Historicity of King Arthur

Former site of Arthur's purported grave in "Avalon" at Glastonbury Abbey

The historicity of King Arthur has been debated both by academics and popular writers. While there have been many claims that King Arthur was a real historical person, the current consensus among specialists on the period holds him to be a mythological or folkloric figure.[1][2]

The first definite mention of Arthur appears circa 828 in the Historia Brittonum,[3] where he is presented as a military leader fighting against the invading Saxons in 5th- to 6th-century Sub-Roman Britain at the Battle of Badon, written more than three centuries after the events depicted. He develops into a legendary figure in the Matter of Britain from the 12th century, following Geoffrey of Monmouth's influential but largely fictional Historia Regum Britanniae.

Historians propose a variety of possible sources for the myth of Arthur, perhaps as a composite character. Historical figures involved in such theories include Artuir mac Áedán, a son of the 6th-century king of Dál Riata in modern Scotland; Ambrosius Aurelianus, who led a Romano-British resistance against the Saxons; Lucius Artorius Castus, a 2nd-century Roman commander of Sarmatian cavalry; and the British king Riothamus, who fought alongside the last Gallo-Roman commanders against the Visigoths in an expedition to Gaul in the 5th century. Others include the Welsh kings Owain Danwyn,[4] Enniaun Girt,[5] and Athrwys ap Meurig.[6]

  1. ^ Shippey, Tom (20 December 2018). "So Much Smoke: Review of Nicholas J. Higham, King Arthur: The Making of the Legend, 2018". London Review of Books. 40 (24): 23.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference david was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fletcher_112 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Phillips, Graham; Keatman, Martin (1992). King Arthur: The True Story. London: Century. ISBN 9780712655804.
  5. ^ Phillips, Graham (2016). The Lost Tomb of King Arthur: The Search for Camelot and the Isle of Avalon. Bear & Company.
  6. ^ Bartrum, Peter Clement (1993). A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to About A.D. 1000 (PDF). National Library of Wales. p. 35. William Owen Pughe in his Cambrian Biography, 1803, ... put forward the suggestion that Arthur was the same person as Athrwys ap Meurig. It was discussed and rejected by Sharon Turner (History of the Anglo-Saxons, Bk.3, Ch.3, 1805) and Rice Rees (Welsh Saints, 1836, pp.185-6), but accepted by Robert Owen (The Kymry, 1891, p.77)