In Search of King Arthur

The legend of King Arthur makes a fantastic story.  King Arthur is a great warrior who defends Britain from human and supernatural enemies. We believe that he was a fifth century chieftain who, clinging to the remains of Roman influence in Britain, kept the marauding Saxons at bay during the fifth Century but we know very little.  Our image of King Arthur as a medieval knight comes from the twelfth century writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth. Worse than that, Geoffrey’s writings were popular in Europe, leading to embellishments by the Frenchman Chretien de Troys.  Chretien de Troys wrote about the Knights of the Round Table, Lancelot and the Holy Grail.  Geoffrey of Monmouth spoke of Uther Pendragon (the father of Arthur), the magician Merlin and Arthur’s sword Excallabur.  He took these from earlier Welsh stories.

Many historians have tried to find the true King Arthur without success.  Almost the whole of Britain has some claim on the story.

1. In Cornwall

Tintagel is the legendary birthplace of King Arthur

2. In Somerset

Cadbury Castle

Cadbury Castle in Somerset Source: Wikipedia

Local rumour insists that this is the site of Camelot. Excavations in the late 1960s revealed by far the largest Iron Age fort in the country with ample trade connections with the Mediterranean.  Subsequent thought that this is Camelot has waned. The site is too late for the legendary king.

Glastonbury, Somerset

Could this be the Isle of Avalon? Arthur and Guinevere were reputedly buried here.  During a campaign in Wales, a wise man told Henry II that the grave of Arthur could be found within the Glastonbury Abbey.  A few years latter, in 1190, the monks dug down in the prescribed place and found a stone slab with the inscription. HIC IACET SEPULTUS INCLITUS REX ARTURIUS IN INSULA AVALONIA.  Here lies buried the renown King Arthur in Avalon.  Many scholars think that the discovery is a fake.  By 1190 the Abbey had hit hard times, there had been a recent fire and it was looking for a publicity stunt to raise funds.  Then, in 1962 a Dr Ralegh Radford excavated the grave and found that the medieval description was spot on.  How could it be that the medieval monks so accurately fake a 5th century grave? The site of their grave is still to be seen in the Abbey ruins