Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia regum Britanniae | |
---|---|
The History of the Kings of Britain | |
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 and Waleran, 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 at Wikisource |
Adapted and translated, e.g., by Wace, Layamon and the authors of the Brut y Brenhinedd. |
Historia regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain), originally called De gestis Britonum (On the Deeds of the Britons), is a
Although taken as historical well into the 16th century,
Contents
Dedication
Geoffrey starts the book with a statement of his purpose in writing the history: "I have not been able to discover anything at all on the kings who lived here before the Incarnation of Christ, or indeed about Arthur and all the others who followed on after the Incarnation. Yet the deeds of these men were such that they deserve to be praised for all time." He claims that he was given a source for this period by Archdeacon Walter of Oxford, who presented him with a "certain very ancient book written in the British language" from which he has translated his history. He also cites Gildas and Bede as sources. Then follows a dedication to Robert, Earl of Gloucester and Waleran, Count of Meulan, whom he enjoins to use their knowledge and wisdom to improve his tale.[2]
Book One
The Historia itself begins with the Trojan Aeneas, who, according to the Aeneid of Virgil, settled in Italy after the Trojan War. His great-grandson Brutus is banished, and, after a period of wandering, is directed by the goddess Diana to settle on an island in the western ocean. Brutus lands at Totnes and names the island, then called Albion, "Britain" after himself. Brutus defeats the giants who are the only inhabitants of the island, and establishes his capital, Troia Nova ("New Troy"), on the banks of the Thames; later it is known as Trinovantum, and eventually renamed London.
Book Two
When Brutus dies, his three sons, Locrinus, Kamber and Albanactus, divide the country between themselves; the three kingdoms are named Loegria, Kambria (North and West of the Severn to Humber) and Albany (Scotland). The story then progresses rapidly through the reigns of the descendants of Locrinus, including Bladud, who uses magic and even tries to fly, but dies in the process.
Bladud's son Leir reigns for sixty years. He has no sons, so upon reaching old age he decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. To decide who should get the largest share, he asks his daughters how much they love him. Goneril and Regan give extravagant answers, but Cordelia answers simply and sincerely; angered, he gives Cordelia no land. Goneril and Regan are to share half the island with their husbands, the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall. Cordelia marries Aganippus, King of the Franks, and departs for Gaul. Soon Goneril and Regan and their husbands rebel and take the whole kingdom. After Leir has had all his attendants taken from him, he begins to regret his actions towards Cordelia and travels to Gaul. Cordelia receives him compassionately and restores his royal robes and retinue. Aganippus raises a Gaulish army for Leir, who returns to Britain, defeats his sons-in-law and regains the kingdom. Leir rules for three years and then dies; Cordelia inherits the throne and rules for five years before Marganus and Cunedagius, her sisters' sons, rebel against her. They imprison Cordelia; grief-stricken, she kills herself. Marganus and Cunedagius divide the kingdom between themselves, but soon quarrel and go to war with each other. Cunedagius eventually kills Marganus in Wales and retains the whole kingdom, ruling for thirty-three years. He is succeeded by his son Rivallo.
A later descendant of Cunedagius,
Book Three
Dunvallo's sons, Belinus and Brennius, fight a civil war before being reconciled by their mother, and proceed to sack Rome. Victorious, Brennius remains in Italy, while Belinus returns to rule Britain.
Numerous brief accounts of successive kings follow. These include
Book Four
After his conquest of Gaul, Julius Caesar looks over the sea and resolves to order Britain to swear obedience and pay tribute to Rome. His commands are answered by a letter of refusal from Cassivellaunus. Caesar sails a fleet to Britain, but he is overwhelmed by Cassivellaunus's army and forced to retreat to Gaul. Two years later he makes another attempt, but is again pushed back. Then Cassivellaunus quarrels with one of his dukes, Androgeus, who sends a letter to Caesar asking him to help avenge the duke's honour. Caesar invades once more and besieges Cassivellaunus on a hill. After several days Cassivellaunus offers to make peace with Caesar, and Androgeus, filled with remorse, goes to Caesar to plead with him for mercy. Cassivellaunus pays tribute and makes peace with Caesar, who then returns to Gaul.
Cassivelaunus dies and is succeeded by his nephew Tenvantius, as Androgeus has gone to Rome. Tenvantius is succeeded in turn by his son
The line of British kings continues under Roman rule, and includes
Books Five and Six
After the Romans leave, the Britons ask the King of Brittany (Armorica),
Book Seven: The Prophecies of Merlin
At this point Geoffrey abruptly pauses his narrative by inserting a series of prophecies attributed to
Book Eight
After
But another enemy strikes, forcing Uther to make war again. This time he is temporarily defeated, gaining final victory only with the help of Duke 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. But he must war against the Saxons again. Although Uther ultimately triumphs, he dies after drinking water from a spring the Saxons had poisoned.
Books Nine and Ten
Uther's son
Books Eleven and Twelve
Arthur returns and kills Mordred at the
The Saxons returned after Arthur's death, but would not end the line of British kings until the death of Cadwallader. Cadwallader is forced to flee Britain and requests the aid of King Alan of the Amoricans. However an angel's voice tells him the Britons will no longer rule and he should go to Rome. Cadwallader does so, dying there, though leaves his son and nephew to rule the remaining Britons. The remaining Britons are driven into Wales and the Saxon Athelstan becomes King of Loegria.
Sources
Geoffrey claimed to have translated the Historia into Latin from "a very ancient book in the British tongue", given to him by
Influence
In an exchange of manuscript material for their own histories,
The Historia was quickly translated into
Geoffrey was translated into a number of different Welsh prose versions by the end of the 13th century, 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, the Historia was accepted at face value, and much of its material was incorporated into Holinshed's 16th-century Chronicles. Modern historians have regarded the Historia as a work of fiction with some factual information contained within. John Morris in The Age of Arthur calls it a "deliberate spoof", although this is based on misidentifying Walter, archdeacon of Oxford, as Walter Map, a satirical writer who lived a century later.[13]
It continues to have an influence on popular culture. For example, Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy and the TV miniseries Merlin both contain large elements taken from the Historia.
Manuscript tradition and textual history
Two hundred and fifteen medieval manuscripts of the Historia survive, dozens of them copied before the end of the 12th century. Even among the earliest manuscripts a large number of textual 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 title Historia 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 as De gestis Britonum, and that this was the title Geoffrey himself used to refer to the work.[14]
See also
References
- ^ Polydore Vergil's skeptical reading of Geoffrey of Monmouth provoked at first a reaction of denial in England, "yet the seeds of doubt once sown" eventually replaced Geoffrey's romances with a new Renaissance historical approach, according to Hans Baron, "Fifteenth-century civilization and the Renaissance", in The New Cambridge Modern history, vol. 1 1957:56.
- ISBN 0-14-044170-0.
- ^ a b c Thorpe (1966: 14–19)
- ISBN 978-0-85991-641-7.
- OCLC 220536211.
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.
- ISBN 978-0-85991-641-7.
This fusion of heterogeneous sources, which is apparent almost everywhere in the Historia, completely dispels the fiction that the work is no more than a translation of a single Breton (or Welsh) book
- ^ "...the Historia does not bear scrutiny as an authentic history and no scholar today would regard it as such.": Wright (1984: xxviii)
- ^ C. Warren Hollister, Henry I (Yale English Monarchs), 2001:11 note44.
- ^ William of Newburgh (1198), Historia rerum Anglicarum, Book I, Preface, retrieved 24 May 2023
- ^ A. O. H. Jarman, Geoffrey of Monmouth, University of Wales Press, 1965, p. 17.
- Sir William Flinders Petrie, Neglected British History, 1917
- ^ William R. Cooper, Chronicle of the Early Britons (pdf), 2002, p. 68
- ISBN 0-7607-0243-8
- ^ Reeve 2007, p. lix.
Bibliography
- John Jay Parry and Robert Caldwell. "Geoffrey of Monmouth" in Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, Roger S. Loomis (ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1959. 72–93. ISBN 0-19-811588-1
- Brynley F. Roberts. "Geoffrey of Monmouth and Welsh Historical Tradition," Nottingham Medieval Studies, 20 (1976), 29–40.
- J. S. P. Tatlock. The Legendary History of Britain: Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and Its Early Vernacular Versions. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1950.
- Michael A. Faletra, trans. and ed. The History of the Kings of Britain. Geoffrey of Monmouth. Peterborough, Ont.; Plymouth: Broadview Editions, 2008.
- N. Wright, ed. The Historia Regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth. 1, A Single-Manuscript Edition from Bern, Burgerbibliothek, MS. 568. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1984.
- N. Wright, ed. The Historia Regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth. 2, The First Variant Version: A Critical Edition. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1988.
- J. C. Crick. The Historia Regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth. 3, A Summary Catalogue of the Manuscripts. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1989.
- J. C. Crick. The Historia Regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth. 4, Dissemination and Reception in the Later Middle Ages. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1991.
- J. Hammer, ed. Historia Regum Britanniae: A Variant Version Edited from Manuscripts. Cambridge, MA: 1951.
- A. Griscom, ed., and J. R. Ellis, trans. The Historia Regum Britanniae of Geoffrey of Monmouth with Contributions to the Study of its Place in Early British History. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1929.
- Reeve, Michael D., ed. (2007). Geoffrey of Monmouth. The History of the Kings of Britain: An Edition and Translation of De gestis Britonum (Historia regum Britanniae). Arthurian studies. Vol. 69. Translated by Wright, Neil. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84383-206-5.
- M. D. Reeve, "The Transmission of the Historia Regum Britanniae," Journal of Medieval Latin 1 (1991), 73–117.
- Edmond Faral. La Légende arthurienne. Études et documents, 3 vols. Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études. Paris, 1929.
- R. W. Leckie. The Passage of Dominion. Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Periodization of Insular History in the Twelfth Century. Toronto: Toronto University Press, 1981.
External links
- The full text of History of the Kings of Britain at Wikisource
- Media related to Historia Regum Britanniae at Wikimedia Commons
- Online text at Google Books
- Online Latin text at Google Books
- Historia regum Britanniae Second Variant version at Cambridge Digital Library
- History of the Kings of Britain public domain audiobook at LibriVox