Arthur

King Arthur: Medieval British Literature and Modern Critical Tradition is a book that revolutionizes our understanding of Britain’s history and early literature. It begins with a compelling demonstration of ‘King’ Arthur as no figure of legend, but a flesh-and-blood warrior of the sixth century. He was not a ruler, but a North British champion fighting other North Britons during the terrible ‘volcanic winter’ of 536-7, and dying a soldier’s death in the latter year at Camlan or Castlesteads on Hadrian’s Wall. Arguments for this are followed by chapters on Arthur in the literatures of medieval Britain as perceived by scholars of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. They include chapters on modern understanding of the Welsh Mabinogion, Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, Layamon’s Brut, the alliterative Morte Arthure, and Sir Thomas Malory’s prose Morte Darthure, the last printed in 1485 by William Caxton. Besides these is dramatic proof on the Arthurian romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, using evidence set out by Ann Astell to identify its author as the Cheshire magnate Sir John Stanley (d. 1414), who will have written it in late 1387 for Christmas revels that year at Chester Castle. Solving problems which have baffled scholars for centuries, King Arthur: Medieval British Literature and Modern Critical Tradition is a volume that will fundamentally alter our view of Britain’s past.

“An invaluable survey of the origins, development, and changing fashions of scholarly opinions in Arthurian studies. Written with characteristic verve and critical acumen, this book is sure to become an essential guide in its field.” - David Scott-Macnab, University of Bristol

“Written in Breeze’s inimitable style, this wide-ranging and sometimes provocative volume offers a lively and knowledgeable account of Arthurian scholarship through time.” - Carole Hough, University of Glasgow

“Andrew Breeze wades through a sea of scholarship and offers a stunningly fresh breeze separating the wheat from the chaff on the historical Arthur and his literary reflections.” - Albrecht Classen, University of Arizona

“A sweeping review of the Arthur of medieval Welsh and English tradition. An essential contribution to Arthurian studies.” - Bernard Mees, Monash University

“Breeze seems to have read nearly everything ever written on the topic. His discussions are always judicious, always authoritative. This book will be a go-to resource for all Arthurians.” - Jeremy J. Smith, University of Glasgow

ANDREW BREEZE (FSA, FRHistS) was educated in Kent at Sir Roger Manwood’s School, Sandwich, and at Oxford and Cambridge universities. Since 1987 he has taught at the University of Navarre, Pamplona. Married with six children, he is the author or co-author of six books, including The Origins of the ‘Four Branches of the Mabinogi’ (2009), British Battles 493-937 (2020), The Historical Arthur and the ‘Gawain’ Poet (2023), and England’s Earliest Woman Writer and Other Studies on Dark Age Christianity (2024).

King Arthur: Medieval British Literature and Modern Critical Tradition