Estrildis was the beloved mistress of King Locrinus of the

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs m ...

and the mother of his daughter Habren, according to the 12th-century chronicler

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...

Mediaeval literature

In Geoffrey's pseudohistorical ''

Historia Regum Britanniae ''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. ...

'' (History of the Kings of Britain), Estrildis, the daughter of a king in

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north ...

, was brought to Britain as a captive of Chief Humber the Hun during his invasion following the death of King

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Ser ...

. Eventually Humber's Huns were defeated by Brutus' three sons, the eldest of whom—Locrinus—fell in love with the beautiful Germanic princess upon discovering her in one of Humber's ships. Locrinus was forced to honour his prior betrothal to

Gwendolen Gwendolen () is a feminine given name, in general use only since the 19th century. It has come to be the standard English form of Latin '' Guendoloena'', which was first used by Geoffrey of Monmouth as the name of a legendary British queen in h ...

, the daughter of King Corineus of Cornwall, but kept Estrildis as his mistress. For seven years he secretly visited her in a cave beneath

Trinovantum Trinovantum is the name in medieval British legend that was given to London, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's '' Historia Regum Britanniae'', when it was founded by the exiled Trojan Brutus, who called it ''Troia Nova'' ("New Troy"), which wa ...

(London, i.e., "New Troy"), where she was cared for by servants. Estrildis bore him a daughter, Habren. When Corineus died, Locrinus deserted Gwendolen and their son Maddan and declared Estrildis his queen. Gwendolen retaliated by raising a Cornish army against Locrinus and defeating him in battle; she then had Estrildis and her daughter, Habren, drowned in a river thereafter called ''Hafren'' in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

and Sabrina by the Romans (which is the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_ ...

in English).

Post-mediaeval literature

Elstridis and her story feature in ''Elstrild'' by Charles Tilney (d. 1586), ''

The Faerie Queene ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 st ...

'' (1590) by Edmund Spenser, ''The Complaynt of Elstred'' (1593) by

Thomas Lodge Thomas Lodge (c. 1558September 1625) was an English writer and medical practitioner whose life spanned the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Biography Thomas Lodge was born about 1558 in West Ham, the second son of Sir Thomas Lodge, ...

, and ''Locrine'' (1887) by

Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as '' Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...

. A variant of the story is told by

Edward Lhuyd Edward Lhuyd FRS (; occasionally written Llwyd in line with modern Welsh orthography, 1660 – 30 June 1709) was a Welsh naturalist, botanist, linguist, geographer and antiquary. He is also named in a Latinate form as Eduardus Luidius. Life ...

, who mentions a manuscript that has Sŵs-wên as Locrinus' concubine and former wife of Humber the Hun. In this version of the story, Locrinus builds

Caersws Caersws ( cy, Caersŵs; ) is a village and community on the River Severn, in the Welsh county of Powys (Montgomeryshire) west of Newtown, and halfway between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury. It has a station on the Cambrian Line from Aberystwyth ...

for Sŵs-wên.

Name

Her name is probably a Latinized form of the medieval name ''Estrild'' ( ang, Éastorhild), which survived in England only until the 12th century, according to the 1984 ''Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names''."Feminine Given Names in ''A Dictionary of English Surnames''"Medieval Names Archive
at www.s-gabriel.org)

References

{{Geoffrey of Monmouth People executed by drowning Mistresses of British royalty Legendary German people