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King Claudas is a fictional king who is an opponent toKing Arthur,Lancelot, andBors inArthurian literature. His kingdom is situated in theBerry and is named "Terre Deserte", or "Land Laid Waste", so called because of the destructionUther Pendragon had wrought there.[1]
Claudas appears as theRound Table's adversary inPerlesvaus, theVulgate andPost-Vulgate Cycles, andMalory'sLe Morte d'Arthur. He wages war on KingsBan andBors in the early period of Arthur's reign, and succeeds in conquering many of their lands. Ban and Bors help Arthur in his conflicts against rebellious kings in Britain, but Arthur is unable to send them reinforcements to deal with Claudas. Bors dies fighting against Claudas, who takes in his sonsBors the Younger andLionel and has them raised as prisoners in his court. When Ban dies, his sonLancelot is swept away by theLady of the Lake to be raised in her underwater palace. Arthur pursues a truce with Claudas that lasts some time.
When they are older, Lionel and Bors kill Claudas' son Dorin, but escape to join their cousin with the Lady of the Lake. All three eventually go toCamelot and becomeKnights of the Round Table. Years later, after Claudas has imprisoned a cousin ofGuinevere's, Arthur, Bors and Lionel decide to settle the score for good. They defeat him and win back the lands of Ban and Bors, and all the other lands Claudas had acquired. The old king goes toRome in disgrace. Claudas' sonClaudin becomes an excellent knight and a virtuous man, eventually joining Bors,Percival,Galahad, and eight others to become the only knights to witness theHoly Grail.
Claudas may be based on historicalFrankish kings, especiallyClodio andClovis I. The conquests of Claudas resemble those of Clovis, and he is sometimes even said to be Clovis' ancestor.
