Gorboduc was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...

. He was married to Judon. At an old age, he became senile and his sons, Ferrex

Ferrex

Ferrex was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Gorboduc and Judon.When his father had become old, he waged war on his brother, Porrex, for who would succeed to the kingship. He fled to Gaul and enlisted the help of Suhard, the king of the...

 and Porrex

Porrex I

Porrex I was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Gorboduc and his death began a dynastic civil war....

, feuded over who would take over the kingdom. During this Civil War, he died and the war continued for many years.

Associations

"A niece of King Gorboduc" is mentioned briefly by the Fool in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

"Gorboduc" is the name of a poem by John Ashbery

John Ashbery

John Lawrence Ashbery is an American poet. He has published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But Ashbery's work still proves controversial...

 that appears in the collection April Galleons.

See also: Gorboduc

Gorboduc (play)

Gorboduc, also titled Ferrex and Porrex, is an English play from 1561. It was performed before Queen Elizabeth I on 18 January 1562, by the Gentlemen of the Inner Temple...

for the play from 1561.