Geoffrey of Monmouth

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• The History of the
• Kings of Britain,
• c1136AD

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The History of the Kings of Britain

• This work represents the main bridge between
  native British tradition about Arthur and the
  beginnings of Continental Arthurian literature
  (Wace, Chrétien de Troyes, Von Eschenbach).
• It was written in Latin by a high-ranking cleric
  called Geoffrey (Sieffrai o Fynwy).

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• What is known about G of M?
• Little in fact is known about Geoffrey and the
  main facts of his life can be briefly stated.
• He signs himself in his literary works and
  official documents as Galfridus Monemutensis and
  Galfridus Arthurus.
• The Arthur here probably refers to his fathers
  name.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• It has been observed that Geoffrey and Arthur are
  not common Welsh names in the early 12th century.
• It is possible that Geoffrey was of Breton
  extraction.
• The Breton Wihenoc had founded a priory at
  Monmouth in 1075 and it is possible that
  Geoffreys father was a compatriote who settled
  in the new town (SE Wales).

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• Geoffrey shows Bretons in a favourable light in
  his History as a people who are descended from
  the nobles who conquered Brittany.
• The town of Monmouth (Mynwy) was probably
  Geoffreys birthplace.
• His links with Oxford are better established and
  it seems that he spent the better part of his
  life there.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• Geoffreys name together with that of charters
  from 1129 to 1151. Walter the archdeacon occurs
  in Oxford
• Geoffrey may have been a secular canon teaching
  in one of the schools.
• In 1152 he was ordained a priest and some days
  later he was created Bishop of St Asaph (N.
  Wales). Yet he died in 1155 without having
  visited his diocese.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• He does not seem to have had any strong links
  with Wales in fact, but rather lived the life of
  a Norman courtier.
• He seems to have moved within the circles of
  power King Stephan, the earl of Mellent, the
  earl of Gloucester, the bishop of Lincoln.
• Perhaps one of the reasons he did not visit his
  diocese was the fact that the Welsh prince Owain
  Gwynedd was in power in the North of Wales and
  those with Norman sympathies would have been
  unwelcome.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• What did Geoffrey write?
• He wrote three books. The most famous is
  undoubtedly his Historia Regum Britanniae which
  appeared c.1135-8.
• He had already written The Prophecy of Merlin
  which he inserted into the HRB. It appears to
  have been separately made available before the
  publication of HRB.
• The original version of the Prophecy seems to
  have differed from the version inserted in HRB.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• The HRB was followed in 1150-1 by a long
  hexameter poem called Vita Merlini (The Life of
  Merlin). This was never as popular as the HRB and
  does not seem to have exerted as much influence
  on later writers as the HRB. Yet it is also a
  significant work in terms of the Celtic roots of
  the Arthurian material.
• There are similarities between the Merlin of the
  Vita and the HRB , but largely the Merlin of the
  Vita seems to echo more the Myrddin of earlier
  Welsh tradition.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• The differences between the two Merlins in
  Geoffreys work are probably due to the
  following
• His Merlin in HRB is based mainly on the
  Ambrosius character found in the Nennius text
  Historia Brittonum
• The Merlin of the Vita is based on the more
  traditional Myrddin of Welsh tradition. This
  material was not available to him for the writing
  of the HRB.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• But Geoffreys fame rests on his Historia Regum
  Britanniae.
• There is more than one version of the book
• The Vulgate or standard text, this is the
  version mainly used for translations including
  the Lewis Thorpe translation in Penguin books.
• The Variant versions.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• This second group of variants names the author as
  Galfridus Arturus Monemutensis, and has no
  dedications and does not cite an ancient book as
  the source for the material in HRB.
• It could be an early draft of the HRB, but there
  are several scholarly views about this version.
  One claims that it is in fact a later version.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• The narrative as related in the Historia Regum
  Britanniae
• Geoffreys account of the history of the Britons
  (ie the Celtic Britons) undertakes to tell the
  story of all the kings who ruled Britain from the
  advent of Brutus, the legendary Trojan founder of
  the line, to Cadwaladr who lost the crown of the
  Island of Britain to the Saxons and who died in
  Rome in 689AD. (This is of course pseudo-history).

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• It is the story of rise and decline of the
  Celtic Britons seen from a Norman prospective.
• Their loss of sovereignty which is at the heart
  of much early Welsh literature, is found as a
  central theme in this work as well.
• It also presented a new King Arthur, the Arthur
  who would become the basis for all Arthurian
  literature afterwards. But his roots are still
  very much in the Celtic world.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• The Arthur portrayed in the work is also an
  attempt to create a kind of ideal of kingship
  which would appeal to the new masters of
  Britain-the Normans and their elite.
• A conquering hero-king, who even instills fear in
  the Romans.
• The Roman empire was already collapsing by the
  time of the real historical Arthur.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• It is important to remember that this work is
  only vaguely based on real history.
• It contains the names of many historical figures
  (J.Caesar, Cassivellaunus, Vortigern, Arthur,
  and many many others)
• But Geoffrey created a new story the national
  epic of the Britons, but which also becomes an
  elegy. G. wanted the Normans to identify with
  this deep-rooted history, and of course with the
  character Arthur.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• There are three personalities who dominate
• Brutus (the supposed founder of the nation)
• Belinus, who with Brennius is claimed in the text
  to have captured and sacked Rome
• And Arthur of Britain, together with Guinevere
  and his brave knights Cador, Bedevere, Gawain
  and Kay.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• The narrative about Arthur fills more than a
  fifth of the book, and 82 pages of the
  translation concern the major characters whose
  names we have just seen.
• The rest of the book includes a vast array of
  characters some of whom are well-known in other
  sources, others less known and some invented by
  the writer.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• Amongst some of the more familiar names of
  characters who play a part in the text, we can
  mention
• King Lear and his daughters, Cassivellaunus,
  Julius Caesar, Cymbaline, Constantine, King Cole,
  Vortigern, Hengist and Horsa, Merlin, Saint
  Augustine, Utherpendragon.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• The Historia is not a random collection of
  episodes loosely held together in a chronological
  sequence but a carefully planned whole.
• It opens far from Britain with a virile ambitious
  young exile eager to win for himself prosperity
  and a new land (Brutus of Troy).
• It ends with with a tired defeated exile in
  search of peace and the halls of the Kingdom of
  Heaven. (Cadwaladr)

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• These two kings (with of course the golden age of
  Arthur at the centre of the narrative) typify the
  fortunes of the Britanni and their gradual loss
  of the crown of the Island of Britain.
• The text is under tight control, and needs to be
  because he will describe briefly or at length 99
  kings from Brutus to Cadwaladr.
• Yet the author suceeds in keeping our attention
  at all times.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• The Arthurian section of the book is very
  carefully planned and in structure is a microcosm
  of the whole work.
• Here too we see a gradual ascent to a climax
  followed by a brief account of tragedy and fall
  (treachery, and death of Arthur).
• The parallel is the rise and fall of the Britons
  themselves, who become a remnant, the Welsh under
  Norman rule in Geoffreys time.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• Geoffrey sets out in his preface the parameters
  of his history which as we have seen will run
  from the legendary Brutus (first king in this
  pseudo-history) and the one who gave his name to
  the Island and its descendants (not
  etymological).
• The story covers a vast period and ends with
  Cadwaladr (Cadualadrus).
• This last king represents the loss of sovereignty
  and change of name of the Britons to Welsh
  (XII,19)

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Geoffrey of Monmouththe Sections

• There are seven chronological sections
• The origins and journey to Albion (old name for
  Britain by the Trojans under Brutus).
• The settlement in Britain.
• The Romans in Britain.
• The decline of the Britons and the help given by
  the Bretons.
• Vortigern and the advent of the Saxons (includes
  Merlins prophecy)

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• 6. King Arthur
• 7. The Saxon supremacy

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• The first section recounts after the settlement
  by Brutus, that there was a period of civil
  strife until Belinus and Brennius attack Rome.
• Julius Caesar formally sets out the relationship
  of the two nations in IV.1. The moral
  superiority of the Britons is made clear in
  Cassivellaunus response that his people have
  always sought the dignity of freedom in
  preference to the imposition of the servitude on
  others.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• The Roman conquest is achieved not by force of
  arms but by British discord (echoes of Gildas)
  and then by agreement.
• The years of Roman rule have a debilitating
  effect on the British character for their native
  love of freedom and their moral strength are now
  to be found in Brittany.
• The emergence of Arthur.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth Arthur in the HRB

• He succeeds in defeating the Saxons and
  establishing long periods of peace.
• The culmination of his reign is his meeting of
  the Emperors challenge and his march on Rome.
• He sees himself as the heir of Belinus and
  Constantine, but because of the decline of the
  Britons he fails where his predecessors had
  succeeded, a failure which foreshadows the end of
  British sovereignty.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• This failure on Arthurs part is brought about by
  treachery, disloyalty and civil war.
• Following Arthurs return from Rome (he had left
  Mordred and Guinevere in charge of Britain), and
  the Battle of Camlan there is little more to
  relate and the HRB draws to a close.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth Arthur

• Much of the narrative up until we hear about
  Arthur in the text has the feel of
  well-intentioned chronicle material, history in
  its usual medieval garb. The emphasis on the
  Britons and their classical associations.
• But when we come to hear about Arthur in the
  text, we notice that we have moved from that
  purely historical mode and entered the world of
  the remarkable tale.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• This first becomes apparent with the introduction
  of Merlin (Myrddin, IV, 17).
• Here in the context of the time of Vortigern, the
  other-worldly boy-soothsayer Merlin whose father
  was of the Otherworld and his mother a princess,
  appears.
• At this point also we have the section called
  The Prophecies of Merlin.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• It is the other-worldly talents of Merlin that
  allow Arthur to be born.
• In a mode more reminiscent of early Celtic
  narrative than medieval history, Geoffrey
  describes how Merlin, when asked for his advice
  about King Uther Pendragons desire for the
  Cornishwoman Ygerna, transforms him into the
  shape of Gorlois, her husband and thereby allows
  him to conceive Arthur.
• This is the first time in literature that a
  conception and birth tale about Arthur appears.

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Arthur in the History of the Kings of Britain

• Uther Pendragon is filled with desire for Ygerna,
  the wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. (203)
• smiling and sprightly conversation
• Ygerna is the most beautiful woman in Britain
  (comp. Guinevere)
• Gorlois leaves in a temper. Bad blood between
  Uther, the king and Gorlois.

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Arthur in the History of the Kings of Britain

• Uther ravages Cornwall.
• Ygerna is left on the coast in Tintagel.
• Uther shows all the signs of the traditional
  love sickness motif seen in Irish and Welsh
  literature. (206)
• Merlin is summoned to find a way for Uther to
  make love with Ygerna.

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Arthur in the History of the Kings of Britain

• Merlin will shape-change Uther into Gorlois.
  (common motif in early Celtic literature). (Comp.
  1st Branch of the Mabinogion-Pwyll).
• Merlin too changes himself into another.
• Uther satisfies himself with Ygerna.Arthur is
  conceived.
• The real Gorlois is killed in battle.

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Arthur in the History of the Kings of Britain

• His men are astonished to see him again with
  Ygerna at Tintagel (Uther).
• Uther returns to his army in his own form.
• Later goes back to Ygerna who gladly accepts him
  as husband.
• They have another child Anna, Arthurs sister.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• Merlin will also be seen in other otherworldly
  preoccupations, the most notable being the
  episode where he spirits away the great stones of
  Killaraus in Ireland and rearranges them into
  what will be called The Giants Ring or
  Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain in England.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth his sources

• Geoffrey does not claim any originality for his
  British history.
• As he pondered the lack of any written history of
  the island apart from the works of Gildas and
  Bede, he was given by his friend Walter,
  archdeacon of Oxford and to quote the prologue

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, a man skilled in
  the art of public speaking and well-informed
  about the history of foreign countries, presented
  me with a certain very ancient book written in
  the British language. This book, attractively
  composed to form a consecutive asnd orderly
  narrative, set out all the deeds of these men,
  from Brutus down to Cadwallader.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth the liber vetustissimus.

• At Walters request I have taken the trouble to
  translate the book into Latin
• At the end of the book he mentions that his
  ancient manuscript was brought ex Britannia. This
  has been translated as from Wales but could
  equally mean from Brittany.
• Walter is also mentioned in the text as a source
  himself for information about the battles that
  Arthur fought with Mordred on his return to
  Britain.
• We are not obliged to take them at their word
  exactly.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth the real sources.

• Historia Brittonum (Nennius but he had a version
  attributed to Gildas).(Trojans, Arthurs battles)
• He does reject the legendary material about the
  Boar, Arthurs son etc since it does not fit into
  the type of Arthur he is creating. He rejects the
  folkhero in favour of the historical Arthur.
• He also used Nennius for his boy-sage called
  Ambrosius by Nennius but Merlin by Geoffrey.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth the real sources.

• His development of the story of Vortigern and the
  Saxons also comes straight out of Nennius.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth the real sources.

• He also used Gildas. Geoffrey takes some of his
  kings from Gildass list of ungodly chieftains.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth the real sources.

• His Welsh sources
• The Genealogies (Old Welsh genealogies taken
  wholesale and transposed into the HRB). Was this
  the ancient book?
• The list of heroes used as those present at
  Arthurs coronation.
• Welsh prophecies like the Armes Prydain.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth the real sources.

• The bulk of the Welsh sources were probably of an
  oral kind.
• He was most likely very aware of the popularity
  of Arthur the folk-hero in Welsh oral tradition
  but he probably did not want to use this given
  his decision to create a new character, the
  conquering hero that would be of interest to the
  Normans.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth the real sources.

• The Latin poets Virgil and Juvenal.
• Lucans description of Caesars defeat (not
  mentioned by Caesar himself).

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Geoffrey of Monmouth his purpose in writing

• His motives were probably mixed.
• He wrote with an eye for his audience and
  attempted in the guise of history to represent
  the political hopes of the court of his own day.
• He tended to favour the Bretons at the expense of
  the Welsh and in his work probably set the scene
  for the use of Brittany as a stage for later
  Arthurian materials.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• His praise of the Bretons has a two-fold purpose.
• To express his pride in in his own race and also
  to paint a glorious picture of the past of the
  Island of Britain without offending the Normans.
• The Bretons who were the neighbours of the
  Normans and had taken part in the Norman invasion
  and conquest were acceptable to all

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• A major reason for writing his book was however
  to respond to the call for national histories
  which were being written at this time.
• He also saw the need of the newly settled Normans
  for a national, albeit adopted hero.
• In addition, the Britons themselves Welsh,
  Cornish and Bretons) for different reasons,
  needed a coherent memorial to the time when they
  still maintained the sovereignty of Britain, and
  how this came to an end.

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

• The figure of Arthur in the Historia Regum
  Britanniae is a creation of Geoffrey himself but
  also echoes the Arthur of previous tradition
• This will be the subject of the next lecture.