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The Medieval Quest for Arthur
In this original look at the world of Arthur, the authors show how the people of medieval England engaged with the Arthurian legend. Individual chapters cover Winchester as the site of Camelot, the crown of Arthur presented by Edward I, and the various items associated with Dover, Glastonbury Abbey, and other sites. Far from being credulous and gullible, it is clear that people actively debated Arthurian history. The book concludes with a discussion of the 16th-century antiquarian John Leland and those who followed in his footsteps, continuing to search for the physical remains of Arthur and his court.
144 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 17, 2022
A highly entertaining look at all the times the English monarchy co-opted King Arthur in an attempt to bolster their somewhat dubious right to boss everyone around. Particularly good at explaining the context of the various forgeries and with some excellent analysis. Would recommend whether you’re interested in the Middle Ages, or Arthur, or both.
Poorly illustrated and with many annoying typos.
Poorly illustrated and with many annoying typos.
July 24, 2011
Pretty cool book, detailing lots of the most important medieval artefacts in the medieval period. The most discussed are the round table at Winchester, Arthur’s grave at Glastonbury, and the crown and seal of Arthur. The author sees these relics as essentially religious and political in nature and so discusses lots of medieval politics, particularly those through the time of King Edward who is discussed as a lover of the Arthurian legends. Three quotes:
The more earnest visitor [to Glastonbury], we might imagine, abhorring what he or she considers to be the crass comercialisation of the modern age, turns away from such baubles and heads towards the serenity of the ruined abbey, or the windsweapt walk up to St. Michael's on the Tor, seeking what they imagine is the true medieval Arthurian spirit of the place. However, what such visitors fail to realise is this: that the origin of Glastonbury's medieval Arthurian connectionsare deeply entwined with the very same commercial forces that they are fleeing, and in many ways the bustle of the tourist shops and the new-age boutiques are much more representative of the medieval attitude towards the usefulness of the town's Arthurian provanence.
Geoffrey however, had mentioned the town of Oxford as the home of one Sir Boso of Rydychen, which the Saxons would later name 'Oxenford'; Boso the reader is told, is one of Arthur’s many knights . Boso fights in many of Arthur's battles and even accompanies Gawaine on an embassy to the Roman Emperor Lucius Hiberius. When the Emperor's nephew begins insulting the Britons, Gawain grows angry and kills him; Boso fights bravely alongside him. Geoffrey never emphasises Oxford for its learning. Rather, it is Boso whose actions take precedence. Subsequent writers, espeically those associated with Oxford, were not so circumspectly. Geoffrey had made no such claim for rival Cambridge and his testimony to Oxford's antiquity would later be picked up by the historians of the fourteenth century: Ranulph Highden would insist that Oxford had been founded by the English monarch Alfred the Great, in 886. Alfred's posthumous reputation as a patron of learning led to the assumption by Oxford historians that he must have founded the ancient University of Oxford. Who else could have done so? Further claims in the French Lancelot cycle that Merlin's scribes included the future master of the first school at Oxford both confirmed and extended Oxford's enviable antiquity.
For Cambridge, famously founded by a group of Oxford dons who had murdered a prostitute and then fled he town, the need to create a more respectable and venerable origin proved irresistible...
In 1207 a sword said to have been tha of Tristram appeared in a list of King John's regalia; this item is never mentioned again, prompting some scholars to assume that is must have dissapeared. Othes have not been so certain, amon them R.S. Loomis (who first discovered the passage in question) and Ditmas. They believed that his sword bacome Curtana or Curtein, one of the three swords later carried in coronation ceremonies of Eleanor of Provence, Hunry III's queen, in 1236, although known there as the sword of St Edward the Confessor. Curtana, which has appeared in coronation ceremonies ever since (even if the sword must be remade from time to time), was known as the Sword of Mercy by 1483 (the others being the Sword of Justice Spiritual and the Sword of Justice Temporal).
The more earnest visitor [to Glastonbury], we might imagine, abhorring what he or she considers to be the crass comercialisation of the modern age, turns away from such baubles and heads towards the serenity of the ruined abbey, or the windsweapt walk up to St. Michael's on the Tor, seeking what they imagine is the true medieval Arthurian spirit of the place. However, what such visitors fail to realise is this: that the origin of Glastonbury's medieval Arthurian connectionsare deeply entwined with the very same commercial forces that they are fleeing, and in many ways the bustle of the tourist shops and the new-age boutiques are much more representative of the medieval attitude towards the usefulness of the town's Arthurian provanence.
Geoffrey however, had mentioned the town of Oxford as the home of one Sir Boso of Rydychen, which the Saxons would later name 'Oxenford'; Boso the reader is told, is one of Arthur’s many knights . Boso fights in many of Arthur's battles and even accompanies Gawaine on an embassy to the Roman Emperor Lucius Hiberius. When the Emperor's nephew begins insulting the Britons, Gawain grows angry and kills him; Boso fights bravely alongside him. Geoffrey never emphasises Oxford for its learning. Rather, it is Boso whose actions take precedence. Subsequent writers, espeically those associated with Oxford, were not so circumspectly. Geoffrey had made no such claim for rival Cambridge and his testimony to Oxford's antiquity would later be picked up by the historians of the fourteenth century: Ranulph Highden would insist that Oxford had been founded by the English monarch Alfred the Great, in 886. Alfred's posthumous reputation as a patron of learning led to the assumption by Oxford historians that he must have founded the ancient University of Oxford. Who else could have done so? Further claims in the French Lancelot cycle that Merlin's scribes included the future master of the first school at Oxford both confirmed and extended Oxford's enviable antiquity.
For Cambridge, famously founded by a group of Oxford dons who had murdered a prostitute and then fled he town, the need to create a more respectable and venerable origin proved irresistible...
In 1207 a sword said to have been tha of Tristram appeared in a list of King John's regalia; this item is never mentioned again, prompting some scholars to assume that is must have dissapeared. Othes have not been so certain, amon them R.S. Loomis (who first discovered the passage in question) and Ditmas. They believed that his sword bacome Curtana or Curtein, one of the three swords later carried in coronation ceremonies of Eleanor of Provence, Hunry III's queen, in 1236, although known there as the sword of St Edward the Confessor. Curtana, which has appeared in coronation ceremonies ever since (even if the sword must be remade from time to time), was known as the Sword of Mercy by 1483 (the others being the Sword of Justice Spiritual and the Sword of Justice Temporal).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2012
Nowadays, a book entitled The Invention of King Arthur might imply subterfuge and forgery. Several centuries ago, when "to invent" would simply mean "to chance upon", it would instead imply a re-discovery of what already existed. Nowadays we are rightly wary of Arthurian relics such as Arthur's Tomb at Glastonbury, Arthur's Seal, Gawain's skull, Lancelot's sword and the Winchester Round Table. In Caxton's 15th century, with fewer critical tools at their disposal, people were more inclined to accept such evidence at face value (though then as now there were always doubters and detractors, as the wholesale destruction of saintly relics in the English Reformation was to demonstrate).
The Medieval Quest for Arthur is an enthusiastic but informed catalogue of medieval Arthurian souvenirs which also puts the relics and attitudes into historical context. As well as the objects on Caxton's list noted above, we view both Excalibur and Tristan's sword, Arthur's Shield and Crown, Isolde's Robe and Caradoc's Mantle, and Arthur's Slate. Along the way we touch on universities, knightly orders, heraldry, hagiography, topography.
This otherwise valuable book is not without its faults: for example, they still repeat the common misconception that Chrétien de Troyes' 12th-century Perceval didn't "clearly" define the Grail as the cup of the Last Supper (Chrétien never even hints that his graal has links with any Biblical object, let alone this one). Such assertions aside, where else but in this spendidly readable work do you have all these relics united in one place?
The Medieval Quest for Arthur is an enthusiastic but informed catalogue of medieval Arthurian souvenirs which also puts the relics and attitudes into historical context. As well as the objects on Caxton's list noted above, we view both Excalibur and Tristan's sword, Arthur's Shield and Crown, Isolde's Robe and Caradoc's Mantle, and Arthur's Slate. Along the way we touch on universities, knightly orders, heraldry, hagiography, topography.
This otherwise valuable book is not without its faults: for example, they still repeat the common misconception that Chrétien de Troyes' 12th-century Perceval didn't "clearly" define the Grail as the cup of the Last Supper (Chrétien never even hints that his graal has links with any Biblical object, let alone this one). Such assertions aside, where else but in this spendidly readable work do you have all these relics united in one place?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews