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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Aug 18, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents Also called: Arthur or Arthur Pendragon (Show more)Ask the Chatbot a Question
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Top Questions Who is King Arthur?King Arthur is a legendary British king who appears in a series of stories and medieval romances as the leader of a knightly fellowship called the Round Table.
Was King Arthur a real person?Historians cannot confirm King Arthur’s existence, though some speculate that he was a real warrior who led British armies against Saxon invaders in the 6th century.
When did stories about King Arthur become popular?Stories about King Arthur became popular before the 11th century. Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia regum Britanniae, written between 1135 and 1139, brought Arthur European fame. Today the character of King Arthur appears in comic books, novels, television shows, and films.
How did Arthur become king?Legends disagree on how Arthur became king, though most involve his famous sword, Excalibur. Some involve Arthur fulfilling a prophecy by pulling Excalibur from a stone, whereas others say the sword was given to him by a magical woman in a lake.
Who was King Arthur’s wife?King Arthur was married to Guinevere in most legends. Early traditions of abduction and infidelity follow Guinevere, who in some stories was carried off by Arthur’s rivals and in others had an adulterous affair with the knight Lancelot.
King Arthur, legendary British king who appears in a cycle of medieval romances (known as the Matter of Britain) as the sovereign of a knightly fellowship of the Round Table. It is not certain how these legends originated or whether the figure of Arthur was based on a historical person. The legend possibly originated either in Wales or in those parts of northern Britain inhabited by Brythonic-speaking Celts. (For a fuller treatment of the stories about King Arthur, see also Arthurian legend.)
Assumptions that a historical Arthur led Welsh resistance to the West Saxon advance from the middle Thames are based on a conflation of two early writers, the religious polemicist Gildas and the historian Nennius, and on the Annales Cambriae of the late 10th century. The 9th-century Historia Brittonum, traditionally attributed to Nennius, records 12 battles fought by Arthur against the Saxons, culminating in a victory at Mons Badonicus. The Arthurian section of this work, however, is from an undetermined source, possibly a poetic text. The Annales Cambriae also mention Arthur’s victory at Mons Badonicus (516) and record the Battle of Camlann (537), “in which Arthur and Medraut fell.” Gildas’s De excidio et conquestu Britanniae (mid-6th century) implies that Mons Badonicus was fought in about 500 but does not connect it with Arthur.
Britannica Quiz A Quick Quiz on Arthurian LegendEarly Welsh literature quickly made Arthur into a king of wonders and marvels. The 12th-century prose romance Culhwch and Olwen associated him with other heroes, and this conception of a heroic band with Arthur at its head doubtless led to the idea of Arthur’s court.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.
