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Nov 9, 2024 · King Arthur, legendary British king who appears in a cycle of medieval romances as the sovereign of a knightly fellowship of the Round Table. It is not certain how these legends originated or whether the figure of Arthur was based on a historical person. They possibly originated in Wales or northern Britain.
- Brythonic
Brythonic languages, one of two groups of the modern Celtic...
- Kids
King Arthur married Guinevere and held court at Camelot. He...
- Students
It is not certain how these stories originated or whether...
- Excalibur
Excalibur, in Arthurian legend, King Arthur’s sword.As a...
- Historia Brittonum
Learn about this topic in these articles: Assorted...
- Round Table
Round Table, in Arthurian legend, the table of Arthur,...
- Guinevere
Guinevere, wife of Arthur, legendary king of Britain, best...
- Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia regum Britanniae, fictional history of Britain...
- Brythonic
King Arthur (Welsh: Brenin Arthur, Cornish: Arthur Gernow, Breton: Roue Arzhur, French: Roi Arthur), according to legends, was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain .
Former site of Arthur's purported grave in "Avalon" at Glastonbury AbbeyThe historicity of King Arthur has been debated both by academics and popular writers. While there have been many claims that King Arthur was a real historical person, the current consensus among specialists on the period holds him to be a mythological or folkloric figure.
- Britain After Rome
- The Early Sources
- Malmesbury, Huntingdon, & Geoffrey of Monmouth
- The Historical Arthur
The historical Arthur would have lived during the chaotic period following Rome's withdrawal from Britain. Julius Caesar had first led troops to Britain in 55 and 54 BCE, but the Roman legions arrived in force in 43 CE under the reign of Claudius. Britain would be occupied until 410 CE when the last troops were withdrawn to the continent to defend ...
Gildas records the so-called Groans of the Britons, the messages sent to Rome for help and Rome's refusal. He characterizes the Saxons as savage dogs who fell upon the land and destroyed everything in their path until they were defeated by the Britons at the Battle of Badon Hill which he dates to c. 460 CE. He is the first to mention the Battle of ...
The historian William of Malmesbury (c. 1095 - c. 1143 CE) in his Deeds of the British Kings (c. 1125 CE), continues the tradition of Arthur-as-history as he expands on Nennius' account. Malmesbury was a reputable historian, still highly regarded, who relied on the accounts of Bede and Nennius (and, by extension, Gildas) as well as, perhaps, other ...
There have been many possibilities suggested as the 'real' Arthur: Roman military leader Lucius Artorius Castus (c. 3rd century CE); the Briton king Riothamus (c. 470 CE); the Welsh hero Caradoc Vreichvras (c. 6th century CE); the Saxon king Cerdic(519-534 CE); the son of Ambrosius Aurelianus or Ambrosius himself (c. 5th century CE); the Scottish p...
- Joshua J. Mark
May 12, 2017 · The great legendary king is most likely based on an actual historical figure from the 5th or 6th centuries CE. The difficulty in identifying Arthur as a certain historical figure is due to the primary sources which first tell his story.
- Joshua J. Mark
May 11, 2017 · Several hundred years later, Arthur appears for the first time in the writings of a Welsh historian named Nennius, who gave a list of 12 battles the warrior king supposedly fought.
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A number of manuscripts featuring King Arthur from the collections of the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, including three of those pictured above, have recently been digitised by The Polonsky Foundation England and France Project, and early accounts of Arthur’s reign are highlighted in an article about the legend of King Arthur on the project website.