AMBROSIUS Aurelianus, or Aurelius Ambrosius, a famous general of the ancient Britons, of Roman extraction. He was educated at the court of Aldroen of Armorica, who, at the request of the Britons, sent him over with 10,000 men to assist them against the Saxons, whom Vortigern had invited into Britain. Ambrosius was so successful against the Saxons, that the Britons chose him for their king, and compelled Vortigern to surrender to him all the western part of the kingdom, divided by the Roman highway now called Watling-street. Some time after, the Britons being discontented with Vortigern, and having withdrawn their allegiance from him, he retired to a castle in Wales, where, being besieged by Ambrosius, and the castle taking fire, he perished in the flames, and left his rival sole monarch of Britain, who now assumed the imperial purple, after the manner of the Roman emperors. Geoffrey of Monmouth tells us that Ambrosius built Stonehenge, near Salisbury, in Wiltshire. Ambrosius, according to this historian, coming to a monastery near Caercaradoc, now Salisbury, where 300 British lords, massacred by Hengist, lay buried, and resolving to perpetuate the memory of this action, he ordered his workmen to prepare a large quantity of stones and other materials. But having, at the instigation of Tremounus, Archbishop of Caerleon, consulted the famous Merlin, this magician advised him to send over to Ireland for certain great stones, called chorea gigantum, the giant’s dance, placed in a circle on a hill called Killair, which were brought thither by giants from the farthest borders of Africa. A body of forces was accordingly sent into Ireland, under Pendragon, Ambrosius’s brother, to fetch these stones; but they were opposed in their attempt by Gilliomanus, king of the country, who derided the folly of the Britons in undertaking so ridiculous an expedition. Nevertheless the Britons, having vanquished this prince in battle, brought away the stones; and by the direction and assistance of Merlin, who had accompanied them, these wonderful stones, by order of Ambrosius, were placed over the graves of the British lords, and are now what is called Stonehenge. Alexander Mecham celebrates this fable in his poem He Divinoe Sapientiae Laudibus. Polydore Virgil assigns another origin of Stonehenge: he tells us that it was erected by the Britons as a monument to their general Ambrosius, on the place where he fell in battle, to perpetuate the memory of his glorious actions and services done to his country. Both these stories are rejected by our best antiquaries, who, however, are by no means agreed as to the true origin of this famous piece of antiquity.

After the Britons had defeated the Saxons, and obliged them to retire northward, Ambrosius is said to have convened.the princes and great men at York, where he gave orders for repairing the churches destroyed by the Saxons, and restoring the exercise of religion to its former lustre. This is confirmed by Matthew of Westminster, who highly applauds the great zeal of Ambrosius in repairing the churches, encouraging the clergy, and restoring the honour of religion. The Monmouth historian gives this prince a very high character. He was a man,” says he, “of such bravery and courage, that when he was in Gaul no one durst enter the lists with him; for he was sure to unhorse his antagonist, or to break his spear into shivers. He was, moreover, generous in bestowing, careful in performing religious duties, moderate in all things, and more especially abhorred a lie. He was strong on foot, stronger on horseback, and perfectly qualified to command an army.” The same author tells us that he was poisoned at Winchester, by one Eopa, a Saxon, disguised as a physician, and hired for that purpose by Pascentius, one of the sons of Vortigern; but the generally received opinion is, that he was killed in a battle which he lost in the year 508, against Cerdic, one of the Saxon generals.