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CAssibellan the brother of Lud was made kyng of Brytayn, in the yere of the worlde .v. thousand a hundred and .xlii. For so myche as the .ii. sonnes before named of Lud were to yonge or insuffycyent for to take on hand so great a charge. But
as wytnessyth the olde cronycle, and also the authour of the Floure of hi∣storyes: thys Cassybellan was not made kynge, but ruler or protectour of the lande, for the tyme of the non-age of the foresayde brethern: all be yt myne authour Gaufryde sayth, yt after Cassibellan was sette in autho∣rite / he became so noble and lyberall, that his name sprange farre / and by his exercysynge of iustyce, the Bry∣tons ought to hym more fauour, thē to eyther of his neuewes. How be yt he cheryshed them, & brought theym forth accordyng to theyr byrth. And when they came vnto yeres of dyscre¦cyon, he gaue to Androge{us} the cytye of London, wyth the dukedome or the erledome of Kent / and to Teman¦cius the dukedome of Cornewayll.
In this season was Caius Iuli{us}, the whyche is moste commonly cal∣led Iulius Cesar, sente by the se∣nate of Rome as felowe and consull wyth Lucius Bubulus into Gallia nowe called Fraunce, for to subdue them vnto the empyre of Rome. The whyche Iulius beyng vppon the see syde, after he had ouercome the Gal¦lis, and beholdyng the whyte clyues or rockes of Brytayne: enquyred of the countre, and what people dwel∣led therin. And when he was suffy∣cyently enfourmed of all the commo¦dytyes therof: he had great wyll to brynge the sayde countre vnder the yocke of the Romaynes, for so mych as at those dayes a great parte of the worlde was tributary to Rome. But as sayth myne authour, fyrste he ex∣orted the Britons by writyng & mes∣sagers, to gyue trybute vnto Rome. wherfore Cassybellan hauynge indy¦gnacyon wrote vnto hym sharpe & short answeres, shewyng that he and euery noble man was bounde specy∣ally to kepe his coūtre from seruage / and to kepe his subiectes, that they myght enioy lybertye and franchise. The whyche to obserue, he wold do the vttermost of his power & myght. wyth the which answere Iulius be∣ynge nothynge cōtentyd, in all hast made redy his nauy and people, and sayled towarde Brytayne. And whē the Romaynes were comyn nere the land of Brytayne, & shuld haue lan¦ded: ye Brytons pyght sharpe stakes and longe vppon the bankes / which causyd theym to wynne lande wyth great daunger. And not longe after theyr landynge, Cassibellan wyth a stronge hoste of Britons encountred the Romaynes / gyuynge or yeldyng to them suche fyght and batayll that they were fayne to resorte to theyr shyppes for theyr suertye. Not wyth standyng ye, as witnesseth Gaufride and other / Iulius after he hadde re∣newed his knyghtes, and also ryg∣gyd his nauye: he came agayne the seconde tyme, entendynge to subdue the land to the empyre of Rome. But as before tyme he was by the man∣hode of the kynge and his Brytons manfully and knyghtly wythstāden and chasyd: so this seconde tyme he was in lyke wise ouercome, and com¦pelled to flee wythout honoure. For whych vyctory thus twyes obteyned by the Brytons, Cassibellan enten∣dynge to gyue thanke vnto his god∣des, and rewarde to hys knyghtes: in goodly haste caused an assemble to be made of his lordes & knyghtes at the cytye of Caerlud or London. where after dew obseruaunces done to theyr goddes, after ye vse of theyr pagan lawes, a great and solemne feste was holden by the kynge to all that wolde come, wyth moste lybera¦lytye and plentye in all that was ne∣cessarye to such a feste. And the more to encrease the kynges honoure / and to the more comforte and dilectacion of his lordes and other there beynge
present: there was all maner kyn{is} of games that at those dayes were exercysed and vsed. Contynewynge whyche feste, two noble and yonge knyghtes amonge other hapened to assey eyther other in wrastlyng / wher¦of that one was neuew to kyng Cas¦sibellan named Hirelda / and ye other named Euelinus, was allyed vnto Androgeus erle or duke of London. By meane of this wrastlynge dyuy¦syon or vnfyttynge wordes fyll be∣twene the two yonge knyghtes, yt af¦ter wordes ensued strokes / by meane wherof partyes were takē on eyther syde, whyche ranne to gyder in great ••re and malyce, so that on eyther part many and diuers were hurte & woun¦ded. Among whome Hirelda neuew to the kynge was slayne / whych cau¦sed great dysturbaunce in the courte and amonge the lordes.
when the knowlege of the deth of Hirelda was brought vnto ye kyng: he was therwyth greatly amoued / & entendynge dewe iustice to be hadde & mynystred by thaduyce of his Ba∣rons, causyd the forenamed cosyn of Androgeus Euelinus to be sommo¦ned for to appere before hym & hys counsayll, and there to acquyte hym of suche cryme as to hym was layde for the deth of Hirelda before slayne. But Euelinus by coūsayll of Andro¦geus wythstode that commaunde∣ment / and shortly after the sayde An¦drogeus and Euelyne departed the courte wythoute takynge leue of the kynge.
The kynge dysdaynynge this de∣meanure of Androge{us} / after dyuers monycyons to hym gyuen, gathered his knightes and made warre vpon Androgeus. wherfore he cōsyderyng after many ways & meanes thought yt he was not of power to wythstand the kynges great indignacyon / sent his letters vnto Caius Iuli{us} Cesar, shewynge to hym the circumstaunce of the mater / and aduoydynge hym of all gylt, besought and prayed him in moste humble wyse, that he wolde shortly retourne wyth his army into Brytayne / & he wyth his hole power shuld be redy to ayde and helpe hym agayne the Brytons.
Of this message was Iulius very glad / and in all haste made towarde Brytayne wyth a great power. To whom ye wynde was so fauourable / yt in short tyme after this message he drew nere ye land. But as affermeth myne authour Gaufryde / or he wold lande, ferynge the treason of Andro¦geus, he receyued frō hym in hostage his sonne named Scena, wyth .xxx. other of the moste noble of his lord∣shyppe / & that done he landed wyth the helpe and ayde of Androgeus. wherof when Cassibellan hadde war¦nynge, in all haste he made towarde the Romaynes / and in a valey nere vnto Dorobernia now named Can∣terbury, there he foūde the hoste of ye said Iuli{us} lodged, & with him Andro¦ge{us} with all his power. After whych knowlege had eyther of other / wyth theyr habyllemētes of warre eyther greued other, tyll at lēgth both host{is} mette hande for hand and faught vy¦gerously, in such wise that many fell on eyther partye.
But when the Brytons, as sayth Gaufryde, hadde longe foughten & knyghtly defended the Romaynes: Androge{us} with his peple came by a wynge of the Brytons / and them so sharpely assayled, that they were con¦streyned to forsake the feld and place yt they before had kepte. The whiche flyght dyscōforted so the other, that fynally all fledde and gaue place to the Romaynes, the which pursued & slewe them withoute pytye. So that Cassibellan wyth his Brytons that were lefte, were fayne to gette them
to a place of suerty / there to reste tyll they myght newly prouyde to wyth stande theyr enemyes.
But fynally as all wryters agre, Iulius helde the kyng so shorte, that for an vnytye and concorde he was fayne to become trybutary to the Ro¦maynes, and to paye to them yerely a certayne trybute, whych Gaufryd affermeth to be .iii. thousande poūd. And when the sayde trybute was set in a suertye / so that the sayd Romay¦nes were wyth yt contented, and Iu¦lius hadde accomplyshed his wyll & pleasure in thynges to hym thought necessary: he with Androgeus depar¦ted the lande, and so spedde hym to∣warde Rome / where soone after he was agayn, by the will of ye most of ye senatours made emperour. And this tribute thus was graūted when Cas¦sibellan hadde reygned as kynge of Britayne fully .viii. yeres and more.