The Arthur of Medieval Latin Literature: The Development and Dissemination of the Arthurian Legend in Medieval Latin

213 Pages·2011·2.31 MB·English

by  Sian Echard

Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages
The Arthur of
Medieval Latin Literature
The Development and
Dissemination of the Arthurian
Legend in Medieval Latin
Edited by
Siân Echard
University of Wales Press
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THE ARTHUR OF mEdiEvAl lATin liTERATURE
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ARTHURiAn liTERATURE in THE middlE AGES
vi
THE ARTHUR OF
mEdiEvAl lATin
liTERATURE
THE dEvElOpmEnT And diSSEminATiOn OF THE
ARTHURiAn lEGEnd in mEdiEvAl lATin
edited by
Siân Echard
CARdiFF
UnivERSiTY OF WAlES pRESS
2011
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© The vinaver Trust, 2011
All rights reserved. no part of this book may be reproduced in any material form (including
photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently
or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the
copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, designs and
patents Act 1988. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any
part of this publication should be addressed to The University of Wales press, 10 Columbus
Walk, Brigantine place, Cardiff, CF10 4Up.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British library.
iSBn 978-0-7083-2201-7
e-iSBn 978-0-7083-2386-1
The right of the Contributors to be identified separately as authors of this work has been
asserted by them in accordance with sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Copyright, designs and
patents Act 1988.
Typeset by mark Heslington ltd, Scarborough, north Yorkshire
printed by Cpi Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire
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pUBliSHEd in COOpERATiOn WiTH
THE VINAVER TRUST
The Vinaver Trust was established by the British Branch
of the International Arthurian Society to commemorate a
greatly respected colleague and a distinguished scholar
Eugène Vinaver
the editor of Malory’s morte darthur. The Trust aims to
advance study of Arthurian literature in all languages by
planning and encouraging research projects in the field,
and by aiding publication of the resultant studies.
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ARTHURIAN LITERATURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Series Editor
Ad putter
i The Arthur of the Welsh, Edited by Rachel Bromwich, A. O. H. Jarman
and Brynley F. Roberts (Cardiff, 1991)
ii The Arthur of the English, Edited by W. R. J. Barron (Cardiff, 1999)
iii The Arthur of the Germans, Edited by W. H. Jackson and S. A.
Ranawake (Cardiff, 2000)
iv The Arthur of the French, Edited by Glyn S. Burgess and Karen pratt
(Cardiff, 2006)
v The Arthur of the North, Edited by marianne E. Kalinke (Cardiff,
2011)
vi The Arthur of Medieval Latin Literature, Edited by Siân Echard
(Cardiff, 2011)
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CoNTENTS
preface ix
Ad Putter
Abbreviations xi
introduction: The Arthur of medieval latin literature 1
Siân Echard
Section One
The Seeds of History and legend
1 The Chroniclers of Early Britain 9
Nick Higham
2 Arthur in Early Saints’ lives 26
Andrew Breeze
Section Two
Geoffrey of monmouth
3 Geoffrey of monmouth 45
Siân Echard
4 Geoffrey and the prophetic Tradition 67
Julia Crick
Section Three
Chronicles and Romances
5 latin Historiography after Geoffrey of monmouth 85
Ad Putter
6 Glastonbury 109
Edward Donald Kennedy
7 Arthurian latin Romance 132
Elizabeth Archibald
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viii THE ARTHUR OF mEdiEvAl lATin liTERATURE
Section Four
After the middle Ages
8 Arthur and the Antiquaries 149
James P. Carley
Bibliography 179
index of manuscripts 185
General index 187
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PREfACE
This book forms part of the ongoing series Arthurian literature in the middle Ages.
The purpose of the series is to provide a comprehensive and reliable survey of
Arthurian writings in all their cultural and generic variety. For some time, the single-
volume Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages: A Collaborative History (ed. R.S.
loomis, Oxford, 1959) served the needs of students and scholars of Arthurian liter-
ature admirably, but it has now been overtaken by advances in scholarship and by
changes in critical perspectives and methodologies. The vinaver Trust recognized the
need for a fresh and up-to-date survey, and decided that several volumes were required
to do justice to the distinctive contributions made to Arthurian literature by the vari-
ous cultures of medieval Europe. The Arthur of Medieval Latin Literature is primarily
devoted to medieval Arthurian texts composed in latin, from all across Europe, but it
also takes account of the interplay between latin and vernacular traditions and of the
influence of medieval latin Arthurian writings on the literature of later periods, par-
ticularly that of the Early modern period.
The series is mainly aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students and at
scholars working in the fields covered by each of the volumes. The series has,
however, also been designed to be accessible to general readers and to students and
scholars from different fields who want to learn what forms Arthurian narratives took
in languages and literatures that they may not know, and how those narratives influ-
enced the cultures that they do know. Within these parameters the editors have had
control over the shape and content of their individual volumes.
Ad putter, University of Bristol
(General Editor)
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