2004, directed by Antoine Fuqua King arthur 2004, directed by Antoine Fuqua

King Arthur Chretien de Troyes first wrote about him in the 12th century-Marie de France/Eleanor of Aquitaine Le Morte de Arthur

Knights Characters in the myth The main characters in the story are; Arthur Guinevere Lancelot Tristan Galahad Gawain Perceval Dagonet Knights

Who was the real arthur? The stories written about King Arthur seem to be based on a Welsh general from the 5th or 6th century that fought the Saxons. http://www.stmichaelshotel.co.uk/images/Tintagel_J950240.jpg

TIntagel This is the remains of Tintagel Castle. There has been a site here since the 5th centuries. A noble in the 12th century was told the ruins here were the sight of King Arthur’s birth so he build a castle there. Recent archaeological work shows that the people who lived there in the 4th and 5th centuries were very wealthy and powerful, trading with people all over the world.

Glastonbury A monastery in Somerset, England, it is rumored to be the site of King Arthur’s tomb. In 1191 a burial was found below the existing monastery with two skeletons, one tall man and one woman with long blonde hair, the man holding a large sword. They were buried together in an oak tree trunk, In the trunk there “was a leaden cross with the unmistakably specific inscription Hic jacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurus in insula Avalonia("Here lies interred the famous King Arthur on the Isle of Avalon").”

England in the dark ages After the fall of the Roman Empire, England was invaded numerous times. The Saxons, Angles, and Jutes invaded from Germanic lands in the 5th and 6th centuries ( The ‘real’ King Arthur fought them valiantly in the 5th century. The Vikings began invading in the 8th century and eventually wrested control from the Saxon kings.

The invasions The Anglo-Saxons were never able to conquer Wales, Scotland ( Crazy Picts!) or Cornwall, They did change the language of England to Anglo-Saxon Germanic dialects, replacing Celtic and Latin in most of the country.

The saxons The Saxons were a group of warriors that fought with knives and swords, and have quite a vicious reputation.

The Saxons They left very little written material from this early period of time. The best information we have about them comes from archaeological digs. The most famous of these are the “Sutton Hoo” burial sites in England. At Sutton Hoo, we have found the burial of a Saxon ship, which is supposed to honor Raedwald, king of East Anglia.

Sutton Hoo An entire ship was buried and filled with an amazing wealth of artifacts.

Sutton Hoo

Legends People in Britain have been writing about King Arthur since the 6th century. He seems to based on a figure written about in early British and Welsh documents. The two most important sources, the History of the Britons, written in 828, and The Welsh Annals both call Arthur a ‘leader’ or a ‘soldier’, but not a king. Mentions of Arthur also appear in the Story of the Life of St Gildas, who was a really important British monk in the 6th century. He converted a lot of people in Ireland and Britain and taught a lot of monks. His remains have been associated with healing miracles.

Legends In the 1100’s, a new version of the stories of the last 600 years was written by Marie de France Chrètien de Troyes 1500’s le Morte de Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory All of these turn the stories of a Welsh leader into the story you know today.