Caerleon - Arthur and Caerleon

Arthur and Caerleon

Geoffrey of Monmouth, the first author to write at length of King Arthur, makes Caerleon one of the most important cities in Britain in his Historia Regum Britanniæ. He gives it a long, glorious history from its foundation by King Belinus to when it becomes a metropolitan see, the location of an Archbishopric superior to Canterbury and York, under Saint Dubricius, followed by St David who moved the archbishopric to St David's Cathedral.

Geoffrey makes Arthur's capital Caerleon and even Sir Thomas Malory has Arthur re-crowned there. The still-visible Roman amphitheatre at Caerleon has been associated with Arthur's 'Round-Table' element of the tales; and has been suggested as a possible source for the legend.

"For it was located in a delightful spot in Glamorgan, on the River Usk, not far from the Severn Sea. Abounding in wealth more than other cities, it was suited for such a ceremony. For the noble river I have named flows along it on one side, upon which the kings and princes who would be coming from overseas could be carried by ship. But on the other side, protected by meadow and woods, it was remarkable for royal palaces, so that it imitated Rome in the golden roofs of its buildings... Famous for so many pleasant features, Caerleon was made ready for the announced feast." (Historia Regum Britanniae "History of the Kings of Britain")

Though the huge scale of the ruins along with Caerleon's importance as an urban centre in early mediæval Kingdom of Gwent may have inspired Geoffrey, the main historical source for Arthur's link with "the camp of the legion" is the list of the twelve battles of Arthur in the 9th century Historia Brittonum. However the "urbs legionis" mentioned there may rather more probably be Chester - or even York. "Camelot" first appears in Chrétien de Troyes' Lancelot, though Chretien also mentions Caerleon.

Caerleon also has associations with later Arthurian literature as the birthplace of the writer Arthur Machen who often used it as a location in his work. The Hanbury Arms was visited by Tennyson who lodged there while he wrote his Morte d'Arthur (later incorporated into his Idylls of the King). Today Caerleon has a modern statue of a knight, "The Hanbury Knight", in reflecting inox by Belgian sculptor Thierry Lauwers. In Michael Morpurgo's novel Arthur, High King of Britain, Caerleon is the castle where Arthur unknowingly commits incest with his half-sister Margause, resulting in the conception of his son Mordred who will later bring about his downfall.