THE ARTHURIAN TAPESTRY

The Diffusion of the Arthurian Legend in the Middle Ages

RomanBritain

1st-5th c.

1st-4th Century: Historical Antecedents

184: Lucius Artorius Castus, commander of a Roman detachment led his troops from Britain into Gaul to quell a rebellion -- 1st appearance of name Artorius in history

383: Magnus Maxim's (Macsen Wledig) was proclaimed Emperor in Britain by the Roman garrison there -- conquered Gaul, Spain and Italy, but was defeatedby Theodosius the Eastern Emperor in 388. Huge loss of Roman troops for Britain.

5th Century: Historical Background

402: Roman troops were recalled from Britain to defend Italy against Alaric and Visigoths

406-7: The Roman army in Britain elected a series of usurping Emperors: Marcus,Gratian and Constantine III

407: Constantine III withdrew remaining Roman legion to rally support in Gaul: “the end of the Roman Empire in Britain.”

5th Century: Celtic Disarray

408: Devastating attacks by Picts, Scots and Saxons led Britain to declare “independence” from Rome in 410.

440-450: Civil war and famine in Britain. Country divided along factional lines

445: Vortigen authorized use of Saxon mercenaries against Scots and Picts

450: adventus Saxonum: Hengest arrived with 3 ships of warriors. Saxons increased settlements.

5th Century: The Historical Arthur

458-60: Migration of British aristocrats across the Channel to Brittany

460-70: Ambrosius Aurelianus led Britons in containing Saxon settlement -- assumed High-kingship of Britain

485-96: Period of Arthur’s “twelve battles” according to Nennius

c. 496: Ambrosius and Arthur dux bellorum defeated Saxons at Mt. Badon. A generation of peace ensued

5th CenturyInvasions and Migrations

5th-7th Century: Welsh TextsAnnales Cambriae: Welsh chronicle entries,

10th c. mss: c.516: “The Battle of Badon in which

Arthur carried the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shield and the Britons were the victors.”

c.537: “The Strife of Camlann in which Arthur and Medraut perished.”

mirabilia give Arthur a son, Anir, and a dog, Cabal.

Welsh Triads composed (survive in 13th c. mss.)

5th-7th Century: Celtic Texts

5th-6th c: Celtic noblemen named their sons Arthur.

Gildas:De Excidio: c. 540, chronicles internecine strife amongst British Kings and mentions the Seige of Mt. Badon

Aneirin:Gododdin: c. 600, used phrase"ceni bei ef Arthur"-"but he was no Arthur" to describe a great warrior

9th-10th Century:The Legend Grows

Nennius:Historia Brittonum, c.830 Lists 12 battles

with Anglo-Saxons

Mentions Arthur, dux bellorum.

Annales Cambriae compiled, c.970

11th Century: MSS. Versions of Older

Welsh Oral Tales Mabinogion, four branches

collected c. 1050Culhwch ac Olwen, final version

appears in writing, c. 1100Arthur becomes the king of a

band of adventure-seeking heroes with marvellous powers and gains a queen, Gwenhyfar

11th Century: Abduction of Guinevere Archivolt of Modena Cathedral, Italy

Unnamedknight Ider

Arthur

Durmart

Winlogee(Guinevere)

MardocCaradocGawain

Galeron

Kay

Arthur rescues the abducted Guinevere

11th Century:Saints’ Lives

Legend of S.t. Goeznovius, c. 1019: Breton legend which mentions Arthur and calls him the King of the Britons

c. 1090: Professional hagiographers wrote various saints’ lives which mention Arthur and his exploits, usually in unflattering terms Caradoc: Life of Gildas:

Latin/Welsh St. Padarm, St. Cadog, St.

Iltud, St. Carannog

12th Century: British Historians

William of Malmesbury: c.1125: Gesta Regum Anglorum (Deeds of the

English Kings) c. 1129: De Antiquitate Glastoniensis

Ecclesiaea (a history of Glastonbury Abbey)Geoffrey of Monmouth:

c.1136: Historia Regum Brittaniae.(History of the Kings of Britain)

c.1150: Vita Merlinei (The Life of Merlin) Wace:Roman de Brut, c. 1155, Anglo-Norman

(French) translation of GeoffreyLazamon: Brut, c. 1190, Anglo-Saxon (English)

translation of Geoffrey

William of Malmesburycalls Arthurian

legends "fabulous lies” but says Arthur should be recognized as “one who long sustained his tottering country and gave the shattered minds of his fellow citizens an edge for war.”

Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia

One of the greatest works of medieval fiction which was accepted as history for 600 years

British foundation myth Created a hero-king

whose vast empire reflected Norman ambitions

Captured latest fashions in courtly behaviour

Wildly popular in original Latin version and as the basis for other chroniclers and romance writers

Geoffrey gave Arthur a

father, Uther Pendragon, a

mother, Igerne, and a sister, Anna

He elaborated

the story of Arthur’s

begetting, birth and

surrender to Merlin

Camelot

And told of the death

of Arthur in battle with Mordred

Wace, Roman de BrutAnglo-Norman translation of Geoffrey,

dedicated to Eleanor of Aquitaine, introduced the Round Table

Lazamon’s Brut Anglo-Saxon translation of

Geoffrey: first English

appearance of Arthur

Glastonbury 1184: Fire ravages Glastonbury Abbey, destroying the

Old Church 1190: Digging at a spot described by a bard, monks

claimed to discover the grave of Arthur and Guinevere between two markers at Glastonbury Abbey: “At seven feet down, they found a stone slab with an inset lead cross; at 16 feet down they found a hollowed out log that contained the skeletal remains of an exceptionally large man and a delicate woman.”

Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) 1192-3: “Liber de Principes Instructione” reported

the finding of Arthur’s grave 1216: “Speculum Ecclesiae” again recounted the

discovery 1278: Edward I and Queen Eleanor officially reburied

the remains of Arthur and Guenevere. Edward proclaimed his son, Edward, the Prince of Wales.

HIC IACIT SEPVLTVS

INCLITVS REX ARTHVRIVS, IN INSVLA AVALONIA:

“Here lies entombed the renowned King Arthur on the Isle

of Avalon."

12th Century: French

Romances

Marie de France: Lais, Anglo-Norman, c.1160-80“Chevrefueil”“Lanval”

Chretien de Troyes: 5 Arthurian romances: Erec et Enide, Cliges, Lancelot, Yvain, Perceval, c. 1160-90 + four continuations by others

Beroul, Roman de Tristan, c. 1170-90

Thomas d’Angleterre, Tristan, Anglo-Norman, c. 1175

The Lais of Marie de France

Breton troubadour influence

Courtliness and magic

Investigations into the intricacies of love and honor

Explore questions of sovereignty in relationships

Chretien de Troyes

Attached to the Court at Champagne, under the patronage of Countess Marie de Champagne, daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII of France

Chretien de Troyes

First to depict the

Round Table as center of

chivalry and to name

Camelot as Arthur’s capital.

Morgan la Fee appears as Arthur’s sister

and a famed healer

The Knight of the Cart, or Lancelot

Introduced the French knight, Lancelot and the concept of amour courtois (courtly love)

into Arthurian romance

Lancelot becomes

the queen’s champio

n, protector

, and lover

Perceval: The Story of the Grail

First Grail RomanceGrail not here

associated with the cup of the Last Supper or the cup used to catch Christ’s blood

A symbol of beauty and mystery, but not of religious devotion

The Celtic Tale of

Tristan and Isolt

becomes attached to

the Arthurian

legend

Tristan and Isolt

French:Beroul, Roman de TristanandThomas d’Angleterre, Tristan

German:Eilhart von Oberge, Tristan

The love triangle of

Tristan-Isolt-Mark

parallels that of Lancelot-

Guinevere-Arthur

12th Century: The Spread of

RomanceHartmann

von Aue, Erek and Iwein, German, c.1195-1205

Ulrich Von Zatzihoven Lanzelet, Swiss, c.1194-1203

Chivalry

Chivalry was a peculiarity of the practice of war in medieval Europe.

The feudal knight was supposed to be devout, honest, selfless, just, brave, honorable, obedient, kind, charitable, generous, and kind to women.

complex rituals and rules

Courtly Love

Humility

Courtesy

Adultery

The Religion of LoveC.S. Lewis

The "rules" for this game

Worship of the chosen lady

Declaration of passionate devotion

Virtuous rejection by the lady

Renewed wooing with oaths of eternal fealty

Moans of unsatisfied desire

Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's heart

Consummation of the secret love

Endless adventures and subterfuges

Tragic end

13th Century: Welsh Romances

The Black Book of Carmarthen: Geraint son of Erbin and Merlin poems, c. 1250

Mabinogion: final version, c. 1250Geraint and EnidPeredurOwein

13th Century: German

Romances

Wirnt von Gravenberg:Wigalois, c. 1204-10

Wolfram von Eschenbach:Parzival, c. 1204-12, “the greatest medieval German romance” (Wagner’s Parsifal)

Gottfried von Strassburg:Tristan und Isolt, c. 1210 (Wagner’s Tristan)

Arthurian tales appear in Austria, Scandinavia, and Holland

13th-14th Century:French Grail Romances

Robert de Boron, Joseph d’Arimathie and Merlin, c.1202-12

Didot Perceval: Perceval le Gallois ou le Conte du Graal, c.1210-20

Vulgate prose cycle: French Cistercian retelling of Estoire del Saint Graal, Estoire de Merlin, Lancelot du Lac, Queste del Saint Graal, and Mort Artu, c. 1215-30

Roman Du Graal and Lancelot Cycle: variant versions of the Vulgate Cycle, c. 1230-1320

Cistercian Spirituality

Transforms the grail into “the Holy Grail” -- the cup in which Joseph of Arimathea caught the blood dripping from Jesus’ wounds

Claims that Joseph of Arimathea brought the grail to Britain

Grail quests become the central activity of the Arthurian knights, especially Gawain, Perceval, and Lancelot: none of whom can achieve the grail because of their impurities.

Introduction of Galahad, son of Sir

Lancelot and the maiden Elaine, who, because of his purity is able

to attain “The Holy Grail”

Morgan la Fee

becomes a sorceress and

enemy to Arthur’s court,

especially to Guenevere

Emphasis placed on the fallen nature of Camelot, especially on

the treasonous adultery of Guenevere and Lancelot

14th Century:Emergence of

English Arthurian Romance

Alliterative Morte Arthur, c. 1360Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight, c.1390

Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” c.1392-94

Stanzaic Mort Artu, c. 1400Various anonymous English

romances,14th-15th c.

15th Century: Sir Thomas Malory,

Morte Darthur Ultimate compilation of the Arthurian legend Composed in early Modern English prose in

the 1460s during the Wars of the Roses, probably while Malory was in prison

Sources include the French Vulgate and Grail cycles, Layamon’s Brut, the English Mort Artu and Morte Arthur, and Welsh tales

Scholarly controversy over “hoole book” or eight separate, but related tales.

First masterpiece of English prose

Arthur’s Family in Malory

Gorlois (1 Igrayne 2) Uther PendragonDuke of King of Britain

Cornwall

Uriens Morgan Lot Morgawse Arthur Gwenhwyfar Lancelot Elayne King of King of King of Britain Rheged Orkney

Uwaine Gawain Aggravaine Gareth Gaheris Mordred Galahad

Part One:

“The Coming ofArthur and theRound Table”

The Sword in the Stone

Merlinand

Niniane

The Lady of the Lake

and Excalibur

Arthur and the Giant

Part Two:Arthur’s War Against theEnperorLucius

Part Three: Sir Lancelot du Lake

Part Four:Sir Gareth of Orkney

Part Five

Sir Tristamof Lyoness

Part SixThe Quest of

the Grail

Part SevenLancelotand Guenivere

Arthur on the Wheel of Fortune

Part Eight:The Deathof King Arthur