The Arthurian Legend

Joshua J. Mark

by Joshua J. Mark
published on 09 April 2024

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The Arthurian Legend developed in Europe between c. 830, when the Welsh historian Nennius first mentions King Arthur through c. 1469 when Sir Thomas Malory composes Le Morte D’Arthur, the best-known version of the tales, which was published by William Caxton in 1485 and became a best-seller, as it has remained since its revival in the 19th century.

This collection presents a brief overview of the history of the tales and some of the central characters.

Articles & Definitions

Article

Maps & Infographics

Image

The Evolution of the Medieval King Arthur Legend - Merlin, Camelot, the Grail, and the Round Table

The Arthurian canon is a body of medieval legends, romances...

Videos

Video

King Arthur: This History and Story of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table

King Arthur, Camelot, Excalibur, Merlin, Lancelot & Guinevere and the...

Video

Courtly Love in the High Middle Ages

Courtly Love is a literary genre of poetry that began in the south of France in the 12th century during the period...

Illustrations

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External Links

Books on Arthurian Legends (sorted by popularity) - Project Gutenberg

www.gutenberg.org

Expedition Magazine | The Life and Times of King Arthur

www.penn.museum

Exploring the Arthurian Legend Lesson Plan

edsitement.neh.gov

Arthurian Legend | Encyclopedia Mythica

pantheon.org

Arthurian Legend: Sources and Commentary

www.ramsdale.org

Questions & Answers

Who is the first writer to mention King Arthur?: The first writer to mention King Arthur is the Welsh historian Nennius in c. 830.
Who is the Father of the Arthurian Legend?: Geoffrey of Monmouth is known as the Father of the Arthurian Legend for his work History of the Kings of Britain (1136) which first outlines the rough features of the later legend.
What is the most famous work on the Arthurian Legend?: The most famous, and comprehensive, work on the Arthurian Legend is Le Morte D'Arthur (The Death of Arthur) by Sir Thomas Malory, composed c. 1469.
Is King Arthur based on a real person?: The historicity of King Arthur continues to be debated but many scholars believe the legendary character is based on a real person.

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About the Author

Joshua J. Mark

Joshua J. Mark is World History Encyclopedia's co-founder and Content Director. He was previously a professor at Marist College (NY) where he taught history, philosophy, literature, and writing. He has traveled extensively and lived in Greece and Germany.

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License & Copyright

Uploaded by Joshua J. Mark, published on 09 April 2024. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.

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The Arthurian Legend

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Articles & Definitions

The Literary Development of the Arthurian Legend

Courtly Love

Grail Legend

Chretien de Troyes

Thomas Malory

King Arthur

Excalibur

Guinevere

Lancelot

Merlin

Vortigern

Cerdic