Brutus
Brutus the Trojan was the founder and first king of Britain.
Brutus was the grandson of Aeneas, who fled the sack of Troy and later became King of Italy.
Brutus was banished from Italy after accidentally killing his parents, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain. After wandering for many years in Greece, Gaul and North Africa, assembling a band of followers from groups of exiled Trojans, incljuding the mighty warrior Corineus.
After a series of wars in Gaul, Brutus realises that the Gauls are too numerous for the Trojans to conquer. In 1115 BC he led his followers to a northern island, landing on its coast in what is now Totnes in Devon.
The island was inhabited only by giants descended from Albion, a son of Poseidon, when the Trojans arrived, and was named after their ancestor. Brutus renamed it Britain, after himself, and granted Corineus an area named Cornwall after him.
The giants harassed the Trojans, who killed all of them, the last, Goemagot, being thrown over a cliff by Corineus. Once the giants were defeated, Brutus founded the city of Troia Nova, or New Troy, on the banks of the River Thames where London is now located.
Brutus ruled for 24 years. On his death he was buried in Troia Nova (Trinovantum ), and his kingdom of Britain divided between his three sons - Loegria (England) was named after Locrinus, Kambria (Wales) after Kamber, and Alba (Scotland) after Albanactus.
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