the history of the kings of britain sparknotes

The tales of the Knights of the Round Table, meanwhile, appear in more fleshed-out form in Chrétien de Troyes’ romances in verse, written around the 1160s. Geoffrey of Monmouth’s 1130s History of the Kings of Britain fixed Arthur as a conqueror supported by many knights and ultimately betrayed by his regent Mordred. The earliest references to Arthur-especially to his death at the battle of Camlannn-appear in the sixth century, and he is alluded to in Welsh poetry and other documents over the next few hundred years. Malory is not so much an original author as he is a successful collector of much older tales about King Arthur, a mythical British hero. Le Morte D’Arthur: The Winchester Manuscript. (Citation for this section: Cooper, Helen. As for the historical veracity of King Arthur himself, this has been widely debated among historians, and there simply isn’t enough evidence from the time period (450-550 CE) to conclude whether or not he and the Knights of the Round Table every really existed at all.

At the same time, however, England was facing a century of disorder-not only civil war between Henry VI’s house of Lancaster and the rival dynasty of York, but also a series of complex, constantly shifting rivalries and local feuds that, in many ways, are reflected in the factions constantly battling each other in the book. In 1348, Edward III had established the Order of the Garter based consciously on the Knights of the Round Table, and other chivalric orders flourished as well. During the 15th century, a cult of chivalry arose obsessed with the kind of individual battles and jousting tournaments whose descriptions could be found in the popular prose romances of the time.

The history of the kings of britain sparknotes