Bowden Hill
 King Arthur |
The 10th century Annales Cambriae mention Arthur's final battle against the usurper Mordred being fought at Camlann, some twenty years after the king's twelfth great battle at Badon. The latter siege is placed at Bowden Hill near Falkirk, between the two great strongholds of Stirling and Edinburgh, the date claimed for this climactic encounter being AD516. Scottish tradition places Arthur's fatal conflict with his son at Camelon on the Firth of Forth in about 537. With Mordred slain and Arthur near death, the Battle of Camlann closed the career of the historical Arthur.