King Arthur’s greatest enemy was not a Saxon leader. After all, Arthur defeated the Saxons. Rather, his greatest enemy was the person who actually caused the downfall of his kingdom – Mordred. Let’s find out who this Mordred was, what he did, and what we can say about him historically. Earliest Appearance Mordred appears

The Chronology of Vita Sancti Gildae To understand the significance and influence of Vita Sancti Gildae, one must examine the evidence for the year of Gildas’ birth, the date of the Battle of Badon Hill (supposedly the same year as the birth of Gildas), and the date of the writing

Something that many Arthurian researchers are interested in is discovering where it was that Arthur fought his battles. Normally, his twelve battles against the Saxons (as recorded in the Historia Brittonum) are the subject of investigation, but there is another major battle that Arthur is recorded as having. This is

Introduction to the Text, its Summary, and its Manuscript Tradition Erec (Erek, Ereck) is a poem written by Hartmann von Aue in Middle High German rhyming couplets. According to Joachim Bumke (2006), this poem is thought to be the earliest of Hartmann’s narrative works and dates from c AD 1185. 

There are several characters from the Arthurian legends who can be identified as real individuals of the fifth and sixth centuries. Owain is one of these individuals. He appears in the legends as one of Arthur’s allies, generally known as ‘Sir Ywain’ in the later romances. Let us now take a look

Érec et Énide is the second of Chrétien de Troyes’ five romance poems, completed late Twelfth Century AD (c AD 1170).  It is one of the four completed works by Chrétien, the other three being Lancelot, or Le Chevalier de la Charrete (Lancelot, or The Knight of the Cart), Cligès,

Some of the characters from the Arthurian legends can be identified as definitely historical figures. One of Arthur’s most famous knights, Sir Uriens of Gorre, is one of them. Let us take a look at some of the historical facts about this character, as well as the way he is

Most nations have a legendary founding figure, and Britain is no different. According to the earliest legendary account of the origins of the island, the man who led his nation to ancient Britain and founded the first kingdoms there was named Brutus. Family Let’s first take a look at the

Introduction to the Poem: Structure and Technique Cligès is a poem by the mediæval French poet Chrétien de Troyes, dating from the late 12th Century AD (c 1176).  It is the third of Chrétien’s five Arthurian romances; Lancelot, or Le Chevalier de la Charrete (Lancelot, or The Knight of the

An Outline of the Cycle’s Contents The Robert Cycle, or Robert de Boron’s Cycle, is also known as La Grant Estoire dou Graal (The Grand History of the Grail), or Roman du Graal (Romance of the Grail), or Livre du Graal (Book of the Grail), or Le Petit Cycle du