Arthur of Britain Overview Eras of British History

Arthur of Britain

Overview Eras of British History – – – Stone Age – Bronze Age Celtic conquest Roman conquest Anglo-Saxon invasion & origin of England Retreat of Roman-Britains The Emergence and Evolution of Arthurian Texts – Geoffrey of Monmouth (12 th century) – Chrétien de Troyes’ romances. Introduces Lancelot, Perceval, Camelot, and the grail, not the “Holy Grail. ” (12 th century) – Sir Thomas Malory (15 th century) – Alfred, Lord Tennyson (19 th century) / Pre-Raphaelite Art – Mary Stewart, Rosemary Sutcliff, Marian Zimmer Bradley (20 th century)

Stone Age - Bronze Age Britain 4700 – 2000 BCE 2200 – 700 BCE

The Celts 500 BCE - 400 CE 1850 bronze sculpture by Thomas Thornycroft commerating Boudicca (aka Boadicea), queen of the British Iceni, who led an unsuccessful revolt against the Romans in AD 60 -61.

Celtic Hill forts Maiden Castle, Dorset Shropshire Hill Fort Maiden Castle, Dorset

Celtic Religion Druidism ( Merlin) Worship out-of-doors Magic and supernatural Gaelic Fertility festivals: Beltane & Samhain Merlin and Nimue by Gustav Dore Tennyson’s Idylls of the King

Celtic Iron Age Celtic sword, La Téne Introduction of iron weapons Science of metalurgy wizardry Detail from the Sigurd Portal, University of Oslo

Roman Britain 55 BCE; 43 – 410 CE Advanced civilization – high standard of living Pax romana Caesar Exhorts Ridpath

Hadrian’s Wall

Artorius Dux bellorum Sarmatian cavalry of 6 th Legion Lucius Artorius Castus Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur, 2004

Saxon invasions 400 – 600 CE Years of crisis Scotti (Irish), Picts, Saxons Collapse of civilization Time for a hero From David Day’s King Arthur, 1999

Retreat of the Red Dragon people Emblem of Celtic Britons From David Day’s King Arthur, 1999

Dragon-Slayers: St. George and Beowulf Anglo-Saxon view English legends Rogier van der Weyden, Saint George and the Dragon, 1432 -1435 Drawing by Laszlo Matulay in By His Own Might: The Battles of Beowulf, by Dorothy Hosford

Dark Age Britain Blackout in historical record – Gildas (c. 540) – Bede (731) – Nennius (c. 800)

Oral Tradition written Texts Breton (Less Britain, Brittany, Armorica) emigres Irish, Cornish, and Welsh bards, French jongleurs 12 th century written texts: – Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of Britain – Mabinogion – Chrétien de Troyes’s Knight of the Cart, etc. – Marie de France’s lais

Geoffrey of Monmouth: History of the Kings of Britain (1136) • Uther, Ygerna, Merlin, Guenevere (Ganhumara), Mordred, Gawain, Bedwyr, Kay • Tintagel • Red & White Dragons • Avalon • Stonehenge

Chrétien de Troyes’ romances Court of Countess Marie de Champagne, daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine (11601181) Courtly Love Introduces Lancelot, Perceval, Camelot, and the grail, not the “Holy Grail. ” (12 th century) Meeting on the Turret Stairs (1864) by Frederick William Burton

Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte Darthur (1485) • Malory, the Knight Prisoner • Compilation of French and English sources: The hoole booke of kyng Arthur & of his noble knyghtes of the rounde table • Practical chivalry • Moral order John Mulcaster Carrick’s La Mort d'Arthur (1862)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Idylls of the King (1859) Inspiration for Pre-Raphaelite art “The Lady of Shalott” Sir Galahad & the Nun by Julia Margaret Cameron The Lady of Shalott by John Waterhouse

T. H. White: The Once and Future King (1958) Comedy with serious political implications in post-WWII era Basis for Disney’s The Sword in the Stone and Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot

Contemporary Novels Sword at Sunset (1963) by Rosemary Sutcliff The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment (1979), and The Wicked Day (1983) by Mary Stewart The Mists of Avalon (1982) by Marion Zimmer Bradley