U3A engrossed by legend of King Arthur
| HISTORY AND MYTH: Professor Graham Wright (left), seen here with U3A chairwoman Tricia Border, was the guest speaker at the U3A meeting last week Picture: JON HOUZET |
Speaker, Professor Graham Wright’s field of expertise is medical education, but British history, and in particular the legend of King Arthur, is one of his passions.
Wright, who hails originally from Liverpool, has toured the historical sites with connections to the legend, including Stonehenge, Winchester Castle and Glastonbury, and had some interesting slides to accompany his presentation.
He said he personally believed there was a real person, a warrior, on which King Arthur was based.
Arthur is depicted in a stained glass window in the Great Hall at Winchester Castle, dating to the 12th century. Also in the Great Hall is a replica of the legendary Round Table, which has hung on the wall since at least 1463.
"He was written into history,” said Wright. "He is officially one of the kings.”
Many groups have laid claim to the legend throughout history and added their own embellishments, including the Druids, troubadours, Normans and British monarchs since 1066.
In the work by the 6th century British cleric Gildas, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain), he refers to and the Britons' victory against the at the in 482 AD.
This Aurelius, also known as Ambrosius Aurelianus, was a Romano-Briton war leader and the earliest historical figure to which the legends of Merlin, Uther Pendragon and his son Arthur can be traced.
The , circa 830 AD, describes Ambrosius Aurelianus as "".
But Wright pointed out the Historia Brittonum blended superstition with fact, including stories about dragons.
It formed the basis for what Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote as the legend of King Arthur in his Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain).
Many elements and incidents that are now an integral part of the Arthurian story appear in Geoffrey's Historia, including Arthur's father , the wizard , Arthur's wife , the sword , Arthur's conception at , his final battle against at and final rest in .
It is thought Geoffrey started writing his history in 1132. He had several successive royal patrons, each with a motive in having the history written.
"It became the standard text on British history for the next 600 years,” said Wright. "It was accepted as truth, but it was mostly made up.”
He said one of Geoffrey’s motives in writing was to provide the British people with an honourable early history which they lacked, but which the English and French were amassing on a vast scale.
The Normans, for their part, wanted a connection to King Arthur, who takes up half the book.
In the centuries that followed, other royals have paid homage to the legend.
In 1190, the monks of Glastonbury Abbey announced an incredible discovery. They said King Henry II, who died the previous year, had informed them of a long-kept secret of the royal family: Arthur’s remains were buried in the churchyard of St Dunstan in Glastonbury.
King Henry II interred the ancient bones and men and women flocked to Glastonbury from the surrounding regions. Glastonbury soon became wealthy from the offerings and alms given by those who made the pilgrimage, and few questioned the authenticity of the find.
In 1278 King Edward I re-interred what was believed to be Arthur and Guinevere’s remains in a black marble tomb, symbolically aligning his reign with that of England’s most famous hero.
Edward III promoted the legend of the Round Table. He founded the Order of the Garter, with the intention of reinstating knights, chivalry and 24 places at the table.
Henry VIII also sought to assert his kingship and proclaim his own ties to Arthur by having his likeness painted on the image of the king on the round table at Winchester Castle in 1522.
The importance of a royal connection to Arthur is evident even today by the inclusion of the name Arthur among the names of both Prince Charles and his eldest son Prince William.
"The troubadours brought the legends of chivalry, including Robin Hood, which existed in France before coming to Britain,” said Wright. "The Romans had their own stories, and the British monarchs since 1066 have kept the legend alive.”
A search was soon commissioned and a massive oak trunk was unearthed. Inside were two human skeletons and an archaic lead cross was found nearby, with the inscription "Hic jacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurus in insula Avalonia" ("Here lies interred the famous King Arthur on the Isle of Avalon").
