I cannot remember a time when I have not been fascinated with the life and times of King Arthur and his Knights of The Round Table. I guess growing up a stone’s throw from Glastonbury (The Ancient Isle of Avalon) may have had something to do with that. Today I wanted to take a look at the death of this legendary hero.
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| La Mort d'Arthur By James Archer ~ Wikipedia |
How did King Arthur die?
Arthur was mortally wounded at the Battle of Camlann. He was taken to Avalon, where he dies. His famous sword, Excalibur, was thrown back into the lake. A rather abrupt end for such a hero.
Arthur was mortally wounded at the Battle of Camlann. He was taken to Avalon, where he dies. His famous sword, Excalibur, was thrown back into the lake. A rather abrupt end for such a hero.
Let us fast
forward to the 12th century. For Arthur's death, it seems, was only the beginning.
Glastonbury
Abbey and King Arthur
A
terrible fire had spread through Glastonbury Abbey, and unfortunately for the
monks, they did not have the coffers to pay for the repairs. If only they could encourage more pilgrims to
come to the Abbey. What could they do? Pray to God and hope all would be well...?
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| Pixabay |
Well, those monks of Glastonbury were nothing if not pragmatic. If they claimed to have discovered Arthur’s body then surely that would draw the crowds in? And more importantly, it would bring in the money.
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| Glastonbury Abbey |
The
timing could not have been more perfect for those monks. Geoffrey of Monmouth
had just penned, The History of the Kings of Briton, and thanks to his book,
Arthur fever had infected the nation.
If
the monks wanted to claim ownership of Arthur then now was the time to do it.
Funnily
enough, King Henry II told the Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey that
he
knew the exact whereabouts of Arthur's body — for a Welsh barb had whispered in
his ear. And the location was... You guessed it, Glastonbury Abbey.
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| Pixabay |
Coincidence?
I don't think so.
The
monks dug in the exact location that the King described and sure enough they
discovered a huge oak coffin beneath a lead cross bearing the inscription.
“Here lies King Arthur
buried in Avalon.”
Inside
the coffin, there were two bodies. A man and a woman. It is said that the woman’s
golden hair crumbled away when the monks touched it.
This
had to be Arthur and his Queen Guinevere. For the monks, it was like winning
the lottery. Pilgrims travelled from afar to stand at the tombs of Arthur and
Guinevere, and Glastonbury Abbey soon had more than enough money to make the
repairs.
Digging up King Arthur
Fast forward to November 2015.
Fast forward to November 2015.
For
four years a team of archaeologist dug in the grounds of the Abbey looking for
Arthur’s grave. And what did they discover...?
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| Glastonbury Abbey |
“With the other legends
there is a possibility of genuine belief or misunderstanding, but with Arthur
and Guinevere I’m afraid there can be no question – the monks just made them
up.”
Roberta Gilchrist, professor of archaeology at the
University of Reading
In
four years those archaeologist debunked a thousand years of history. But the
truth, I think, is even more fascinating.
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| Glastonbury Abbey ~ Pixabay |
Reference:
Unless otherwise stated all images are my own.
If you fancy travelling back in time and finding out what happened after the death of King Arthur, then why not check out The Du Lac Chronicles...
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