In about AD 425, the Government of Britain seems to have agreed to a man named Vortigern becoming ruler over the whole country. He is first recorded by a monk named Bede. He was married to the daughter of Magnus Maximus and probably claimed to be Emperor or 'High-King'. The local kings (or 'tyrants') remained in the towns, but most of them probably accepted him as their ruler too. St. Germanus visited Britain. He was the Bishop of Auxerre in Gaul (now called France). He had heard that Pelagianism (a particular way of interpreting the Bible) had become popular in the British Church. His boss, the Pope (in Rome) did not agree with this. So Germanus toured the country persuading the British to abandon their new ideas. Britain was being attacked by its enemies (Saxons, Picts, Scots and Irish) on all sides. St. Germanus had once been a soldier and helped fight them. When he returned home, the British Government wrote to the Gaulish Consul asking for military help. This man was named Aetius. He ruled most of the western half of the Roman Empire. War there prevented him from replying.

Click to find out: How the Saxons came in Britain.