Geoffrey of Monmouth's * Historia Regum Britanniae* _ (English: * _The History of the Kings of Britain* _ ) is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans of Homer's _Iliad founding the British nation and continuing until the Anglo-Saxons assumed control of Britain around the 7th century. It is one of the central pieces of the Matter of Britain.
It has virtually no value as history—when events described, such as Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain, can be corroborated from contemporary histories, Geoffrey's accounts can be seen to be wildly inaccurate—but is a valuable piece of medieval literature, which contains the earliest known version of the story of King Lear and his three daughters, and introduced non-Welsh-speakers to the legend of King Arthur.
- historia regum britanniae - Contents
- The Historia begins with the Trojan Aeneas, who according to Roman legend settled in Italy after the Trojan War. His great-grandson Brutus is banished, and, after a period of wandering, is directed by the goddess Diana to settle on an island in the western ocean, which he names "Britain" after himself.
- historia regum britanniae - Sources
- Geoffrey claimed to have translated the Historia into Latin from "a very ancient book in the British tongue", given to him by Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, but few scholars take this claim seriously. "Thorpeintro" Much of the work appears to be derived from Gildas's 6th century polemic The Ruin of Britain , Bede's 8th century Ecclesiastical History of the English People , the 9th century History of the Britons ascribed to Nennius, the 10th century Welsh Annals , medieval Welsh and king-lists, the poems of Taliesin, the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen , and some of the medieval Welsh Saint's Lives,
- historia regum britanniae - Influence
- The history of Geoffrey forms the basis for much English lore and literature as well as being a rich source of material for Welsh bards. It became tremendously popular during the High Middle Ages, revolutionising views of British history before and during the Anglo-Saxon period despite the criticism of such writers as William of Newburgh and Gerald of Wales. The prophecies of Merlin in particular were often drawn on in later periods, for instance by both sides in the issue of English influence over Scotland under Edward I and his successors.
- historia regum britanniae - Manuscript tradition and textual history
- Almost two hundred medieval manuscripts of the Historia survive, dozens of them copied before the end of the twelfth century. Even among the earliest manuscripts a large number of textual variants, such as the so-called 'First Variant', can be discerned. These are reflected in the three possible prefaces to the work and in the presence or absence of certain episodes and phrases. Certain variants may be due to 'authorial' additions to different early copies, but most probably reflect early attempts to alter, add to or edit the text.
- historia regum britanniae - References
- historia regum britanniae - References
- historia regum britanniae - Related topics