Deeds of the English Kings
(De Regum Gestis Anglorum)
(De Regum Gestis Anglorum)
I want to spend a moment on William of Malmesbury's Deeds of the English Kings before we circle back to Geoffrey of Monmouth's Prophesies of Merlin, his HRB (which we covered in the 1st lesson), and his Life of Merlin. This is part of the chronicle tradition, much like the other historian monks like Bede, Gildas, and even Nennius and only has a couple of brief mentions of Arthur. It is relevant in a few minor ways (in regards to Arthur) but I also just want to wrap up the important works prior to Geoffrey of Monmouth. I do not feel that you need to purchase any text or pre-read any of it as the pertinent sections can easily be read in a few minutes while you read this. It can be found here: Deeds of the English Kings. (page 11-12, and page 315).
William was a monk at Malmesbury Abbey, in Wiltshire England around the mid 12th century. As an admirer of the Venerable Bede, William sought to create his own historical chronicle which was realized in his Regum and covered the years 449-1120. William became a prolific and detailed historian and is still admired by many scholars today. He was known for his attention to detail and was much more grounded in fact than the more popular and influential Geoffrey of Monmouth, who was his contemporary.
In this work, Arthur is only mentioned in two places. Early on we see the standard chronicle with Vortigern, and then Hengist and Horsa, followed by Vortimer who rejected the Saxons. However, there is a small difference here, Ambrosious, Arthur's uncle, is still alive, and Arthur is helping him.
"...had not Ambrosius, the sole survivor of the Romans, who became monarch after Vortigern, quelled the presumptuous barbarians by the powerful aid of warlike Arthur. It is of this Arthur that the Britons fondly tell so many fables, even to the present day ; a man worthy to be celebrated, not by idle fictions, but by authentic history. He long upheld the sinking state, and roused the broken spirit of his countrymen to war. Finally, at the siege of Mount Badon,* relying on an image of the Virgin, which he had affixed to his armour, he engaged nine hundred of the enemy, single-handed, and dispersed them with incredible slaughter."
You will notice 2 things in this passage; the first is that William acknowledges that fables about Arthur were still going strong in the 12th century; The second is that William firmly believed Arthur was a real man behind the fables.
The other place Arthur is mentioned is near the midpoint of the book where it states the location of Walwin's (Gawain's) grave, it also mentions that there is no known grave for Arthur. "The sepulchre of Arthur is no where to be seen, whence ancient ballads fable that he is still to come." The passage also shows some interesting ideas on Gawain's death. "...he was wounded by his enemies, and suffered shipwreck ; others say, he was killed by his subjects at a public entertainment..."
As a conclusion to today's discussion, here are the main points to take away:
William was a monk at Malmesbury Abbey, in Wiltshire England around the mid 12th century. As an admirer of the Venerable Bede, William sought to create his own historical chronicle which was realized in his Regum and covered the years 449-1120. William became a prolific and detailed historian and is still admired by many scholars today. He was known for his attention to detail and was much more grounded in fact than the more popular and influential Geoffrey of Monmouth, who was his contemporary.
In this work, Arthur is only mentioned in two places. Early on we see the standard chronicle with Vortigern, and then Hengist and Horsa, followed by Vortimer who rejected the Saxons. However, there is a small difference here, Ambrosious, Arthur's uncle, is still alive, and Arthur is helping him.
"...had not Ambrosius, the sole survivor of the Romans, who became monarch after Vortigern, quelled the presumptuous barbarians by the powerful aid of warlike Arthur. It is of this Arthur that the Britons fondly tell so many fables, even to the present day ; a man worthy to be celebrated, not by idle fictions, but by authentic history. He long upheld the sinking state, and roused the broken spirit of his countrymen to war. Finally, at the siege of Mount Badon,* relying on an image of the Virgin, which he had affixed to his armour, he engaged nine hundred of the enemy, single-handed, and dispersed them with incredible slaughter."
You will notice 2 things in this passage; the first is that William acknowledges that fables about Arthur were still going strong in the 12th century; The second is that William firmly believed Arthur was a real man behind the fables.
The other place Arthur is mentioned is near the midpoint of the book where it states the location of Walwin's (Gawain's) grave, it also mentions that there is no known grave for Arthur. "The sepulchre of Arthur is no where to be seen, whence ancient ballads fable that he is still to come." The passage also shows some interesting ideas on Gawain's death. "...he was wounded by his enemies, and suffered shipwreck ; others say, he was killed by his subjects at a public entertainment..."
As a conclusion to today's discussion, here are the main points to take away:
- William believed Arthur and Gawain to be real figures, not folklore.
- There was a strong fable tradition of Arthur by this point.
Thank you for reading! I look forward to bringing us back to Geoffrey of Monmouth with our next lesson. I will post an announcement and link to purchase a book soon. Thanks again!
Joe
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