Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth (c.
1100 – c.
1155) was a
clergyman and one of the major figures in the
development of British history and the popularity of tales of
King Arthur.
His birthplace is unknown but he may have been born in
Monmouthshire in
Wales, possibly of
Breton ancestry. Certainly he had significant connections to
Monmouth as his name suggests and the descriptions of
Caerleon in
Historia Regum Britanniae indicate familarity with the area. He studied at
Oxford University, where he met
Walter, who was
Archdeacon of Oxford. On 21 February
1152 Archbishop Theobald consecrated Geoffrey as bishop of
St Asaph, having ordained him a priest 10 days before. "There is no evidence that he ever visited his see" writes
Lewis Thorpe, "and indeed the wars of
Owain Gwynedd make this most unlikely."
[From the introduction to his translation of The History of the Kings of Britain (London: Penguin Books, 1966), p. 12.] Geoffrey attested about six different charters between the years 1129 and 1151; the date of his death is recorded in the Welsh Chronicles.
Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote several works of interest. The earliest one to appear was
Prophetiae Merlini ("The Prophecies of Merlin"), which he wrote at some point before 1135. Geoffrey presented a series of
apocalyptic narratives as the work of the earlier
Merlin who, until Geoffrey's book came out, was known as "Myrddin".
[The Welsh scholar Rachel Bromwich observed that this "change from medial dd > l is curious. It was explained by Gaston Paris as caused by the undesirable associations of the French word merde". (Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Welsh Triads, second edition [Cardiff: University of Wales, 1978], p. 472 n.1.)] The first work about this legendary prophet in a language other than
Welsh, it was widely read â€" and believed â€" much as the prophecies of
Nostradamus were centuries later; John Jay Parry and Robert Caldwell note that the
Prophetiae Merlini "were taken most seriously, even by the learned and worldly wise, in many nations", and list examples of this credulity as late as 1445.
[Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, p. 79.]Next was
Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), the work best known to modern readers. It purports to relate the history of
Britain, from its first settlement by
Brutus, a descendant of the
Trojan hero
Aeneas, to the death of
Cadwallader in the 7th century, taking in
Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain, two kings,
Leir and
Cymbeline, later immortalised by
Shakespeare, and one of the earliest developed narratives of
King Arthur. Geoffrey claims to have translated it from an ancient book written in Welsh, although few take this claim seriously. Much of it is based on the
Historia Britonum, a 9th century Welsh-Latin historical compilation,
Bede's
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum and
Gildas's 6th century polemic
De Excidio Britanniae, expanded with material from Roman histories, Welsh legend, genealogical tracts, and Geoffrey's own imagination.
[Thorpe, Kings of Britain pp. 14-19.] It contains little trustworthy historical fact, and many scholars are tempted to agree with
William of Newburgh, who wrote around 1190 that "it is quite clear that everything this man wrote about Arthur and his successors, or indeed about his predecessors from Vortigern onwards, was made up, partly by himself and partly by others, either from an inordinate love of lying, or for the sake of pleasing the Britons."
[Quoted by Thorpe, Kings of Britain, p. 17.] Further, his structuring and reshaping of the Merlin and Arthur myths has had a huge influence in the perception of those figures ever since: he may be viewed as the major establisher of the Arthurian canon.
[Thorpe, Kings of Britain, p. 20ff., particularly pp. 20–22 & 28–31.]Lastly, Geoffrey wrote the
Vita Merlini ("The Life of Merlin") at some point between 1149 and 1151. This is Geoffrey's own retelling of the earlier Myrddin legend from Welsh tradition. All of these books were written in
Latin, as were most learned works of the medieval period.
* Geoffrey of Monmouth.
The History of the Kings of Britain. Translated, with introduction and index, by Lewis Thorpe. Penguin Books: London, 1966. ISBN 0-140-44170-0
* John Jay Parry and Robert Caldwell. "Geoffrey of Monmouth" in
Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, Roger S. Loomis (ed.). Clarendon Press: Oxford University. 1959. ISBN 0-19-811588-1
* John Morris.
The Age of Arthur: A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650. Barnes & Noble Books: New York. 1996 (originally 1973). ISBN 1842124773
*
Latin Chroniclers from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries: Geoffrey of Monmouth from
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Volume I, 1907â€"21.
English translations available on the web
Historia Regum Britanniae:
**By Aaron Thompson with revisions by J. A. Giles at http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/geoffrey_thompson.pdf. (PDF)
**(Arthurian passages only) edited and translated by J. A. Giles at http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/geofhkb.htm.
*
Brut y Bryttaniait, translated from a medieval Welsh version (which has a few interesting differences) by Wm. R. Cooper at http://www.annomundi.co.uk/history/chronicle_of_the_early_britons.htm
Vita Merlini, Basil Clarke's English translation from
Life of Merlin: Vita Merlini (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1973).
** At
Jones Celtic Encyclopedia** At
Sacred Texts
