Bladud or Blaiddyd was a mythical king of the BritonsBritish people, or Britons,Compact Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2007 are a nationTodd, M. Anglo-Saxon Origins: The Reality of the MythBradshaw, B. (1998), British Consciousness and Identity: The Making of Britain, 1533-1707, Cambridge University Press.Colley, L. (2005), Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837, Yale University Press.Weight, R. (2003) Patriots: National Identity in Britain 1940-2000, Pan BooksWard, P. (2004), Britishness Since 1870 Routledge or inhabitants of Great BritainThe American Heritage Dictionary ...Britons, for whose existence there is little historical evidence. He was first mentioned by Geoffrey of MonmouthGeoffrey of Monmouth (in Welsh: Gruffudd ap Arthur or Sieffre o Fynwy) (c. 1100 – c. 1155) was a clergyman and one of the major figures in the development of British history and the popularity of tales of King Arthur.Geoffrey of Monmouth, who described him as the son of King Rud Hud Hudibras or Rhun Paladr-frasRud Hud Hudibras (Welsh: Run baladr bras) was a legendary king of the Britons as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of King Leil and ruled during a civil war. During the waning years of Leil's reign, the kingdom of the Britons became unstable, and civil war broke out. Rud Hud Hudibras became king after his father's death and reigned for 39 years, ending the civil war and restoring peace to the kingdom. During ...Rud Hud Hudibras or Rhun Paladr-fras, and the tenth ruler in line from the first King, BrutusBrutus (Brut, Brute, Welsh Bryttys), a descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, was known in medieval British legend as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain. This legend first appears in the Historia Britonum, a 9th century historical compilation attributed to Nennius, but is best known from the account given by the 12th century chronicler Geoffrey ...Brutus. This idea may have been based on a misinterpreted scrap of Welsh genealogy.

The tale of Bladud was later embellished by other authors. In its final form Bladud was sent by his father to be educated in the liberal arts at AthensAthens (Ancient Greek: αἱ Ἀθῆναι (plural), evolving into the modern Αθήναι in Greek until recently, and Αθήνα nowadays (IPA ); is both the largest and the capital city of Greece, located in the Attica periphery. Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world with a recorded history of at least 3,000 years. Today, the Greek capital is Europe's 8th largest conurbation Larger Urban Zones (LUZ) in the European Union, ...Athens. After his father's death he returned, with four philosophers, and founded a university at StamfordStamford is a town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the River Welland, in a southwesterly protrusion of Lincolnshire, between Rutland to the north and west, and Cambridgeshire to the south. It borders Northamptonshire to the southwest at the only point in England where four counties meet.Stamford in LincolnshireLincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire. It also borders Northamptonshire for just 19 metres, England's shortest county boundary. Its county town is the city of Lincoln. The ...Lincolnshire, which flourished until it was suppressed by St AugustineAugustine of Canterbury (birth unknown, died May 26, c. 604) was a Benedictine monk an the first archbishop of Canterbury. He is considered the Apostle to the English and a founder of the English Church.St Augustine on account of heresies which were taught there.

Supposedly he ruled for twenty years from 863 BC or perhaps 500 BC, in which time he built Kaerbadum or Caervaddon (BathBath is a city in Somerset, England most famous for its baths fed by three hot springs. It is situated west of Central London and south east of Bristol. The city is founded around the only naturally occurring hot springs in the United Kingdom. It was first documented as a Roman spa, although tradition suggests that it was founded earlier. The waters from its ...Bath), creating the hot springs there by the use of magic. He dedicated the city to the goddess AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena (Attic: , Athēnâ, or, Athḗnē; Doric: , Asána; Latin: Minerva), the shrewd companion of heroes, became the goddess of wisdom, as philosophy became applied to cult in the later fifth century.Walter Burkert, Greek Religion 1985:VII "Philosophical Religion" treats these transformations. She remained the patroness of weaving, crafts and the more disciplined side of warViolence and bloodlust were Ares' domain.. Athena's wisdom ...Athena or MinervaMinerva was a Roman goddess of crafts, poetry and wisdom, and is known as the inventor of music. This article focuses on Minerva in early Rome and in cultic practice. For information on literary mythological accounts of Minerva, which were heavily influenced by Greek mythology, see Athena.Minerva, and in honor of her lit undying fires, whose flames turned to balls of stone as they grew low, with new ones springing up in their stead. He is said to have founded the city for the following reason. While he was at Athens he contracted leprosy, and when he returned home he was imprisoned as a result, but escaped and went far off to go into hiding. He found employment as a swineherd at Swainswick, about two miles from the later site of Bath, and noticed that his pigs would go into an alder-moor in cold weather and return covered in black mud. He found that the mud was warm, and that they did it to enjoy the heat. He also noticed that the pigs which did this did not suffer from skin diseases as others did, and on trying the mud bath himself found that he was cured of his leprosy. He was then restored to his position as heir-apparent to his father, and founded Bath so that others might also benefit as he had done.

The tale claims that he also encouraged the practice of necromancyNecromancy (Greek νεκρομαντία, nekromantía) is a form of divination in which the practitioner seeks to summon "operative spirits" or "spirits of divination", for multiple reasons, from spiritual protection to wisdom. The word necromancy derives from the Greek νεκρός (nekrós), "dead", and μαντεία (manteía), "divination". However, since the Renaissance, necromancy ...necromancy, or divination through the spirits of the dead. Through this practice, he is said to have constructed wings for himself and to have tried to fly to (or from) the temple of ApolloIn Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo (Ancient Greek, Apóllōn; or, Apellōn), the ideal of the kouros (a beardless youth), was the archer-god of medicine and healing, light, truth, archery and also a bringer of death-dealing plague. As the patron of Delphi ("Pythian Apollo"), Apollo was an oracular god. He was the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle, as well as one of the most important and many-sided ...Apollo in Trinovantum (LondonLondon (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. The ancient City of London to which the name originally belonged still retains its tiny mediaeval boundaries; but the name "London" has long applied more generally to the whole metropolis which has grown up around it. An important settlement for around two millennia, London is today one of the world's leading business, financial and ...London) or Troja Nova (New Troy), but to have been killed when he hit a wall, or to have fallen and been dashed to pieces or broken his neck. He was supposedly buried at New Troy and succeeded by his son, LeirLeir was the son of King Bladud and a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. His story is told in much-modified and romanticized form in William Shakespeare's King Lear. It is thought that his legend began in the form of the sea-god Llyr and later received an historical setting. In Geoffrey's Historia Regum Britanniae, Leir followed his father Bladud to the kingship of Britain and had the longest reign of all the kings at sixty years. He built ...Leir. Eighteenth century Bath architect John Wood, the ElderMany of the buildings he designed are littered with the Icons and symbols associated with Freemasonry, leading many people that have studied his work to believe that he was a member of this secluded society, even though there is no documentary proof. His final masterpiece was the Circus, built on Barton Fields outside the old city walls of Bath. He demonstrated how a row of town houses could be dignified, almost palatial. The uses of ...John Wood, the Elder wrote about Bladud, and put forth the fanciful suggestion that he should be identified with Abaris the HyperboreanAbaris the Hyperborean (Αβάρις Υπερβορέος, Abaris Hyperboreos) was a legendary sage, healer and priest of Apollo known to the Ancient Greeks. He was supposed to have learned his skills in his homeland of Hyperborea, which he fled during a plague.Abaris the Hyperborean, the healer known from Classical Greek sources.