KING ARTHUR

  KING ARTHUR ; 

Who was King Arthur ? Let's start with the legend, first recorded by Geoffrey of Monmouth, see references at the bottom of this post.

Geoffrey's story

King Uther was a British king, 430-496 , who was attracted to Ygerna, the beautiful wife of Gorlois , Duke of Cornwall. In order to escape from the King, Ygerna was shut inside a cliff fort on the north coast of Cornwall called Tintagel. The fort could not be easily stormed, so Uther received a magic potion from Merlin which made him look like Gorlois. Thus disguised he fooled the guards and found his way to Ygerna. The meeting resulted in the birth of Arthur. Gorlois was later killed in a battle and Uther married Ygerna. When Uther died Arthur succeeded him when he was 16, with Merlin's help, when he withdrew the famous sword, Excalibur, from the stone. He  ruled from his court at Camelot,  thought to be in Somerset, with his Knights of the Round Table. He fought twelve battles against the Saxons, culminating a great victory at the Battle of Badon. He continued the fight in Gaul (France ). He was tricked by his nephew Mordred, who ruled in his absence. When he returned to Briton he was fatally wounded by Mordred at his final battle of Camlan, near the river Camel, Cornwall. He was taken to Avalon (Glastonbury ?) to deliver Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. He died by the lake, but according to the legend he would return as the "Once and Future King".

Merlin (Myrddin in Welsh)

First mentioned in ancient Welsh poems, he was portrayed as a prophet, magician, wizard, (not dissimilar to Tolkien's Gandalf), he was a Druid. He prophesied the death of Vortigern, the King who invited the Saxons into south east England and who was assassinated at a banquet. (Not difficult to predict, he was unpopular for inviting the Saxons into south east England ). He was the chief adviser to Vortigern's successor , Pendragon, who was killed in battle. Pendragon's  brother Uther succeeded him and Merlin assisted Uther in his seduction of Ygerna. Which is where the story of Arthur starts.

Arthur was succeeded by Gwenddolau, who was killed at the battle of Arderydd. Then Merlin went mad, donned animal skins and a stags head and roamed the forests of Calidon, near Carlisle. He died at a place where the rivers Tweed and Pausil (Drumelzier) meet. That would make him well over 100 years old !

Was it all just a fairy tale ? Let's have a look at the facts and what records are available.

The bones, supposedly of Arthur and Guinevere, his wife, and "Arthur's Cross" were found by a monk at Glastonbury.

The Discovery of Arthur's grave

In 1191 a monk living at Glastonbury died. His last wish was that he should be buried in the ancient cemetery at a spot between two ancient crosses. When the grave was being dug, a coffin containing the bones of a woman was unearthed. Underneath this was a second coffin with a man inside. A third coffin was found under this one. It had a lead cross attached to it with the words inscribed in Latin; 

"Here lies the famous King Arthur buried in the Isle of Avalon."  

A large man's bones were found inside. The skull was of a remarkable size. Was this the final resting place of King Arthur, Guinevere and Mordred ?

The the earliest recorded version of this discovery was from a chronicler at the abbey Morgan in Wales. There exists a separate independent recording of the event by Gerald of Wales in which some details differ. The cross, however, is common in both. Neither of them witnessed the event first hand. There is good reason to be skeptical about this lucky find. Although Glastonbury housed the bones of St Gildas, St David, and St Patrick, and boasted of being the first Christian church in the land, its position of power and wealth had been slowly eroded over the years. It needed to catch the imagination of pilgrims. Arthur's grave put it back on the map. 

                                                          

An excavation in the '60's proved that a hole was dug at the spot specified. The cross referred to definitely existed. John Leland mentioned it during the reign of Henry 8th and the antiquarian William Camden published a picture of it in 1607. But it disappeared in 18th Century. The bones disappeared too. 

The old name for Glastonbury was Inis Wydryn  (Isle of Glass) and there is evidence that it used to be an island surrounded by swampland, maybe even a lake.

The Holy Grail, the legend

Joseph of Arimathea was mentioned in the Gospels. Christ's body was given to him after the crucifixion. Legend has it he used a cup to catch the last drops of Christ's blood.  This cup was used in the Last Supper, it became the Holy Grail and was brought to England by him. He is said to have  founded the Abbey at Glastonbury, but there is no evidence that this is true. The story was popularized by William of Malmesbury, a 13th Century historian, who linked the Grail with the quest of King Arthur and his knights. It, supposedly, was found and its last known location was Troyes, France in 1610, but it disappeared during the French Revolution. A cup claimed to be the Holy Grail by the Vatican is kept at Valencia, but there is much skepticism as to whether it is even old enough.

Britain - The early years

Before the Romans came the Celts consisted of various tribes, with no central leadership or authority. A pagan people practising human sacrifice - Druidism.  Julius Caesar  visited twice before invading in AD 43 . By AD 60 the Romans controlled most of England and Wales.The fiercest northern tribes, the Picts were never conquered by them. Roman rule brought civilization and eventually Christianity, which gained acceptance by adopting many of the Pagan festivals and re-naming them. For the first time, roads were built, education encouraged, coinage introduced. Britain prospered, and remained relatively peaceful for nearly 4 centuries. But by the start of the 5th Century, the empire was starting to crumble and many of the Roman garrisons were starting to pull out to counter barbarian up-risings in France, Spain and Germany. In 410 the Saxons  (named after their knives called seax), attacked a poorly defended Britain. Unrest continued for centuries. The tribal ways returned and the Roman towns decayed. The intervening struggle for power became known as the Dark Ages. 

    The Dark Ages

The period from 410 to 800 cannot be set down with any great certainty. The dissolution of the Roman Empire meant the end of reliable records, particularly of events in Britain.Without protection from the Romans, Britain was powerless to prevent raids by the Saxons, (Angles and Jutes) in the south and Picts in the north. In an effort to stop the raids, deals were made, land given for military alliances. Saxons settled in Kent and Norfolk. They got greedy and took land. Vortigern was blamed for this. He was probably alive in 455, but whether he had much of a following is dubious. Although he had sons, none succeeded him to the High Kingship. So what happened to the Kingship ? Was there really a King of Britain ? Or did the legends of Arthur grow from exaggerated claims of what were in reality only minor localised skirmishes ?

It would appear that during the 1st half of the 5th Century the Saxons had it mostly their own way. But from 455 on wards they were pegged back. Logic would suggest that this could only  happen if the tribal Britons united under a common leader to produce a united force and a co-ordinated attack, culminating in the battle of Badon. Was Arthur that leader ? There is nothing to say when the battle occurred, but general consensus puts it somewhere around 500, which puts it roughly in the same lifespan as Arthur. Having said that no-one knows when he was born or when he died. Geoffrey says that Vortigern's successor was Aurelius Ambrosius followed by Uther and then Arthur. Ambrosius is on record as being the son of a prominent Roman. Although a land owner, the title of King is probably flattering. Geoffrey's dating of the successions is contradictory, but Ambrosius commanded troops as early as 437, he was still around in 460, and if Geoffrey's story is to be believed Ambrosius was Arthur's uncle !

Best estimates for Arthur's reign; 460 - 516, Geoffrey says he didn't die until 542 !

So in the end, there is very little evidence in terms of accurate historical records to conclusively say who Arthur really was, or even existed. But history shows that the Saxon advance into the west of England slowed down or even reversed for a period. It should be remembered that most of the records of that time (what there were of them) originated from Saxon sources and they had a vested interest in undermining the success of their foes. Although much of the story is folk-lore, there can be little doubt that there must have been a man powerful enough to unite the tribes of the west. So maybe King Arthur really did  exist. The sketch above is just a representation of what he might have  looked like.

Postscript; Tennyson created a resurgence of interest in the legend when he published "Morte D'Arthur" in 19th C. 

  Burke's Peerage reported in 1989 that King Arthur's Round Table had been found near Greenan Castle, near Stirling in Ayrshire. The claim was made by Robert Mitchell and Norma Goodrich. They believed it was a "rotunda", or round stone building. Geo-physic exploration showed that there was a building, which was known as Arthur's O'on (oven ). Indeed, there is a record of a stone building which existed until 1743, but it was demolished and the stones re-used. Apart from the name , there is nothing to link it to King Arthur. 

References;  

540 Gildas : British monk, wrote  "The Ruin of Britain". The only document written       around the time of the Dark Ages after the Romans left. The Battle  of Badon is mentioned, and a great leader called Ambrosius Aurelainus  , but no mention of Arthur.

735 Bede,: Saxon monk wrote "The History of the English". Refers to the Dark Ages but deals mostly with conversion to Christianity. 

800       Nennius : Welsh monk wrote "Historia Britonium". First recorded mention of Arthur, describing 12 of his battles, including Badon.

1130    Geoffrey of Monmouth, Welsh cleric wrote "Historia Regum Britannia". Sets out the legend of King Arthur.  

1300   Annales Cambriae, list of chronicles compiled at St Davids, south Wales. Includes  Elegy for Geraint, "Black Book of Carmarthen". Ancient Welsh poem   attributed to Llywarch Hen, a Welsh bard, describing the death of   King Geraint,  ruler of Dumnovia, ( Cornwall) , it mentions Arthur and Merlin

1460    Thomas Mallory, wrote "Le Morte D'Arthur", which re-writes the legend.