| Historia regum Britanniae | |
|---|---|
| The History of the Kings of Britain | |
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| Author(s) | Geoffrey of Monmouth |
| Ascribed to | Geoffrey claims to have translated "a very ancient book in the British tongue" into Latin |
| Dedicated to | Robert, Earl of Gloucester andWaleran, Count of Meulan |
| Language | Latin |
| Date | c. 1136 |
| Manuscript(s) | 215 manuscripts, notably Bern, Burgerbibliothek, MS. 568 |
| Genre | Pseudohistory |
| Subject | Legendary kings of the Britons |
| Setting | Mainly Great Britain |
| Personages | See, e.g.,List of legendary kings of Britain |
| Text | Historia regum Britanniae atWikisource |
| Adapted and translated, e.g., byWace,Layamon and the authors of theBrut y Brenhinedd. | |
Historia regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain), originally calledDe gestis Britonum (On the Deeds of the Britons), is a fictitious account of British history, written around 1136 byGeoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of thekings of the Britons over the course of two thousand years, beginning with theTrojans founding theBritish nation and continuing until theAnglo-Saxons assumed control of much of Britain around the 7th century. It is one of the central pieces of theMatter of Britain.
Although taken as historical truth until the 16th century,[1] it is now considered to have no value as history. When events described, such asJulius Caesar'sinvasions of Britain, can be corroborated from contemporary histories, Geoffrey's account can be seen to be wildly inaccurate. It remains, however, a valuable piece of medieval literature, which contains the earliest known version of the story ofKing Lear and his three daughters, and helped popularise the legend ofKing Arthur.
Geoffrey starts the book with a short dedication. He claims that he was given a source for the time period by ArchdeaconWalter of Oxford, who presented him with a "certain very ancient book written in the British language" from which he has translated his history.
TheHistoria begins with theTrojan heroAeneas, who, according to theAeneid, settled in Italy after theTrojan War. His great-grandsonBrutus is banished, and, after a period of wandering, is directed by the goddessDiana to settle on an island in the western ocean. Brutus lands atTotnes and names the island "Britain" after himself, defeating the previous giant inhabitants. He establishes the city that was eventually renamed London. After Brutus' death, the island is divided into three kingdoms, each given to one of his sons:Loegria (England) toLocrinus,Cambria (Wales) toCamber, andAlba (Scotland) toAlbanactus.
Centuries later, Locrinus' descendantKing Leir divides his kingdom among his three daughters,Goneril,Regan andCordelia. However, because of a slight, he gives Cordelia no land, whereupon she departs for Gaul. Leir later regrets his actions towards Cordelia and travels to Gaul. Cordelia helps raise a Gaulish army for Leir, who returns to Britain, defeats his sons-in-law and regains the kingdom. Cordelia inherits the throne and rules for five years untilCunedagius andMarganus (sons of her two sisters) rebel against her. They imprison Cordelia; grief-stricken, she kills herself. Ending a civil war, Cunedagius eventually kills Marganus in Wales.
In a later era,Dunvallo Molmutius, the son of Cloten, theKing of Cornwall, establishes his rule over the whole island. He is said to have established theMolmutine Laws. Dunvallo's sons,Belinus andBrennius, fight a civil war before being reconciled by their mother, and proceed to sackRome. Victorious, Brennius remains in Italy, while Belinus returns to rule Britain. Numerous brief accounts of successive kings follow.
After his conquest of Gaul,Julius Caesar looks over the sea and resolves to order Britain to swear obedience and pay tribute to Rome. Cassivellaunus pays tribute and makes peace with Caesar, who then returns to Gaul. He dies and is succeeded by his nephew Tenvantius. Tenvantius' grandson Guiderius refuses to pay tribute to emperorClaudius, who then invades Britain. AfterGuiderius is killed in battle with the Romans, his brotherArvirargus eventually agrees to submit to Rome, and is given the hand of Claudius's daughter Genvissa in marriage.
The line of British kings continues under Roman rule. When Octavius passes the crown to his son-in-lawMaximianus, his nephewConan Meriadoc is given rule of Brittany to compensate him for not succeeding. After a long period of Roman rule, the Romans decide they no longer wish to defend the island and depart. The Britons are immediately besieged by attacks fromPicts, Scots and Danes. In desperation the Britons send letters to the general of the Roman forces, asking for help, but receive no reply.
The Britons ask the King of Brittany,Aldroenus, descended from Conan, to rule them. However, Aldroenus instead sends his brotherConstantine to rule the Britons. After Constantine's death,Vortigern assists his eldest sonConstans in succeeding, before enabling their murder and coming to power. Constantine's remaining sonsAurelius Ambrosius andUther are too young to rule and are taken to safety in Brittany. Vortigern invites theSaxons underHengist andHorsa to fight for him as mercenaries, but they rise against him. He loses control of much of his land and encountersMerlin.
At this point Geoffrey abruptly pauses his narrative by inserting a series of prophecies attributed toMerlin. Some of the prophecies act as anepitome of upcoming chapters of theHistoria, while others are veiled allusions to historical people and events of theNorman world in the 11th–12th centuries. The remainder are obscure.
AfterAurelius Ambrosius defeats and killsVortigern, becoming king, Britain remains in a state of war under him and his brother Uther. At one point during the continuous string of battles, Ambrosius takes ill and Uther must lead the army for him. A comet taking the form of a dragon's head (pendragon) appears in the night sky, which Merlin interprets as a sign that Ambrosius is dead and that Uther will be victorious and succeed him.
But another enemy strikes, forcing Uther to make war again. This time he is temporarily defeated, gaining final victory only with the help ofDuke Gorlois of Cornwall. But while celebrating this victory with Gorlois, he falls in love with the duke's wife,Igerna. This leads to war between Uther Pendragon and Gorlois of Cornwall, during which Uther clandestinely lies with Igerna through the magic of Merlin.Arthur is conceived that night. Then Gorlois is killed and Uther marries Igerna.
Uther's sonArthur assumes the throne and inflicts a severe enough defeat against the Saxons that they cease to be a threat until after his death. He conquers most of northern Europe and ushers in a period of peace and prosperity that lasts until the Romans, led byLucius Hiberius, demands that Britain once again pay tribute to Rome. Arthur defeats Lucius in Gaul, intending to become Emperor, but in his absence, his nephewMordred seduces and marriesGuinevere and seizes the throne.
Arthur returns and kills Mordred at theBattle of Camlann, but, mortally wounded, he is carried off to the isle ofAvalon, and hands the kingdom to his cousinConstantine, son ofCador and Duke of Cornwall. The Saxons return after Arthur's death, but would not end the line of British kings until the death ofCadwallader. Cadwallader is forced to flee Britain and is told by an angel that Britons will no longer rule. He dies in Rome, leaving his son and nephew to rule the remaining Britons, driven into Wales. The Saxon Athelstan becomes King of Loegria.
Geoffrey claimed to have translated theHistoria into Latin from "a very ancient book in the British tongue", given to him byWalter, Archdeacon of Oxford.[2][3][4] However, no modern scholars take this claim seriously.[2][5][6] Much of the work appears to be derived fromGildas's 6th-centuryDe Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae,Bede's 8th-centuryHistoria ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, the 9th-centuryHistoria Brittonum ascribed toNennius, the 10th-centuryAnnales Cambriae, medieval Welsh genealogies (such as theHarleian Genealogies) and king-lists, the poems ofTaliesin, the Welsh taleCulhwch and Olwen, and some of the medieval Welsh saints' lives,[2] expanded and turned into a continuous narrative by Geoffrey's own imagination.
The medieval works are deemed to be drawn from traditional Celtic materials and are supposed to have deep roots, to the point that the publications are considered reliable and not the imagination of one man, Geoffrey. However, since Geoffrey's publication of the Historia Regum Britanniae (De gestis Britonum), his work has been downgraded due to factual errors that were once recorded for the publication of his work i.e. observations to do withStonehenge. It was merely a century later that Geoffrey's'The History of Kings' was rewritten and translated inCistercian monasteries such asWhitland,St Davids Cathedral and later theStrata Florida Abbey in Wales, then translated by Hywel Fychan ap Hywel Goch of Buellt into Latin-Welsh during 1250 in the manuscriptChronicle of Kings (Welsh:Brut y Brenhinedd). Both of these are part of the medievalmanuscripts of Wales (Wales Library collection), several of which are kept at theNational Library of Wales inAberystwyth today. Geoffrey's work was to do with the history of the British kings who hailed from Trojan dynasties, specifically from after theTrojan War (fall of Troy). Then, the books detail the Welshmedieval era during theKingdom of Gwynedd, from around 682, culminating in the life ofLlywelyn ap Gruffudd until 1282; it was Prince Llywelyn II who referenced Geoffrey's work. Another king to cite the books was PrinceOwain Glyndwr, he spoke of theGalfridian works of Geoffrey toRobert III of Scotland. Glyndwr referenced himself as thePrince of Wales and a direct descendant and heir of the son of Brutus of Troy, King Camber, and also of the later medieval KingCadwaladr.[7][8][9] The work of Geoffrey of Monmouth was considered to take inspiration from the Latin publication of the life of 11th and 12th century KingGruffudd ap Cynan (written from 1137), finished byGerald of Wales. Gruffudd's biography has a detailed list of the Kings of Wales with his ancestry going back to Brutus of Troy. However, Gruffudd's descent was from Locrinus ofLoegria (England), and not his brother King Camber of Wales. Otherwise, it is said that in the 8th century, the Welsh monk Nennius wrote the now questioned ancestry list, and that it was Geoffrey who published the king list accepted to date.[10][9]
In an exchange of manuscript material for their own histories,Robert of Torigny gaveHenry of Huntington a copy ofHistoria Regum Britanniae, which both Robert and Henry used uncritically as authentic history and subsequently used in their own works,[11] by which means some of Geoffrey's fictions became embedded in popular history. The history of Geoffrey forms the basis for much British lore and literature, as well as a rich source of material forWelshbards. It became tremendously popular during theHigh Middle Ages, revolutionising views of British history before and during the Anglo-Saxon period, despite the criticism of such writers asGerald of Wales, andWilliam of Newburgh who stated "no one but a person ignorant of ancient history [can doubt] how impertinently and impudently he falsifies in every respect."[12]. The prophecies of Merlin in particular were often drawn upon in later periods, for instance by both sides in the issue ofEnglish influence overScotland underEdward I and his successors.[citation needed]
TheHistoria was quickly translated intoNorman verse byWace (theRoman de Brut) in 1155. Wace's version was in turn translated intoMiddle English verse byLayamon (theBrut) in the early 13th century. In the second quarter of the 13th century, a version in Latin verse, theGesta Regum Britanniae, was produced byWilliam of Rennes. Material from Geoffrey was incorporated into a large variety ofAnglo-Norman andMiddle English prose compilations of historical material from the 13th century onward.
Geoffrey was translated into a number of different Welsh prose versions by the end of the 13th century,[13] collectively known asBrut y Brenhinedd. One variant of theBrut y Brenhinedd, the so-calledBrut Tysilio, was proposed in 1917 by thearchaeologistWilliam Flinders Petrie to be the ancient British book that Geoffrey translated,[14] although theBrut itself claims to have been translated from Latin by Walter of Oxford, based on his own earlier translation from Welsh to Latin.[15] Geoffrey's work is greatly important because it brought the Welsh culture into British society and made it acceptable. It is also the first record we have of the great figure King Lear, and the beginning of the mythical King Arthur figure.
For centuries, theHistoria was accepted at face value, and much of its material was incorporated intoHolinshed's 16th-centuryChronicles. Modern historians have regarded theHistoria as a work of fiction with some factual information contained within.John Morris inThe Age of Arthur calls it a "deliberate spoof", although this is based on misidentifying Walter, archdeacon of Oxford, asWalter Map, a satirical writer who lived a century later.[16]
It continues to have an influence on popular culture. For example,Mary Stewart'sMerlin Trilogy and the TV miniseriesMerlin both contain large elements taken from theHistoria.
Two hundred and fifteen medieval manuscripts of theHistoria survive, dozens of them copied before the end of the 12th century. Even among the earliest manuscripts a large number oftextual variants, such as the so-called "First Variant", can be discerned. These are reflected in the three possible prefaces to the work and in the presence or absence of certain episodes and phrases. Certain variants may be due to "authorial" additions to different early copies, but most probably reflect early attempts to alter, add to or edit the text. The task of disentangling these variants and establishing Geoffrey's original text is long and complex, and the extent of the difficulties surrounding the text has been established only recently.[citation needed]
The variant titleHistoria regum Britanniae was introduced in the Middle Ages, and this became the most common form in the modern period. A critical edition of the work published in 2007, however, demonstrated that the most accurate manuscripts refer to the work asDe gestis Britonum, and that this was the title Geoffrey himself used to refer to the work.[17]
He says that he has had the advantage of using a book in the Breton tongue which Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, brought out of Brittany; this book he translates into Latin.
This fusion of heterogeneous sources, which is apparent almost everywhere in theHistoria, completely dispels the fiction that the work is no more than a translation of a single Breton (or Welsh) book
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