According to
Geoffrey of Monmouth, 'Albanactus' was the founding king of
Albania or
Albany. He was the youngest of three sons of
Brutus, a descendant of
Aeneas of
Troy. According to legend, upon their father's death, the eldest son
Locrinus was given Loegria,
Camber was given ''Cambria'' and Albanactus ''Albania''. These names are merely reverse etymologies. Albanactus, for instance, is a reverse
etymology of the
Scottish word ''Albannach'' (=Scotsman). Likewise, ''Locrinus'' represents the medieval Welsh word ''Loegria'' (=
England) and
Camber represents the
Latin word
Cambria or the
Welsh word ''Cymru'' (=
Wales).
It is recounted that Albanactus was killed shortly after he began his reign, by
Humber, king of the
Huns. Humber invaded Albany from
Germany and met Albanactus's army in battle, where Humber killed Albanactus. This forced the people of Albany to flee south to Albanactus's brother,
Locrinus.
All this was supposedly before the
Picts and
Scots had invaded. Later Kings of England - particularly
Edward I - used the Brutus and Albanactus legend as an excuse to claim superiority over and to conquer Scotland, arguing that as Locrinus was the oldest brother, so he and hence England had superior status. The same argument, of course, extended over Wales, as Camber was also junior to Locrinus.
In Scottish origin myths, Albanactus had little place. The Scots instead stressed descent from
Gaythelos (=
Gael) or
Gaidel Glas and his wife
Scota.
See also
★
Geoffrey of Monmouth
★
Lebor Gabála Érenn
★
Nennius