King Arthur: A Life From Beginning to End by Hourly History

Author:Hourly History [History, Hourly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hourly History
Published: 2017-09-19T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

King Arthur’s Grave

“Here lies the renowned King Arthur in the Isle of Avalon with his second wife Guinevere.”

—Inscription at Arthur’s alleged burial site

From around the twelfth century onwards, writers have been trying to tie the imaginary location of Avalon, Arthur’s final resting place, with a real place. One place has had more attention than any other from historians who want to prove that Arthur was a real man and that he lived and died in Glastonbury, southern England.

Avalon was supposed to be an island, but according to some, the land that surrounded Glastonbury during the first millennium was prone to flooding. After heavy rainfall, Glastonbury could appear to be surrounded by water. Hardly convincing, this idea was taken up by a group of monks who were in charge of the abbey in the twelfth century. In 1184, a devastating fire in Glastonbury destroyed a large part of the abbey, and the enterprising monks were in dire need of funds to rebuild it.

The first thing to be rebuilt was the Lady Chapel, consecrated in 1186. The nave was completed quickly so that services could resume, but the rest of the church needed a great deal of work. In order to generate funds, the monks had to attract pilgrims, and in the twelfth century, the best way to attract pilgrims was with a relic. In the year 1191, the monks of Glastonbury announced that they had discovered the tomb of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere in the abbey’s grounds. According to an account of the discovery by Giraldus Cambrensis, the search was commissioned by the abbot Henry de Sully. Five meters under the spot that de Sully pointed out, a massive oak trunk containing two corpses was found.

As proof of their discovery, the monks insisted that they had also discovered a lead cross on which the words “Hic iacet sepultus inclytus rex Arthurius in insula Avalonia cum uxore sua secunda Gwenneveria” were inscribed. “Here lies the renowned King Arthur in the Isle of Avalon with his second wife Guinevere.” Later historians have pointed out that this text is written in twelfth-century language, not the language of the sixth-century in which Arthur was supposed to be buried. After its grand unveiling, the cross quickly disappeared.

Over the years other locations have been suggested as the possible real-life location of Avalon. Bardsey Island in Wales has been put forward, as has the island of Anglesey off the coast of northwest Wales. The Isle of Arran on the west coast of Scotland is another possibility, but, as with anything connected to the legend of King Arthur, looking for Avalon is looking for something that in all likelihood is not there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.