King Arthur and Medieval England

To say that Medieval Britons were obsessed with King Arthur puts it mildly.  Stories of Arthur, his beautiful Queen Guinevere, his knights, the Sword in the Stone, Lady of the Lake, etc., etc., were known and loved by all classes, not only in England, but also in France and other parts of Europe with Celtic roots.  The Plantagenet family reflected their society in this regard.  They patronized poets who wrote songs and recited poems about Arthur.  Edward III had a replica of the Round Table placed in Westminster Great Hall.  The whole idea of chivalric orders, such as the Garter, took their inspiration from Arthur and his trusty Knights of the table round.  Richard II patronized John Gower, who wrote a story about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  Unlike the Tudors, who claimed a spurious descent from Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, the Plantagenets were more about proving that their kingdom was every bit as good if not better than Arthur.  Whatever Arthur had done, he could do better.

Historians differ on whether Arthur existed and who exactly he was.  However, as early as the 5th and 6th centuries, references to him in Welsh and Breton works cropped up.  One Welsh poet extolling the deeds of a warrior who slew 300 enemy still said that the man was no Arthur.  For these references to resonate with readers and listeners, they had to have some idea of who Arthur was and why even the most decorated warriors of the day couldn't match him or beat his record.  It took Geoffrey of Monmouth, a chronicler and cleric living in the 12th century, to flesh out who Arthur was.  From Geoffrey, Arthur emerges as an early British king who battled enemies both human and otherworldly, and who amassed an empire including what is now Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Gaul.  Uther Pendragon was his father, Merlin his mentor and assistant.  Arthur was born at Tintagel Castle in Wales, later married Welsh princess Guinevere, and obtained the magical sword Excaliber.  Mordred is his nemesis and he lies buried at Avalon, supposedly to this day if Avalon can be found.

French poet Chretien de Troyes also wrote in the 12th century, adding Sir Lancelot to a love triangle with Guinevere and the Grail Quest.  Through Troyes and another author, who wrote Roman de Brut, Brutus being another early British king and possible substitute for Arthur, the Arthur stories spread to France.  Knights' names and backstories began popping up.  Other stories were cast as spin-offs of the Arthurian legend, such as Tristan and Isolde.  Marie of France, a noblewoman who wrote lais, or chivalrous poems similar to the chansons of the troubadours, further embellished the legends, and added more characters and stories to the Arthurian universe.  Poetry soon led to prose stories, often serialized versions of the more popular tales, known as cycles.  The Arthurian stories became part of a body of legend known as the matter of Britain, legends of Britain, and by extension Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Brittany.  Medieval Europe couldn't get enough Arthur.  Chaucer alludes to him in some of the Canterbury Tales.  Finally, in the 15th century, Sir Thomas Malory wrote his magnum opus, Le Morte de Artur, which was one of the first books printed by William Caxton's printing press in 1485.  It went through several additions and no library for centuries afterward was complete without it.