The Trojan Kings Of Britain

Caleb Howells, author King Arthur: The Man Who Conquered Europe, argues that the legend of Brutus is based on real historical events. Constructing a compelling argument based on a re-examination of original sources, the book offers a fresh perspective on the history of Britain.

Caleb Howells, author King Arthur: The Man Who Conquered Europe, argues that the legend of Brutus is based on real historical events. Constructing a compelling argument based on a re-examination of original sources, the book offers a fresh perspective on the history of Britain.

A “fascinating [and] unique exploration” of the mythological founder of Britain, divine ancestor of King Arthur, and symbol of British identity (Your Family History). Believed to be a great-great-great grandson of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, Brutus of Troy led a voyage from Greece to Britain. Landing at Totnes in Devon, it is said that Brutus overthrew the giants who lived there, laid the foundations of Oxford University and London, and sired a line of kings that includes King Arthur and the ancestors of the present Royal Family. Genealogist Anthony Adolph traces the legend of Brutus of Troy from the Roman times onwards, looking at his popularity, his mentions in fiction, and his place in mythology of some of London’s landmarks. Brutus’ story played a crucial role in royal propaganda and foreign policy. His tale also inspired poets and playwrights including Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, Pope, Wordworth, Dickens, and Blake. Brutus of Troy delves into how the myth shaped Britain’s identity and gave the nation a place in Classical mythologies and the Bible.

A fresh look at the text which introduced for the first time some of the key figures in British myth and legend.

Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain--the earliest book to detail the legendary foundation of Britain and life of King Arthur--was widely read during the Middle Ages. This volume presents the first English translation of what may have been his source, the anonymous First Variant Version, attested in just a handful of manuscripts.

The History of the Kings of Britain is arguably the most influential text written in England in the Middle Ages. The work narrates a linear history of pre-Saxon Britain, from its founding by Trojan exiles to the loss of native British (Celtic) sovereignty in the face of Germanic invaders. Along the way, Geoffrey introduces readers to such familiar figures as King Lear, Cymbeline, Vortigern, the prophet Merlin, and a host of others. Most importantly, he provides the first birth-to-death account of the life of King Arthur. His focus on that king’s reign sparked the vogue for Arthurian romance throughout medieval Europe that has continued into the twenty-first century. This new translation is the first in over forty years and the first to be based on the Bern manuscript, now considered the authoritative Latin text. It is accompanied by an introduction that highlights the significance of Geoffrey’s work in his own day and focuses in particular on the ambiguous status of the text between history and fiction. Appendices include historical sources, early responses to the History, and other medieval writings on King Arthur and Merlin.

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.