All About King Arthur: All about the Great British Hero.

At the end of the 5th century, Britain came under the leadership of a man named Arthur. He was a real man but very little is known about him. There are lots of legends told about Arthur and his followers, known as the 'Knights of the Round Table'. Unfortunately, most of these are just made up stories. He may have been a brilliant commander in charge of the British army or a High-King like Vortigern. A monk named Nennius wrote a document telling how Arthur was a Christian who fought 12 great battles against the Saxons. The most important of these was his spectacular victory at the Battle of Mount Badon. Some people think this was somewhere near Bath in Somerset. The Saxons then stayed within their small settlements and did not move into new areas for a whole generation. A document called the Welsh Annals records that Arthur died at the Battle of Camlann. He was either fighting alongside or against a man named Medrod. No-one knows where this battle took place.

Arthurian Documents: Written Evidence that Arthur was Real. Historians argue a lot about whether Arthur really existed. Most historians think that Arthur did exist because he is referred to in books written not long after his death. This is supposed to have been in the early 6th century. About AD 600, a famous bard (a poet who sung to his audience), named Aneirin, wrote a poem called Y Gododdin (an area of Scotland called Lothian today). It was about a big battle in Yorkshire between the RomanoBritish and the Saxons. In it, he says that one of the British warriors was a great hero but he was not as good as Arthur. In the late 8th century, Welsh monks (possibly at St. Davids) started keeping a calendar of what happened in each year. From books they had which no longer exist, they also filled in details of earlier years. The calendar is called the Welsh Annals. In their calendar, the monks said that Arthur won the Battle of Mount Badon in AD 516 and he died fighting with or against a man named Medrod in AD 537. However, they may have made a mistake with the exact dates. About AD 829, a monk named Nennius wrote a book called The History of the Britons. He wrote down what he had read in older books. He gives details of 12 battles which Arthur fought against the Saxons. One of these was the Battle of Mount Badon. He also mentions the grave of Arthurs son which was a famous tourist attraction! However, only a single book called The Ruin & Conquest of Britain survives from the time when Arthur was alive. It was written by a monk named Gildas. Unfortunately, he does not mention Arthur. He does mention the Battle of Mount Badon. He also mentions several British tyrants (a king who ruled a small region). One of the tyrants was named Cuneglasus. He also used the nickname, the Charioteer of Din Arth. Din Arth is a Welsh phrase which some people say, in English, means the Fort of Arthur.

Who Was Arthur? Ideas about Arthur's Position and Background. Though most historians agree that Arthur existed, they still argue about who he was.

The monk Nennius says that Arthur fought for the British kings and was their Leader in Battles. Some people think this means he was a military commander and not a king. Other people think it just means he was the only king who was any good at fighting. In a book of Welsh stories called the Mabinogion, Arthur is definitely a King living at Caerleon in South Wales. These were first written down in the 10th century, but had been passed down from father to son by generations of bards. The most popular legends say that Arthur inherited the Kingdom of Britain from his father. His parents were King Uther and Queen Igraine. Uther is said to have been the brother of the British leader, Ambrosius. No-one knows where this information about Arthurs family originally came from. It may have been remembered by the bards or written down in books which no longer exist or someone may have made a guess. Some people think that Arthur was not a King of all Britain, but one of the local kings (or tyrants). He would have ruled a small kingdom, perhaps in Wales or Cornwall or the North of England. Over the centuries, stories have changed and Arthur may appear to be more important than he really was.