Historical basis for King Arthur
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The historical basis of King Arthur is a source of considerable debate among historians. The first datable mention of King Arthur
in a historical context comes from a Latin text of the 9th century - more than three centuries after his supposed floruit
in 5th to early 6th century Sub-Roman Britain
- where he is styled as a British soldier (miles in the original Latin) fighting alongside the British kings against the invading Saxons
. Later texts regard him as a legendary king of the Britons. The King Arthur of Arthurian legend as it develops from the 12th century is detached from a possible historical character, and there is no consensus as to such a possible identity.
in Bernicia
, we find a brief list of 12 battles said to have been conducted by the soldier Arthur and the British kings against the Saxons. This suggests that the Historia Brittonum's compiler believed Arthur's floruit to have been in the early-mid 6th century.
In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth
's list of kings of the Britons, which was partially based on the chronology found in the Historia Brittonum, placed Arthur and Uther Pendragon
in sequence between Aurelius Ambrosius and a Breton ruler named Constantinus (often erroneously identified with Constantine III
), all of them Romano-British
rulers placed in the Sub-Roman
period of the 5th to 6th century. The search for a historical ruler corresponding to Arthur must thus focus on this period, later than the completion of Roman withdrawal from Britain in 410 but earlier than the historical kings of the Britons
recorded from the mid 6th century.
During this period, dated to c. 446, a message is recorded by Gildas
in his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
, and later Bede
, known as the Groans of the Britons
, a last-ditch plea for assistance against barbarian
incursions to Aëtius
, military leader
of the Western Roman Empire
who spent most of the 440s fighting insurgents in Gaul
and Hispania
. It describes a people in extreme danger and was an attempt to persuade the late Western Roman Empire
to send troops across the English Channel
to help defend its former subjects
from the Saxons. The collapsing Roman Empire
had few military resources to spare during the period referred to as the Decline of the Roman Empire
and, as is briefly described here, the record is ambiguous on what was the response to the appeal, if any. It is in this context of the incipient Anglo-Saxon invasion in the mid to late 5th century that the later legends of the "Matter of Britain
" place Arthur.
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
, and historians regard it as a probable historical event. Gildas does not name Arthur, or any other leader of the battle, though he does discuss Ambrosius Aurelianus
as a great scourge of the Saxons immediately prior. Gildas' Latin is somewhat opaque, but he does seem to say some time passed between Ambrosius' victory and the battle of Badon. He also tells us that he was born in the same year as the battle (which he describes as taking place "in our times" and being one of the latest - and greatest - slaughters of the Saxons) and that, at the time of his writing, a new generation born after the battle of Badon, has come of age in Britain.
Badon appears in several other texts, but Arthur is not associated with it until the Historia Brittonum of the 9th century. Other accounts associating Arthur with Badon, such as the Annales Cambriae
and Geoffrey of Monmouth
's influential Historia Regum Britanniae
, can be shown to derive directly or indirectly from the Historia Brittonum.
(ultimately of Messapic or Etruscan origin), or a native Brittonic compound based on the root *arto- "bear" (which became arth in Medieval and Modern Welsh
). Similar "bear" names appear throughout the Celtic-speaking world. Those that favor a mythological origin for Arthur point out that a Gaulish bear goddess Artio
is attested, but as of yet no certain examples of Celtic male bear gods have been detected.
John Morris
argues that the appearance of the name Arthur, as applied to the Scottish, Welsh and Pennine "Arthurs", and the lack of the name at any time earlier, suggests that in the early 6th century the name became popular amongst the indigenous British for a short time. He proposes that all of these occurrences were due to the importance of another Arthur, who may have ruled temporarily as Emperor of Britain. He suggests on the basis of archaeology that a period of Saxon advance was halted and turned back, before resuming again in the 570s. Morris also suggests that the Roman Camulodunum
, modern Colchester
, and capital of the Roman province of Britannia
, is the origin of the name "Camelot
".
, a Welsh ecclesiastic who was probably active in the early 9th century. Nennius lists a dozen battles fought by Arthur, and gives him the title of "dux bellorum", which can be translated as "war commander". Nennius also says that Arthur fought "alongside the kings of the Britons", rather than saying that Arthur was himself a king. One of the battles Nennius lists appears to be the same as a great British victory mentioned by Gildas
in an earlier history, the battle of Mons Badonicus, though Gildas does not give the name Arthur. Gildas in his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (or On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain) does mention a British king Cuneglasus who had been "charioteer to the bear".
There are a number of mentions of a legendary hero called Arthur in early Welsh and Breton poetry. These sources are preserved in High Medieval manuscripts, and cannot be dated with accuracy. They are mostly placed in the 9th to 10th century, although some authors make them as early as the 7th. The earliest of these would appear to be the Old Welsh poem, Y Gododdin
, preserved in an 11th century manuscript. It refers to a warrior who "glutted black ravens [i.e., killed many men] on the rampart of the stronghold, although he was no Arthur".
The Welsh poem Geraint, son of Erbin, written in the 10th or 11th century, describes a battle at a port-settlement and mentions Arthur in passing. The work is a praise-poem and elegy for the 6th-century king Geraint
, and is significant in showing that this historical king was associated with Arthur at a relatively early date. It also provides the earliest known reference to Arthur as "emperor" Geraint son of Erbin is earliest found in the Black Book of Carmarthen
, compiled around 1250, though it may date to the 10th or 11th century. Y Gododdin was similarly copied at much the same time. The two poems differ in the relative archaic quality of their language, that of Gododdin being the older in form. However, this could merely reflect differences in the date of the last revision of the language within the two poems. The language would have had to have been revised for the poems to remain comprehensible.
The 10th century Annales Cambriae
give the date of Mons Badonicus as 516, and Arthur's death as occurring in 537 at Camlann. These annals survive in a version dating from the 10th century. All other sources relating to Arthur by name are later than these; that is, they were written at least four hundred years later than the events to which they refer.
The Legenda Sancti Goeznovii
, a hagiography of the Breton
saint Goeznovius dated to 1019, includes a brief segment dealing with Arthur and Vortigern
. The Legenda is important for providing an early historical narrative of Arthur that is independent of Geoffrey of Monmouth
's highly legendary Historia Regum Britanniae
.
suggested that the character of King Arthur was ultimately based on one Lucius Artorius Castus
, a career Roman soldier of the late 2nd century or early 3rd century. This suggestion was revived in 1994 by C. Scott Littleton
and Linda A. Malcor
and linked to a hypothesis (below) that the Arthurian legends were influenced by the nomadic Alans
and Sarmatians
settled in Western Europe in Late Antiquity
. Littleton had earlier written about this hypothesis in 1978 together with Ann C. Thomas.
All that is known about Artorius’ life comes from two Latin inscriptions discovered in the 19th century in Podstrana
on the Dalmatia
n coast. After a long and distinguished career in the Roman army as a centurion
and then primus pilus, Artorius was promoted to praefectus legionis
of the VI Victrix
, a unit that had been stationed in Britain since c. 122 AD and headquartered at Eboracum
(York
). The praefectus legionis
(otherwise known as the praefectus castrorum
) served as third-in-command of the legion and was responsible for the general upkeep of the legionary headquarters; the position was normally held by older career soldiers who were close to retirement and they did not normally command any soldiers during battle (they remained at the headquarters during times of conflict). When Artorius's term as praefectus legionis
ended, he was assigned the temporary title of dux legionum and was put in charge of (or was responsible for the transfer of from one station to another) some units with British associations of unknown size (perhaps multiple cohortes or alae; the inscription was damaged prior to the 19th century, so it is not certain which he commanded) in an expedition against an unknown enemy on the Continent (as best as can be determined from the damaged inscription, either the Armorici
or the Armenians
). After this (and no doubt due to his long, loyal service to Rome) he became civilian governor (procurator centenarius) of the province of Liburnia
, where he seems to have ended his days - likely at an advanced age – and was buried
In a hypothetical reconstruction of Artorius’ life, based in part on the groundwork laid by Malone and Helmut Nickel (author and curator of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's medieval arms and armor collection), Malcor proposes that Artorius successfully fought against Sarmatians in eastern Europe early in his military career and this experience with their unique fighting styles led to him being assigned in 181 AD (during the reign of Commodus
) the command of a numerus of Sarmatians based at Ribchester
(Bremetennacum
) and that which campaigned at (and north of) Hadrian’s Wall (5,500 Sarmatians had been sent to Britain by the emperor Marcus Aurelius in 175 AD and many might still have been in the country during Artorius’ tour of duty there). Malcor contends that Artorius led these Sarmatians against invading Caledonians, who overran Hadrian’s Wall during the period 183
–185
. Malcor then has Artorius (in 185 AD, after the collapse of his legion), return to the northern city of Eboracum
, before being sent by the governor of Britannia to lead cavalry cohorts against an uprising in Armorica
(modern Brittany
). Malcor also suggests that Artorius’ standard was a large red dragon pennant (auxiliary forces did not use eagle standards), which is proposed as the origin of the Welsh epithet Pendragon
“Dragon Chief/Head” (alternately, "Leader of Warriors") in Arthurian literature.
According to both Malone and Littleton/Malcor, Artorius' alleged military exploits in Britain and Armorica could have been remembered for centuries afterward, thus generating the figure of Arthur among the Welsh, Cornish and Bretons. This is linked to the original theory of Littleton, Thomas and Malcor which suggests that the folk narratives and history associated with the Alano-Sarmatians settled in Western Europe formed the core of the Arthurian tradition (see below).
In the earliest descriptions of Arthur, he is not a king, but is rather a soldier, knight (miles in the medieval Latin of the Historia Brittonum) that acted as a dux bellorum (variant dux belli) or "commander of war(s)"; as also mentioned above, Artorius was assigned the title of dux legionum
, literally "leader of the legions", during a military expedition late in his career. However, unlike dux legionum, neither dux bellorum or dux belli were actual titles or ranks in the Roman Army; rather they were generic Latin phrases used to describe any leader of an army, Roman or otherwise (famous examples being the Biblical figure of Joshua
, who was called dux belli of the Israelites in the Latin Vulgate Bible, Hanno the Great
, called the dux belli of Carthage
in Justin's Historiarum Philippicarum, and Saint Germanus of Auxerre
, who was twice styled as dux belli by Bede
).
In the Historia Britonum
, compiled shortly after AD 820, there is a list of twelve battles in which Arthur is stated to have been victorious. About three centuries later, Geoffrey of Monmouth
in his History of the Kings of Britain, places these twelve battles in the north against barbarians. Based on the slimmest of evidence, seven of these battles have been matched by Malcor to battles Artorius could have fought in Britannia; but Artorius is not recorded as having fought in any known battles. Geoffrey also adds that Arthur fought a civil war, and twice took troops across the sea to Armorica
, once to support the Roman emperor and once to deal with his own rebels. Depending on how one reads the phrase "adversus Arm[....]s" on the inscription from his sarcophagus, Artorius led British legions either in Armenia or in Armorica
(according to Malcor's reconstruction of Artorius' biography, this was to help quell the bacaudic
rebellions taking place in Western Europe in the late 2nd century AD).
Medieval sources often place Arthur’s headquarters in Wales at Caerleon upon Usk
, the "Fortress of Legions" (borrowed from Latin Castra Legionum). Though it may be purely coincidental, Eboracum
, in the Vale of York
, was sometimes referred to as Urbe Legionum or the "City of the Legion", and was the headquarters of the legio VI Victrix
.
Critics of the Artorius hypothesis would argue that the obscurity surrounding Artorius makes this identification unlikely, as there seems to be little reason for him to have become a major legendary figure. No Roman historical source actually mentions him, or his alleged exploits in Britain. Nor is there any clear evidence that he ever commanded Sarmatians.
and Ann C. Thomas expanded on the ideas of Vasily Abaev
and Georges Dumezil
and published their theory of a connection between the related Alan
and Sarmatian
peoples and the history and later legend of King Arthur. According to this theory, cavalry units left behind in the Roman departure from Britain during the early 5th century became the nucleus of an elite in Dark Age Britain which still preserved elements of Alano-Sarmatian mythology and culture. In 1994 Littleton and Linda A. Malcor
further developed this theory, identifying the Roman officer Lucius Artorius Castus
, who may have commanded Sarmatian auxiliaries in the 2nd century, as the original basis for Arthur.
The Alano-Sarmatians were steppe nomads from what is now southern Ukraine
, who fought from horseback with a kontos ('lance'), longsword and bow and carried a shield with a tamga marking, similar to heraldry. They wore scale armour and conical helms, and were known in the 2nd century for their skill as heavy cavalry. In 175, Marcus Aurelius, after defeating the Sarmatian Iazyges
tribe during the Marcomannic Wars
, forcibly hired 8,000 Sarmatians into Roman service. 5,500 of these recruits were sent to the northern borders of Britain. The 5th century Notitia Dignitatum
mentions a "Formation of Sarmatians" (Cuneus Sarmatarum; cunei were small auxiliary units in the late Empire) being present at Bremetennacum (Ribchester
), a location where earlier we find mention in inscriptions dating to the 3rd century AD of a "Wing of Sarmatians" (ala Sarmatarum) and a "Company of Sarmatian Horsemen" (numeri equitum Sarmatarum).
The culture of the Sarmatians has many similarities to the legends of Arthur. Apart from their skill as armoured knight
s, they held great, near religious, fondness for their swords — their tribal worship was directed at a sword sticking up from the ground, similar to the sword in the stone motif. They carried standards in the form of dragon
s, a symbol used by Arthur and his father Uther Pendragon
according to the 12th century pseudo-history Historia Regum Britanniae
. The Sarmatians also had shamans, which proponents have linked to Arthur's wizard Merlin
.
Proponents of the 'Sarmatian connection' theory also look to the legends of the Sarmatians' descendants for evidence. The Ossetians
, an Iranian people from Ossetia
, a country in the Caucasus, speak the Ossetic language
, the only Sarmatian language still spoken. The Ossetian Nart saga
s, indigenous epics celebrating the exploits of an ancient tribe of heroes, contain a number of interesting parallels to the Arthurian legends. First, the life of the Nart warrior Batraz
is tied to his sword, which must be thrown into the sea at his death. When the wounded Batraz asks his last surviving comrade to do the task for him, his companion tries to fool him twice before finally hurling the weapon into the sea. This is very similar to the tale of Arthur's wondrous sword Excalibur
which had to be returned to the Lady of the Lake
at his death by his last surviving knight, Bedivere
. Like Batraz's friend, Bedivere is reluctant to lose such a wonderful sword and lies to his master twice before finally assenting. Additionally, the Nart heroes, Soslan and Sosryko, collect the beards of vanquished enemies to trim their cloaks, which is the practice of Arthur's enemy Rience
. Like Rience, Soslan has one last beard to obtain before his cloak is complete. Two other similar motifs are the Cup of the Narts ("Nartyamonga"), which appeared at feasts, delivered to each person what he liked best to eat, and which was kept by the bravest of the Narts ("Knights") - somewhat similar to the Arthurian Holy Grail; and the magical woman, dressed in white, associated with water, who helps the hero acquire his sword, similar to the Arthurian Lady of the Lake.
Critics of the Sarmatian hypothesis note that much of the parallels or similarities between Arthurian and Sarmatian tales only occur in writings dating from and after Geoffrey of Monmouth
(Latin: Galfridus Monemutensis - thus the terms "pre-Galfridian" and post-Galfridian") published Historia Regum Britanniae
, which was a seminal influence on succeeding Arthurian works. Despite proponents' claims of Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, the Sword in the Stone and the Grail as crucial Arthurian elements (and therefore relevant in investigating Arthur's historicity), there is no mention of these in pre-Galfridian tales of Arthur. There is also no mention of Excalibur, then called Caledfwlch, being returned to (and in the first place, acquired from) a body of water. Some of the strongest similarities of Arthurian and Sarmatian tales occur in Thomas Malory
's Le Morte D'Arthur
, when Arthur and his warriors had already evolved into "knights in shining armor". Critics conclude that Sarmatian influence was limited to the post-Galfridian development of the tales instead of historical basis, if at all.
(aka Rigothamus or Riotimus, apparently meaning Kingliest or "Great King" (from Brittonic *rigo- "king", plus the Brittonic superlative suffix -tamo-) was a historical figure whom ancient sources list as "a king of the Britons
". He lived in the late 5th century, and most of the stories about him were recorded in the Byzantine
historian Jordanes
' The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, written in the mid-6th century, only about 80 years after his presumed death.
About 460, the Roman diplomat and bishop
Sidonius Apollinaris
sent a letter to Riothamus, asking his help to quell unrest among the Brettones, British colonists living in Armorica
. This letter still survives.
In the year 470
, the Western Emperor Anthemius
began a campaign against Euric
, king of the Visigoths who were campaigning outside their territory in Gaul. Anthemius requested help from Riothamus, and Jordanes writes that he crossed the ocean into Gaul with 12,000 warriors. The location of Riothamus’s army was betrayed to the Visigoths by the jealous praetorian prefect of Gaul, and Euric defeated him in a battle in Burgundy. Riothamus was last seen retreating near a town called Avallon
.
Geoffrey Ashe
points out that, as above, Arthur is said by the early sources to have crossed into Gaul twice, once to help a Roman emperor and once to subdue a civil war. Assuming that Riothamus was a king in Britain as well as Armorica
, he did both. Arthur is also said to have been betrayed by one of his advisors, and Riothamus was betrayed by one of his supposed allies. Finally, it is well known how King Arthur was carried off to Avalon
(which Geoffrey of Monmouth spells "Avallon") before he died; Riothamus, escaping death, was last known to have been in the vicinity of a town called Avallon.
It is unknown whether Riothamus was a king in Britain or of Armorica; as Armorica was a British colony and Jordanes writes that Riothamus "crossed the ocean", it is possible both are correct. The name Riothamus has been interpreted by some as a title "High King", though there is no evidence for such a title being used by ancient Britons or Gauls and the formation of the name (noun/adjective + superlative -tamo- suffix) follows a pattern found in numerous other Brittonic and Gaulish personal names (for example, Old Breton/Welsh Cunatam/Cunotami/Condam/Cyndaf [Brittonic *Cunotamos "Great Dog"], Old Welsh Caurdaf [Brittonic *Cauarotamos "Great Giant"], Old Welsh/Breton Eudaf/Outham [Brittonic *Auitamos "Great Will/Desire"], Uuoratam/Gwrdaf [Brittonic *Uortamos "Supreme"], Old Breton Rumatam [Brittonic *Roimmotamos "Great Band/Host"], Gwyndaf [Brittonic *Uindotamos "Fairest/Whitest/Holiest One"], Breton Uuentamau [Brittonic *Uenutamaua: "Friendliest or *Uendutamaua: "Little Fairest/Whitest/Holiest (One)"]).
Cognates of the name Riothamus survive in Old Welsh (Riatav/Riadaf) and Old Breton (Riatam).
(also sometimes referred to as Aurelius Ambrosius) was a powerful Romano-British
leader in Britain. He was renowned for his campaigns against the Saxons, and there is some speculation that he may have commanded the British forces at the Battle of Badon Hill. At any rate, the battle was a clear continuation of his efforts.
According to Gildas
(an early British historian and priest who may have been born during Aurelianus’ lifetime) in his sermon, On the Ruin of Britain, following a massive Saxon invasion, Aurelianus was the only person who stayed calm, despite the fact that his parents and most other Roman settlers had been killed in the attacks. Subsequently, Aurelianus became leader of the remaining British (according to the Major Chronicle Annals, he rose to power in 479
), organised them, and led them in their first victory against the Saxons, although subsequent battles went both ways. Gildas also writes that Aurelianus’ parents "wore the purple", and thus were apparently descended from Roman emperors. The Aurelii were a noted Roman senatorial
family, and it is possible that Ambrosius was descended from them.
The date of the Battle of Badon Hill is uncertain, with most scholars accepting a date around 500
. The location of the battle is unknown, though locations have been proposed over the years, including southwest England
, perhaps near the city of Bath or the nearby Solsbury Hill
, where an ancient hill fort existed, and somewhere to the north, in or near modern Scotland
.
Badon Hill was fought between the British and the invading Saxons, believed to have been the South Saxons
under their Bretanwealda ("Lord of Britain", also spelled Bretwalda) Aelle
, reigned 477
-514
. The Saxons were utterly defeated by the British (it is theorised that Aelle may have died in the battle), and did not again attack the Celts until 571
; even by the 590s the Celts were still inflicting large defeats on the Saxon kingdoms, leaving a final "golden age" for Celtic civilisation in Britain.
Gildas fails to name the commander at Badon but he refers to one of his contemporary "fetter kings" as having been "charioteer to the bear". Owing to a possible mistranslation of a word from Gildas, describing Aurelianus as either the "ancestor" or the "grandfather" of his descendants of Gildas’ generation, it is possible that Aurelianus lived in the generation before the Battle of Badon.
Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain also states that Arthur led the forces at Badon; on the other hand, Geoffrey is notoriously unreliable and much of what he writes is incompatible with factual history. However, Geoffrey makes Aurelianus (whom he calls Aurelius Ambrosius) a king of Britain, an older brother of Uther Pendragon
, the father of King Arthur, thus relating Aurelianus and Arthur. He also states that Aurelianus was the son of a Breton ruler named Constantinus, brother of Aldroenus.
. He is known only from archaeology
. A piece of slate bearing his name, and since (erroneously) dubbed the 'Arthur stone
', was discovered during excavations of the 6th century layers under Tintagel Castle
. It was apparently a practice inscription for a dedicatory plaque within the structure of a building or other edifice. The Latin
inscription reads "PATERN[--] COLI AVI FICIT ARTOGNOU COL[I] FICIT" and has been translated as "Artognou descendant of Patern[us] Colus made (this). Colus made (this)". Artognou was the Late Brittonic form of a name that would later be rendered as Arthnou in Old Welsh
and Artnou in Old Breton
, meaning "Bear-knowing" or "Famous/Well Known Bear" (from Brittonic *arto- "bear" and *gnāwo- "knowing"; compare Modern Welsh arth "bear" and gno "evident, clear, manifest, well known"). The initial element, arth "bear", was very common one in Celtic personal names. From the same area, pieces of expensive 6th century Mediterranean pottery have been excavated, showing that this high-status site was controlled by a rich and powerful noble with trade links with distant civilizations. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth
and subsequent medieval
writers, King Arthur was conceived at Tintagel, though it is likely a coincidence that we find a man with a similar-looking name such as Artognou living here.
, Artúr mac Áedáin never became king of Dál Riata; his brother Eochaid Buide
ruled after his father's death. However, when Áedán gave up his role and retired to monastic life, Artúr became war leader, though Áedán was officially still king. Thus it was Artúr who led the Scotti of Dál Riata
in a war against the Picts, separate from the later war with Northumbria. By this theory, Artúr was predominantly active in the region between the Roman walls — the Kingdom of the Gododdin
. He was ultimately killed in battle in 582. This is the solution proposed by Michael Wood.
It should be noted that the name Artúr is frequently attested in southern Scotland and northern England in the 7th and 8th centuries. For example, Artúr mac Conaing, who may have been named after his uncle Artúr mac Áedáin. Artúr son of Bicoir Britone, was another 'Arthur' reported in this period, who slew Morgan mac Fiachna of Ulster in 620/625 in Kintyre. A Feradach, apparently the grandson of an 'Artuir', was a signatory at the synod that enacted the Law of Adomnan in 697. Arthur ap Pedr was a prince in Dyfed
, born around 570–580.
Given the popularity of this name at the time, it is likely that Artúr and the others were named for a figure who was already established in folklore by that time. Additionally, Artúr lived somewhat later than the time frame generally associated with a hypothetical historical Arthur. He was part of the generation born after the Battle of Mons Badonicus
, one of the key events often associated with a 'historical' Arthur.
, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Bede
's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
, or any other surviving manuscript dating between the 5th century and around 820. Later sources that do mention Arthur, such as the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae
, contain very little about a historical king or leader named Arthur. Historian Thomas Charles-Edwards
noted this lack of evidence, saying that "at this stage of the enquiry, one can only say that there may well have been an historical Arthur [but …] the historian can as yet say nothing of value about him". Recent scholarship has further questioned the reliability of the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae. Historian David Dumville
summed up the position that Arthur was not a historical figure, saying, "I think we can dispose of him [Arthur] quite briefly. He owes his place in our history books to a 'no smoke without fire' school of thought ... The fact of the matter is that there is no historical evidence about Arthur; we must reject him from our histories and, above all, from the titles of our books." Some scholars who hold this position note that other mythological figures have become historicised; one suggestion is that Hengest
and Horsa were originally Kentish
totemic horse-gods, ascribed a historical role by Bede.
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...
in a historical context comes from a Latin text of the 9th century - more than three centuries after his supposed floruit
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
in 5th to early 6th century Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeological label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity: the term "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the potsherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a...
- where he is styled as a British soldier (miles in the original Latin) fighting alongside the British kings against the invading Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
. Later texts regard him as a legendary king of the Britons. The King Arthur of Arthurian legend as it develops from the 12th century is detached from a possible historical character, and there is no consensus as to such a possible identity.
Historical context
In the 9th century Historia Brittonum, inserted between anecdotes concerning the death of Hengist (followed by the arrival of his son Octha) and the reign of IdaIda of Bernicia
Ida is the first known king of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia, which he ruled from around 547 until his death in 559. Little is known of his life or reign, but he was regarded as the founder of a line from which later Anglo-Saxon kings in this part of northern England and southern Scotland...
in Bernicia
Bernicia
Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
, we find a brief list of 12 battles said to have been conducted by the soldier Arthur and the British kings against the Saxons. This suggests that the Historia Brittonum's compiler believed Arthur's floruit to have been in the early-mid 6th century.
In the 12th century, 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...
's list of kings of the Britons, which was partially based on the chronology found in the Historia Brittonum, placed Arthur and 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...
in sequence between Aurelius Ambrosius and a Breton ruler named Constantinus (often erroneously identified with Constantine III
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...
), all of them Romano-British
Romano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...
rulers placed in the Sub-Roman
Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeological label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity: the term "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the potsherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a...
period of the 5th to 6th century. The search for a historical ruler corresponding to Arthur must thus focus on this period, later than the completion of Roman withdrawal from Britain in 410 but earlier than the historical kings of the Britons
King of the Britons
The Britons or Brythons were the Celtic-speaking people of what is now England, Wales and southern Scotland, whose ethnic identity is today maintained by the Welsh, Cornish and Bretons...
recorded from the mid 6th century.
During this period, dated to c. 446, a message is recorded by Gildas
Gildas
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...
in his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae is a work by the 6th-century British cleric Gildas. It is a sermon in three parts condemning the acts of Gildas' contemporaries, both secular and religious, whom he blames for the dire state of affairs in sub-Roman Britain...
, and later 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...
, known as the Groans of the Britons
Groans of the Britons
The Groans of the Britons is the name of the final appeal made by the Britons to the Roman military for assistance against barbarian invasion. The appeal is first referenced in Gildas' 6th-century De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae; Gildas' account was later repeated in Bede's Historia...
, a last-ditch plea for assistance against barbarian
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
incursions to Aëtius
Flavius Aëtius
Flavius Aëtius , dux et patricius, was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was an able military commander and the most influential man in the Western Roman Empire for two decades . He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian peoples pressing on the Empire...
, military leader
Magister militum
Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...
of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
who spent most of the 440s fighting insurgents in Gaul
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...
and Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
. It describes a people in extreme danger and was an attempt to persuade the late Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
to send troops across the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
to help defend its former subjects
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
from the Saxons. The collapsing Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
had few military resources to spare during the period referred to as the Decline of the Roman Empire
Decline of the Roman Empire
The decline of the Roman Empire refers to the gradual societal collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Many theories of causality prevail, but most concern the disintegration of political, economic, military, and other social institutions, in tandem with foreign invasions and usurpers from within the...
and, as is briefly described here, the record is ambiguous on what was the response to the appeal, if any. It is in this context of the incipient Anglo-Saxon invasion in the mid to late 5th century that the later legends 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...
" place Arthur.
Battle of Badon
A variety of sources name Arthur as the victor of the Battle of Mount Badon, at which the Saxons were routed and their invasions halted for many years. The battle itself is first mentioned in Gildas'Gildas
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...
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae is a work by the 6th-century British cleric Gildas. It is a sermon in three parts condemning the acts of Gildas' contemporaries, both secular and religious, whom he blames for the dire state of affairs in sub-Roman Britain...
, and historians regard it as a probable historical event. Gildas does not name Arthur, or any other leader of the battle, though he does discuss Ambrosius Aurelianus
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...
as a great scourge of the Saxons immediately prior. Gildas' Latin is somewhat opaque, but he does seem to say some time passed between Ambrosius' victory and the battle of Badon. He also tells us that he was born in the same year as the battle (which he describes as taking place "in our times" and being one of the latest - and greatest - slaughters of the Saxons) and that, at the time of his writing, a new generation born after the battle of Badon, has come of age in Britain.
Badon appears in several other texts, but Arthur is not associated with it until the Historia Brittonum of the 9th century. Other accounts associating Arthur with Badon, such as the Annales Cambriae
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...
and 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...
's influential Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae 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...
, can be shown to derive directly or indirectly from the Historia Brittonum.
The name "Arthur"
The etymology of the Welsh name Arthur is uncertain, though most scholars favor either a derivation from the Roman gens name ArtoriusArtorius
Artorius was the family name of a Roman gens of obscure and contested etymology.Several Italian scholars consider the name to be of Messapic origin, connecting it with the Messapic gens name Artorres, likely a derivative of the Messapic name Artas , of uncertain meaning.An alternate etymology...
(ultimately of Messapic or Etruscan origin), or a native Brittonic compound based on the root *arto- "bear" (which became arth in Medieval and Modern 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...
). Similar "bear" names appear throughout the Celtic-speaking world. Those that favor a mythological origin for Arthur point out that a Gaulish bear goddess Artio
Artio
Artio was a Celtic bear goddess. Evidence of her worship has notably been found at Bern whose name according to legend is derived from the word Bär, "bear".-Representations and inscriptions:...
is attested, but as of yet no certain examples of Celtic male bear gods have been detected.
John Morris
John Morris (historian)
John Robert Morris was an English historian who specialised in the study of the institutions of the Roman Empire and the history of Sub-Roman Britain...
argues that the appearance of the name Arthur, as applied to the Scottish, Welsh and Pennine "Arthurs", and the lack of the name at any time earlier, suggests that in the early 6th century the name became popular amongst the indigenous British for a short time. He proposes that all of these occurrences were due to the importance of another Arthur, who may have ruled temporarily as Emperor of Britain. He suggests on the basis of archaeology that a period of Saxon advance was halted and turned back, before resuming again in the 570s. Morris also suggests that the Roman Camulodunum
Camulodunum
Camulodunum is the Roman name for the ancient settlement which is today's Colchester, a town in Essex, England. Camulodunum is claimed to be the oldest town in Britain as recorded by the Romans, existing as a Celtic settlement before the Roman conquest, when it became the first Roman town, and...
, modern Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, and capital of the Roman province of Britannia
Britannia
Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
, is the origin of the name "Camelot
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world...
".
Early sources
The earliest reference to King Arthur that can be dated confidently is the 9th century Historia Brittonum, usually attributed to NenniusNennius
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....
, a Welsh ecclesiastic who was probably active in the early 9th century. Nennius lists a dozen battles fought by Arthur, and gives him the title of "dux bellorum", which can be translated as "war commander". Nennius also says that Arthur fought "alongside the kings of the Britons", rather than saying that Arthur was himself a king. One of the battles Nennius lists appears to be the same as a great British victory mentioned by Gildas
Gildas
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...
in an earlier history, the battle of Mons Badonicus, though Gildas does not give the name Arthur. Gildas in his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (or On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain) does mention a British king Cuneglasus who had been "charioteer to the bear".
There are a number of mentions of a legendary hero called Arthur in early Welsh and Breton poetry. These sources are preserved in High Medieval manuscripts, and cannot be dated with accuracy. They are mostly placed in the 9th to 10th century, although some authors make them as early as the 7th. The earliest of these would appear to be the Old Welsh poem, Y Gododdin
Y Gododdin
Y Gododdin is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Britonnic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a place named Catraeth...
, preserved in an 11th century manuscript. It refers to a warrior who "glutted black ravens [i.e., killed many men] on the rampart of the stronghold, although he was no Arthur".
The Welsh poem Geraint, son of Erbin, written in the 10th or 11th century, describes a battle at a port-settlement and mentions Arthur in passing. The work is a praise-poem and elegy for the 6th-century king Geraint
Geraint
Geraint is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a king of Dumnonia and a valiant warrior. He may have lived during or shortly prior to the reign of the historical Arthur, but some scholars doubt he ever existed...
, and is significant in showing that this historical king was associated with Arthur at a relatively early date. It also provides the earliest known reference to Arthur as "emperor" Geraint son of Erbin is earliest found in the Black Book of Carmarthen
Black Book of Carmarthen
The Black Book of Carmarthen is thought to be the earliest surviving manuscript written entirely or substantially in Welsh. Written in around 1250, the book's name comes from its association with the Priory of St. John the Evangelist and Teulyddog at Carmarthen, and is referred to as black due to...
, compiled around 1250, though it may date to the 10th or 11th century. Y Gododdin was similarly copied at much the same time. The two poems differ in the relative archaic quality of their language, that of Gododdin being the older in form. However, this could merely reflect differences in the date of the last revision of the language within the two poems. The language would have had to have been revised for the poems to remain comprehensible.
The 10th century Annales Cambriae
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...
give the date of Mons Badonicus as 516, and Arthur's death as occurring in 537 at Camlann. These annals survive in a version dating from the 10th century. All other sources relating to Arthur by name are later than these; that is, they were written at least four hundred years later than the events to which they refer.
The Legenda Sancti Goeznovii
Goeznovius
Goeznovius , also known as Goueznou, was a Cornish-born Bishop of Léon in Brittany, who is venerated as a saint in the region around Brest and the diocese of Léon...
, a hagiography of the Breton
Breton people
The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...
saint Goeznovius dated to 1019, includes a brief segment dealing with Arthur and 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...
. The Legenda is important for providing an early historical narrative of Arthur that is independent of 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...
's highly legendary Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae 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...
.
Alternate candidates for the historical King Arthur
Some theories suggest that "Arthur" was a byname of attested historical individuals.Lucius Artorius Castus
In 1924 Kemp MaloneKemp Malone
Kemp Malone was a prolific medievalist, etymologist, philologist, and specialist in Chaucer who was lecturer and then professor of English Literature at Johns Hopkins University from 1924 to 1956....
suggested that the character of King Arthur was ultimately based on one Lucius Artorius Castus
Lucius Artorius Castus
Lucius Artorius Castus was a Roman military commander. A member of the gens Artoria , he has been suggested as a potential historical basis for King Arthur....
, a career Roman soldier of the late 2nd century or early 3rd century. This suggestion was revived in 1994 by C. Scott Littleton
C. Scott Littleton
Covington Scott Littleton was an American anthropologist and academic.Born in Los Angeles, he served in the Army during the Korean War. Littleton obtained his B.A. , M.A. , and Ph.D...
and Linda A. Malcor
Linda A. Malcor
Linda Ann Malcor Ph.D is an American scholar of Arthurian legend. She is one of the proponents of the theory that states that the historical basis for King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were a 2nd-century Roman officer named Lucius Artorius Castus and Sarmatian auxiliary horsemen,...
and linked to a hypothesis (below) that the Arthurian legends were influenced by the nomadic Alans
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
and Sarmatians
Sarmatians
The Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....
settled in Western Europe in Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
. Littleton had earlier written about this hypothesis in 1978 together with Ann C. Thomas.
All that is known about Artorius’ life comes from two Latin inscriptions discovered in the 19th century in Podstrana
Podstrana
Podstrana is a municipality and settlement in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. It has a population of 7,341 , 97% which are Croats.In the Second World War, the town suffered 131 casualties....
on the Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n coast. After a long and distinguished career in the Roman army as a centurion
Centurion
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
and then primus pilus, Artorius was promoted to praefectus legionis
Prefect
Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
of the VI Victrix
Legio VI Victrix
Legio sexta Victrix was a Roman legion founded by Octavian in 41 BC. It was the twin legion of VI Ferrata and perhaps held veterans of that legion, and some soldiers kept to the traditions of the Caesarian legion....
, a unit that had been stationed in Britain since c. 122 AD and headquartered at Eboracum
Eboracum
Eboracum was a fort and city in Roman Britain. The settlement evolved into York, located in North Yorkshire, England.-Etymology:The first known recorded mention of Eboracum by name is dated circa 95-104 AD and is an address containing the Latin form of the settlement's name, "Eburaci", on a wooden...
(York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
). The praefectus legionis
Prefect
Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
(otherwise known as the praefectus castrorum
Praefectus Castrorum
The praefectus castrorum was, in the Roman army of the early Empire, the third-most senior commander of the Roman legion, after the legate and the senior military tribune . His responsibility was looking after equipment and building works but could command the legion when his seniors were absent...
) served as third-in-command of the legion and was responsible for the general upkeep of the legionary headquarters; the position was normally held by older career soldiers who were close to retirement and they did not normally command any soldiers during battle (they remained at the headquarters during times of conflict). When Artorius's term as praefectus legionis
Prefect
Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
ended, he was assigned the temporary title of dux legionum and was put in charge of (or was responsible for the transfer of from one station to another) some units with British associations of unknown size (perhaps multiple cohortes or alae; the inscription was damaged prior to the 19th century, so it is not certain which he commanded) in an expedition against an unknown enemy on the Continent (as best as can be determined from the damaged inscription, either the Armorici
Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire rivers, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast...
or the Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
). After this (and no doubt due to his long, loyal service to Rome) he became civilian governor (procurator centenarius) of the province of Liburnia
Liburnia
Liburnia in ancient geography was the land of the Liburnians, a region along the northeastern Adriatic coast in Europe, in modern Croatia, whose borders shifted according to the extent of Liburnian dominance at a given time between 11th and 1st century BC...
, where he seems to have ended his days - likely at an advanced age – and was buried
In a hypothetical reconstruction of Artorius’ life, based in part on the groundwork laid by Malone and Helmut Nickel (author and curator of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's medieval arms and armor collection), Malcor proposes that Artorius successfully fought against Sarmatians in eastern Europe early in his military career and this experience with their unique fighting styles led to him being assigned in 181 AD (during the reign of Commodus
Commodus
Commodus , was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded...
) the command of a numerus of Sarmatians based at Ribchester
Ribchester
Ribchester is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston.The village has a long history with evidence of Bronze Age beginnings...
(Bremetennacum
Bremetennacum
Bremetennacum was a Roman fort which is now the village of Ribchester in Lancashire . The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The first Roman activity on the site was the establishment of a timber fort believed to have been constructed during the campaigns of Petillius Cerialis around AD 72/3...
) and that which campaigned at (and north of) Hadrian’s Wall (5,500 Sarmatians had been sent to Britain by the emperor Marcus Aurelius in 175 AD and many might still have been in the country during Artorius’ tour of duty there). Malcor contends that Artorius led these Sarmatians against invading Caledonians, who overran Hadrian’s Wall during the period 183
183
Year 183 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Victorinus...
–185
185
Year 185 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lascivius and Atilius...
. Malcor then has Artorius (in 185 AD, after the collapse of his legion), return to the northern city of Eboracum
Eboracum
Eboracum was a fort and city in Roman Britain. The settlement evolved into York, located in North Yorkshire, England.-Etymology:The first known recorded mention of Eboracum by name is dated circa 95-104 AD and is an address containing the Latin form of the settlement's name, "Eburaci", on a wooden...
, before being sent by the governor of Britannia to lead cavalry cohorts against an uprising in Armorica
Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire rivers, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast...
(modern Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
). Malcor also suggests that Artorius’ standard was a large red dragon pennant (auxiliary forces did not use eagle standards), which is proposed as the origin of the Welsh epithet Pendragon
Pendragon
Pendragon or Pen Draig, meaning "head dragon" or "chief dragon" , is the name of several traditional Kings of the Britons:...
“Dragon Chief/Head” (alternately, "Leader of Warriors") in Arthurian literature.
According to both Malone and Littleton/Malcor, Artorius' alleged military exploits in Britain and Armorica could have been remembered for centuries afterward, thus generating the figure of Arthur among the Welsh, Cornish and Bretons. This is linked to the original theory of Littleton, Thomas and Malcor which suggests that the folk narratives and history associated with the Alano-Sarmatians settled in Western Europe formed the core of the Arthurian tradition (see below).
Problems with the identification
Neither of Artorius’ inscriptions from Podstrana mention command of any full legions (as proposed by Malcor, et al.), or establish his command of the VI Victrix (nor any numeri), nor do the inscriptions provide any evidence of command of, or association with, Sarmatians, or indicate anything about his standard.In the earliest descriptions of Arthur, he is not a king, but is rather a soldier, knight (miles in the medieval Latin of the Historia Brittonum) that acted as a dux bellorum (variant dux belli) or "commander of war(s)"; as also mentioned above, Artorius was assigned the title of dux legionum
Dux
Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....
, literally "leader of the legions", during a military expedition late in his career. However, unlike dux legionum, neither dux bellorum or dux belli were actual titles or ranks in the Roman Army; rather they were generic Latin phrases used to describe any leader of an army, Roman or otherwise (famous examples being the Biblical figure of Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
, who was called dux belli of the Israelites in the Latin Vulgate Bible, Hanno the Great
Hanno the Great
There were three leaders of ancient Carthage who were known as Hanno the Great, according to two historians . These figures they call for convenience: Hanno I the Great, Hanno II the Great, and Hanno III the Great...
, called the dux belli of Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
in Justin's Historiarum Philippicarum, and Saint Germanus of Auxerre
Germanus of Auxerre
Germanus of Auxerre was a bishop of Auxerre in Gaul. He is a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, commemorated on July 31. He visited Britain in around 429 and the records of this visit provide valuable information on the state of post-Roman British society...
, who was twice styled as dux belli by 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...
).
In the Historia Britonum
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...
, compiled shortly after AD 820, there is a list of twelve battles in which Arthur is stated to have been victorious. About three centuries later, 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...
in his History of the Kings of Britain, places these twelve battles in the north against barbarians. Based on the slimmest of evidence, seven of these battles have been matched by Malcor to battles Artorius could have fought in Britannia; but Artorius is not recorded as having fought in any known battles. Geoffrey also adds that Arthur fought a civil war, and twice took troops across the sea to Armorica
Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire rivers, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast...
, once to support the Roman emperor and once to deal with his own rebels. Depending on how one reads the phrase "adversus Arm[....]s" on the inscription from his sarcophagus, Artorius led British legions either in Armenia or in Armorica
Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire rivers, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast...
(according to Malcor's reconstruction of Artorius' biography, this was to help quell the bacaudic
Bagaudae
In the time of the later Roman Empire bagaudae were groups of peasant insurgents who emerged during the "Crisis of the Third Century", and persisted particularly in the less-Romanised areas of Gallia and Hispania, where they were "exposed to the depredations of the late Roman state, and the great...
rebellions taking place in Western Europe in the late 2nd century AD).
Medieval sources often place Arthur’s headquarters in Wales at Caerleon upon Usk
Caerleon
Caerleon is a suburban village and community, situated on the River Usk in the northern outskirts of the city of Newport, South Wales. Caerleon is a site of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hill fort...
, the "Fortress of Legions" (borrowed from Latin Castra Legionum). Though it may be purely coincidental, Eboracum
Eboracum
Eboracum was a fort and city in Roman Britain. The settlement evolved into York, located in North Yorkshire, England.-Etymology:The first known recorded mention of Eboracum by name is dated circa 95-104 AD and is an address containing the Latin form of the settlement's name, "Eburaci", on a wooden...
, in the Vale of York
Vale of York
The Vale of York is an area of flat land in the north-east of England. The vale is a major agricultural area and serves as the main north-south transport corridor for northern England....
, was sometimes referred to as Urbe Legionum or the "City of the Legion", and was the headquarters of the legio VI Victrix
Legio VI Victrix
Legio sexta Victrix was a Roman legion founded by Octavian in 41 BC. It was the twin legion of VI Ferrata and perhaps held veterans of that legion, and some soldiers kept to the traditions of the Caesarian legion....
.
Critics of the Artorius hypothesis would argue that the obscurity surrounding Artorius makes this identification unlikely, as there seems to be little reason for him to have become a major legendary figure. No Roman historical source actually mentions him, or his alleged exploits in Britain. Nor is there any clear evidence that he ever commanded Sarmatians.
Sarmatian hypothesis
In 1978, C. Scott LittletonC. Scott Littleton
Covington Scott Littleton was an American anthropologist and academic.Born in Los Angeles, he served in the Army during the Korean War. Littleton obtained his B.A. , M.A. , and Ph.D...
and Ann C. Thomas expanded on the ideas of Vasily Abaev
Vasily Abaev
Vaso Ivanovich Abaev was an ethnically Ossetian Soviet linguist specializing in Ossetian and Iranian linguistics. He was born in Kobi, Georgia, Russian Empire....
and Georges Dumezil
Georges Dumézil
Georges Dumézil was a French comparative philologist best known for his analysis of sovereignty and power in Proto-Indo-European religion and society...
and published their theory of a connection between the related Alan
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
and Sarmatian
Sarmatians
The Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....
peoples and the history and later legend of King Arthur. According to this theory, cavalry units left behind in the Roman departure from Britain during the early 5th century became the nucleus of an elite in Dark Age Britain which still preserved elements of Alano-Sarmatian mythology and culture. In 1994 Littleton and Linda A. Malcor
Linda A. Malcor
Linda Ann Malcor Ph.D is an American scholar of Arthurian legend. She is one of the proponents of the theory that states that the historical basis for King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were a 2nd-century Roman officer named Lucius Artorius Castus and Sarmatian auxiliary horsemen,...
further developed this theory, identifying the Roman officer Lucius Artorius Castus
Lucius Artorius Castus
Lucius Artorius Castus was a Roman military commander. A member of the gens Artoria , he has been suggested as a potential historical basis for King Arthur....
, who may have commanded Sarmatian auxiliaries in the 2nd century, as the original basis for Arthur.
The Alano-Sarmatians were steppe nomads from what is now southern Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, who fought from horseback with a kontos ('lance'), longsword and bow and carried a shield with a tamga marking, similar to heraldry. They wore scale armour and conical helms, and were known in the 2nd century for their skill as heavy cavalry. In 175, Marcus Aurelius, after defeating the Sarmatian Iazyges
Iazyges
The Iazyges were an ancient nomadic tribe. Known also as Jaxamatae, Ixibatai, Iazygite, Jászok, Ászi, they were a branch of the Sarmatian people who, c. 200 BC, swept westward from central Asia onto the steppes of what is now Ukraine...
tribe during the Marcomannic Wars
Marcomannic Wars
The Marcomannic Wars were a series of wars lasting over a dozen years from about AD 166 until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against the Marcomanni, Quadi and other Germanic peoples, along both sides of the upper and middle Danube...
, forcibly hired 8,000 Sarmatians into Roman service. 5,500 of these recruits were sent to the northern borders of Britain. The 5th century Notitia Dignitatum
Notitia Dignitatum
The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...
mentions a "Formation of Sarmatians" (Cuneus Sarmatarum; cunei were small auxiliary units in the late Empire) being present at Bremetennacum (Ribchester
Ribchester
Ribchester is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston.The village has a long history with evidence of Bronze Age beginnings...
), a location where earlier we find mention in inscriptions dating to the 3rd century AD of a "Wing of Sarmatians" (ala Sarmatarum) and a "Company of Sarmatian Horsemen" (numeri equitum Sarmatarum).
The culture of the Sarmatians has many similarities to the legends of Arthur. Apart from their skill as armoured knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
s, they held great, near religious, fondness for their swords — their tribal worship was directed at a sword sticking up from the ground, similar to the sword in the stone motif. They carried standards in the form of dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s, a symbol used by Arthur and his father 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...
according to the 12th century pseudo-history Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae 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...
. The Sarmatians also had shamans, which proponents have linked to Arthur's wizard Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
.
Proponents of the 'Sarmatian connection' theory also look to the legends of the Sarmatians' descendants for evidence. The Ossetians
Ossetians
The Ossetians are an Iranic ethnic group of the Caucasus Mountains, eponymous of the region known as Ossetia.They speak Ossetic, an Iranian language of the Eastern branch, with most also fluent in Russian as a second language....
, an Iranian people from Ossetia
Ossetia
Ossetia Ossetic: Ир, Ирыстон Ir, Iryston; Russian: Осетия, Osetiya; Georgian: ოსეთი, Oset'i) is an ethnolinguistic region located on both sides of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, largely inhabited by the Ossetians. The Ossetian language is part of the Eastern Iranian branch of the Indo-European...
, a country in the Caucasus, speak the Ossetic language
Ossetic language
Ossetian , also sometimes called Ossete, is an East Iranian language spoken in Ossetia, a region on the slopes of the Caucasus Mountains....
, the only Sarmatian language still spoken. The Ossetian Nart saga
Nart saga
The Nart sagas are a series of tales originating from the North Caucasus. They form the basic mythology of the tribes in the area, including Abazin, Abkhaz, Circassian, Ossetian, Karachay-Balkar and Chechen-Ingush folklore....
s, indigenous epics celebrating the exploits of an ancient tribe of heroes, contain a number of interesting parallels to the Arthurian legends. First, the life of the Nart warrior Batraz
Batraz
Batraz was the leader and greatest warrior of the mythical super-human race, the Narts. The Narts were the central figures of Sarmatian folklore. The character of Batraz may be connected to King Arthur.-The Narts:...
is tied to his sword, which must be thrown into the sea at his death. When the wounded Batraz asks his last surviving comrade to do the task for him, his companion tries to fool him twice before finally hurling the weapon into the sea. This is very similar to the tale of Arthur's wondrous sword Excalibur
Excalibur
Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was...
which had to be returned to the Lady of the Lake
Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake is the name of several related characters who play parts in the Arthurian legend. These characters' roles include giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father...
at his death by his last surviving knight, Bedivere
Bedivere
In Arthurian legend, Sir Bedivere is the Knight of the Round Table who returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. He serves as King Arthur's marshal and is frequently associated with Sir Kay...
. Like Batraz's friend, Bedivere is reluctant to lose such a wonderful sword and lies to his master twice before finally assenting. Additionally, the Nart heroes, Soslan and Sosryko, collect the beards of vanquished enemies to trim their cloaks, which is the practice of Arthur's enemy Rience
Rience
King Rience is a character from Arthurian legend, an enemy of King Arthur in the early years of his reign...
. Like Rience, Soslan has one last beard to obtain before his cloak is complete. Two other similar motifs are the Cup of the Narts ("Nartyamonga"), which appeared at feasts, delivered to each person what he liked best to eat, and which was kept by the bravest of the Narts ("Knights") - somewhat similar to the Arthurian Holy Grail; and the magical woman, dressed in white, associated with water, who helps the hero acquire his sword, similar to the Arthurian Lady of the Lake.
Critics of the Sarmatian hypothesis note that much of the parallels or similarities between Arthurian and Sarmatian tales only occur in writings dating from and after 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...
(Latin: Galfridus Monemutensis - thus the terms "pre-Galfridian" and post-Galfridian") published Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae 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...
, which was a seminal influence on succeeding Arthurian works. Despite proponents' claims of Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, the Sword in the Stone and the Grail as crucial Arthurian elements (and therefore relevant in investigating Arthur's historicity), there is no mention of these in pre-Galfridian tales of Arthur. There is also no mention of Excalibur, then called Caledfwlch, being returned to (and in the first place, acquired from) a body of water. Some of the strongest similarities of Arthurian and Sarmatian tales occur in Thomas Malory
Thomas Malory
Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur. The antiquary John Leland as well as John Bale believed him to be Welsh, but most modern scholars, beginning with G. L...
's Le Morte D'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory of Romance tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table...
, when Arthur and his warriors had already evolved into "knights in shining armor". Critics conclude that Sarmatian influence was limited to the post-Galfridian development of the tales instead of historical basis, if at all.
Riothamus
RiothamusRiothamus
Riothamus was a Romano-British military leader, who was active circa AD 470. He fought against the Goths in alliance with the declining Roman Empire. He is called "King of the Britons" by the 6th-Century historian Jordanes, but the extent of his realm is unclear...
(aka Rigothamus or Riotimus, apparently meaning Kingliest or "Great King" (from Brittonic *rigo- "king", plus the Brittonic superlative suffix -tamo-) was a historical figure whom ancient sources list as "a king of the Britons
King of the Britons
The Britons or Brythons were the Celtic-speaking people of what is now England, Wales and southern Scotland, whose ethnic identity is today maintained by the Welsh, Cornish and Bretons...
". He lived in the late 5th century, and most of the stories about him were recorded in the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
historian Jordanes
Jordanes
Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....
' The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, written in the mid-6th century, only about 80 years after his presumed death.
About 460, the Roman diplomat and bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
Sidonius Apollinaris
Sidonius Apollinaris
Gaius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius or Saint Sidonius Apollinaris was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul" according to Eric Goldberg...
sent a letter to Riothamus, asking his help to quell unrest among the Brettones, British colonists living in Armorica
Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire rivers, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast...
. This letter still survives.
In the year 470
470
Year 470 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Iordanes...
, the Western Emperor Anthemius
Anthemius
Procopius Anthemius was Western Roman Emperor from 467 to 472. Perhaps the last capable Western Roman Emperor, Anthemius attempted to solve the two primary military challenges facing the remains of the Western Roman Empire: the resurgent Visigoths, under Euric, whose domain straddled the Pyrenees;...
began a campaign against Euric
Euric
Euric, also known as Evaric, Erwig, or Eurico in Spanish and Portuguese , Son of Theodoric I and the younger brother of Theodoric II and ruled as king of the Visigoths, with his capital at Toulouse, from 466 until his death in 484.He inherited a large portion of the Visigothic possessions in the...
, king of the Visigoths who were campaigning outside their territory in Gaul. Anthemius requested help from Riothamus, and Jordanes writes that he crossed the ocean into Gaul with 12,000 warriors. The location of Riothamus’s army was betrayed to the Visigoths by the jealous praetorian prefect of Gaul, and Euric defeated him in a battle in Burgundy. Riothamus was last seen retreating near a town called Avallon
Avallon
Avallon is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in center-eastern France.-Geography:Avallon is located 50 km south-southeast of Auxerre, served by a branch of the Paris-Lyon railway and by exit 22 of the A6 motorway...
.
Geoffrey Ashe
Geoffrey Ashe
Geoffrey Ashe is a British cultural historian, a writer of non-fiction books and novels.-Early life:Born in London, Ashe spent several years in Canada growing up, graduating from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, before continuing at Cambridge.-Work:Many of his historical books are...
points out that, as above, Arthur is said by the early sources to have crossed into Gaul twice, once to help a Roman emperor and once to subdue a civil war. Assuming that Riothamus was a king in Britain as well as Armorica
Armorica
Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire rivers, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast...
, he did both. Arthur is also said to have been betrayed by one of his advisors, and Riothamus was betrayed by one of his supposed allies. Finally, it is well known how King Arthur was carried off to 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...
(which Geoffrey of Monmouth spells "Avallon") before he died; Riothamus, escaping death, was last known to have been in the vicinity of a town called Avallon.
It is unknown whether Riothamus was a king in Britain or of Armorica; as Armorica was a British colony and Jordanes writes that Riothamus "crossed the ocean", it is possible both are correct. The name Riothamus has been interpreted by some as a title "High King", though there is no evidence for such a title being used by ancient Britons or Gauls and the formation of the name (noun/adjective + superlative -tamo- suffix) follows a pattern found in numerous other Brittonic and Gaulish personal names (for example, Old Breton/Welsh Cunatam/Cunotami/Condam/Cyndaf [Brittonic *Cunotamos "Great Dog"], Old Welsh Caurdaf [Brittonic *Cauarotamos "Great Giant"], Old Welsh/Breton Eudaf/Outham [Brittonic *Auitamos "Great Will/Desire"], Uuoratam/Gwrdaf [Brittonic *Uortamos "Supreme"], Old Breton Rumatam [Brittonic *Roimmotamos "Great Band/Host"], Gwyndaf [Brittonic *Uindotamos "Fairest/Whitest/Holiest One"], Breton Uuentamau [Brittonic *Uenutamaua: "Friendliest or *Uendutamaua: "Little Fairest/Whitest/Holiest (One)"]).
Cognates of the name Riothamus survive in Old Welsh (Riatav/Riadaf) and Old Breton (Riatam).
Ambrosius Aurelianus
Ambrosius AurelianusAmbrosius 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...
(also sometimes referred to as Aurelius Ambrosius) was a powerful Romano-British
Romano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...
leader in Britain. He was renowned for his campaigns against the Saxons, and there is some speculation that he may have commanded the British forces at the Battle of Badon Hill. At any rate, the battle was a clear continuation of his efforts.
According to Gildas
Gildas
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...
(an early British historian and priest who may have been born during Aurelianus’ lifetime) in his sermon, On the Ruin of Britain, following a massive Saxon invasion, Aurelianus was the only person who stayed calm, despite the fact that his parents and most other Roman settlers had been killed in the attacks. Subsequently, Aurelianus became leader of the remaining British (according to the Major Chronicle Annals, he rose to power in 479
479
Year 479 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Zeno without colleague...
), organised them, and led them in their first victory against the Saxons, although subsequent battles went both ways. Gildas also writes that Aurelianus’ parents "wore the purple", and thus were apparently descended from Roman emperors. The Aurelii were a noted Roman senatorial
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
family, and it is possible that Ambrosius was descended from them.
The date of the Battle of Badon Hill is uncertain, with most scholars accepting a date around 500
500
Year 500 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Patricius and Hypatius...
. The location of the battle is unknown, though locations have been proposed over the years, including southwest England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, perhaps near the city of Bath or the nearby Solsbury Hill
Solsbury Hill
Little Solsbury Hill is a small flat-topped hill and the site of an Iron Age hill fort. It is located above the village of Batheaston in Somerset, England. The hill rises to above the River Avon which is just over to the south. It is within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, where an ancient hill fort existed, and somewhere to the north, in or near modern Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Badon Hill was fought between the British and the invading Saxons, believed to have been the South Saxons
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
under their Bretanwealda ("Lord of Britain", also spelled Bretwalda) Aelle
Aelle of Sussex
Ælle is recorded in early sources as the first king of the South Saxons, reigning in what is now called Sussex, England, from 477 to perhaps as late as 514....
, reigned 477
477
Year 477 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year after the Consulship of Basiliscus and Armatus...
-514
514
Year 514 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cassiodorus without colleague...
. The Saxons were utterly defeated by the British (it is theorised that Aelle may have died in the battle), and did not again attack the Celts until 571
571
Year 571 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 571 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Religion :* The Monophysites again reject the...
; even by the 590s the Celts were still inflicting large defeats on the Saxon kingdoms, leaving a final "golden age" for Celtic civilisation in Britain.
Gildas fails to name the commander at Badon but he refers to one of his contemporary "fetter kings" as having been "charioteer to the bear". Owing to a possible mistranslation of a word from Gildas, describing Aurelianus as either the "ancestor" or the "grandfather" of his descendants of Gildas’ generation, it is possible that Aurelianus lived in the generation before the Battle of Badon.
Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain also states that Arthur led the forces at Badon; on the other hand, Geoffrey is notoriously unreliable and much of what he writes is incompatible with factual history. However, Geoffrey makes Aurelianus (whom he calls Aurelius Ambrosius) a king of Britain, an older brother of 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...
, the father of King Arthur, thus relating Aurelianus and Arthur. He also states that Aurelianus was the son of a Breton ruler named Constantinus, brother of Aldroenus.
Artognou and the "Arthur Stone"
Artognou was an inhabitant of 6th century TintagelTintagel
Tintagel is a civil parish and village situated on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The population of the parish is 1,820 people, and the area of the parish is ....
. He is known only from archaeology
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...
. A piece of slate bearing his name, and since (erroneously) dubbed the 'Arthur stone
Arthur stone
The Artognou stone, sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Arthur stone, is an archaeological artifact uncovered in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was discovered in 1998 in securely dated sixth-century contexts among the ruins at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, a secular, high status...
', was discovered during excavations of the 6th century layers under Tintagel Castle
Tintagel Castle
Tintagel Castle is a medieval fortification located on the peninsula of Tintagel Island, adjacent to the village of Tintagel in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The site was possibly occupied in the Romano-British period, due to an array of artefacts dating to this period which have been found on the...
. It was apparently a practice inscription for a dedicatory plaque within the structure of a building or other edifice. The Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
inscription reads "PATERN[--] COLI AVI FICIT ARTOGNOU COL[I] FICIT" and has been translated as "Artognou descendant of Patern[us] Colus made (this). Colus made (this)". Artognou was the Late Brittonic form of a name that would later be rendered as Arthnou in Old 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...
and Artnou in Old Breton
Breton language
Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as...
, meaning "Bear-knowing" or "Famous/Well Known Bear" (from Brittonic *arto- "bear" and *gnāwo- "knowing"; compare Modern Welsh arth "bear" and gno "evident, clear, manifest, well known"). The initial element, arth "bear", was very common one in Celtic personal names. From the same area, pieces of expensive 6th century Mediterranean pottery have been excavated, showing that this high-status site was controlled by a rich and powerful noble with trade links with distant civilizations. According to 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...
and subsequent medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
writers, King Arthur was conceived at Tintagel, though it is likely a coincidence that we find a man with a similar-looking name such as Artognou living here.
Artúr mac Áedáin and others
Though he was the eldest son of Áedán mac GabráinÁedán mac Gabráin
Áedán mac Gabráin was a king of Dál Riata from circa 574 until his death, perhaps on 17 April 609. The kingdom of Dál Riata was situated in modern Argyll and Bute, Scotland, and parts of County Antrim, Ireland...
, Artúr mac Áedáin never became king of Dál Riata; his brother Eochaid Buide
Eochaid Buide
Eochaid Buide was king of Dál Riata from around 608 until 629. "Buide" refers to the colour yellow, as in the colour of his hair.He was a younger son of Áedán mac Gabráin and became his father's chosen heir upon the death of his elder brothers...
ruled after his father's death. However, when Áedán gave up his role and retired to monastic life, Artúr became war leader, though Áedán was officially still king. Thus it was Artúr who led the Scotti of Dál Riata
Dál Riata
Dál Riata was a Gaelic overkingdom on the western coast of Scotland with some territory on the northeast coast of Ireland...
in a war against the Picts, separate from the later war with Northumbria. By this theory, Artúr was predominantly active in the region between the Roman walls — the Kingdom of the Gododdin
Gododdin
The Gododdin were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britain in the sub-Roman period, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North...
. He was ultimately killed in battle in 582. This is the solution proposed by Michael Wood.
It should be noted that the name Artúr is frequently attested in southern Scotland and northern England in the 7th and 8th centuries. For example, Artúr mac Conaing, who may have been named after his uncle Artúr mac Áedáin. Artúr son of Bicoir Britone, was another 'Arthur' reported in this period, who slew Morgan mac Fiachna of Ulster in 620/625 in Kintyre. A Feradach, apparently the grandson of an 'Artuir', was a signatory at the synod that enacted the Law of Adomnan in 697. Arthur ap Pedr was a prince in Dyfed
Dyfed
Dyfed is a preserved county of Wales. It was created on 1 April 1974 under the terms of the Local Government Act 1972, and covered approximately the same geographic extent as the ancient Principality of Deheubarth, although excluding the Gower Peninsula and the area west of the River Tawe...
, born around 570–580.
Given the popularity of this name at the time, it is likely that Artúr and the others were named for a figure who was already established in folklore by that time. Additionally, Artúr lived somewhat later than the time frame generally associated with a hypothetical historical Arthur. He was part of the generation born after the Battle of Mons Badonicus
Battle of Mons Badonicus
The Battle of Mons Badonicus was a battle between a force of Britons and an Anglo-Saxon army, probably sometime between 490 and 517 AD. Though it is believed to have been a major political and military event, there is no certainty about its date, location or the details of the fighting...
, one of the key events often associated with a 'historical' Arthur.
No historical basis
Some modern historians have suggested that Arthur had no historical basis, and was instead a mythological or folklore figure who was historicised over time. These historians point to the lack of hard evidence for a historical Arthur. Arthur is not mentioned in the writings of 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...
, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 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 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...
, or any other surviving manuscript dating between the 5th century and around 820. Later sources that do mention Arthur, such as the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae
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...
, contain very little about a historical king or leader named Arthur. Historian Thomas Charles-Edwards
Thomas Charles-Edwards
Thomas Mowbray Charles-Edwards FRHistS FLSW FBA is an academic at Oxford University. He holds the post of Jesus Professor of Celtic and is a Professorial Fellow at Jesus College....
noted this lack of evidence, saying that "at this stage of the enquiry, one can only say that there may well have been an historical Arthur [but …] the historian can as yet say nothing of value about him". Recent scholarship has further questioned the reliability of the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae. Historian David Dumville
David Dumville
Professor David Norman Dumville is a British medievalist and Celtic scholar. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Ludwig-Maximilian Universität, Munich, and received his PhD. at the University of Edinburgh in 1976. In 1974, he married Sally Lois Hannay, with whom he had one son...
summed up the position that Arthur was not a historical figure, saying, "I think we can dispose of him [Arthur] quite briefly. He owes his place in our history books to a 'no smoke without fire' school of thought ... The fact of the matter is that there is no historical evidence about Arthur; we must reject him from our histories and, above all, from the titles of our books." Some scholars who hold this position note that other mythological figures have become historicised; one suggestion is that Hengest
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 were originally Kentish
Kingdom of Kent
The Kingdom of Kent was a Jutish colony and later independent kingdom in what is now south east England. It was founded at an unknown date in the 5th century by Jutes, members of a Germanic people from continental Europe, some of whom settled in Britain after the withdrawal of the Romans...
totemic horse-gods, ascribed a historical role by Bede.
See also
- LloegyrLloegyrLloegyr is the medieval Welsh name for that part of Britain south and east of a line extending from the Humber Estuary to the Severn Estuary, exclusive of Cornwall and Devon...
(historical basis for Logres) - End of Roman rule in Britain
- Sites and places associated with Arthurian legendSites and places associated with Arthurian legendThe following is a list and assessment of sites and places associated with King Arthur and the Arthurian legend in general. Given the lack of concrete historical knowledge about one of the most potent figures in British mythology, it is unlikely that any definitive conclusions about the claims for...
- Wales in the Early Middle AgesWales in the Early Middle AgesThe history of Wales in the early Middle Ages is sketchy, as there is very little written history from the period. Nonetheless, some information may be gleaned from archaeological evidence and what documentary history does exist.-Sub-Roman Britain :...
Literature
- Geoffrey Ashe. (1985). The Discovery of King Arthur.
- Mike Ashley. (2005). The Mammoth Book of King Arthur. ISBN 1-84119-249-X
- Barber, Chris & Pykitt, David. (1993). Journey to Avalon.
- Baram Blackett & Alan Wilson. (1986) Artorius Rex Discovered.
- David N. DumvilleDavid DumvilleProfessor David Norman Dumville is a British medievalist and Celtic scholar. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Ludwig-Maximilian Universität, Munich, and received his PhD. at the University of Edinburgh in 1976. In 1974, he married Sally Lois Hannay, with whom he had one son...
. (1977). 'Sub-Roman Britain: History and Legend' in History 62. - Adrian Gilbert, Baram Blackett & Alan Wilson. (1998). The Holy Kingdom
- C. Scott LittletonC. Scott LittletonCovington Scott Littleton was an American anthropologist and academic.Born in Los Angeles, he served in the Army during the Korean War. Littleton obtained his B.A. , M.A. , and Ph.D...
& Linda A. MalcorLinda A. MalcorLinda Ann Malcor Ph.D is an American scholar of Arthurian legend. She is one of the proponents of the theory that states that the historical basis for King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were a 2nd-century Roman officer named Lucius Artorius Castus and Sarmatian auxiliary horsemen,...
. (1994). From Scythia to Camelot. - Kemp Mallone. (1925). 'Artorius' in Modern Philology 22.
- Graham Phillips & Martin Keatman. (1992). King Arthur: The True Story.