Geoffrey of Monmouth - Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth was a clergyman and one of the major figures in the development of British history. Born in about 1100 in Wales, he probably had some Breton blood. After graduating from Oxford University, he became archdeacon of Llandaff and/or Monmouth, and in 1152 he rose to the position of bishop of St Asaph. He died around 1154. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote several works of interest. The earliest one to appear was Prophetiae Merlini or "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". (It is assumed that Geoffrey changed the name of the.
Monmouth - Monmouth This is about the Welsh town of Monmouth. For other uses, see Monmouth (disambiguation). Monmouth is a historic town in south Wales, county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated at the confluence of the River Wye and River Monnow, and hence the name Monmouth is an abbreviation of 'Monnow Mouth'. Monmouth boasts a 13th century stone gated bridge, unique in Britain as it is the only preserved bridge of its design remaining. Work is currently being undertaken on a second Monnow crossing to relieve pressure from motor vehicles on the old bridge. This project however has meant the demolition of the old cattle market, thus Monmouth is no longer the market town it has traditionally been, however a farmers' market selling.
Knights of the Round Table - (or Tristan) Sir Yvain, son of King Uriens of Gore The legend of King Arthur is probably best known from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, but other chroniclers of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table include Chrétien de Troyes, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Robert de Boron. Sir Thomas Malory describes the Knights' code of chivalry as: To never do outrage nor murder Always to flee treason To by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy To always do ladies, gentlewomen and widows succor To never force ladies, gentlewomen or widows Not to take up battles in wrongful quarrels for love or worldly goods The Winchester Round Table, which dates from the 1270s, lists 25 names of knights including the twelve listed.
John of England - the Earl of Gloucester. (She is given several alternative names by history, including Hawise (or Avice), Joan, and Eleanor.) They had no children, and John had their marriage annulled on the grounds of consanguinity, some time before or shortly after his accession to the throne, which took place on April 6, 1199. (She then married Hubert de Burgh). Before his accession, John had already acquired a reputation for treachery, having conspired sometimes with and sometimes against his elder brothers, Henry, Geoffrey and Richard. In 1184, John and Richard both claimed that they were the rightful heir to the Aquitaine, one of many unfriendly encounters between the two. The 1185 though, John was given rule over Ireland, whose people grew to despise him, causing John to leave after only six months. During.
Igraine - '\Ygraine' was the mother of King Arthur. First mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his book Historia Regum Britanniae, he describes her as the daughter of Amlawdd Wledig, a member of the Royal House of Dumnonia and wife first to Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall then after his death to his onetime ally, Uther Pendragon, High-King of Britain. She was the mother of five children from her two marriages and many of them important to the legends surrounding Arthur. Her children by Gorlois were: Gormant, a son. Elaine, a daughter. Anna-Morgause, a daughter better known as simply Morgause. Morgan, a daughter better known as Morgan le Fay. Her only son by Uther was: King Arthur. She is also, perhaps mistakenly, mentioned as the mother of Cado, King of Dumnonia by her cousin.
Hengest - and Remus. It is perhaps more likely that Hengest, meaning 'Stallion', was an honorific for an actual warlord, while Horsa was a later accretion to the story, perhaps as a misreading of a gloss in a manuscript that was written to define the name Hengest as meaning 'horse'. Later accounts, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Historia Britonum, by Geoffrey of Monmouth, and by Robert Wace add further details from tradition and legend about Hengest's career. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle dates his death to 488, but does not provide a cause..
Vortigern - or his son Vortemir won all four battles. Because the date of the Historia Britonum is disputed, and could be later than the Chronicle, some argue that the Historia Britonum took its material from a source close to the Chronicle; but after reading both accounts side by side, one has to wonder at their similarities and differences, and wonder if both do not draw upon an earlier tradition. The Historia Britonum provides more information on Vortigern than an account of these four battles, which conflict in several points. These conflicts can be understood if we sort the passages into groups reflecting their possible origins. Excluding what is taken from Gildas, there are five groupings of traditions: Material quoted from a Life of Saint Germanus. These excerpts describe Saint Germanus' incident with.
Helena of Constantinople - Gulf of Nicomedia, was the first wife of Constantius Chlorus, and allegedly the daughter of an innkeeper. Later legend, mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth, claimed that she was a daughter of British King Coel Godhebog, meaning "King Cole the Magnificent". Other versions of the legend mention Coel not as King but as dux(chief) of Camelodunum (Colchester). It should be noted that her legendary father is not the same as King Coel Hen, meaning "Coel the Old" and more recently called "Old King Cole". Constantius Chlorus divorced her (circa 292) to marry the step-daughter of Maximian, Flavia Maximiana Theodora. Helena's son, Constantine later became emperor of the Roman Empire, and following his elevation she became a presence at the imperial court. She is also considered by some Christians to be a saint,.
History of England - were the (more commonly mentioned) Angles,Saxons and Jutes together with undoubtedly large numbers of Frisians and Riuparian Franks who had been partly displaced on mainland Europe. Increasingly the erstwhile Celtic population was pushed westwards and northwards. The invasion/settlement of England is known as the Saxon Conquest or the Anglo-Saxon (sometimes "English") settlement (though "settlement" here does not imply an absence of violence). See also: Hengest (Saxon leader, arrived in England in 449, died 488) Dark Ages Anglo-Saxon Kings In the decisive Battle of Deorham, in 577, the Cornish Celtic people were separated from the Welsh by the advancing Saxons. The Venerable Bede (c672 - 735) - Offa (reign 757 - 796) - Alfred the Great (848 - 900) Beginning with the raid in 793 on the monastery at Lindisfarne, Vikings made.
History of London - 2 The Meaning of Londinium 3 Roman London 4 Saxon London 5 Norman London 6 Stuart London 7 Modern London 8 Population 9 Historical Places of Note in London 10 External Links Legendary Foundations and Prehistoric London In the medieval mythology of Geoffrey of Monmouth London was founded by Brutus the Trojan in the Bronze Age and was known as Troia Nova which was corrupted to Trinovantum. King Lud renamed the town CaerLudein from which London derived. Geoffrey provides prehistoric London with a rich array of legendary kings and intersting stories. However, archaeologists have found no evidence of a prehistoric or British town. There have been scattered prehistoric finds, evidence of farming, burial and traces of habitation but nothing more substantial. The archaeological coverage has been so intense particularly since the.
Historia Britonum - according to the promise they had received, claimed a supply of provisions and clothing, the Britons replied, "Your number is increased; your assistance is now unnecessary; you may, therefore, return home, for we can no longer support you;" and hereupon they began to devise means of breaking the peace between them. But Hengist, in whom united craft and cunning, perceiving he had to act with an ignorant king, and a fluctuating people, incapable of opposing much resistance, replied to Vortigern, "We are, indeed, few in number; but, if you will give us leave, we will send to our country for an additional number of forces, with whom we will fight for you and your subjects." Vortigern assenting to this proposal, messengers were despatched to Scythia, where selecting a number of warlike.
Glastonbury - priest and sent to the Queen to feature on her Christmas table top. The original Holy thorn was a centre of pilgrimage in the middle ages but was chopped down during the English civil war (in legend the roundhead soldier who did it was blinded by a flying splinter). A replacement thorn was planted in the 20th century on Wearyall hill but many other examples of the thorn grow through out Glastonbury including those in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey. In some versions of the Arthurian myth, Glastonbury is conceived of as the legendary island of Avalon, the word Avalon itself being an anglicised corruption of the Celtic "Annwn", the Celtic twilight world of faerie. An early Welsh story links Arthur to the Tor in an account of a face-off between.
Gog - the westernmost of these gates having been built at Derbent. (These gates are usually called the "Gates of Alexander" or "Alexander's Wall", after their supposed builder Alexander the Great.) However, Magog was supposed to have a grandchild called Heber, who spread throughout the mediterranean and Greeks called such Iberes mentioning that they were refugees from Atlantis who had come to settle the Caucasus. The result is that Gog -- the land of the four corners of the world -- has also been identified as lands somewhere in the oceans surrounding The Old World i.e. The New World. During the 20th century, Gog as both a confusion of Atlantis & Central Eurasia myths became the driving force behind the Aryan movement culminating in the attempts of "The Fatherland's Nazis" to reach "The.
Guinevere - stronghold at Glastonbury. The story states that Arthur spent a year searching for her, found her, and had assembled an army to storm Melwas' fort when Saint Gildas negotiated a peaceful resolution and restored Guinevere to Arthur. The Welsh poet Dafydd ap Gwilym alludes to this story in two different poems. The medievalist R.S. Loomis suggested that this tale of her abduction seems "to show that she had inherited the role of a Celtic Persephone". Geoffrey of Monmouth tells a slightly different version of Guinevere's abduction, adding that she was descended from a noble Roman family and was the ward of Cador, Duke of Cornwall. Arthur left her in the care of his nephew Mordred while he crossed over to Europe to go to war with the (fictitious) Procurator of Rome.
Urban legend - legend. Discussing, tracking, and analyzing urban legends has become a popular pursuit. A thriving usenet newsgroup, news:alt.folklore.urban discusses such stories. The newsgroup's Frequently Asked Questions page summarises the truth or otherwise of these stories, so far as this can be determined. For a similar list see the Urban Legends Reference Pages. For online urban legends, see Virus Myths and the Darwin Awards site, which also showcases a few stories each year of dubious veracity (they've promulgated Urban Legends as facts in the past). Finally the US Government Department of Energy has set up a service called Hoaxbusters that deals with all sorts of computer-distributed hoaxes and legends. Certain early historians such as Tacitus, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Herodotus functioned as forerunners of urban myth, recycling hearsay and anecdotal accounts as historical.
Excalibur - Lady of the Lake. On his death, it was eventually returned to the Lady of the Lake by Sir Bedivere. In Welsh legend, Arthur's sword is known as "Caliburn", which is thought by some to be a corruption of the name "Caledvwlch", a magic sword in the Mabinogion. Geoffrey of Monmouth also calls Arthur's sword "Caliburn" in his "History of the Kings of Britain", and it is thought that the name Excalibur is a corruption of this usage. Sir Thomas Malory says that Caliburn was the original name; when Caliburn was broken, it was re-forged into the sword and the new name Excalibur was bestowed upon it. However, the name is also close to the Latin phrase for 'out of the stone'. In the later versions of the legend, Excalibur's scabbard.
Dubious historical resources - Calendar of Saints (in any edition) Herodotus Histoire de l'Inquisition en France has also been shown to be a deliberate fabrication. The Historia Regum Britanniae History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth The Hitler Diaries, which were a complete forgery. The Liber Pontificalis Plutarch, and other authors whose stated aim is to write exemplary biography Religious texts (Bible, Quran etc.), intended to support a particular doctrine. The Scriptores Historiae Augustae, which some historiographers think was intended as a joke. The following could be included on the list, but is rather more of a humorous book than a historical resource, containing deliberately mangled history. 1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England Also in citing historical resources keep in mind that what may generally regarded as truth by.
Uther Pendragon - father of King Arthur in the Arthurian legends, first mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britonniae. According to Geoffrey, he impregnated Igraine while magically disguised as her husband. The theme of illegitimate birth is repeated in Arthur's siring of Mordred. The legendary figure of Uther may be based in part on the Romano-British warlord Ambrosius Aurelianus. Geoffrey lists Ambrosius as Uther's older brother and predecessor to the throne of Britain, along with a brother Constans, whom Vortigern had made his puppet king, all of whom were sons of a High-King called Constantine. This legendary High King may either be based on the historical Constantine III, a claimant to the Roman throne from 407-411, or king Constantine of Dumnonia who lived in the sixth century. The main character of.
1154 - Syria under one ruler. Birmingham, England, and the Birmingham Bull Ring are founded. Bosnia becomes an autonomous duchy. Belgrade is rebuilt by Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus. Births November 11 - Sancho I, King of Portugal Minamoto no Yoshinaka, last shogun of the late Heian Period of Japanese history Sune Sik Sverkersson Prince of Sweden Deaths Geoffrey of Monmouth (approximate) October 25 - Stephen I of England, King of England (1135-1154) King Roger II of Sicily (1130-1154) Ramiro II, King of Aragon Heads of states England - Henry II Curt Mantle, King of England (reigned 1154 - 1189). France - Louis VII, King of France (reigned 1137 - 1180)..
1100 - of the Principality of Antioch. Dagobert of Pisa becomes Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. The cities of Kalmar, Kungälv, and Varberg, Sweden are chartered. Approximate date of the invention of checkers. Approximate date of the rise of the Anasazi culture. Births Geoffrey of Monmouth (approximate date) Herman of Carinthia (approximate date) Pope Adrian IV (approximate date) Albert I of Brandenburg (approximate date) Deaths William II of England - August 2 Godfrey of Bouillon, King of Jerusalem\n.
