Historia Regum Britanniae
Encyclopedia
The Historia Regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain) is a pseudohistorical
account of British
history, written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth
. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans
founding the British
nation and continuing until the Anglo-Saxons
assumed control of much of Britain around the 7th century. It is one of the central pieces of the Matter of Britain
.
Credited uncritically well into the 16th century since the 17th century it has been credited with little value as history. When events described, such as Julius Caesar
's invasions of Britain
, can be corroborated from contemporary histories, Geoffrey's account can be seen to be wildly inaccurate, but is a valuable piece of medieval literature, which contains the earliest known version of the story of King Lear
and his three daughters, and introduced non-Welsh-speakers to the legend of King Arthur
.
of Oxford who, he claims, gave him the "very ancient book" from which he has translated his history. He follows this with a dedication to Robert, earl of Gloucester
and Waleran, count of Meulan
, whom he enjoins to use their knowledge and wisdom to improve his tale.
The Historia itself begins with the Trojan
Aeneas
, who according to Roman legend settled in Italy after the Trojan War
. His great-grandson Brutus
is banished, and, after a period of wandering, is directed by the goddess Diana
to settle on an island in the western ocean, which he names "Britain" after himself.
The story continues chronologically, taking in such rulers as Bladud
, who uses magic and even tries to fly; Leir
, who divides his kingdom among his three daughters according to how much they profess to love him, a story which Shakespeare
used as the basis of his tragedy King Lear
; and Dunvallo Molmutius
, who codifies the Molmutine Laws
. Dunvallo's sons, Belinus
and Brennius
, fight a civil war before being reconciled, and proceed to sack Rome
(based on the sack of Rome
in 390 BC by the Gallic
leader Brennus).
Caesar's invasions of Britain
are opposed by Cassibelanus
. There is a brief notice of a king called Kymbelinus
, on whom Shakespeare based his play Cymbeline
. Then Claudius
invades, opposed by Kymbelinus's sons Guiderius
and Arvirargus
. The line of British kings continues under Roman rule, and includes Lucius
, Britain's first Christian
king, and several Roman figures, including the emperor Constantine I
, the usurper Allectus
and the military commander Asclepiodotus
.
After the Romans leave, Vortigern
comes to power, and invites the Saxons
under Hengist
and Horsa to fight for him as mercenaries, but they rise against him, and Britain remains in a state of war under Aurelius Ambrosius
and his brother Uther Pendragon
, assisted by the wizard Merlin. Uther's son Arthur
defeats the Saxons so severely that they cease to be a threat until after his death. In the meantime, Arthur conquers most of northern Europe and ushers in a period of peace and prosperity that lasts until the Roman emperor Lucius Tiberius
demands that Britain once again pay tribute to Rome. Arthur defeats Lucius in Gaul, but in his absence, his nephew Modred
seduces and marries Guinevere
and seizes the throne. Arthur returns and kills Modred, but, mortally wounded, he is carried off to the isle of Avalon
, and hands the kingdom to his cousin Constantine
.
With Arthur gone, the Saxons return, and become more and more powerful. The line of British kings continues until the death of Cadwallader
, after which the Saxons become the rulers of Britain.
's 6th century polemic The Ruin of Britain, Bede
's 8th century Ecclesiastical History of the English People
, the 9th century History of the Britons
ascribed to Nennius
, the 10th century Welsh Annals
, medieval Welsh genealogies (such as the Harleian Genealogies
) and king-lists, the poems of Taliesin
, the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen
, and some of the medieval Welsh Saint's Lives, expanded and turned into a continuous narrative by Geoffrey's own imagination.
lore and literature as well as being a rich source of material for Welsh
bard
s. It became tremendously popular during the High Middle Ages
, revolutionising views of British history before and during the Anglo-Saxon period despite the criticism of such writers as William of Newburgh
and Gerald of Wales
. The prophecies of Merlin in particular were often drawn on in later periods, for instance by both sides in the issue of English
influence over Scotland
under Edward I
and his successors.
The Historia was quickly translated into Norman
verse by Wace
(the Roman de Brut
) in 1155. Wace's version was in turn translated into Middle English
verse by Layamon
(the Brut
) in the early 13th century. In the second quarter of the 13th century, a version in Latin verse, the Gesta Regum Britanniae
, was produced by William of Rennes. Material from Geoffrey was incorporated into a large variety of Anglo-Norman
and Middle English
prose compilations of historical material from the 13th century onward.
Geoffrey was translated into a number of different Welsh prose versions by the end of the 13th century, collectively known as Brut y Brenhinedd. One variant of the Brut y Brenhinedd, the so-called Brut Tysilio, was proposed in 1917 by the archaeologist
William Flinders Petrie
to be the ancient British book that Geoffrey translated, although the Brut itself claims to have been translated from Latin by Walter of Oxford, based on his own earlier translation from Welsh to Latin. Geoffrey's work is greatly important because it brought the Welsh culture into British society and made it acceptable. It is also the first record we have of the great figure King Lear, and the beginning of the mythical King Arthur figure.
For many centuries, the Historia was accepted at face value, and much of its material was incorporated into Holinshed
's 16th-century Chronicles.
Modern historians have regarded the Historia as a work of fiction with some factual information contained within. John Morris in The Age of Arthur calls it a "deliberate spoof," although this is based on misidentifying Walter, archdeacon of Oxford, as Walter Map
, a satirical writer who lived a century later.
It continues to have an influence on popular culture e.g. Mary Stewart
's Merlin novels, and the TV film Merlin
contain large elements taken from the Historia.
variants, such as the so-called 'First Variant', can be discerned. These are reflected in the three possible prefaces to the work and in the presence or absence of certain episodes and phrases. Certain variants may be due to 'authorial' additions to different early copies, but most probably reflect early attempts to alter, add to or edit the text.
Unfortunately, the task of disentangling these variants and establishing Geoffrey's original text is long and complex, and the extent of the difficulties surrounding the text has been established only recently.
Pseudohistory
Pseudohistory is a pejorative term applied to a type of historical revisionism, often involving sensational claims whose acceptance would require rewriting a significant amount of commonly accepted history, and based on methods that depart from standard historiographical conventions.Cryptohistory...
account of British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
history, written c. 1136 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...
. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
founding the British
Britons (historical)
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
nation and continuing until the Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
assumed control of much of Britain around the 7th century. It is one of the central pieces of the Matter of Britain
Matter of Britain
The Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the body of literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and its legendary kings, particularly King Arthur...
.
Credited uncritically well into the 16th century since the 17th century it has been credited with little value as history. When events described, such as Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's invasions of Britain
Caesar's invasions of Britain
In his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice, in 55 and 54 BC. The first invasion, made late in summer, was either intended as a full invasion or a reconnaissance-in-force expedition...
, can be corroborated from contemporary histories, Geoffrey's account can be seen to be wildly inaccurate, but is a valuable piece of medieval literature, which contains the earliest known version of the story of King Lear
Leir of Britain
Leir is a legendary ancient king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. His story is told in a modified form by William Shakespeare in the play King Lear. In the drama, some names are identical to those of the legend Leir is a legendary ancient king of the Britons, as recounted by...
and his three daughters, and introduced non-Welsh-speakers to the legend of King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
.
Contents
Geoffrey starts the book with acknowledgement to Archdeacon WalterWalter of Oxford
Walter of Oxford , also known as Walter Calenius, was a British cleric and writer. He served as archdeacon of Oxford in the 12th century...
of Oxford who, he claims, gave him the "very ancient book" from which he has translated his history. He follows this with a dedication to Robert, earl of Gloucester
Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was called "Rufus" and occasionally "de Caen", he is also known as Robert "the Consul"...
and Waleran, count of Meulan
Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester
Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, 1st Earl of Worcester , was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth de Vermandois, and the twin brother of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester...
, whom he enjoins to use their knowledge and wisdom to improve his tale.
The Historia itself begins with the Trojan
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
Aeneas
Aeneas
Aeneas , in Greco-Roman mythology, was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy , which led to the founding a hamlet south of...
, who according to Roman legend settled in Italy after the Trojan War
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
. His great-grandson Brutus
Brutus of Troy
Brutus or Brute of Troy is a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Æneas, known in mediæval British legend as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain...
is banished, and, after a period of wandering, is directed by the goddess Diana
Diana (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
to settle on an island in the western ocean, which he names "Britain" after himself.
The story continues chronologically, taking in such rulers as Bladud
Bladud
Bladud or Blaiddyd was a legendary king of the Britons, for whose existence there is no historical evidence. He is first mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, which describes him as the son of King Rud Hud Hudibras, and the tenth ruler in line from the first King, Brutus....
, who uses magic and even tries to fly; Leir
Leir of Britain
Leir is a legendary ancient king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. His story is told in a modified form by William Shakespeare in the play King Lear. In the drama, some names are identical to those of the legend Leir is a legendary ancient king of the Britons, as recounted by...
, who divides his kingdom among his three daughters according to how much they profess to love him, a story which Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
used as the basis of his tragedy King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
; and Dunvallo Molmutius
Dunvallo Molmutius
Dunvallo Molmutius was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Cloten, the King of Cornwall, and he restored order after the "Civil War of the Five Kings"...
, who codifies the Molmutine Laws
Molmutine Laws
The Molmutine Laws were established in Britain by King Dunvallo Molmutius , according to Geoffrey of Monmouth. Dyfnwal Moelmud is referred to in Welsh tradition, predating Geoffrey's work, as a lawmaker but there are no native sources for Geoffrey's elaboration of that tradition.One of the...
. Dunvallo's sons, Belinus
Belinus
Belinus the Great was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Brennius. He was probably named after the ancient god Belenus.- Earning the crown :...
and Brennius
Brennius
Brennius was a legendary king of Northumberland and Allobroges, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Belinus, probably based upon one or both of the historical Brenni.-Claimant to the throne of Britain:...
, fight a civil war before being reconciled, and proceed to sack Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
(based on the sack of Rome
Sack of Rome
The city of Rome has been sacked on several occasions. Among the most famous:*Battle of the Allia – Rome is sacked by the Gauls after the Battle of the Allia*Sack of Rome – Rome is sacked by Alaric, King of the Visigoths...
in 390 BC by the Gallic
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
leader Brennus).
Caesar's invasions of Britain
Caesar's invasions of Britain
In his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice, in 55 and 54 BC. The first invasion, made late in summer, was either intended as a full invasion or a reconnaissance-in-force expedition...
are opposed by Cassibelanus
Cassivellaunus
Cassivellaunus was an historical British chieftain who led the defence against Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC. The first British person whose name is recorded, Cassivellaunus led an alliance of tribes against Roman forces, but eventually surrendered after his location was...
. There is a brief notice of a king called Kymbelinus
Cunobelinus
Cunobeline or Cunobelinus was a historical king in pre-Roman Britain, known from passing mentions by classical historians Suetonius and Dio Cassius, and from his many inscribed coins...
, on whom Shakespeare based his play Cymbeline
Cymbeline
Cymbeline , also known as Cymbeline, King of Britain or The Tragedy of Cymbeline, is a play by William Shakespeare, based on legends concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobelinus. Although listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance...
. Then Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
invades, opposed by Kymbelinus's sons Guiderius
Guiderius
Guiderius is a legendary British king according Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and related texts. He can probably be identified as deriving from the historical Togodumnus....
and Arvirargus
Arvirargus
Arvirargus was a legendary, and possibly historical, British king of the 1st century AD. A shadowy historical Arviragus is known only from a cryptic reference in a satirical poem by Juvenal, in which a giant turbot presented to the Roman emperor Domitian is said to be an omen that "you will...
. The line of British kings continues under Roman rule, and includes Lucius
Lucius of Britain
Saint Lucius is a legendary 2nd-century King of the Britons traditionally credited with introducing Christianity into Britain. Lucius is first mentioned in a 6th-century version of the Liber Pontificalis, which says that he sent a letter to Pope Eleuterus asking to be made a Christian...
, Britain's first Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
king, and several Roman figures, including the emperor Constantine I
Constantine I
Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
, the usurper Allectus
Allectus
Allectus was a Roman usurper-emperor in Britain and northern Gaul from 293 to 296.-History:Allectus was treasurer to Carausius, a Menapian officer in the Roman navy who had seized power in Britain and northern Gaul in 286...
and the military commander Asclepiodotus
Asclepiodotus
Julius Asclepiodotus was a Roman praetorian prefect who served under Aurelian, Probus and Diocletian and was consul in 292. In 296 he assisted the western Caesar Constantius Chlorus in re-establishing Roman rule in Britain following the illegal rules of Carausius and Allectus.Allectus, having...
.
After the Romans leave, Vortigern
Vortigern
Vortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He is said to have invited the Saxons to settle in Kent as mercenaries to aid him in...
comes to power, and invites the Saxons
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
under Hengist
Hengest
Hengist and Horsa are figures of Anglo-Saxon, and subsequently British, legend, which records the two as the Germanic brothers who led the Angle, Saxon, and Jutish armies that conquered the first territories of Great Britain in the 5th century AD...
and Horsa to fight for him as mercenaries, but they rise against him, and Britain remains in a state of war under Aurelius Ambrosius
Ambrosius Aurelianus
Ambrosius Aurelianus, ; called Aurelius Ambrosius in the Historia Regum Britanniae and elsewhere, was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas...
and his brother Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon is a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur.A few minor references to Uther appear in Old Welsh poems, but his biography was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae , and Geoffrey's account of the character was used in...
, assisted by the wizard Merlin. Uther's son Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
defeats the Saxons so severely that they cease to be a threat until after his death. In the meantime, Arthur conquers most of northern Europe and ushers in a period of peace and prosperity that lasts until the Roman emperor Lucius Tiberius
Lucius Tiberius
Lucius Tiberius is a fictional Roman Emperor from Arthurian legend appearing first in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. No Roman Emperor of that name ever existed; Geoffrey either heard of him from folk tradition or made him up...
demands that Britain once again pay tribute to Rome. Arthur defeats Lucius in Gaul, but in his absence, his nephew Modred
Mordred
Mordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
seduces and marries Guinevere
Guinevere
Guinevere was the legendary queen consort of King Arthur. In tales and folklore, she was said to have had a love affair with Arthur's chief knight Sir Lancelot...
and seizes the throne. Arthur returns and kills Modred, but, mortally wounded, he is carried off to the isle of Avalon
Avalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
, and hands the kingdom to his cousin Constantine
Constantine III of Britain
Constantine was a minor king in 6th-century sub-Roman Britain, who was remembered in later British tradition as a legendary King of Britain. The only contemporary information about him comes from Gildas, who calls him king of Damnonia and castigates him for his various sins, including the murder...
.
With Arthur gone, the Saxons return, and become more and more powerful. The line of British kings continues until the death of Cadwallader
Cadwaladr
Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon was King of Gwynedd . Two devastating plagues happened during his reign, one in 664 and the other in 682, with himself a victim of the second one. Little else is known of his reign...
, after which the Saxons become the rulers of Britain.
Sources
Geoffrey claimed to have translated the Historia into Latin from "a very ancient book in the British tongue", given to him by Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford. However, few modern scholars take this claim seriously. (See also: Brut Tysilio and Geoffrey's putative British source.) Much of the work appears to be derived from GildasGildas
Gildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...
's 6th century polemic The Ruin of Britain, Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
's 8th century Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.It is considered to be one of the most important original references on...
, the 9th century History of the Britons
Historia Britonum
The Historia Brittonum, or The History of the Britons, is a historical work that was first composed around 830, and exists in several recensions of varying difference. It purports to relate the history of the Brittonic inhabitants of Britain from earliest times, and this text has been used to write...
ascribed to Nennius
Nennius
Nennius was a Welsh monk of the 9th century.He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the Historia Brittonum, based on the prologue affixed to that work, This attribution is widely considered a secondary tradition....
, the 10th century Welsh Annals
Annales Cambriae
Annales Cambriae, or The Annals of Wales, is the name given to a complex of Cambro-Latin chronicles deriving ultimately from a text compiled from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales, not later than the 10th century...
, medieval Welsh genealogies (such as the Harleian Genealogies
Harleian genealogies
The Harleian genealogies are a collection of Old Welsh genealogies preserved in British Library, Harleian MS 3859. Part of the Harleian Collection, the manuscript, which also contains the Annales Cambriae and a version of the Historia Brittonum, has been dated to c. 1100, although a date of c.1200...
) and king-lists, the poems of Taliesin
Taliesin
Taliesin was an early British poet of the post-Roman period whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin...
, the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh tale about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca. 1400, and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch, ca. 1325. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose...
, and some of the medieval Welsh Saint's Lives, expanded and turned into a continuous narrative by Geoffrey's own imagination.
Influence
In an exchange of manuscript material for their own histories, Robert of Torigny gave Henry of Huntington a copy of Historia regum Britanniae, which both Robert and Henry used uncritically as authentic history and subsequently used in their own works, by which means some of Geoffrey's fictions became embedded in popular history. The history of Geoffrey forms the basis for much BritishGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
lore and literature as well as being a rich source of material for Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
bard
Bard
In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
s. It became tremendously popular during the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
, revolutionising views of British history before and during the Anglo-Saxon period despite the criticism of such writers as William of Newburgh
William of Newburgh
William of Newburgh or Newbury , also known as William Parvus, was a 12th-century English historian and Augustinian canon from Bridlington, Yorkshire.-Biography:...
and Gerald of Wales
Giraldus Cambrensis
Gerald of Wales , also known as Gerallt Gymro in Welsh or Giraldus Cambrensis in Latin, archdeacon of Brecon, was a medieval clergyman and chronicler of his times...
. The prophecies of Merlin in particular were often drawn on in later periods, for instance by both sides in the issue of English
History of England
The history of England concerns the study of the human past in one of Europe's oldest and most influential national territories. What is now England, a country within the United Kingdom, was inhabited by Neanderthals 230,000 years ago. Continuous human habitation dates to around 12,000 years ago,...
influence over Scotland
History of Scotland
The history of Scotland begins around 10,000 years ago, when humans first began to inhabit what is now Scotland after the end of the Devensian glaciation, the last ice age...
under Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
and his successors.
The Historia was quickly translated into Norman
Norman language
Norman is a Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. Norman can be classified as one of the northern Oïl languages along with Picard and Walloon...
verse by Wace
Wace
Wace was a Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy , ending his career as Canon of Bayeux.-Life:...
(the Roman de Brut
Roman de Brut
Roman de Brut or Brut is a verse literary history of Britain by the poet Wace. Written in the Norman language, it consists of 14,866 lines....
) in 1155. Wace's version was in turn translated into Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
verse by Layamon
Layamon
Layamon or Laghamon (ˈlaɣamon; in American English often modernised as ; ), occasionally written Lawman, was a poet of the early 13th century and author of the Brut, a notable English poem of the 12th century that was the first English language work to discuss the legends of Arthur and the...
(the Brut
Brut (Layamon)
Layamon's Brut , also known as The Chronicle of Britain, is a Middle English poem compiled and recast by the English priest Layamon. The Brut is 16,095 lines long and narrates the history of Britain: it is the first historiography written in English since the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle...
) in the early 13th century. In the second quarter of the 13th century, a version in Latin verse, the Gesta Regum Britanniae
Gesta Regum Britanniae
The Gesta Regum Britanniae is a Latin epic written at some time between 1235 and 1254, and attributed to a Breton monk, William of Rennes.The Gesta is fundamentally a versification of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae in Latin epic hexameters...
, was produced by William of Rennes. Material from Geoffrey was incorporated into a large variety of Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman
The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
and Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
prose compilations of historical material from the 13th century onward.
Geoffrey was translated into a number of different Welsh prose versions by the end of the 13th century, collectively known as Brut y Brenhinedd. One variant of the Brut y Brenhinedd, the so-called Brut Tysilio, was proposed in 1917 by the archaeologist
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
William Flinders Petrie
William Matthew Flinders Petrie
William Matthew Flinders Petrie FRS , commonly known as Flinders Petrie, was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and preservation of artifacts...
to be the ancient British book that Geoffrey translated, although the Brut itself claims to have been translated from Latin by Walter of Oxford, based on his own earlier translation from Welsh to Latin. Geoffrey's work is greatly important because it brought the Welsh culture into British society and made it acceptable. It is also the first record we have of the great figure King Lear, and the beginning of the mythical King Arthur figure.
For many centuries, the Historia was accepted at face value, and much of its material was incorporated into Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
's 16th-century Chronicles.
Modern historians have regarded the Historia as a work of fiction with some factual information contained within. John Morris in The Age of Arthur calls it a "deliberate spoof," although this is based on misidentifying Walter, archdeacon of Oxford, as Walter Map
Walter Map
Walter Map was a medieval writer of works written in Latin. Only one work is attributed to Map with any certainty: De Nugis Curialium.-Life:...
, a satirical writer who lived a century later.
It continues to have an influence on popular culture e.g. Mary Stewart
Mary Stewart
Mary Florence Elinor Stewart is a popular English novelist, best known for her Merlin series, which straddles the boundary between the historical novel and the fantasy genre.-Career:...
's Merlin novels, and the TV film Merlin
Merlin (film)
Merlin is a television miniseries which originally aired in 1998 that retells the legend of King Arthur from the perspective of the wizard Merlin...
contain large elements taken from the Historia.
Manuscript tradition and textual history
Two hundred and fifteen medieval manuscripts of the Historia survive, dozens of them copied before the end of the twelfth century. Even among the earliest manuscripts a large number of textualTextual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
variants, such as the so-called 'First Variant', can be discerned. These are reflected in the three possible prefaces to the work and in the presence or absence of certain episodes and phrases. Certain variants may be due to 'authorial' additions to different early copies, but most probably reflect early attempts to alter, add to or edit the text.
Unfortunately, the task of disentangling these variants and establishing Geoffrey's original text is long and complex, and the extent of the difficulties surrounding the text has been established only recently.
External links
- Online Text at Google Books
- Online Latin Text at Google Books