This brief introduction is to welcome all-comers to my website, originally set up in 1996. Here you will find the history of the Celtic nations which emerged in Britain after the withdrawal of the Roman Administration in the period generally known as the 'Dark Ages'. The area covering the adversaries of these people, the Saxons, Scots & Picts, is slightly less developed. We also have a popular 'EBK for Kids' area.

Although the website may cover any period between AD 410 and 1282 or 1066 (depending on the area of the country), its focus has always been on the migratory & settlement period of the 5th to the 7th centuries. Please remember that records from this time are very few and far between. Some details may be gained from the 6th century writings of Gildas, Welsh poetry controversially dated to the 7th century or later, the 8th century ecclesiastical history from Bede, the early 9th century collection from Nennius, the late 9th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and many later manuscripts. However, when these works speak of past people and events, I recognise that there is no guarantee that they are relating accurate history. They are certainly tradition, but their accuracy is unknown. If you are looking for certain facts, then this website is not the place for you, and it would, indeed, be very small if that were all it covered. This website aims to record the history and archaeology of the period as generally accepted today, alongside the traditional history as understood by the people of the Middle Ages and, in some cases, slightly later. The website will particularly explore where traditions do not clash with recognised historical facts and could therefore be correct in themselves. The Arthurian literature section will also examine whether medieval literary works contain any possible genuine tradition at all, however distorted. Any interpretation of meaning in recorded history or tradition or literature is my own personal view. Others may, of course, think differently. Please note, that this site does not cover Irish history or culture at all, only because I know nothing whatsoever about Ireland.

I do not give sources for much of the information on my webpages, as the Internet is no respecter of intellectual property and this allows me to, at least, make it more difficult for IP thieves to claim my ideas as their own. If you would like to know a specific source for a specific point, you can always ask.

All Rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder. Please contact me for details of possible small-scale reproduction by non-profit making individuals or charitable organizations. 

Searches are regularly made across the web to find 'borrowed' text from the Early British Kingdoms website, so if you have loaded up EBK information, without permission, you will almost certainly find that you will be contacted for royalty payments.

Students and teachers using this site for educational purposes may be reassured to know that, apart from years of study,  my main academic qualification is a joint Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in History & Archaeology from the University of Reading. When referencing or quoting the site in essays, dissertations or theses, please use a form similar to the examples given below:

Ford, David Nash (2005) Early British Kingdoms - www.earlybritishkingdoms.com. Wokingham: Nash Ford Publishing
or
Ford, David Nash (2005) "EBK: King Maelgwn Hir of Gwynedd" on Early British Kingdoms - www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/maelgggd.html. Wokingham: Nash Ford Publishing

This site is usually updated at least once a week.

If you would like to ask me any questions or make a contribution to the site, please e-mail me on nashfordpublishing@googlemail.com.

I prefer formal e-mails, laid out as you would a hard-copy letter.  I do not respond well to "I need..." mails and if I am going to spend time collecting information, I will require to know why you would like it. If you are not going to send a thank you afterwards, don't bother mailing me in the first place. I make these statements from experience. For those of you who think this is all obvious, I apologise for the outburst.

earlybritishkingdoms.com has two sister-sites which you may also find of interest:

Royal Berkshire History
May Family History

All three sites are published by Nash Ford Publishing. For further information on other services provided by Nash Ford Publishing, please visit our website.

You will also find older versions of a number of Early British kingdoms pages mirrored at Britannia.com.