In the 8th century text by Nennius, about the history of Britain, he describes the many battles of a supposed military commander called Arthur. We interpret this as the source of myths and legends about King Arthur.
However, one of the battles he describes occurred on Mount Badon, also translated as Bath-hill. However, I've been told historians have not yet found the location of the supposed hill anywhere in Britain. This mystery has always boggled my mind.
Do we have any evidence of the existence of such a hill where the battle may have taken place? Or have historians discredited Nennius' text as being entirely fictitious?
There's both a lot and very little to say about this topic, depending on how you look at it.
I've been told historians have not yet found the location of the supposed hill anywhere in Britain. This mystery has always boggled my mind.
Firstly, we aren't even sure that Arthur existed so the fact that we haven't found one of the battlegrounds that are mentioned in connection with him isn't very surprising.
That said, there does seem to be some evidence that a large battle occurred in the late 5th or early 6th century which halted Anglo-Saxon 'conquest' for about 70 years. Unfortunately, the silence of Anglo-Saxon histories about any such battle is troublesome for the case for its existence. Further, even if the battle did happen it doesn't mean that it was Arthur who fought, and it tells us nothing about where exactly it took place.
There have been various attempts to locate Mount Badon/Badon Hill, and many places have claimed to be the site over the years, but there really is no way to be sure. Liddington Castle, Bathampton Down, Bowden Hill, Mynydd Baedan, Badbury Rings, Solsbury Hill, Buxton and even the city of Bath have all been named as possible locations. Without further evidence, no definitive identification can be made.