurper King
The Traitor King

King Vortigern was a British king most known for the alleged murder of king Constans, his tyrannical rule, and the Great Betrayal, for which he shall forever be cursed by every man, woman and child of Britain.

Vortigern rose to power is 443, after the young king Constans was murdered by his own Pictish bodyguards, hired by Vortigern. He then exiled the two remaining sons of Emperor Constantin, the first High King of Britain, to Brittany, though they were mere children.

His rule was marred from the very beginning by strife, as a great Pictish and Irish invasion threatened the whole island. Thus came the Great Betrayal, for Vortigern hired the Saxon brothers Henghest and Horsa and their army of warriors to fight back the invaders. Though the Picts and the Irish were defeated, victory was not enough for Vortigern, and he married the beautiful Rowena, daughter of the Saxon King Hengest. Vortigern also brought warlike leaders from the north and settled them around the western coasts to defend against Irish invaders.

But though Vortigern had brought peace, of a sort, he was tyrannical and not well loved. Throughout his rule he shows great favoritism to his Saxon allies and in-laws, often at the expense of his lawful subjects.

Soon, many eastern lords of Britain rebelled against their new king, but they were crushed and their lands given to his Saxon allies, which now are the many Saxon kingdoms that plague the island. Vortigern’s own son, Vortimer led another rebellion, and, though temporarily successful, he was ultimately slain in battle against his father.

Vortigern comes under the power of his erstwhile allies after the infamous “Night of the Long Knives,” the Saxons betrayed Vortigern, slaying nearly all the British leadership. The island suffered greatly as Vortigern and his Saxons march across the island unopposed, exacting tribute and plunder.

Finally after a great war against the resurgent brothers Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther, Vortigern and his Saxon allies were defeated.

He met his final end at Mount Snowdon as Aurelius Ambrosius and his army pursue Vortigern and besiege him in his new castle there. A battle ensues, at which Vortigern’s army is scattered, but the castle itself proves too powerful to overcome. It is here that young Merlin makes his entrance to the grand stage, as he wakes the great dragon slumbering under the mountain, and bringing it crashing down on the Usurper and Traitor.