ook the name Dux Bellorum, led the Britons to victory in twelve battles against the Saxon, Pict, Scot and Irish hordes. The most famous battle was the Battle of Mons Badonicus (Badon Hill), where Arthur and his calvary defeated nine hundred Saxon warriors in a single charge. Victory was won, and for decades after the Saxons did not dare challenge the Britons. It is Arthur the Dux Bellorum who provided the character known as King Arthur (15).Arthurian history is vague to say the least, and written records are not always entirely factual. One well-known tale anonymously written in the eighth and ninth century was the first to name the hero of the ‘siege of mons Badonicus’ as Arthur. Another history, the brief Annals of Wales tells two things of Arthur: he fought at Badon, and he was killed at Camlann in the same battle. Another anonymous author wrote The History of the Britons, which not only talks about Arthur’s career, but also has a catalogue of battles. The History of the Kings of Britain, written in about 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth is one of the greatest medieval works of fiction. Despite this, is has been taken as a fiction generations of later writers. Stories of Arthur were mainly told by word of mouth, until Geoffrey wrote down the stories as one of the first written manuscript of Arthurian legend. Geoffrey claims his books were based on a ‘very ancient book in the British tongue’ (Barber, 10). Geoffrey’s book is an uneven mix of fiction and history, but there is enough factual evidence in it to make it be confirmed as untrue. The History of the Kings of Britain is a literary masterpiece, and gathers information from material borrowed from all kinds of sources.By medieval standards, Geoffrey’s work was a bestseller. It was also widely accepted as being true. Two romance histories were based on it; Gaimar’s work is lost, but Wave’s Roman de Brut, written in 1155,...
