The Votadini exodus to Wales

[Robert Vermaat]

Just to throw something into the mix: if Vortigern is the supreme-king of all three southern provinces he could have had courts, or even have held land in any of them even if he was from the east. Or. conversely, he was from the west but as superbus tyrannus held sway over the east also?

Vortigern was no supreme king. Gildas is clear in a statement that he ruled together with a Council. Details unknown as always, but if we can compare that to the Concilia Galliarum (so propose and unattested Concilia Britanniarum), Vortigern may have headed a sort of group of city states (Civitaes) rather than the provinces. If the later genealogies are anything to go by, Vortigern haailed possibly from the Gloucester area, with lands in west Herefordshire and Powys.

Why do you think Vortigern asked Cunedda to deal with the Irish problem and not his Saxons? And why would he need him there unless the region was depleted of forces? Why not ask neighbouring Cornovia/Pagenses/Powys, or whatever it was called then? Was it that he didn't want them spreading their territory?

Good question. Maybe because hiring even more Saxons might have upset a balance? Cunedda, though not a citizen, could at least be seen as a Briton. And why not ask the pagenses? Maybe because there was no military structure in place to ask? Germanic federates were there for the asking, as was Cunedda and his sons, but as far as I know there was no such group of military available in the inner provinces yet.