Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations and Tables
- Dedication
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I The early Tradition in england
- 1 ‘But here Geoffrey falls silent’: Death, Arthur, and the Historia regum Britannie
- 2 Mordred's Sons
- 3 Dying in Uncle Arthur's Arms and at His Hands
- Part II Middle English Romance and Malory
- Part III Medieval Influence and Modern Arthuriana
- Index
- Arthurian Studies
2 - Mordred's Sons
from Part I - The early Tradition in england
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Illustrations and Tables
- Dedication
- List of Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I The early Tradition in england
- 1 ‘But here Geoffrey falls silent’: Death, Arthur, and the Historia regum Britannie
- 2 Mordred's Sons
- 3 Dying in Uncle Arthur's Arms and at His Hands
- Part II Middle English Romance and Malory
- Part III Medieval Influence and Modern Arthuriana
- Index
- Arthurian Studies
Summary
Concidit namque proditor ille nefandus [Modred] et multa milia secum. … Sed et inclitus ille rex Arturus letaliter uulneratus est; qui illinc ad sananda uulnera sua in insulam Auallonis euectus Constantino cognato suo et filio Cadoris ducis Cornubiae diadema Britanniae concessit anno ab incarnatione Domini .dxlii.. Illo igitur insignito, insurrexerunt Saxones et duo filii Modredi nec in eum praeualere quiuerunt, sed post plurima proelia diffugiendo unus Lundonias, alter uero Guintoniam ingressus eas optinere coeperunt. … At Constantinus insecutus est filios Modredi et Saxones potestati suae subiugauit et praedictas ciuitates cepit. Et alterum iuuenem Guintoniae in ecclesia sancti Amphibali diffugientem ante altare trucidauit, alium uero Lundoniis in quorandam fratrum coenobio absconditum atque tandem iuxta altare inuentum crudeli morte affecit. Exin quarto anno, sententia Dei percussus, iuxta Vther Pendragon infra lapidum structuram sepultus fuit quae haud longe a Salesberia mira arte composita Anglorum lingua Stanheng nuncupatur.
(The treacherous Modred and thousands of his men were killed. … The illustrious king Arthur too was mortally wounded; he was taken away to the island of Avallon [sic] to have his wounds tended and, in the year of Our Lord 542, handed over Britain's crown to his relative Constantinus, son of Cador, duke of Cornwall. After Constantinus had been crowned, the Saxons and Modred's two sons rose up against him and fought many battles, but without success, the first son fleeing to London, and the second to Winchester, both of which they tried to capture. … Constantinus pursued Modred’s sons, subdued the Saxons and captured the two cities mentioned above. He butchered one of the sons in Winchester as the youth sought refuge before the altar in St Amphibalus’ church, the other he eventually found in London, hidden by the altar in a monastery of certain brothers, and cruelly slew. Four years later he was struck down by the judgement of God and buried next to Uther Pendragon in the stone circle known in English as Stonehenge which had been built with great skill not far from Salisbury.)
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Arthurian Way of DeathThe English Tradition, pp. 33 - 49Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2009