The Romanticism of Arthur
Arthur at Glastobury
Enterprising monks at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset, England, claimed to have discovered the resting place of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere in 1191. Conveniently, the "discovery" was made just a few years after a devastating fire had destroyed the monastic buildings.
A contemporaneous, though not an eyewitness account was given by Giraldus Cambrensis in his De principis instructione ("Instruction of a Prince," ca. 1193) and recollected in his Speculum Ecclesiae, ca. 1216 according to which the abbot, Henry de Sully, commissioned a search, discovering at the depth of 16 feet (5 m) a massive hollowed oak trunk containing two skeletons. Above it, under the covering stone, according to Giraldus, was a leaden cross with the unmistakably specific inscription Hic jacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurus in insula Avalonia ("Here lies interred the famous King Arthur on the Isle of Avalon").
According to Giraldus, the digging for the tomb was prompted by the intelligence obtained by Henry II from an aged British (Welsh) bard (Latin: historico cantore Britone audierat antiquo). On the other hand, Ralph of Coggeshall writing somewhat later, states more prosaically that they came upon the older tomb by chance while removing the earth to bury a certain monk who had expressed strong desire to be buried there. Both Giraldus and Ralph say that the spot lay in between two pyramids in the abbey. William of Malmesbury does not refer to Arthur's tomb but elaborates on the pyramids of varying height, upon which were statues with inscriptions "Her Sexi, and Bliserh... Pencrest, Bantomp, Pinepegn, etc."
William of Malmesbury's "History of the English Kings " stated: "Arthur’s grave is nowhere seen, whence antiquity of fables still claims that he will return" and his work "On the Antiquity of the Glastonese Church" has no mention of a connection between the abbey and either Arthur's grave or Avalon.
It's generally considered by modern historians to be a publicity stunt performed to raise funds to repair the Abbey and to increase pilgrimages and Royal favour. The fact that the search for Arthur's body is connected to Henry II and Edward I, both kings who fought major Welsh wars, has had scholars suggest that propaganda may have played a part as well.
A contemporaneous, though not an eyewitness account was given by Giraldus Cambrensis in his De principis instructione ("Instruction of a Prince," ca. 1193) and recollected in his Speculum Ecclesiae, ca. 1216 according to which the abbot, Henry de Sully, commissioned a search, discovering at the depth of 16 feet (5 m) a massive hollowed oak trunk containing two skeletons. Above it, under the covering stone, according to Giraldus, was a leaden cross with the unmistakably specific inscription Hic jacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurus in insula Avalonia ("Here lies interred the famous King Arthur on the Isle of Avalon").
According to Giraldus, the digging for the tomb was prompted by the intelligence obtained by Henry II from an aged British (Welsh) bard (Latin: historico cantore Britone audierat antiquo). On the other hand, Ralph of Coggeshall writing somewhat later, states more prosaically that they came upon the older tomb by chance while removing the earth to bury a certain monk who had expressed strong desire to be buried there. Both Giraldus and Ralph say that the spot lay in between two pyramids in the abbey. William of Malmesbury does not refer to Arthur's tomb but elaborates on the pyramids of varying height, upon which were statues with inscriptions "Her Sexi, and Bliserh... Pencrest, Bantomp, Pinepegn, etc."
William of Malmesbury's "History of the English Kings " stated: "Arthur’s grave is nowhere seen, whence antiquity of fables still claims that he will return" and his work "On the Antiquity of the Glastonese Church" has no mention of a connection between the abbey and either Arthur's grave or Avalon.
It's generally considered by modern historians to be a publicity stunt performed to raise funds to repair the Abbey and to increase pilgrimages and Royal favour. The fact that the search for Arthur's body is connected to Henry II and Edward I, both kings who fought major Welsh wars, has had scholars suggest that propaganda may have played a part as well.