the historical context (continued)

8:  THE CHURCH / PELAGIUS -  The events described in "King Arthur" take place at a period of uncertainty and upheaval in the history of the Church of Rome.  Its leaders were constantly convening new gatherings of Bishops to discuss matters of theology and belief, to determine once and for all the rules by which all Christians would live their lives. This caused a great deal of unrest among followers of the numerous factions which had gathered behind significant or greatly admired teachers. Two of the most outspoken were Augustine of Hippo and Pelagius.  Essentially these two men represented diametrically opposed notions of how one should live a Christian life. Augustine, on the one hand, taught that all men were subject to the will of God. Pelagius, drawing on a heritage of Classical philosophy, taught that man had the freedom to choose the course of his life and that living life according to the natural laws of honor and goodness would assure any soul a place in Heaven. After a public debate in which the two men fought a bitter campaign to uphold their ideas, the Church council declared Pelagius' ideas heretical and banished him from Rome.
On the edge of the Roman Empire, and far from the central jurisdiction of the Church, Britain was already considered to be a hotbed of heretical ideas, and since Pelagius was British and had lived there for some time, British Christians fell under suspicion of harboring heretical Pelagians, which they almost certainly did. The authorities sent the fiercely orthodox Bishop Germanus from Auxerre in Gaul, to root out heresy in Britain. He was not well received, and soon departed again. In time, however, Pelagianism was stifled in Britain and nothing further is known of the fate of Pelagius, though it is assumed that he was killed by his enemies in order to silence him. Historically, we know nothing of Arthur's beliefs, other than that he was probably a Christian. The fact that he is represented as a Pelagian in the movie is wholly in keeping with his character.  As someone devoted to the preservation of individual freedom as much as to the freedom of a nation, it would have been a natural choice.

9: LOCATIONS - Locations associated with Arthur are scattered all over Britain, from Cornwall in the South to Scotland in the North, Wales in the West and Northumberland in the East. Numerous places are said to mark the grave of Arthur, though a 6th century Welsh poem says 'Not wise the thought, a grave for Arthur,' showing how the native Britons refused to believe their greatest leader was really dead.

Generations of scholars have argued for the location of the main Arthurian sites. For example, Camelot is said to be in Somerset, or near Edinburgh, or in Wales. Many sites in Cornwall are associated with the more romantic imagery. Tintagel is the supposed birthplace of Arthur, though the famous castle perched on the cliffs above the sea is medieval. Nearby Dozemary Pool has long been described as the place where Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur was returned to the Lady of the Lake. But it is the sites of Arthur's battles that are most hotly debated.

The 7th century monk Nennius, who wrote the earliest document to mention Arthur, lists 12 great battles fought against the Saxons and the Picts. None of these sites can be identified with any certainty, though many scholars have tried to do so. The last and most significant battle is listed as taking place at Badon Hill. Several sites have been associated with this place, including a hill near Bath in Somerset, and the fortress of Caerleon in Wales. In the movie, it is located at Hadrian's Wall, which is in keeping both with the historical theories relating to Arthur in Scotland, and to the presence of other significant sites with Arthurian associations in the area. If Artorius and his men fought the Saxons at the Wall this is the likeliest site for the great battle in which the Britons routed their adversaries so thoroughly that they were no longer a threat for the next 40 years.

The chief location in the movie is the Wall itself. Built at the order of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 1st century AD. It took 10,000 men eight years to build and when it was finished it stretched for almost 73 miles at an average height of 15 feet, with a ditch of a further 20 feet on the inside. It stretched from the Solway Firth on the Western boarder of Scotland to the North sea, effectively cutting off the North of Britain from the rest of the island. The overall height was extended in places by the rising landscape to as much as 60 feet. Along its length were 12 forts, each containing a garrison of several hundred men. The purpose of the Wall was to keep out the Picts and Scots, who had withdrawn into the impenetrable wilderness of the Highlands, from where they raided constantly in the Roman held lands to the South.

Two other forts on the wall have significant connection with the story of Arthur. Camboglanna, now known as  Birdoswald, has long been associated with the site of Arthur's last battle, against his son Mordred, which according to some of the oldest sources, took place at Camlan. Mortally wounded, the story relates how Arthur was carried to Avalon, there to be healed of his wounds and to sleep until called back in a time of great need. Interestingly, another of the forts along the Wall is called Avallana. It lies just 20 miles from Camboglanna - about the longest distance that a wounded man could be carried.  The ruins of Hadrian's Wall still stretch from coast to coast today.

10: SOURCES & TEXTS - All the sources for Arthur date from several hundred years after he would have died. This makes it impossible to say with any certainty when he lived or even if he existed at all. However, the overwhelming circumstantial evidence supports a belief that a man called Arthur - or even more than one man with this name - lived in the 5th or 6th centuries and lead the Britons to victory against the invading Saxons.

The first documented source to mention Arthur by name is the 7th century monk Nennius, who compiled the Historia Brittonum (History of The Britons) from older sources. In this he describes Arthur as a leader of men rather than a king.
This is followed, in the 10th century, by the anonymous Annales Cambriae (Welsh Annals) which sets the Battle of Badon in the year 516 and says that here "Arthur carried the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ on his shoulders for three days and three nights, and the Britons were victorious."  This is usually taken to mean that Arthur's shield bore the likeness of Christ, an idea born out by other sources. Elsewhere, he is described as having the image of the Virgin Mary painted on the inside of his shield. This lead to the portrayal of Artorius and his men in the movie carrying shields painted with more frightening and warlike images.

Other than these, there are numerous mentions of Arthur in the early poetry of the Welsh. Here he is always referred to as a yardstick against whom warriors are measured. A typical line about a hero reads: "Though he was no Arthur, he fought bravely..."

All this points to a growing popularity of stories about Arthur and his men. This was finally given full bodied manifestation in the early 12th century when a cleric named Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the Historia Regum Brittaniae (History of the Kings of Britain). Geoffrey's sources remain vague and are hotly debated to this day, but it is to this work that we owe the romanticized version of the Arthurian legend. Geoffrey clothed the fragmentary stories of the hero Arthur in the garb of the 12th century Norman feudal court of Europe. He made Arthur a King and gave him a vast empire to rule over. In this he consciously echoed the historical reality of the Norman Kings, who sought to prove their descent from Arthur to help legitimize their claims to the British throne.

Geoffrey's book became a bestseller of the time, with hundreds of copies being distributed (a big thing at a time when all books were copied out by hand). It instigated an avalanche of 'Arthurian' books which expanded the original stories, borrowing from ancient native British myths and legends to create an entirely new thing - the myths of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Through the late 12th and 13th centuries, stories new and old were added to the growing cycle. At the sophisticated French courts, writers like Chretien de Troyes retold the love stories of Lancelot and Guinevere and Tristan & Isolt, while others like Robert de Borron added the great spiritual theme of the Grail Quest. In the 14th century the vast cycle of stories were gathered into one huge book, known as the Vulgate Cycle, and this in turn became the source for the greatest medieval version of the Arthurian legends: Thomas Malory's 15th century epic Le Morte Darthur.

After this, interest in Arthur and his knights waned for a time, though Edmund Spencer's vast 16th century poem "The Faery Queen" featured Arthur as a character. It was not until the 19th century, with the publication of Alfred Lord Tennyson's cycle of poems "The Idylls of the King," that interest was revived. Tennyson's works became favorite reading of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and this launched a spate on new Arthurian works not only in verse and prose, but also in art, with the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, especially William Morris and Edward Burne Jones producing dozens of memorable paintings on Arthurian themes.

With the dawn of the 20th century Arthur's star was in the ascendant, with hundreds of new novels, plays and poems pouring out every year. Major best-sellers have included The Once & Future King by T.H., White, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Mary Stuart's The Crystal Cave. Arthurian cinema has not been slow to follow this, with dozens of movies appearing every year.  All of these to date have chosen to follow the medieval and romantic aspect of Arthur; "King Arthur" is the first to focus on the true story of the Dark Age hero and his warriors. 
 
DATES & SOURCES
Chronology of Arthur and His Times
All dates are approximate and based on archaeological and documentary evidence.
AD.
122 Construction of Hadrian's Wall begins.
175 Lucius Artorius Castus commands Sarmatian troops in Britain.
364 Picts and Scotti raid across the Wall; Irish pirates attack from the West.
410 Roman Legions Withdraw from Britain
425 Vortigern invites Saxon mercenaries in Britain
455 Ambrosius Aurelianus leads the Britons
470 Arthur (Dux Bellorum/Duke of Battles) leads the British forces against the Saxons.
480 Battle of Mount Badon in which Arthur defeats the Saxons.
518 Battle of Camlan and Death of Arthur.
529 Gildas' De Excideo Brittaniae written.
690 Nennius' Historia Brittonum written
860 Annales Cambriae complied
1136 Geoffrey of Monmouth produces Historia Regum Brittaniae.
1170-1191 Chretien De Troyes' Arthurian Romances appear.
1215-35 The Arthurian Vulgate Cycle compiled.
1484  Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur published.
1590-95 Sir Edmund Spencer writes the Faerie Queene
1859-1891 Alfred Lord Tennyson publishes The Idylls of the King
1938 T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone published
1981 John Boorman's Excalibur released.
1982 Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon Published.
2004 Touchstone Pictures/Jerry Bruckheimer Film's King Arthur movie is released.
 
sources 
King Arthur:  Dark Age Warrior and Mythic Hero by John Matthews (Carlton, 2004)
The Book of Arthur: Forgotten Tales of the Round Table by John Matthews (Vega, 2002)
Merlin: King Arthur's Great Councillor  by John Matthews (Mitchell-Beazley, 2004)
Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory Ed. by John Matthews (Cassell, 2000)
From Scythia to Camelot by C. Scott Littleton and Linda A. Malcor (Garland Publishing, 1994)
The Ruin Of Britain by Gildas Ed & Trans Michael Winterbottom (Phillimore 1978)
British History by Nennius Ed & Trans John Morris (Phillimore 1980)
The Welsh Annals Ed & Trans by John Morris (Phillimore 1980)
The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Ed & Trans by Lewis Thorpe (Penguin Books 1972)
Arthur King of Britain: History, Chronicle, Romance and Criticism. Ed by Richard L. Brengle (Prentice Hall, 1964)
Barbarians: Secrets of the Dark Ages by Richard Rudgley (Channell 4 Books, 2002)
The Sarmatians by T. Sulimirsky (Thames & Hudson, 1970)
Hadrian's Wall in the Days of the Romans by Ronald Embleton & Frank Graham (Frank Graham, 1984)
Arthur and the Lost Kingdoms by Alistair Moffat (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999)
The Sarmatians 600 B.C - AD 450 by R. Brzezinski & M. Mielczarek (Ospray, 2002)
Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars by David Nicoll & Angus McBride (Ospray 1984)
Pictish Warrior AD 297-841 by Paul Wagner (Ospray, 2002.)
The Age of Arthur by John Morris  Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1983