King Arthur’s European Realm: New Evidence from Monmouth’s Primary Sources by Paul Sire (original) (raw)
Related papers
King Arthur - an Alternate Analysis
Journal of Higher Criticism, 2023
This will be a surprising re-analysis of Arthurian Legend to many readers. Traditionally, Arthurian research has split into two camps: literalists who revere the 'real history' of King Arthur, and doubters who aim to tear down the very essence of this 'unsubstantiated mythology'. This new analysis will take a difficult median path. It will attempt to pull down the mythological facade that masks the truth about King Arthur, and then rebuild the inner core which may well be based upon real history. By necessity, this new analysis will be forced to take the cornerstones of Arthurian legend down unexpected avenues, and out into new historical realms. It will be a surprising analysis, but one that is fully supported by the texts and the evidence.
(W)here Lies Arthur: The Curious Absence of the Figure of King Arthur from the Early Modern Stage
Ancient kings were a favorite subject of the playwrights of early modern England. There was, however, a conspicuous absence in this theatrical pageant of monarchy. No one seems to have been writing plays about King Arthur. His story was of great interest to everyone from ancient chroniclers to early modern English royalty. He is the subject of histories, chronicles, poetry, romances, ballads, and pageants. As he became increasingly politicized, however, his story became increasingly dangerous. Arthur, as an important part of Tudor and Stuart propaganda, was available for use in theatrical activities that upheld the regime, such as pageants and masques, but the royal propagandistic monopoly on his person made him unsuitable for use on the professional stage, which made do with the occasional reference and the portions of the Arthurian legend which did not include Arthur himself. This study will begin with a brief outline of the history of the Arthurian legend in England, then move into an exploration of the political, propagandistic, literary, and theatrical use of the legend in the Tudor and Stuart regimes.
Arthur and Kingship as Represented by the Historia Regum Britanniae of Geoffrey of Monmouth
The present study investigates the representation of King Arthur in the Historia Regum Britanniae of Geoffrey of Monmouth (1343-1400). In doing so, it concentrates on specific historical contextearly Anglo-Saxon Englandand a specific form of authority-Anglo-Saxon kingship. The intention of the study is to show how Geoffrey of Monmouth used historical chronicles, not only for cataloguing the stories of various rulers of the island, but also for creating and shaping a single leader who can unify the kingdom. The study claims that the ideal kingship constructed around the figure of King Arthur in the Historia involved a reorientation of some of the more conventional norms of kingship; the heroic qualities of martial prowess, generosity and morality are quite essential in every conception of an ideal king. Geoffrey's conception of this ideal king was largely influenced by his personal aspirations, some of which have been outlined in the introduction of this article. The remaining parts of this study offer a historical as well as a literary analysis of the text, addressing the main qualities of kingship that were articulated in the text.
Who Was King Arthur? The Historical Arthur Talk Delivered to Celtic Studies 70
The purpose of this paper is to argue that the most significant and frequently cited sources present us with two King Arthurs: an "historical" Arthur, a Romano-British war-hero in post-Roman Britain, and a "mythic" Arthur, who operates in the larger context of Indo-European mythology. The character and legend of Arthur, steeped in chivalry and romance, owes itself to the relatively modern works inspired by Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia. However, underlying the god-like persona is a mortal man, not quite tangible, who, according to the earliest Latin and Welsh evidence, was most likely a Romano-British war leader, fighting Anglo-Saxons and Picts in Northern England (then Wales) in the sixth century AD. Despite persistent research and investigation, the exact identity of Arthur is elusive.
Arthur: the Birth of the Anglo-Norman Legends
Geoffrey of Monmouth's claim that he had a source book, brought out of Brittany by his friend Walter, the Archdeacon of Oxford, has been doubted by many. In this paper, I suggest a possible route of transmission, which may lend credibility to the claim.
The Function of Fiction: King Edward I, King Arthur and Velthem’s Continuation
Journal of the International Arthurian Society, 2015
In his Continuation of a voluminous 'Mirror of History', written in Middle Dutch between c. 1315 and 1317, Lodewijk van Velthem describes a number of festivities and exploits in which the recently deceased King Edward I becomes closely associated with the King Arthur of romance and legend. Despite obvious flaws in Velthem's rendition of English history and clearly fictive elements, the idea that King Edward I was 'an Arthurian enthusiast' who indulged in recreating Arthurian romances as part of particular festivities has become widespread, even though archival evidence to support this view has always been lacking. In my article I propose a closer look at the remarkably coherent, interlaced Edwardian/ Arthurian account within the Continuation, parts of which have been consistently ignored in modern scholarship. By adopting a contextual approach it is possible to understand the function of the fictionality of the narrative, its close links with Middle Dutch Arthurian romances in Velthem's possession and its polemical qualities. Résumé: Dans sa Continuation du volumineux 'Miroir historial', rédigée en moyen néerlandais entre environ 1315 et 1317, Lodewijk de Velthem décrit un nombre de festivités et exploits dans lesquels le roi Edouard I, récemment décédé, est étroitement associé à Arthur, le roi romanesque et légendaire. Malgré d'indéniables faiblesses dans le compte rendu que donne Velthem de l'histoire anglaise et malgré les éléments apparemment fictifs, l'idée que le roi Edouard I était 'un grand amateur de la matière arthurienne', se délectant dans la 'récréation' du monde arthurien dans le cadre de certaines festivités, a trouvé une large diffusion, bien que des sources documentaires qui appuient cette idée n'aient jamais été attestées. Dans mon article, je focalise sur la cohérence et l'entrelacement remarquable d'éléments édouardiens et arthuriens dans le compte rendu offert par la Continuation, dont certaines parties ont été ignorées de façon systématique par la critique. L'adoptation d'une approche contextuelle nous permet de comprendre la fonction de la fictionalité de cette narration, ses liens étroits avec les romans
1995
appears in Nennius' brief sketch. In his eighth battle: Arthur carried the image of the holy Mary, the everlasting Virgin, on his shoulders [shield], and the heathen were put to flight on that day, and there was a great slaughter upon them, through the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the holy Virgin Mary, his mother. 3 The Anna/es Cambriae also provide an early mention of Arthur. Existing in various manuscripts, the earliest extant text of these annals (Harleian MS 3859) was written around 1100, but derives from earlier, ninth or tenth-century, texts. 4 For the year 516, the annals give notice of Arthur's leadership in battle, along with a Christian theme similar to that in the Historia Britonnum: "Bellum Badonis, in quo Arthur portavit crucem Domini nostri Jhesu Christi tribus diebus et tribus noctibus in humeros suos et Brittones victores fuerunt. " Moreover, the Anna/es Cambriae contribute another piece of information not present in Nennius' history; in the year 537 occurred the battle of "Camlann in qua Arthur et Medraut corruerunt. " 5 References to Arthur in literature which treats early subjects can only tentatively be considered genuine products of the early period. Two Welsh poems, Y Gododdin and Marwnad Cynddylan, refer briefly to Arthur "as a paragon of valour and ferocity." Arthur is not the subject of these poems, but is mentioned as though he would be well known by the audience. However, while these poems elegize early events (Y Gododdin a seventh-century battle), they appear in High Medieval 3 Nennius, 35, 76. 4 ibid., 1-3; OCLW, 13.