King Arthur: Historical Roots - Medieval History DOCUMENTARY
Channel the spirit of liberté in Conqueror’s Blade Season XI: Paragons, now available as a free
update! Sign up and play for free to receive FREE Fleur-de-Lys Unit Attire: bit.ly/3EvPxVW
*Benefits only applicable to newly registered players. Sponsored by my.games
Kings and Generals' historical animated documentary series on medieval history continues with a video on King Arthur, as we try to discuss if he was a real historical figure and present historical roots behind the legendary Celtic king,
History of Duel - Why the European Nobles Fought: • History of Duel - Why ...
Ancient Civilizations: • Ancient Macedonia befo...
Medieval Battles: • Medieval Battles
Roman History: • Roman History
Slavs and Vikings: Origins of the Kyivan Rus: • Slavs and Vikings: Med...
How Charlemagne's Empire Fell: • How Charlemagne's Empi...
How the Fall of Rome Transformed the Mediterranean: • How the Fall of Rome T...
Medieval Travel and Pilgrimage: • Medieval Travel and Pi...
Wars of the Roses: • Wars of Roses 1455-148...
Enclosure: How the English Lost Their Lands: • Enclosure: How the Eng...
Children's Crusade: Real Story of the Tragic Event: • Children's Crusade: Re...
Hundred Years' War: • Battle of Crecy 1346 -...
How the Fall of Rome Transformed the Mediterranean: • How the Fall of Rome T...
What Was Lost in the Sack of Constantinople of 1204?: • What Was Lost in the S...
Love Affair That Made the Hundred Years' War Inevitable: • Love Affair That Made ...
World in Year 1066 - Crusader Kings III: • World in Year 1066 - C...
World in Year 867 - Crusader Kings III: • World in Year 867 - Cr...
Support us on Patreon: / kingsandgenerals or Paypal: paypal.me/kingsandgenerals or by joining the youtube membership: / @kingsandgenerals We are grateful to our patrons and sponsors, who made this video possible: docs.google.com/document/d/1o...
Art and animation: Haley Castel Branco (instagram.com/abrantina_a...)
Narration: Officially Devin ( / @offydgg & / @gameworldnarratives )
Script: Leo Stotne
✔ Merch store ► teespring.com/stores/kingsand...
✔ Patreon ► / kingsandgenerals
✔ Podcast ► kingsandgenerals.libsyn.com/ iTunes: apple.co/2QTuMNG
✔ PayPal ► paypal.me/kingsandgenerals
✔ Twitter ► / kingsgenerals
✔ Facebook ► / kingsgenerals
✔ Instagram ► / kings_generals
Production Music courtesy of EpidemicSound
#Documentary #KingArthur #Medieval
The video has been made by Haley Castel Branco, check out her work at instagram.com/abrantina_artistica/?hl=en
Can you do the Romanian war of independence of 1877 (part of the Russian-Turkish war)?
Hi kings and general, love your video history content amazing video artwork, please can you tell me what is the background music at 8:13
Please make a series on Marco Polo adventures, there are very less videos on KZhead about this.
Thank you!
Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote about ‘King Arthur’ as a tribute to Alan Rufus, hero of Hastings and chief witness to the Priory’s foundation. He even gave names to Arthur’s family that mimic Alan’s parents, uncles and beloved.
The story of a possible King Arthur in Sub-Roman Britain was one of the things that captured my love for history. To this day the Fall of the Roman Empire and "Dark Ages" remain one of my favorite historical periods. Thanks for this fascinating episode.
We do know for a fact that Saxon expansion was halted around the year 500, and a great battle took place. This battle must have been led by someone...
@@manupainkiller You should read a lot more about that time period because you have a very distorted pop culture view of it. There are plenty of interesting successor states who had far more complexity and achieved greater success in art and learning than you currently give them credit for. The Vandal Kingdom was a maritime power that rivaled Eastern Rome. The Ostrogothic Kingdom was far more more advanced, stable and flourishing than Italy would be after Justinian's reconquest. Not every part of Europe was as economically and politically devastated as Britain was. But even if you dispute this, it was also the genesis of several states and their customs that would continue on to the modern day. You cannot understand the nations that would dominate Europe if you don't study this time period.
@@manupainkiller That is exactly why it is interesting.
@@stehfreejesseah7893 Britain wasn't economically devastated in the early Dark Ages. It had a limited economy by the fall of Rome, stripped of it's traditional trade links in favour of Imperial ones one could argue the Romans damaged the economy more than the Saxons did, especially when Britain was used as a recruiting hub during the many civil wars. It's also a pop culture reference to believe the Vikings devastated Britain, yes they raided it an awful lot and but they also founded the impressive city of Jorvik and also built up Norwich, both of which became major Medieval powerbases. The City of London was also relatively unscathed on account of having functioning Roman walls still. Even during the Saxon invasions it seems the Roman-Celts didn't fight back much, unable to centralise their power until it was far too late. Considering the Saxons invaded piecemeal, ironically like the Vikings attempted 300 years later, it seems resistance and destruction was localised at best.
@@razorbird789 I mean it was, the Roman Army when it left England pretty much took all the coins in circulation with them. That said, there was still some trade to Britain. Glassware from Iberia for example continued to be imported to Britain until the Islamic conquest.
'Comitting casual acts of genocide in Ireland.' That may be the most UK way to say , 'going on holiday.' I love the subdued humor of this channel.
We Irish Gave as good as We Got, or better in some cases...
@@steelshanks1265 Scotti raiders did not mess about...
@@jonbaxter2254 They did not, nor did the Picts for that matter...
Good old fashioned British tight lipped humour.
99% of Caucasian British men trace DNA back to the Saxon regions on the continent. Why? Cuz when the Saxons came they genocided the men & boys and took the women. Not something Brits like to dwell on for some reason, but its the circle of life.
English: Arthur will return and save us! King Arthur: I was saving them from you!
I hard some where some Welsh flyers were put to death by Edward the first of England for saying king Robert Bruce of Scotland was subject of a prophecy of a Celtic King uniting the Celtic people and driving the Anglo-Saxons out of Britain and back to the North Sea of Which said king would be a second Arthur personally I don’t believe it just some crazy ancient aliens like shit
the comic Once & Futur (which i highly recommend) addresses this very same issue wherein an attempt at bringing forth King Arthur to save England in the modern era horribly backfires on the people doing the ritual because their political agendas do not align with those of a 5th century welsh monarch/warlord this leaves the protagonists forced to deal with the aftermath and tangle with beings and creatures staight out of folklore it's pretty cool
English ?
Honestly impressed by how well you handled the Welsh names.
"More vowels!" Every Welsh person.
That wasn't Welsh he just had something in his throat.
As a Welsh speaker ,I can attest that _some_ of the Welsh words were pronounced accurately - *but most weren't*
@@cymro6537 I mostly meant in willingness to commit to the effort of an attempt. I'm sure they're WRONG by some degree
@@LiminalQueenMedia Agreed👍
The Arthurian Legend feels like a mixture of Celtic and Medieval British stories at this point, but is still a fascinating tale.
There was a big push in the 19th and 20th centuries (probably still going today) to 'reclaim' the UK's Celtic past. Partially a thing of romanticising an idyllic past, and partially a nation-building exercise for Wales, Cornwall, Scotland, Ireland, and to a lesser extent England. It's where we get the idea of romantic idea of noble Celtic warriors, mysterious druids in tune with nature, beautiful women that look like Galadriel wrapped in flower crowns, etc., as opposed to more traditional depictions of blood-soaked savages sacrificing children in stone circles. Its effect on Arthurian legend is to strip away some of the French and Christian influence (but of course not the best parts like Lancelot and Guinevere or the Roundtable) and highlight the Celtic instead. A really good example of this to me in modern media is The Black Cauldron and the Chronicles of Prydain.
Historians after a century of debate: King Arthur was probably an amalgamation of a bunch of different kings and/or warlords from a time period roughly 100 to 200 years after the Roman withdrawal from Britain. Some random guy in Japan like 20ish years ago: King Arthur was a blonde woman with a magic sword who fathered a daughter(Sir Mordred) with her older sister(Morgan Le Fey) using a penis made of magic(which was created by Merlin).
Damn you japanese!. Doing weird fetish shit again yet kinda fun.
Wow that sounds dumb. Why on earth would you watch that?
@@ricky-sanchez oh no, you don't watch that, you read it, for about 100 to 120 hours. its word count is more than the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
@@michaelmutranowski123 And is still having less word count than Umineko lol
@@ricky-sanchez Despite some of its dumb distortions, Fate's got some interesting lore about historical and mythical figures. It's also got one of the most fleshed out worlds in anime with a magic system that is explained with so much detail that it's like a scientific discipline.
Strange monks sitting in monasteries distributing Celtic fanfiction is no basis for an entire nation's national founding myth!
Neither should a lady handing out sword from a lake be the bases of governance for an entire nation
Supreme national identity comes from cultural and historical experiences of the masses, not some farcical literary composition!
Y’all need to chill lol
@@tomnaughton it’s a joke
If I went round, saying I was an E̶m̶p̶e̶r̶o̶r̶ Arthur, because some moistened bint made up tales about me, they'd put me away!
Also, I wouldn't be opposed to hearing more literature stuff on Kings and Generals, such as Digenes Akritas, the Song of Roland, or the Alexander Romance.
I'm into it
Rolando Furioso would be interesting! Or Spencer's "The Faerie Queen"
I think we have more evidence that Roland was a real person, since Charlemagne was better at keeping records and we know the battle of Tours happened
I second the song of Roland
Yes!! Diogenes Akritas is a very underrated and deserves more recognision
Some historians claim that there was a Romano-British king or warlord who defeated a Saxon host, killing their leader and taking his sword as a trophy (as was a common thing back then, to take a sword, a horse and sometimes even a wife of a defeated general/king). The confusion comes from a translation of this event, as apparently the word SAXO means stone in Latin, confusing it with SAXON, so the story changed to depict that warlord (Arthur) taking a sword from a stone. I checked and saxo means rock in Latin , by Google translate
Were they called Saxons because of where they came from geographically from the mountainous regions of Germany?
@@DonyoSanghelei30 They probably called themselves Saxons because it meant something on their native language, or the ancestors language
@@DonyoSanghelei30 no, they were named for a type of "axe." (Was more like a knife) they were known to use and seemed to be a cultural marker called a seax.
@@DonyoSanghelei30 Their main weapon was called a Seax, basically a big, pattern-welded knife.
This is a very interesting theory!
The 9th-century Historia Brittonum, traditionally attributed to Nennius, records 12 battles fought by Arthur against the Saxons, culminating in a victory at Mons Badonicus. The Arthurian section of this work, however, is from an undetermined source, possibly a poetic text Early Welsh literature quickly made Arthur into a king of wonders and marvels. The 12th-century prose romance Culhwch and Olwen associated him with other heroes, and this conception of a heroic band with Arthur at its head doubtless led to the idea of Arthur’s court
Also one thing overlooked often is that Pendragon was a title, not Arthur's family name. In the Welsh language "pen" means head and "dragon" means chief.
The Welsh tales made him ride alongside former pagan gods and demigods as well. For me that indicates an older tradition in which Arthur was a part of. I believe the medieval Arthur is based on a more ancient pagan hero/demigod.
The only problem with the Historia Brittonum, is there is not a single copy in existence that predates the late 11th century, and most Historians believe the tales of Arthur were later additions and not the work of Nennius at all.
King Artur tales may get some inspiration from celts but it is not a welsh story, the oldest that can be found are in Europe like France and Italy. In those times people looked at the sky and used the stars for pretty much anything, thus most tales will mostly involve the heaven above and so do the Arthurian legends. So the assumption of this entire video is flawed. For me it is obvious that the "Mysterious Fisher King" is a king born under the age of Pisces(Aprox 0 AD). The video is looking at the wrong date (at 500 AD) and the wrong location (England). No wonder that there is no evidence of Arthur there. BTW Arthur means BEAR, it could easily mean Ursa Major in the night sky.
@@EpicHashTime It's from Count Eudon's epithet Penteur, neaning Head-of-Clan. Eudon's emblems were gryphon, dragon, and ermine - see the Bayeux Tapestry for all three of those displayed on his sons' ship. The ermine is on the sons' shields, as a symbol of the Virgin Mary.
The Welsh tales made him fight alongside former pagan gods and demigods as well. For me that indicates an older tradition in which Arthur was a part of. I believe the medieval Arthur is based on a more ancient and pagan Celtic hero/demigod.
The High Medieval Arthur is actually inspired by Count Alan Rufus, who was personally well-known at Monmouth Priory: Geoffrey of Monmouth created "King" Arthur's family and modelled it on Alan's.
First of all, I loved the video! I was surprised though that they didn’t mention a certain Ambrosius Aurelianus who appears in Gildas’s history. Gildas lived from 500-570AD so he was only a generation or so removed from Arthur. In Gildas, Ambrosius Aurelianus is a Romano-Birton general who apparently had ancestors who had “worn the purple”. Aurelianus won an important battle against the Saxons around 500AD. To me, this seems like our best historical analogue of King Arthur. However, later writers such as Geoffrey of Monmouth, will refer to him as King Arthur’s uncle. Given that Geoffrey is writing several centuries later than these events and that Gildas is only writing a generation removed, I think it would make sense to defer to Gildas. It’s also important to recognize that in 500AD many of the Romano-Britons who were in power would’ve still had Latin sounding names and Ambrosius Aurelianus sounds like a freaking Roman Emperor! I still loved the video, just wish I could’ve learned more about what Gildas had to say and the historicity of Ambrosius Aurelianus.
Very true. I would also argue that after the legions pulled out, the remaining Roman-British elites would be the most likely source for the warlords that arose.
Search for Aurelia Aureliana, Ulpius Apolinaris, Riothamus and Sidonius Apollinaris. Then look up St Ambrose and Magnus Maximus. Check out the FitzRandolph genealogy and Y-DNA (hint: it derives from ancient Latium). Connect the dots.
@@zoetropo1 can you elaborate?
@@d26k164 they can't a magic cauldron cursed them to only speak in riddles
@@maxcasteel2141 😂
If a Welsh king was playing whack-the-Irish he wasn't doing it for fun since the Irish invaded the Welsh lowlands in 532ce and gave them a good kicking. That event may be the start of the antagonism between North and South Wales which allowed every subsequent attacker to invade - Welsh too busy fighting each other to fight the actual enemy.
The Welsh and The Welsh are natural enemies. Damn Welsh! They ruined Welshland!
If we’re going into myths and legends, I’d like to learn more about Prester John. Portuguese explorers: “We’ve found the kingdom of Prester John! Ethiopians: “There is literally nobody here with that name.”
I thought he was chilling out in Central Asia
@@TheLurker1647 His exact location moved around a lot. Medieval Europe's grasp of geography could politely be described as "shaky".
@@TheLurker1647 Or India. The Indian Orthodox Church (or what little Europeans knew about it) was the original Kingdom of Prester John, I believe. Then Kublai Khan's Nestorian Christian mother made him Prester John for a hot minute. The guiding thread being that Prester John was the Christian king on the other side of the Muslims who would be a total bro and flank them, once he could be found
Then his kingdom must be further along the road, keep searching
Prester John's kingdom in actuality was so far east that it was beyond the island of the Nipponese in the land we now know as America. He had a sweet ass castle 🏰 in southern California
“Yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into another place; and men say that he shall come again, and he shall win the holy cross.” ― Thomas Malory,
Nupuqi Om-Re Khonectics chamber degrees will guide you
there is one born every minute
"Yet some men say Jesus will only come if the current queen of England dies, which means never."
@@ElBandito One can only hope.
whats funny is that at the battle of maldon the saxon king cerdric is told to be the first king of wessex whos line would form the kingdom of england under athelstan.
I think theres also a very obscured knight of the round table member called Sir Robin. Not quite knows about him much, other than one time he bravely run away from a skirmish, and meet his horrible death by fail giving an answer to the bridgekeeper question when attempting to cross the bridge of doom.
If only he knew the capital of Assyria
🎶Brave brave Sir Robin, brave Sir Robin, brave Sir Robin...🎶 "... I'm really not."
Lol! They wrote a song about him.
His downfall was his hubris. After the valiant Sir Lancelot solved the Bridgekeeper's puzzle, the Bridgekeeper saw his hubris and created a riddle too difficult for even brave Sir Robin to solve, and thus he was cast into the Gorge of Eternal Peril.
Not being a historian (neither professional nor amateur), perhaps I'm too easily persuaded, but I remain convinced by _King Arthur, The True Story_ by Graham Phillips & Martin Keatman, an investigation from 1992. In it, they proposed that "Arthur" was the title of a warlord rather than an original name, which is why his identity has always been so elusive. Their thinking is that, after the withdrawal of the Romans, the land was divided between the Romanised or Romano-Britons and the Native (Welsh) speakers. Therefore, any overall war leader ( _Dux Belorum_ ) would have to appeal to and unite both factions. The name chosen was derived from both Brethonic and Latin, "Arth" and "Ursus", in both cases meaning, "Bear". And, just as _Antonius_ in time became _Anthony,_ so too _Arthursus,_ a merging of the Welsh and Latin, would later become _Arthur._
Could be a bit of both in that the title comes from a man. Who knows though, it sounds interesting.
@@skyereave9454 Like Ceasar, whos name become a title, even long after the roman Empire fell ("Kaiser", and "Zar", mean basically "Ceaser"). It is also theorized that there was also not only one "Robin Hood" but several over a time of centuries, beeing "Robin", the name given to particulary (in)famous outlaws
As a card carrying member of the name, I was always under the impression that "Arthur" was derived exclusively from the Latin given name Arturus, meaning essentially "bear-like". But your reference to it being a compound of the same word in old Welsh and Latin makes a decent bit of sense and provides a fingerprint of his likely assimilation of the remnant Romans and the Celts to check the Saxons. Dig this interpretation...
@@Arturius1987 I would add that a Welsh acquaintance confirmed that the meaning of "Arth" survives unchanged into the modern day.
@@bycromwellshelmet2369 Absolutely, I looked up the Welsh term for bear and it has several variations depending on the era: artio/arth/ard. Very cognate, make no mistake
If people want to read an Arthurian story that's indeed set in a grounded, historical fiction style, they should check out Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy and Mordred sequel. Her telling is really rooted in the time and place.
Indeed. That is a wonderful series. I would also recommend Bernard Cornwell's series on King Arthur as well.
@@GideonStahl I'll throw in the saga from MK Hume for good luck. And for the romanticised version, I'd take the Squire's Tales series.
Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon is also a great grounded read.
@@ssejr01 I'll preface this one by saying that if you wish to avoid writers that are controversial and you're the type that breaks out into hives wherever someone mentioned JK Rowling... It's probably best if you give the Mists of Avalon a pass.
@@utubrGaming fair enough
The roman auxiliary commander Arthurius they depicted in that movie back in 2004 was reasonably convincing...
Personally, I think Arthur was actually the last Roman general that stayed in Britannia to fend off the Saxon invaders during the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, was Ambrosinius Aurelianus (I probably spelled his name wrong). I’m pretty sure the celts & the Romano-brits that we’re living during those times probably gave him a Celtic name that meant “Arthur” when you translated it.
The Celtic root word for "bear", is something like "Art" or "Artos".
@@utubrGaming Yea but if I remember correctly, “Arthur” means “Great bear” in Celtics I just don’t know what’s the Celtic word for “Great”.
Sounds like an alright knight movie. Id watch it as I read.
Authur sounds more like an Anglo Saxon name.
@@AlextheGreat647 Alan Rufus's epitaph refers to to him as a star, apparently red-gold Arcturus (Arktouros) which means Guard (of the Bear, Arktos). Alan's hair was red-gold and he was the captain of the palace guard for both William I (William Major) and William II (William Minor). Compare with the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Arcturus is also due North of Virgo, making an association with the Virgin. Alan's shield bore ermine spots on a white background, a symbol of honour, the Virgin Mary and her mother Saint Anne, patron saint of Brittany.
The Sarmatians taken to britain by the romans had a cult which included the adoration of "a sword in a stone" also the sarmatians were known for their "dragon banners" .... These light cavalry warriors are for sure an important origin of the legend..
The warlord series by Bernard Cornwell is a solid take on Arthurian legend
No surprise that a Morgan loves Arthurian legends, Welsh, and British History, but I do. Thanks for putting this out. Always a pleasure to listen.
Linguistic note * : in French, pécher and pêcher (to sin and to fish) sound exactly the same. So the "Roi Pêcheur" 5King of Fishing) can when said aloud easily be misheard as "Roi pécheur" (King of Sin). Considering the high religiousness of these texts, especially concerning the Graal stories, I think the double meaning is interesting to consider. Although I do not speak Old French, maybe in the XIth century pronounciation was different enough, but you can be sure that later on the double meaning was used by French writers
And Bretons love puns! (The subtler the better.)
This video is now the gold standard on a brief and thorough history of Arthur.
Arthur's life and story reminds of that of Sigmar somewhat, check out our video: kzhead.info/sun/edCwaZ2emJ96eJs/bejne.html
To be honest King Arthur's downfall is kinda similar to the God Emperor of Mankind since both of their sons Horus Luprecal and Mordred initiated a rebellion that caused their deaths.
Viva Ukraine 🇺🇦 ♥. Turkey facist 🇹🇷 army a NATO member is attacking Kurdish villages and have killed hundreds of women and children in past 3 weeks, again. Who are the Kurds? Kurds are the people who destroyed ISIS and saved all of us in the west. Say something...
14:38 Hrmmm.... that boar's head looks familiar....
Sure will 👍
I'm starting to think that Kings and Wizards are the same people 🤔
National legendary figures are pretty interesting King Arthur for Brits, Bodonchar Munkhag for Mongols, Oghuz Khagan for Turks, Rurik for the Rus',...
Charlemagne and roland for france
Naresuan for Thailand.
More like King Arthur for Cymru( Wales). Britain/British in this context means Brythonic Celtic Speakers.
14:35 "magic boars" -- I about spit my coffee out at that visual 😂
I am Inosuke the Mountain God!
Richard III.
Even though there was no mention to the version of Arthur that was a woman and fought against other mythical heroes for the holy grail in a random japanese city, I have to say I'm not disappointed with the amazing quality of this video.
Come again?
@@caseyh1934 see Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night
Best Arthur
Was her offspring also a female that looks like her?
Should be noted how much King Arthur influenced Plantagenet kings of England. Edward I used the myth (seen as historical truth at the time) as a basis for his conquest of Wales and eventual invasion and brief conquering of Scotland, as he wanted to be a king of Britain as Arthur was. There were even two skeletons found and claimed to be Arthur and Gwenivere’s bodies which Edward I had reburied somewhere more grand. Then his grandson, Edward III was hugely inspired by Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table during his reign. He spent a lot refurbishing and adding to Windsor Castle, wanting make it his Camelot; modelled the still active Order of the Garter on the Round Table knights and their chivalrous deeds, and I think even commissioned his own round table to be built before it was scrapped early on. Then the Tudor king Henry VIII had a round table of Edward I’s repainted during his reign, with Arthur on it, the names of the knights and the Tudor Rose in the centre, it’s called the Winchester Round Table if you wanted to Google it.
My entire history 101 class was a rundown of studying history via the study of Arthur. One of the cool take aways was that bc of how mysterious and ambiguous Arthur's historical back ground is, he can any thing to any one. Paragon of Chivalry for the middle ages, champion of equality and justice for the modern day, he's ever changing to fit the needs for a heroic noble hero in contemporary society. Big reason he has endured for so long.
Also because Alan Rufus's family has been very influential in the social, political and economic development of the western world. Alan founded the English Parliament in 1089, his heirs (as descendants of his brothers) included the Dukes of Brittany, Elizabeth Woodville, and the FitzHugh family who were important civil servants for centuries. The FitzRandolph family (recent ancestors of many US Presidents) descend in the male-line from Alan's father Count Eudon Penteur.
"casual acts of genocide in Ireland" Just another tuesday for the Irish
The quality of these videos is simply staggering. The amount of effort and research that goes into it is readily apparent. Thank you!
We in the Netherlands have a couple of legendary figures (long lost to memory as only a few know of them now) and one of those is the Swan Knight, said to be a son of Percival or him self
The Percival family have claimed descent from the Dukes of Brittany.
14:39 love the Inosuke refference
I’m always amazed when historians give presentations about the influences and origins of King Arthur and never acknowledge one of the primary influences. Europeans and specifically English writers were steeped in biblical history and the stories in the Bible shaped everything in the culture. One of the most influential parts of the Bible is the Old Testament story of the obscure shepherd boy David from the most humble family in the most humble tribe among the Israelites. David was selected and anointed by the prophet Samuel and eventually became the King of Israel and drove out their enemies as well as brought about a renaissance of the culture and a golden age of the nation before it all collapsed again due in part to his own immoral behaviour and that of his son Solomon. So the wizard Merlin is the miracle working prophet Samuel, the boy to be king Arthur is David (who also slew a giant and as with Uther, took another man’s wife and impregnated her with a future great king) and the rebellious nephew/son Mordred is David’s son Absalom who rebelled against and fought a civil war against his father King David. There are, of course, other influences of the Arthurian myth, but the origin story of the boy to be king David certainly influenced Monmouth and others to a great degree and the similarities should be noted in any examination of the myth.
Very good point! I would also add that in an age of very little literacy and little to no concept of writing out a 'story' to be repeated for entertainment, the bible was likely one of, if the not the most, common sources for sharing stories, filling time, etc., across all the Christian world. Especially for people that are illiterate and retelling bible stories as well as local oral traditions to their families and communities. so yeah it would definitely fuse with local traditions.
@@xedaslopes3975 Beowulf is influenced by the Bible! It was written down by a Christian. Grendel and all the monsters are said to be descendants of Cain, etc. I could buy that the David story contains some recognised "epic tropes" that might be carried over into a British context. You'd be surprised what people come up with. The mythical king of Britain Brutus was said to be Trojan (nope). The "Holy Thorn" at Glastonbury was said to have been planted by Joseph of Arimathea (ditto). And so on.
@@xedaslopes3975 I think it's more that certain memes are universal.
@@xedaslopes3975 The different writers through the centuries in an obsessively Christian society where the only education anyone could get was in monasteries or in schools where the church pretty much had a monopoly on education - with strong emphasis on the Bible means there is a high likelihood that they would base some of the ideas of the King Arthur myth on things from the Bible. The notion that a king rose to prominence, united different tribes and drove out invaders is not unique. However, the main characteristics of the King Arthur story are clearly based on the prophet Samuel and the boy to be king David. With all due respect, I am going to take a guess that both of us are familiar with the King Arthur myth but only one of us has read the Old Testament of the Bible. I may be wrong, but if you have not read the book then can you form an opinion on whether there is merit to my observation? I’m inspired by this debate to make a video on the topic on my channel.
As a Welshman, I understand we all laugh and joke about our language and how hard it is to pronounce or how all our history consists of is coal mines and sheep but can I just state that you put a smile on my face with how you project our history in just an interesting manner and you pronounce our language very well with no disrespect. I wish I learned this type of story in school instead of stories of essentially English rule. Diolch yn fawr! Edit: I know the story of King Arthur isn't exactly Welsh history as it can be argued as only myth but still nonetheless, very interesting
Not forgetting that the Arthurian legend has deep roots in Cornwall where many features are named or associated with the titular Celtic warlord.
why do u add extra vowels to everything
On the contrary, the attempt of Welsh pronunciation grated on my ears
Unless we've got a time machine or a time viewer, I'm personally content with the idea that he's a Romanized Briton contemporary or a few generations removed from Emrys Wledig, and probably has some sort of Roman legitimacy stemming from Macsen or Custenin III (It's inferred that the founder of Gwynedd, Padarn Beisrudd/Of the Red Cloak was potentially a chieftain-figure delegated as a representative of Roman authority by the outgoing Romans), quite possibly a Pagan of the Henotheistic variety such as Beli Mawr/Belenos/Sol Invictus cult, or a Christian under the native Pelagian heresy, resulting in Gildas or Bede's omissions, but surviving via oral history and folklore. Being that kind of religious persuasion would also make it easier to bolt onto later Christianisation elements than if he worshipped a pantheon of some kind.
But someone led the Britons to victory at Badon? There needed to be a general of great quality, considering the host they faced. Why not Arthur...
More videos like these please! The cultural aspects of the middle age are one of things that made me fell in love with the time period
If there is interest, Bernard Cornwell did a book series called The Winter King following one of Arthur's men. Cornwell attempted to be as historically accurate as he could, thus bringing the myth to life from it's very real history. It's an excellent series.
It is surprisingly deep as well, great series.
The real question is what *hasnt* Bernard Cornwell written when it comes to historical fiction
@@fredbarker9201 fair enough lol, last I checked he's almost got all English history covered or he's getting close.
He defently tries to be as historically accurate as possible but he still puts some things that are shamelesly innacurate in the story like post roman britain still having pagans despite all archeological evidence showing christianity was dominant
Utterly fascinating and superbly presented! The artwork - especially those illustrations in the style of the Bayeux Tapestry - was excellent (as usual for K&G).
How the hell is this channel so high quality 😭
Fun fact: one of the most effective weapons wielded by King Arthur was the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch
... Five is RIGHT OUT...
Still just as powerful 1500 years later in the Oasis
I didn't vote for him.
What's interesting as well watching this is how many ancient Welsh names have seen a revival in recent years. Growing up in the 70s and 80s in a Welsh-speaking area I never really knew that many kids with Welsh names. We seemed to have become too Anglicised. Things have since changed, however. Branwen and Llyr are both fairly common names today, as is Gwenllian, which was the name of a couple of Welsh princesses and not a name I'd ever come across until recently. And there's a village called Gwalchmai nearby. Now I know where the name probably came from.
The one Myth that encouraged many plantagenets kings.
The Tudors too.
I'll always enjoy learning more about the legends of King Arthur. Another excellent video!
Could you please add a spanish translation to this video? I'm mexican and I would love to share this video to my father, since he's a fan of this tale. This is an amazing video! Thank you for it.
Really enjoyed this episode. One forgets how deeply embedded the Arthurian myth is in British culture. I had the Jackanory book 'The Quest for Olwen' when I was little and remember a school play of Gawain and the Green Knight vividly. Those stories are in the cultural DNA accross the British Isles.
And well beyond. The English carried those stories with them to all their conquests and colonies. Here in Australia, I grew up with books and stories about Arthur and his knights.
@@Ben-zi3rz That’s a really good point Ben. I’m actually in Melbourne now visiting family and it’s a fantastic country where people bring their own cultural stories with them. So important.
@@Ben-zi3rz It's not the English's story though. They were the enemy but they somehow turned Arthur into an English hero
I must look for that book! Incidentally, Alan Rufus's wet-nurse was named Orwen ('fine gold'). He gave her his estate at Sibton, where the stories of her courage and her marriage to Alan's chamberlain Mainard were preserved along with accounts of her descendants and their servants the Dere family, and copied by Henry V into the royal records about two years before Agincourt.
@@Rugbywarfare That's because Alan Rufus retrained the English Fyrd and conquered Normandy with it in 1091.
one of my favourite history channels doing a video on one of my favourite mythological figures..what a nice day it is
Now we need a series on legendary medieval and pre medieval heroes
I saw there was a very ancient king in the UK buried with one of the oldest swords in existence or something like that. And I wondered if it was based on him. What a mystery
Do ou meant Redwald at Sutton hoo? That could infact fit.
@@starman700 redwald the saxon king is actually Arthur King of the saxons enemies ?
@@beecee2205 yeah but i do wonder if it is still based on him as he was a real person.
@@beecee2205 Yeah but I mean it was such a messy time that our ideas of who is Brittonic and who is Germanic is largely conjecture. That said I doubt Sutton Hoo is a burial cairn for Arthur lol.
@@beecee2205 Radwald (called 'Radwal' in Brittany) was King of East Anglia. According to a 12th century German historian, King Edmund of East Anglia was a blood relative of Judith of Brittany's mother (Ermengarde of Anjou). Also, one genealogy for the Dukes of Brittany asserts that Duke Judicael Berengar's wife was a descendant of Henry the Fowler (c.876-936), Duke of Saxony and King of East Francia. Aristocracy intermarried.
Fantastic video. Thank you for branching out. This is a great topic and I hope to see more like it.
Thanks for providing these vids man i be watching this stuff when im on the throne to pass the time
One of the greatest pieces of founding myths from my favourite youtube channel.
King Arthur and the mythology around it is what made me into the history lover I am today. It was a perfect mix of realism and fantasy and it made my mind run on all cylinders thinking about what the knights looked like what morgana looked like. So thanks for this video I actually didn’t know some of the details in this video and learned even more about one of my favorite stories!
I love this narrator's narration. So perfectly paced unlike the other persons on a certain channel whom i shall not name. 😑
Very interesting and well done. I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary. I hope to see more.
Thank God you guys put this out, I’ve got an assignment about The Green Knight that I’ve been procrastinating on and I could use something like this
You guys forgot one more legend about arthur being a female spirit fighting other spirits for the holy grail.
I am saddened by how far down I had to scroll to find a comment regarding this
@@red_nikolai not that many cultured people here
I understood that reference
Thank you K&G for another facinating video! It brought me back to an amazing comic book serie of my youth "Arthur: une épopée celtique" or "Arthur: the legend" in english by David Chauvel. It claimed to try to recreate the 5th century tale of Arthur, and from that documentary I conclude Chauvel did his homework... If anyone wants more arthurian stories I highly recommand the series.
I just had a look and Arthur is slaying a dragon on the cover. Didn't he steal that from the knights in the romances? Tristan is the most famous dragon slayer. Arthur is associated with slaying giants not dragons.
Haha the first international fanfic and lore with extended universe written by French and British nerds in monasteries I love it !
This story doesn't have much romance(shipping) and contradicts my canon-Some medieval monks about the original tales that inspired them to write Arthurian tales lol.
Fantastic as always
I am currently studying this topic for an exam, thank you Kings and Generals!
Very interesting as always. Thank you.
Loved the art! Great video!
Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job
Really liked the video, looks beautiful! Shout out to the artists and animators!
Amazing as always!
Thank you for this video. It was about time someone gave us Welsh/Cymry people some creedence to our ancient history. There is more evidence for two King Arthurs in ancient Britain, in Brythonic and Welsh texts, that have not been studied by modern day Anglo-Saxon historians. Much of Welsh/British history has been obfuscated because of petty jealousies between the British races. For much more info on ancient British history and the Kings of Wales/Britain I highly recommend Alan Wilson's research and KZhead videos. Cymru am Byth.
Nothing in British history is more talked about and investigated than Arthurian Legend. Trouble is, there's zero evidence for him, and your headcanon is not a legitimate theory worthy of investigation.
no mention of Gildas? while he doesn't mention arthur by name, his history of britain does talk about several of the important battles in the arthurian legend. most importantly, he lived during arthur's alleged lifetime; thus bearing first hand witness to at least some of the events of arthur's life. there is *some* historicity there.
The Arthur stories have got to be right up there, it's got a lot of cool stuff, no wonder that we today are just as much smitten with them as they where 1000yrs ago, timeless
I attended a university module in Ireland a few years ago and as far as I remember there were further ancient stories such as "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" which contributed to the Arthurian Legends in some way. Additionally it was discussed that Crétien de Troyes actually based parts of his story on older legend from Brittany (also celtic), as well as some connections of Arthur to a part-time education in Rome and some very dubious ones to classical Hellenism. The main points were the same though although obviously a bit more detailed than as is possible in a 20min video.
Everybody loves a bit of King Arthur, whatever version it is. The myth and romance and potential historical links. Its the worlds first “franchise” honestly My favourite Arthur telling? Bernard Cornwells “The Warlord Chronicles” is a excellent read. Also Excalibur is a brilliant film itself but both are incredibly contrasting stories to each other
I love that this video could somehow fit in Wizards and Warriors as well.
Last week I did read a french comic that adapts the celtic version quite well, it was called Arthur - Une épopée celtique. I really recommend if you can find it to read.
The most famous king who probably didn't exist. Yep this is going to be a good video.
This was a great work.
Been hoping to learn more about this
Excellent video 📹 Everybody has a beginning story.
Thank you for the information in this video, especially the ones regarding the works that existed before the works during the High Middle Ages! Also, such a sad thing that the a certain movie about King Arthur did not become awesome in the eyes of the critics and the historians, thus making the sequels being cancelled.
If memory serves Arthur's father was Maurice, grandfather was Tewdred, he had four children three boys and a girl. His grandfather, six generations back was also named Arthur. He fought beside Magnus Maximus against the Romans. They lost a battle at Save, where Magnus was captured by the Romans and executed in Rome. Arthur made it back to Britain with what was left of his war band, sometime just after 400 AD. Roman military histories talk about the elder Arthur, old church records record the younger Arthur. You have to wade through a lot of old church records to find him but, he is there. Roman military combat diaries are pretty accurate also.
ive seen the documentary on this was really fascinating and probably the closest evidence of arthur ive seen
Amazing video K&G but we are still waiting an episode on the byzantine reconquista or the first crusade
Amazing work
i love the animation and art for this video!!!!
Thanks!
The art in this episode reminds me greatly of The Banner Saga
Great video. While watching the video. I remember reading Marion Zimmer Bradleys mists of avalon books years ago. And in her version of the legend . After defeating the saxons at mount badon. Arthur allowed the saxons to settle in the in the south and north east of island as part of peace agreement. There they were allowed to create their own kingdoms. But they had to accept Arthur as their overlord and high king over them* So Arthur was the high king of both britons and saxons). And give send men to Arthurs army when called upon. So in mists of avalon series, when final battle with Mordred. Saxons were fighting in Arthurs army under command of their high king Arthur, son of uther.
It is possible that Arthur was an amalgamation of several historical Romano-British leaders who fought against the Saxons and Goths sometime around the 5th-6th centuries. These were Arturius, Ambrosius Aurelianus, and Riothamus.
I'm almost sure that Ambrosius Aurelianus and Riothamus are identical and a distant cousin of Saint Sidonius Apollinaris through the marriage of Aurelia Aureliana and Ulpius Apolinaris who lived at Carlisle near Hadrian's Wall in the early 200s.
14:37 Didn't expect an Inosuke cameo...
this was a fantastic video
Writers: "That narrator ate the last donut again. We'll show him." Proceed to write something containing a lot of Welsh names.
I remember! When I was learning about celts I encountered some archaeological informations about celtic cauldrons. Remarkable.
Fascinating topic
Another great video,
Thanks for breaking Arthur's legend down for us
Why is no one mentioned that when the narrator said "boars" they showed Inosuke from demon slayer? Kings and generals watches anime confirmed
Great stuff!
There probably was a sub-roman, Romano-Brythonic warlord/chief/general/noble that formed the basis for this legend. What English people fail to grasp is that he wasnt english and that he was made famous by trying to stop the creation of 'england', was famous for killing saxons and is a welsh/cornish hero!
Yes exactly. The way they have culturally appropriated the Arthurian legend is quite appalling, but there we go.
Nicely informative video