1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: One quick and very exciting note before we begin today's episode. 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:10,800 Speaker 1: I have a brand new podcast. It's called Hoax and I, 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: with my co host Lizzie Logan, will focus on a 4 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: lesser known or famous poax from history or relatively modern history, 5 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:25,080 Speaker 1: discussing the question of why people believe things that aren't true, Unfortunately, 6 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: a question that seems all too relevant today. The very 7 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: first episode about the Cuttingly Fairies was released yesterday. It 8 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: should be in the Noble Blood feed. I hope that 9 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: you like it, that you want to listen to the podcast. 10 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: If you do, please subscribe, leave a review or rating. 11 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: It absolutely helps. Doing podcasts about history is my absolute 12 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: favorite thing in the world, and your support means the 13 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: absolute world. It means I get to do what I 14 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: love to do. And don't worry. This podcast is not 15 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: in any way a replacement for Noble Blood. Both are 16 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: continuing on for as long as people want to listen. 17 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: Hoax will drop every other Monday, and I hope you 18 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: love it. And now into this episode, which you might 19 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: be able to pick up, has a slight hoax theme. 20 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 2: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 21 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 2: and Mild from Aaron Manky listener discretion advised. In nineteen 22 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 2: ninety eight, an archaeologist digging at Tintagel Castle had this 23 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 2: sort of moment which I imagine makes people want to 24 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 2: become archaeologists in the first place. Tintagel Castle, on the 25 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 2: coast of Cornwall is famous today mainly for being the 26 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 2: ancestral home of King Arthur. 27 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: Well according to popular myth, there's actually no archaeological evidence 28 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: that King Arthur or or his family was ever associated 29 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: with Tintagil. In fact, there's no actual archaeological evidence that 30 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: King Arthur was real, but maybe all of that was 31 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: about to change. In nineteen ninety eight, the archaeological team 32 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: from Glasgow was digging on the castle's eastern terraces when 33 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: someone uncovered a piece of Cornish slate. The archaeologists pulled 34 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 1: it away from the craggy earth and saw on the 35 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:38,119 Speaker 1: slate carved letters. The archaeologists saw an A, an R. 36 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: We can only imagine the excitement he must have felt 37 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: when he saw the third letter A T. The Latin 38 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: inscription on the stone, dated from the sixth century, is faint, 39 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: but it's thought to read something that translates to art. 40 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: No descendant of Paternus Colis made this. It's not exactly 41 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: a smoking gun, but the fact that a Latin carving 42 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: with a name similar to Arthur dated from the historical 43 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: period during which the mythological king might have lived was 44 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: enough to cause excitement in the media. Doctor Jeffrey Wainwright, 45 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: the chief archaeologist at the English Heritage was happy to 46 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: play into that excitement. Quote, Tintagel has presented us with 47 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: evidence of a prince of Cornwall in the Dark Ages, 48 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: living in a high status domestic settlement at the time 49 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: Arthur lived. It has given us the name of a person, 50 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: Artneau Artna was here. That is his name on a 51 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: piece of stone. It is a massive coincidence. At the 52 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: very least, this is where myth meets history. It's the 53 00:03:55,520 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: find of a lifetime end quote. The connection, in my view, 54 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: is extremely flimsy. But you can't blame doctor Wainwright for 55 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: trying to get the public excited about what would otherwise 56 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: be a fairly dull project about faint Latin inscriptions in 57 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: sixth century stones. King Arthur is a marquee name, someone 58 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:24,919 Speaker 1: who like King Henry the Eighth, or Anne Boleyn or 59 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: Elizabeth I or Shakespeare seems to get people interested in history. 60 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: King Arthur is arguably one of the most famous historical 61 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: figures in the world, but there's almost no evidence he 62 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: ever existed at all. So who is King Arthur? And 63 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: how did someone who maybe never existed become so famous 64 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:56,280 Speaker 1: and so sought after. It's a story not about stones 65 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: from the five hundreds, but a story about story about 66 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:05,840 Speaker 1: how sometimes a mystery that lets the audience play detective 67 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: makes for a better version of history than the real thing. 68 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 1: I'm Danish Schwartz and this is noble blood. If King 69 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: Arthur did really exist, most consensus estimates that he would 70 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: have lived around the fifth or sixth century, a period 71 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 1: after the Romans left Britain, during which the island was 72 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:40,919 Speaker 1: in institutional and economic collapse. Rome withdrew from Britain in 73 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: four hundred and ten AD while they were under siege 74 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: from the Visigoths back home, and what was left on 75 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: the island was, in a word, chaos. Former Roman institutions 76 00:05:54,680 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: were left abandoned and collapsing. Local economies were crumbling, and 77 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:05,799 Speaker 1: the people in fragmented fiefdoms were tormented by plague, drought, 78 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:11,359 Speaker 1: and invading Saxons. Mark Morris, the historian and author of 79 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:15,359 Speaker 1: the twenty twenty one book The Anglo Saxons, A History 80 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 1: of the Beginnings of England four hundred to ten sixty six, 81 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: puts it very succinctly, quote it was a miserable time 82 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:28,359 Speaker 1: to be alive. End quote. So why do people think 83 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 1: King Arthur would have existed during this period? Well, there 84 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: are a few vaguely suggestive sources. The oldest possible reference 85 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: to a historical Arthur comes from a book called Historia 86 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: Britonum or History of the Britons, written by a monk 87 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: named Nennius around eight hundred and twenty eight, although it 88 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 1: only survives in copies from the eleventh century on. Before 89 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:03,280 Speaker 1: we even begin, it's worth paying attention to the tenuousness 90 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: of that source. It's a text from the eleventh century, 91 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: which is actually a copy of a book from two 92 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: centuries before that, which is talking about a period several 93 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: hundred years before that. Historia Britonum contains a section including 94 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: a battle list twelve battles in which someone named Arthur 95 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: led troops. This Arthur isn't actually called a king, but 96 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: rather a dux belorum or military leader, a general. The 97 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: battle list ends with the Battle of Baden, where Nennius 98 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: claims that Arthur killed nine hundred and sixty men, a 99 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: resounding and impressive victory. If you're interested in proof that 100 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: that battle actually happened, there's some pretty good evidence you 101 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: can cite. There's some archaeological evidence that Anglo Saxon my 102 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: gration reversed around that time, which is consistent with a 103 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: massive victory of the British. After all, who wouldn't turn 104 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: around when faced with a general who could kill nearly 105 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: one hundred other soldiers himself. There's also another extremely early source, 106 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: a text written in the sixth century called on the 107 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: Ruin and Conquest of Britain by Guildess, which mentions Baden, 108 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: and that's huge. That battle would have been within living 109 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: memory of when Gildas was writing his book, except Guildess 110 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: doesn't actually mention Arthur. It's possible maybe that Arthur figure 111 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: was just too obvious to need to be mentioned, or 112 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:51,360 Speaker 1: maybe Ninius in the ninth century got his battles mixed 113 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: up and that heroic general Arthur fought in a different 114 00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: later battle. But there's also no Arthur mentioned in the 115 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: Anglo Saxon Chronicle, which would have covered the period he 116 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,679 Speaker 1: was alive. Nor is there an Arthur in the seven 117 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty one Ecclesiastical History of the English People, 118 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 1: which also mentioned the battle at Baden Guildis does mention 119 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: someone named Ambrosius Arelenius, which excites some people because I 120 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: suppose it starts with the letter A. But that seems 121 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: like the type of thing that only matters if you're 122 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 1: already determined to find evidence for a real king Arthur. 123 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: Even Nenius's book, which does mention Arthur, the source that's 124 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,679 Speaker 1: most helpful if you're someone clinging to the idea that 125 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: someone named Arthur exists, gets a little, let's say, less 126 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:53,720 Speaker 1: than factual. There's another section of Nenius's Historia Brittnam that 127 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 1: claims that Arthur had a dog named Cabal who was 128 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 1: chasing a bore, and while the dog was running, his 129 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 1: pawprint became permanently embedded in stone, and people would try 130 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: to steal the stone, Neneas says, but then the very 131 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: next day it would be right back where it was. 132 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: Nenius also tells us that Arthur's son was buried in 133 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,439 Speaker 1: a tomb that's never the same length if you measure 134 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: it more than once quote, And men come to measure 135 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 1: the grave and find it sometimes six feet in length, 136 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 1: sometimes nine, sometimes twelve, sometimes fifteen. And whatever length you 137 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: might measure in at one time, a second time you 138 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: will not find it to have the same length. And 139 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,840 Speaker 1: I myself have put this to the test end quote. 140 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: And so even back then, the oldest source we have 141 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: mentioning a candidate who could ostensibly be our King Arthur. 142 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,719 Speaker 1: He's not a king, first of all, and second of all, 143 00:10:55,760 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: he's already a figure of popular mythology. There's another source 144 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: people often bring up, the Analyst Cambria or welsh Annals, 145 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 1: originated in the tenth century, but which survives as a 146 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: copy from two centuries after that. The welsh Annals also 147 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 1: mention Arthur and the Battle of Baden, but the text 148 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: went through so many revisions over the centuries it's impossible 149 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: to know what the original text was, or whether it 150 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:33,200 Speaker 1: was ever a corroboration of the Historia Brittonum, or whether 151 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:37,199 Speaker 1: it was just using the Historia Brittonum as a source. 152 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 1: And so the King Arthur of our popular imagination exists 153 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: really only in the margins of historical sources, and it 154 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: requires plenty of squinting. Certainly, a very very long time 155 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 1: ago people had an idea of someone called Arthur, whether 156 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: he was real or not. There's a Welsh poem called 157 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:07,719 Speaker 1: Egododeine from between the seventh and eleventh centuries, and it 158 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: mentioned some random warrior and then adds he was no Arthur, 159 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: the way someone today might say he was no George 160 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 1: Clooney or whatever. Of course, once again we're faced with 161 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: the question of whether it's possible the author of that 162 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 1: poem had just read the Historia Brittonam and took note 163 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: of this guy who allegedly killed nine hundred men. He 164 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: might be referring to Arthur as a man who was 165 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 1: understood to be a figure of myth already and not 166 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:46,840 Speaker 1: of history. That's really kind of all we have. Countless 167 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: books and articles have been written about the quote unquote 168 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: real King Arthur, and the idea that there might be 169 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 1: some hidden clues we've overlooked sends historians and amateurs alike 170 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 1: into Da Vinci code esque tizzies every few decades, only 171 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: for nothing really worthwhile to come up. The archaeologist Noel 172 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: Miles once Riley made the declaration that no figure on 173 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 1: the borderline of history and mythology has wasted more of 174 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: the historian's time. On the evidence, it does seem astonishing 175 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:31,079 Speaker 1: that an occasionally referenced general somehow became one of the 176 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:36,280 Speaker 1: most celebrated figures in all of British mythology. So how 177 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: did Arthur dux Belorum become a king? We have a 178 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: Welsh cleric named Jeffrey of Monmouth to thank for the 179 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: King Arthur, who has captivated our imagination for centuries. Three 180 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 1: hundred years after Nennius wrote his battleist that included a 181 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: battle leader named Arthur, Jeoffrey of Monmouth decided on a 182 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:09,199 Speaker 1: slight rebrand. In his eleven thirty six Historia Regnum Brittania, 183 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: he wrote about King Arthur, the monarch who defeated the Saxons. 184 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 1: This is the first version of Arthur that has elements 185 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 1: of the story that remain in our mythology today, sort 186 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: of the biggest hits of Arthurian legend Guenevere, Excalibur Merlin. 187 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: In Jeffrey's version of the story, King Arthur's father was 188 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: Uther Pendragon, and Arthur was conceived at Tintagel Castle and 189 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: then ultimately died while battling Mordred, and he was laid 190 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,920 Speaker 1: to rest in Avalon. The larger cast of side characters 191 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 1: aren't there, but the general shape should be familiar to 192 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 1: anyone who went through a King Arthur phase. But Jeffrey 193 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:00,880 Speaker 1: didn't even really purport to historical accuracy, or at least 194 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: not all that convincingly. Remember, he's writing in the twelfth 195 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: century about something that allegedly was taking place in the 196 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: sixth century. Jeffrey claimed he was basing the Arthur story 197 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: on a quote very ancient book, but inconveniently for us, 198 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: he doesn't actually mention what that book might be. Even 199 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: at that time, Jeffrey's contemporaries were aware that he was 200 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: writing a work of if not entirely fiction, then almost 201 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: entirely fiction. William of Newburgh, a twelfth century historian, wrote 202 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: of Jeffrey, quote, it is quite clear that everything this 203 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: man wrote about Arthur was made up, partly by himself 204 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: and partly by others, either from an inordinate love of lying, 205 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: or for the sake of pleasing the Britons. The legend 206 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: of Arthur was forming in real time, a folk story 207 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: that was giving Britain its own identity. Jeffrey's book did 208 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 1: please the Britons. It was a sensation. The most popular 209 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,640 Speaker 1: text in the Middle Ages after the Bible. The idea 210 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: of Arthur was exciting a matter of national pride. In 211 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:25,840 Speaker 1: twelve thirty three, the Earl of Cornwall made what objectively 212 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: seems like a terrible trade three prime estates in exchange 213 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: for Tintagel. Tintagel was remote and served no real defensive 214 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: or strategic function, but it did have one thing going 215 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: for it. It was romantic in the sense that it 216 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 1: was already associated with the man who was swiftly becoming 217 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: a mascot for Britannia herself. The next big leap in 218 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: the story of King Arthur as he became a legend, 219 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: was a leap across the English Channel. The twelfth century 220 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 1: French poet Schretien de Troy added his own spin on 221 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: the Arthur lore, and, like a game of improv adding 222 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,879 Speaker 1: in new elements, he came up with Lancelot, the Holy 223 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: Grail and Camelot, And from this point in the Arthur 224 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 1: legend it becomes interwoven with Welsh mythology and Romantic traditions, 225 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 1: and so our version of King Arthur is born not 226 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: from sixth century history, but from twelfth century literature. But 227 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 1: there were a lot of stories circling around nine hundred 228 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:43,360 Speaker 1: years ago, and the vast majority of them aren't household names. 229 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: Why has this legend of Arthur stood the test of time. 230 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 1: The answer is something that every good female pop star understands. 231 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: When it comes to longevity, you've got to rebrand yourself. 232 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: Arthur stories are incredibly malleable. They can fit like liquid 233 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:09,200 Speaker 1: into containers of any shape. Over the centuries, Arthur evolved 234 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:15,960 Speaker 1: into whatever the current moment needed. According to historian Nicholas Hyam, 235 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:20,239 Speaker 1: back when Nenius was writing about the great general who 236 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: killed nine hundred Saxons in battle, Britain needed quote, a 237 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 1: god beloved warrior to rally behind. One important detail of 238 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:35,199 Speaker 1: Neneus's historia is that Arthur went into battle with an 239 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: image of the Virgin Mary on his shield. According to Hyam, quote, 240 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: Arthur was winning battles with the support of Jesus Christ 241 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:50,400 Speaker 1: and Mary against the Saxons. The Saxons were presented as barbaric, dishonest, 242 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:57,440 Speaker 1: and latecomers to Christianity. By the time Jeffrey of Monmouth 243 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 1: was writing his version, he was doing some pr for 244 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: the Welsh, who were seen by some as Celtic speaking savages. Jeffreys. 245 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:13,160 Speaker 1: Arthur has his roots in the western craggy castle of Tintagel, 246 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:18,080 Speaker 1: and elements of his story are derived fairly linearly from 247 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:22,880 Speaker 1: Welsh and Irish folklore. Hard to think of the Welsh 248 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 1: as savages when British history is oriented around a noble, 249 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:34,160 Speaker 1: valiant Celtic king, But Arthur wouldn't belong to the Welsh forever. 250 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:39,880 Speaker 1: In eleven ninety one, monks at Glastonbury made a shocking 251 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: announcement they had found skeletons which they claimed were the 252 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: remains of King Arthur and Queen Guenevere. What a lucky happenstance, 253 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: of course, it's just a happy byproduct that that discovery 254 00:19:56,119 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: would mean plenty of visitors and pilgrims coming to the abbe. 255 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:04,680 Speaker 1: One of those pilgrims was King Edward the First. He 256 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:09,440 Speaker 1: visited the Glastonbury Graves in twelve seventy eight and actually 257 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 1: disinterred the remains. When observer wrote at the time, there 258 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: in two caskets were found, the bones of the said 259 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: King of wondrous size and those of Guenevere of marvelous beauty. 260 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,720 Speaker 1: I personally would love to know how beautiful a skeleton 261 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: can be, but I'll take their word for it. Edward 262 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: reinterred those skeletons after wrapping them in silk and giving 263 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: them the Royal seal. But his little pilgrimage wasn't just 264 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: to honor a fellow monarch. His loudly and publicly proclaiming 265 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: that he saw the remains of King Arthur served an 266 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 1: important political purpose. Edward was saying, King Arthur is definitely dead. 267 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:02,560 Speaker 1: So any Welsh enemy King Edward had who had any 268 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:07,120 Speaker 1: great notion that this heroic king might be immortal or whatever, 269 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: return from the grave to challenge Edward for the throne. 270 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:16,880 Speaker 1: While they were sadly misguided. A few centuries later, other 271 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:21,880 Speaker 1: English monarchs would also use Arthur for their own pr purposes. 272 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 1: As I've probably alluded to on this show, before, the 273 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: Tudor claim to the throne of England was fairly tenuous. 274 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:36,719 Speaker 1: King Henry the seventh was really doing everything he could 275 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 1: after the Wars of the Roses to try to establish 276 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: himself as legitimate, and one way he did that was 277 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,720 Speaker 1: by claiming that on his Welsh side, he was a 278 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:53,919 Speaker 1: direct descendant of King Arthur. Henry the Seventh further bolstered 279 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 1: that connection by naming his first son Prince Arthur. Although tragic, 280 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,639 Speaker 1: Arthur died young and cleared the way for his younger 281 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:08,480 Speaker 1: brother Henry to become King Henry the Eighth, and even 282 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:13,920 Speaker 1: later in the Victorian era, Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote Idols 283 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:19,720 Speaker 1: of the King, repopularizing Arthur and framing Arthur's story not 284 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,680 Speaker 1: as one of a Welsh battle saga, but as a 285 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:28,679 Speaker 1: romance and a love triangle. It's no accident that Arthur 286 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:33,199 Speaker 1: re emerged during a period when the Industrial Revolution was 287 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: adding a sense of uncertainty and chaos to the country. 288 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: Arthur became a comforting figure of power and stability, and 289 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 1: new elements of the Arthur story, notably of Guenevere as 290 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: an adulterer, were introduced to reinforce notions of Victorian morality. 291 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:58,640 Speaker 1: Even today, the myth of King Arthur is pretty profitable, 292 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:02,920 Speaker 1: despite the fact that Arthur isn't real, and even if 293 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:07,479 Speaker 1: he was never actually lived At Tintagel Castle, the place 294 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:11,960 Speaker 1: receives three thousand visitors a day in the summer, most 295 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:16,719 Speaker 1: of whom probably imagine they're seeing the real Camelot, a 296 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:22,200 Speaker 1: fantasy not dispelled by the fact that English heritage, which controls. 297 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:27,439 Speaker 1: The site plays into that lower with Arthurian decor and carvings, 298 00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: Tintagel does have an incredible archaeological history. During the Arthurian period, 299 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:39,920 Speaker 1: the settlement was home to Celtic people who were writing 300 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:46,560 Speaker 1: on slabs, forging metal, and organizing relatively sophisticated systems of agriculture. 301 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: It's easy to imagine, plausible even that at some point 302 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: that group of people had a leader, and that leader 303 00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:01,480 Speaker 1: was a valiant warrior, and when the Saxon Horde tried 304 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 1: to cross the narrow Rocky strait to the castle, that 305 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 1: leader might have been able to defend his people. Maybe 306 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: that man was named Arthur or something like it, and 307 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: the story of his noble victory embedded itself in Welsh folklore, 308 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:25,640 Speaker 1: eventually becoming embroidered until he was a king with noble, 309 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: pious knight who carried a sword called Excalibur. When you 310 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 1: tell a story like that, it almost sounds plausible. That's 311 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: the history of King Arthur as we know it today. 312 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: But keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear 313 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:50,159 Speaker 1: about how another aspect of Arthur's story came into the 314 00:24:50,200 --> 00:25:01,919 Speaker 1: popular imagination. If you are familiar with the myth of 315 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:06,360 Speaker 1: King Arthur. You probably know that he became king because 316 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,200 Speaker 1: he was able to pull a sword from the stone. 317 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil 318 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: is right wise king born of all England. You know 319 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: the drill. All of these nobles fail, and then lowly 320 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 1: Arthur is able to do it. That part of the story, 321 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: and in fact, lots of the most popular elements of 322 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:32,080 Speaker 1: the Arthur legend today come from a fifteenth century text 323 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 1: called Lemoort d Arthur by Thomas Mallory. But the identity 324 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:42,280 Speaker 1: of who Thomas Mallory actually was is a question that 325 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: has been the subject of speculation and debate among historians. 326 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:50,880 Speaker 1: Not as much debate as who King Arthur was, but 327 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:55,399 Speaker 1: you know debate. The most prominent answer is that he 328 00:25:55,640 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 1: was Thomas Mallory of Noubled Revel in Warwickshire. And that's 329 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: the case. He was sort of an anti Arthur. That 330 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,360 Speaker 1: Thomas Mallory was a thief and a criminal and actually 331 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,800 Speaker 1: would have published Lemoor to Arthur while he was in 332 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 1: prison for robbery and rape. That is a very downer 333 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 1: of an epilogue. And so I'll leave you with something 334 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,680 Speaker 1: a little happier. We had an addition to the Noble 335 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 1: Blood family last November on Thanksgiving Day, a little boy 336 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:33,080 Speaker 1: named Arthur, and as his chubby cheeks and giggle and 337 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,000 Speaker 1: the fact that I can't stop taking pictures of him 338 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:50,800 Speaker 1: can attest, he is entirely and definitely real. Noble Blood 339 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from 340 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:58,720 Speaker 1: Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, 341 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: with additional and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, 342 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:08,040 Speaker 1: Amy Hit and Julia Milaney. The show is edited and 343 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producerrima il Kaali and 344 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 1: executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For 345 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:24,120 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 346 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:28,280 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.