[PDF] The Historia Regum Britanniae Of Geoffrey Of Monmouth eBook
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The full, ancient text: Historia Regum Britanniae.Historia regum Britanniae (or The History of the Kings of Britain) is a supposedly historical account written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1136. Though much of the text is largely considered fiction, it does pull from several ancient texts and true historical events/personas.It is notable for being the first, major blockbuster-like success of the Arthurian legends, bringing the character to widespread popularity for the first time. Many of our modern myths (and ancient ones) have drawn from this text.
Written in the 1130s, Geoffrey's imaginative history of the Britons from Brutus to Cadwallader, and the first to recount the woes of Lear and the glittering career of Arthur, rapidly became a bestseller. An ideal text for scholars, this is a reprint of the Latin text with a facing English translation.
A medieval historian examines what we really know about the man who was “Merlin the Magician” and his impact on Britain. Merlin has remained an enthralling and curious individual since he was first introduced in the twelfth century in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae. But although the Merlin of literature and Arthurian myth is well known, his “historical” figure and his relation to medieval magic are less familiar. In this book Anne Lawrence-Mathers explores just who he was and what he has meant to Britain. The historical Merlin was no rough magician: he was a learned figure from the cutting edge of medieval science and adept in astrology, cosmology, prophecy, and natural magic, as well as being a seer and a proto-alchemist. His powers were convincingly real—and useful, for they helped to add credibility to the “long-lost” history of Britain which first revealed them to a European public. Merlin’s prophecies reassuringly foretold Britain’s path, establishing an ancient ancestral line and linking biblical prophecy with more recent times. Merlin helped to put British history into world history. Lawrence-Mathers also explores the meaning of Merlin’s magic across the centuries, arguing that he embodied ancient Christian and pagan magical traditions, recreated for a medieval court and shaped to fit a new moral framework. Linking Merlin’s reality and power with the culture of the Middle Ages, this remarkable book reveals the true impact of the most famous magician of all time. “The story of how the image of Merlin as political prophet, magician and half-demon evolved in the Middle Ages is as fascinating as any romance.”—Euan Cameron
The History of the Kings of Britain was originally published under the Latin title, Historia Regum Britanniae, by Anglo-Saxon monk, Geoffrey of Monmouth. The chronicle is famous as the original source of the legend of Sir Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, as well as the Prophecies of Merlin. The chronicle is also the original source of “King Leir,” from which Shakespeare adapted his famous play by the same name. The chronicle recounts the origins of Britain from the time of Brutus and the Roman conquest of the British Isles. It is a semi-fantastical account of the origin of the British Kings and contains a storehouse of British history, fantasy and legend. An indispensible piece to any student, or admirer, of the history of the British Isles.