Lud (), according to

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth (; ; ) was a Catholic cleric from Monmouth, Wales, and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle '' The History of ...

's pseudohistorical ''

History of the Kings of Britain (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a fictitious account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons ove ...

'' and related medieval texts, was a

king of Britain There have been 13 British monarchs since the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland on 1 May 1707. England and Scotland had been in personal union since 24 March 1603; while the style, "King of Great Britain" fi ...

in pre-

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times who founded

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and was buried at

Ludgate Ludgate was the westernmost gate in London Wall. Of Roman origin, it was rebuilt several times and finally demolished on 30th July 1760. The name survives in Ludgate Hill, an eastward continuation of Fleet Street, Ludgate Circus and Ludgate S ...

. He was the eldest son of Geoffrey's King

Heli Heli, also ''heli'', ''heli-'' may refer to: People * Heli, King of Britain (mythical) * Heli (Bible), listed as an ancestor of Jesus * Heli (name) Places * Heli, Tangyuan County (鹤立镇), town in Tangyuan County, Heilongjiang, China * H ...

, and succeeded his father to the throne. He was succeeded, in turn, by his brother Cassibelanus (). Lud may be connected with the Welsh mythological figure Lludd Llaw Eraint, earlier Nudd Llaw Eraint, cognate with the Irish Nuada Airgetlám, a king of the

Tuatha Dé Danann The Tuatha Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deities of pre-Christian Gaelic ...

, and the Brittonic god

Nodens *''Nodens'' or *''Nodons'' ( reconstructed from the dative ''Nodenti'' or ''Nodonti'') is a Celtic healing god worshipped in Ancient Britain. Although no physical depiction of him has survived, votive plaques found in a shrine at Lydney Park ...

. However, he was a separate figure in Welsh tradition and is usually treated as such.

In literature

Lud's reign is notable for the building of cities and the refortification of

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 Troy, Trojan Brutus of Troy, Brutus, who called it ''Troia Nova'' ("N ...

(

), which he especially loved. Geoffrey explained the name "London" as deriving from "''Caer Lud''", or Lud's Fortress. When he died, he was buried at

. His two sons,

Androgeus Androgeos or Androgeus (Ancient Greek: Ἀνδρόγεως, derived from ''andros'' "of a man" and ''geos'', genitive ''gē'' "earth, land") was the name of two individuals in Classical mythology. * Androgeus, son of Minos and Pasiphaë. psed ...

and Tenvantius, were not yet of age, so he was succeeded by his brother Cassibelanus. In the Welsh versions of Geoffrey's ''Historia'', usually called ''

Brut y Brenhinedd ''Brut y Brenhinedd'' ("Chronicle of the Kings") is a collection of variant Middle Welsh versions of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. About 60 versions survive, with the earliest dating to the mid-13th century. Adapt ...

'', he is called

Lludd Lludd Llaw Ereint ("Lludd of the Silver Hand") son of Beli Mawr, is a legendary hero from Welsh mythology. As Nudd Llaw Ereint (the earlier form of his name, cognate of the Irish mythology, Irish Nuada Airgetlám, derived from the pre-Roman Celti ...

fab Beli, establishing the connection to the early mythological Lludd Llaw Eraint. An independent Welsh tale, '' Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys'' (''The Tale of

and Llefelys''), is appended into some versions of the ''Brut''. It also survives independently, and in this form was included in the collection known as the ''

Mabinogion The ''Mabinogion'' () is a collection of the earliest Welsh prose stories, compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created –1410, as well as a few earlier frag ...

''. According to this tale, Lludd had an additional brother named Llefelys, who became king of France while Lludd ruled in Britain. During Lludd's reign, three great plagues befell Britain, but he was able to overcome them with the advice of his brother.

King Lud in the City of London

Lud's name was claimed by Geoffrey of Monmouth to be the origin of Ludgate (named ''Porth Llydd'' in the ''

''), a major gateway into the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, as well as of the name of London itself. (The true etymology of ''Ludgate'' is from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

term ''"hlid-geat"'',''Charters of Abingdon Abbey, Volume 2'', Susan E. Kelly, Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 2001, , 9780197262214, pp. 623–266''Geographical Etymology'', Christina Blackie, p. 88English Place-Name society, Volume 36, The University Press, 1962, p. 205Middle English Dictionary, University of Michigan Press, 1998, p. 972''An encyclopaedia of London'', William Kent, Dent, 1951, p. 402 a common Old English compound meaning " postern" or "swing gate".) 16th-century statues of King Lud and his two sons, which formerly stood on the gate, now stand in the vestry porch of

St Dunstan-in-the-West The Guild Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West is in Fleet Street in the City of London. It is dedicated to Dunstan, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is of medieval origin, although the present building, with an octagonal na ...

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

, in a state of disrepair. There was a pub at Ludgate Circus called "King Lud", now an outlet of the chain restaurant Leon, and medallions of King Lud may be seen up on its roofline and over the doors.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lud Legendary British kings History of London