The Mammoth Book of King Arthur (43 page)

There may be two other sources for this story, which Geoffrey wove together. At the time Geoffrey was writing, the Orkney Isles were still owned by Norway. In the early 980s, the earl of Orkney
was Ljot, and his claim to the throne was disputed by his brother Skuli, who succeeded in raising the support of Kenneth II of Scotland. Ljot, however, won so convincingly that he laid claim to
much of northern Scotland. Soon afterwards, he was killed in battle by Maelbrigte, uncle of Macbeth. Ljot’s authority in northern Britain may well have echoed down the years, and Geoffrey
might have linked the name with the following episode which took place in Gaul, at a time contemporary with Geoffrey’s other stories of Arthur. Gregory of Tours tells the story in his
History of the Franks
, and, as he was directly involved, the story is wholly reliable. In the 570s, the Count of Tours was Leudast, the son of a slave who had risen to prominence under the
patronage of the wife of Charibert, king of Paris. Leudast was a schemer, working one faction against another, but after Charibert’s death he fell foul of Chilperic, king of Soissons, and was
removed from office. Leudast then told Chilperic that Bishop Gregory was scheming to have the son of the late King Sigebert elevated to his former post. Chilperic saw through Leudast and had him
cast into prison, but Leudast contrived with a priest called Riculf to spread stories to discredit Bishop Gregory. Leudast promised
Riculf that he would make the priest bishop
in Gregory’s place, but their plot was eventually uncovered after Riculf was tortured to within an inch of his life. Leudast fled, but later met his just deserts.

It is a remarkable coincidence to have both a Ljot and a Leudast (for which Geoffrey may have read Leodonus, or Loth) deprived of their titles and, in the latter story, a Riculf being promised
the post of bishop. Further evidence that Geoffrey was drawing upon sources from the Frankish kingdoms comes with Arthur’s next exploit.

After conquering Norway and Denmark, Arthur invades Gaul. The tribune of Gaul is Frollo, who after his defeat retreats to Paris, where Arthur lays siege. After a month, with the inhabitants
starving, Frollo suggests that the outcome be decided by single combat. Frollo, a giant of a man, almost defeats Arthur, but in a final rally Arthur cleaves Frollo’s skull in two.

Some have suggested that Frollo is Geoffrey’s version of Rollo, the Viking adventurer who became first Duke of Normandy in 911. Rollo, or Hrólfur, was the
great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror. Geoffrey’s picture of Gaul suggests that the territory, although technically under the sovereignty of the king of France, belonged to
England by right of prior conquest. In portraying Gaul in such a way, it would be rather foolish of Geoffrey to suggest that it was conquered by defeating the same Rollo who was the ancestor of
Henry I. It is also hard to believe that Geoffrey did not know that Rollo was Henry’s ancestor, and he’s unlikely to have adopted the name by choice.

In all likelihood, Geoffrey used the name from another source. There was a Roman family by the name of Ferreolus, who played an important role in the final days of the Empire and the development
of the Frankish states. A member of this family was a tribune of Gaul in the 450s, and his son was occasionally referred to as Frolle. Frolle’s son, Tonantius Ferreolus, was a patrician and
three times Prefect of Gaul. Tonantius, a gifted diplomat, succeeded in gaining the support of the Visigoths in Rome’s battle against the Huns. He also negotiated with the new Visigoth king,
Thorismond, and saved the town of Arles from being sacked. Tonantius died in about 490, and thus was a contemporary of Clovis. Geoffrey may have chosen almost any
of the
Ferreoli, but the likeliest is Tonantius who, although he did not fight Thorismund in single combat, did negotiate with him one to one over a banquet, and thus lifted the siege of Arles.
Geoffrey’s imagination could make much of such material.

Geoffrey’s narrative continues with Arthur’s complete conquest of Gaul. He sends Hoel to take Poitou. Hoel is so successful that he also conquers Aquitaine and Gascony.
Arthur’s campaign takes nine years. He gives Neustria (Normandy) to his cupbearer Bedevere, and Anjou to his Seneschal Kay, as well as other provinces to other nobles. Satisfied, Arthur
returns to Britain and decides to hold an imperial coronation at Caerleon.

The nine-year span is the first time-sensitive information Geoffrey has given since Arthur came to power. We have no clues to the time span of his original military campaign throughout Britain,
or for the period when Arthur’s reputation grows and the codes of chivalry are established. Logic would suggest that these must cover at least a decade, and probably two. To this we must add
the nine-year Gallic campaign; thus, since Arthur was fifteen when he came to the throne, he must now be around 45, which would place us in about 515AD, according to Geoffrey’s timeline.

All the great and the good attend Arthur’s coronation. A few are worth mentioning here for the benefit of dating. Geoffrey lists four kings, all of whom we can date approximately.
“Urian, king of Moray” is Urien of Rheged who ruled in the 570s. “Cadwallo Laurh, king of the Venedoti” is Cadwallon (Lawhir) “Long Hand” of Gwynedd, father of
Maelgwyn, who ruled from about 500–534. “Stater, king of the Demetae” was more likely a title than a name. In Latin,
stator
is a magistrate’s marshal. The name
appears in the ancestry of Vortipor as a great-grandson of Constantine the Great, and although this pedigree is clearly confused, it would place Stater in the mid-fourth century. In
Tysilio
the name is given as Meurig, king of Dyfed, but this is clearly a late addition referring to an eleventh-century chieftain. Finally, there is “Cador, king of Cornwall” who lived in the
early sixth century. Only Cador and Cadwallo are contemporaries, and fit within the time scale for Arthur that has been emerging. Also listed is Donaut map Papo (Dunod the Fat), who ruled a
territory west of the Pennines in Yorkshire/Cumbria, which is now named Dent
after him. He was present at the Battle of Arderydd in 573, making him a contemporary of Urien,
and his death is given in the
Welsh Annals
in 595. Also named is Rhun ap Neithon, who was a prince of the Isle of Man, and lived around the 560s. Almost all of the names are of princes and
nobles alive in the mid-to-late sixth century.

The celebrations last four days, and at the end Arthur receives an envoy from Lucius Hiberius, Procurator of the Republic, bearing a letter admonishing Arthur for not paying his tribute to Rome,
and for attacking and claiming Roman territory in Gaul and the islands. Arthur is summoned to Rome to face a trial and due punishment. Failure to attend will lead to the invasion of his
territories. Arthur refutes the demands, claiming that by the same token Rome should pay tribute to him because his forebears Constantine and Maximus had both once ruled Rome – another piece
of Geoffrey’s propaganda. Arthur believes it is time to teach Rome a lesson and plans to invade, amassing an army of over 180,000 troops.

When Lucius receives the answer to his letter, he determines to invade Britain and raises an army of over 400,000 troops, drawn from across the Empire.

Arthur sets off from Southampton, leaving behind Guenevere as regent and his nephew Mordred in charge of the island’s defences. Upon landing in Gaul, Arthur undertakes a detour to fight a
giant who is occupying the island of Mont-St-Michel and abducting maidens. Arthur soon despatches the giant and returns to the matter in hand. He encamps at Autun on the river Aube in Burgundy, and
awaits Lucius’s army. Arthur sends three envoys to parley with Lucius, including his nephew Gawain. Lucius’s nephew Quintillanus taunts Gawain, who reacts by decapitating him. Gawain
and the envoys are chased back to their army, though not before they have killed many of the Romans. A battle ensues and is described in immense detail, running to over twenty pages. Arthur is of
course victorious, but at a cost. Amongst the casualties are Bedivere and Kay. Lucius Hiberius is also killed.

Who was Lucius? Although introduced as the Procurator of Rome, he is later identified as both the Emperor (
x.4
), and also simply as a general. Elsewhere, Lucius considers whether to wait
for reinforcements from “the Emperor Leo” (
x.6
). As Geoffrey Ashe has analysed in
The Discovery of King Arthur
, only one Emperor Leo adequately fits
this role, and this was Leo I, who was Emperor of the East in Constantinople, from 457 to 474. At that time the Empire in the West was in turmoil, with a succession of puppet emperors. One of these
was Glycerius, who Ashe suspects may be Geoffrey’s Lucius. He was emperor for little more than a year in 473/4.

Another suggestion is that Lucius is the Frankish king Clovis. Clovis succeeded his father as chief of the Salian Franks in 481, when he was only fifteen (the age that Arthur was). His rise to
fame came in 486 when he defeated Syagrius, the Roman ruler of Northern Gaul and son of Aegidius. Over the next nine years (the same period as Arthur’s campaign), Clovis pushed his authority
south. His campaign to the west in Armorica was far more difficult, but he steadily extended his empire. In 507, the Eastern Emperor Anastasius elevated Clovis to the rank of consul, and in 509 he
was declared sole ruler of the Franks. But his efforts had exhausted him and he died in 511, aged only 45. Clovis seems an ideal candidate for the source of Geoffrey’s writings about Arthur.
Much of what Arthur achieved seems to be modelled on Clovis’s own campaigns, and his dates are almost identical to those that we have identified for Arthur. It is surprising, too, that
Geoffrey should have Arthur fighting in Gaul and yet not encounter Clovis. One could argue that the name
Clovis
, an early form of
Louis
, could be mutated into
Lucius
, and that
Arthur was fighting Clovis in his role as consul (
read
procurator) of Gaul.

This whole episode of Arthur’s venture into France has to be seen in the light of events in Geoffrey’s own lifetime. Henry I, youngest son of William the Conqueror, had grabbed the
crown of England in 1100 while his brother Robert, the rightful heir, was involved in the Crusades. On his return in 1101, Robert invaded England, but Henry bought him off. Robert retained the
duchy of Normandy, but Henry kept the kingship. Five years later, Henry invaded Normandy, captured and imprisoned Robert, and regained control of his father’s lands. At the same time, Henry
was in conflict with the Pope. Henry had appointed as
archbishop of Canterbury the strong-willed Anselm, and Anselm was determined that only he, through papal authority,
should be allowed to appoint bishops and other clergy. Henry disagreed. In 1103 Anselm went into self-imposed exile, and Pope Paschal II wrote to threaten Henry with excommunication. This
communication from the Pope was similar to the letter received from Rome by Arthur. Henry eventually recalled Anselm, and reached a compromise whereby Anselm could appoint the bishops, but Henry
retained authority over church lands. Meanwhile, Henry’s campaign in France continued for over ten years, a combination of diplomacy and warfare culminating in the defeat of Louis VI (another
suitable Lucius) in 1119. Through various marriages and alliances, Henry succeeded in controlling not only Normandy, but also Anjou and Maine.

In telling of Arthur’s conquest of France, Geoffrey was finding precedents for Henry’s position, and comparing Henry’s achievements with those of Britain’s greatest hero.
There are even some parallels with Henry’s final years and the breakdown of the world he had fought so hard to establish, but clearly this was an area in which Geoffrey would tread
cautiously. It is perhaps pertinent that Geoffrey’s work was not issued until after Henry’s death, thus he was able to glorify Henry’s reign whilst recognising the perils of
kingship. Remember that the book was dedicated to Henry’s eldest illegitimate son, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and appeared in an England once again riven by civil war.

After defeating Lucius, Geoffrey tells us, Arthur winters in Gaul, preparing to march across the Alps into Rome the following summer. At this point, however, he receives news that Mordred has
seized the crown and is living adulterously with Guenevere. Arthur entrusts Hoel with continuing his campaign against Rome, and returns to Britain, landing at Richborough. Mordred has entered into
an alliance with the Saxon Chelric, promising him all the land between the Humber and Scotland, as well as Kent. He has also joined forces with the Picts and the Scots, and a confederate army of
80,000 troops advances to meet Arthur. It is a bloody battle and Gawain and Auguselus die, but Arthur’s army is able to push back Mordred – or the “Perjurer”, as Geoffrey
calls him. Mordred retreats to Winchester. Guenevere,
fearing the worst, flees from York to the City of the Legions (the
Tysilio
specifically says Caerleon), and
withdraws to a nunnery.

Arthur marches to Winchester, and a second bloody battle ensues. Mordred loses the most men, and flees by ship to Cornwall. Arthur follows, and a third and final battle takes place at the
“River Camblam” (
Camlan
in the
Tysilio
). Mordred is killed in the first onslaught, but the battle continues. Arthur, we are told, is mortally wounded and taken to the Isle
of Avalon. He hands the crown over to Constantine, son of Cador. Avalon is usually identified with Glastonbury in Somerset, which was supposedly known as the Isle of Apples, or Ynys Afallach
(
see
Gazetteer).

The final days of Arthur have their prototype in Henry I’s last days. Henry had lost all male heirs to the throne. His second marriage was childless and he pinned his hopes on his daughter
Matilda, but conflict erupted between Henry and Matilda’s estranged husband Geoffrey of Anjou – a suitable Mordred in the eyes of the English nobles. Henry died before the war began,
and the scene was set for civil war.

Mordred has since passed into legend as Arthur’s nemesis. We will meet him again as Arthur’s incestuous son, but that is the stuff of later tales and not the story as told by
Geoffrey. The Welsh form of Mordred is
Medrod
, and intriguingly only one person by that name appears in the pedigrees accumulated by P.C. Bartrum in
Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts.
This is Medrawt ap Cawrdaf, grandson of Arthur’s counsellor Caradog Vreichfras, and a contemporary of Athrwys of Gwent (
see
Table 3.7
). We do not know whether Athrwys inherited the
Gwentian throne, since he does not seem to have survived his father. It is possible that he was made a sub-king of Ergyng during his father’s long reign, perhaps because Medrawt was too young
to inherit, or perhaps because of a military necessity during the growing campaigns of the Saxons after their success at Dyrham in 577. If so, it is possible that once Medrawt reached maturity he
might have sought to claim his patrimony, or, as implied in the Triads, a minor quarrel became a battle. Medrawt may well have killed Athrwys, which is why he did not become king.