The Mammoth Book of King Arthur (50 page)

The mystery might have been resolved. The cross survived long enough for the antiquary John Leland to see it on his visit in
1533. By that time the tomb of Arthur had been
elaborately enhanced. This happened following a translation ceremony in 1278, marking a visit by Edward I. Leland’s description of the wording on the cross agrees with Ralph de
Coggeshall’s. The cross itself was reproduced by another antiquary, William Camden, in the 1607 edition of his book
Britannia
, and it was this printing that enabled scholars to study
the nature of the engraving. It also shows the abbreviated text, but Camden maintained that the other side of the cross contained the reference to Guenevere, although this contradicts
Gerald’s original claim that the wording was only on the one side, closest to the stone slabs. All of this suggests that the cross was created by the monks, a clever forgery, attempting to
imitate an earlier form of lettering, but not one able to dupe modern scholarship. The reference to Arthur’s second wife, which is a curious feature and one that tends to favour a genuine
inscription, may well have upset the Church, and the wording was rephrased.

That was not all that upset the Church or, more especially, Richard I. He was unhappy with the belief held by the Welsh that Arthur was not dead but might return to help them in their hour of
need. There had been Welsh unrest throughout the twelfth century, and the last thing Richard wanted, while away on his Crusade, was to have a Welsh revolt at home. A sound reason behind needing to
find Arthur’s bones, perhaps even greater than that of bolstering the revenues, was to prove once and for all that Arthur was dead.

Once again Gerald of Wales came to the rescue. In his original report he had noted the fantastical tales that Arthur might return, but a few years later, writing in
Speculum Ecclesiae
(“The Mirror of the Church”), he made the point emphatically:

The true story may never be fully known. The marble tomb was smashed and the remains destroyed in 1539 during Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. The cross went
missing sometime in the eighteenth century, though it, or a copy, was reputedly discovered in Enfield, of all places, in 1981. This was also believed to be a hoax though the finder, Derek Mahoney,
refused to submit the item for analysis or to hand it over to Enfield Council, who maintained the item had been found illegally on one of their sites. Mahoney even served a prison service for
contempt of court and later committed suicide. His copy of the cross was never found.

Whether true or false, Henry de Sully’s discovery of Arthur’s bones placed Glastonbury firmly on the pilgrim’s map, in addition to the fact that they already claimed the relics
of St. Patrick and St. Indract, and would later develop the story of Joseph of Arimathea and the Holy Grail. The Arthurian legend was gathering pace.

12

FROM MONMOUTH TO MALORY – THE CRUSADER DIMENSION

Between 1138, when Geoffrey completed his
Historia,
and 1470, when Malory wrote
Morte Darthur,
there was an explosion in Arthurian literature. Over one hundred
and thirty different works appeared, excluding translations, variants, revisions or adaptations. About half of these appeared within the first century, and thereafter most of what followed were
reworkings of the earlier stories. Nothing of any significance was added to the Arthurian saga after the 1230s.

Could this phenomenal outpouring be explained by the popularity of Geoffrey’s work, which suited the politics of the courts of Henry I and King Stephen by enhancing their supremacy over
the rival kings of France? Or were other factors at work? Factors which, in the process, created a new King Arthur – one far more powerful than the original – with an entire retinue of
superheroes, the Knights of the Round Table.

This chapter will provide an overview of the stories that appeared in these three hundred and fifty years, and chart the key factors that created both the Arthur of legend and the mystery of the
Holy Grail. Many names will keep recurring and become familiar, and we will find two major elements, without which we might never have seen the Arthurian phenomenon as we now know it. These were
the Crusades and the Cistercian Order of monks.

The chart on the next few pages lists all of the major Arthurian tales and romances that appeared in these years. During those three and a half centuries everything we have come to know
about
Arthur and his world, about Merlin, Guenevere, Camelot and the Holy Grail, appeared and was tailored to fit the new image. The chart is divided into the main groupings of
stories, and plot summaries will be given over the next six chapters. This chapter will provide an overview to show how these stories evolved, and why.