Mempricius is a legendary king of the island of Brittany (current Great Britain), whose “history” is reported by Geoffroy de Monmouth in his Historia regum Britanniae (towards 1135). He is the son of the king Maddan and the brother of Malim. Its reign would have lasted 20 years and would be contemporary those of Saül and Eurysthène.

The kingdom of the island of Brittany

After the Trojan War, Énée arrives in Italy, with his/her Ascagne son and becomes the Master of the kingdom of the Romans. Its grandson Brutus is constrained with the exile after having accidentally killed his father. After a long navigation, Brutus unloads in the island of Brittany, occupies it and makes its kingdom of it. He marries Innogen of which he has three wire. With its death of his/her father, the kingdom is divided in three parts: Locrinus receives the center from the island to which it gives the name of “Loegrie”, Kamber receives the “Cambrie” (current Wales) and its name gives him, Albanactus inherits the area of north and calls it “Albania” (Scotland). The kingdom is reunified under the sovereignty of Locrinus after a war against the Huns.

Mempricius

Maddan, wire of Locrinus and Guendoloena, has two wire: Mempricius and Malim after its accession with the throne. The reign of Maddan lasts 40 years and its deaths the two wire dispute the heritage of the throne. Mempricius is a cheating loan with very to arrive to its ends: it thus invites his brother with a meeting to conclude an agreement and benefits from it to kill it by treachery.

Mempricius thus becomes the only king and consequently behaves as a tyrant, assassinating whoever is opposed to him and “all the most eminent men”. He completely forsakes his wife, with whom he has a son Ebrauc, to devote himself to the Sodomie. After 20 years of reign, it is devoured by a band of wolves, at the time, of a shooting party. According to Geoffroy de Monmouth, it reigns during 20 years, “Saül reigned then in Judaea and Eurysthène with Lacédémone”. His/her Ebrauc son succeeds to him.

Source

  • Geoffroy de Monmouth, History of the kings de Bretagne , translated and commented on by Laurence Mathey-Mesh, Beautiful letters, coll “the Wheel with books”, Paris, 2004.

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