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Plantagenet kings who reigned during the Middle Ages. By linking himself to the mythical dynasty
of ancient British kings he was seeking to justify his attempts to become sovereign of the whole of
Britain. Twenty years after Glastonbury, he argued in the papal court in Rome that his descent from
Arthur and a long line of ancient British kings gave the English crown rights over Scotland and had
been ample justification for his military campaigns. His great-grandfather, Henry II, had done a
similar thing when he arranged for Arthur’s remains at Glastonbury to be ‘discovered’. His
grandson Edward III showed his enthusiasm for the myth in 1348 by instigating his own version of
the Arthurian Knights of the Round Table: the Order of the Garter, a select company of twenty-four
grandees that still continues today. It is no coincidence that Prince Charles, the current heir to the
throne, was christened Arthur among his many names.
The origin of the myth itself was a quite brilliant work of creative imagination by a Welsh
cleric, Geoffrey of Monmouth, writing in 1138. The History of the Kings of Britain has everything
an origin myth should have. It is full of heroic deeds, terrible battles, black treachery, and is woven
with just enough threads of authenticity to be taken seriously. It even had its own mysterious source
– a book (never discovered) ‘written in the British language which told of the lives of the ancient
British Kings from Brutus, the first, to Cadwallader, the last’, given to Geoffrey by a mysterious
archdeacon, named Walter, in Oxford where he wrote the History.
It is hard for us, in retrospect and living in a world where most mythologies, or so we like to
think, require at least a semblance of supporting evidence, to believe that Geoffrey’s History
should have been taken quite so literally. But what gave the History such an enduring influence,
apart from its use for political advantage, was that woven into the improbable narrative and sheer
fantasy were crumbs of credible historical fact. It was very specific about the tide of events and
enjoyed huge popularity because of its enthusiastic endorsement by a succession of royal dynasties.
It became, quite literally, a medieval bestseller, and as its popularity increased, so the myth it
created slowly transubstantiated into objective truth. It was believed every bit as much as the
Greeks were certain of their Olympian pantheon of Zeus, Apollo, Athena and Poseidon.
Geoffrey begins his History with a description:
Britain, best of Islands, formerly called Albion is situated in the Western Ocean, between
Gaul and Ireland. It is in length 800 miles, in breadth 200 and is inexhaustible in every
production necessary to the use of man. For it has mines of all kinds, the plains are
numerous and extensive, the hills high and bold and the soil well adapted to tillage, yields
its fruits of every species in their season. The woods abound with a variety of animals and
afford pasturage for cattle, and flowers of many lines, from which the eager bees collect
their honey. At the bases of their mountains that tower to the skies are green meads,
delightfully situated, through which the pure streams flow from their fountains in gentle
soothing murmurs. Fish also live in abundance in the lakes and rivers and in the surrounding
sea. It is inhabited by five different nations, Britons, Saxons, Romans, Picts and Celts. Of
these the Britons formerly, and prior to the rest, possessed the country from sea to sea until
divine vengeance because of their pride, they gave place to the Pictish and Saxon invaders.
In what manner and whence they came will more fully appear in what follows.
According to the History, the very first inhabitants of Britain were a race of giants under