ENG 283E: Our Premodern Epics: How Epics Create Culture and Vice Versa

Malory's Morte Darthur: Roman Amphitheatre at Caerleon

Caerleon, settled by Romans at the height of their occupation of Britain, was once considered to be a fabulously cultured city. Geoffrey of Monmouth, first extant author to name Caerleon as the site of Arthur's court, would have known Caerleon's history -- the ruins of Roman Caerleon – the amphitheater, the barracks, the baths – would have still existed as a reminder of the power of classical culture (Curley 84). Though writing three hundred years after Geoffrey of Monmouth, Thomas Malory still associates King Arthur's court with the site at Caerleon. PJC Field points out Malory's frequent mentions of the Cardiff area in his works (45); Caerleon is just a short car or train ride away from the industrial center of Wales. While Malory doesn't situate Arthur's court at Caerleon, Caerleon is the place that Arthur is crowned and where "the king cast great love unto" his sister Morgause and sires Mordred (Malory Book I, Chapter XIX). Mordred will later cause the downfall of Camelot because of his anger at his father/uncle, and his inability to reconcile his place at Arthur's court as unacknowledgable bastard son and youngest of Arthur's Orkney nephews.

In 2012, I had the privilege of exploring South Wales by car, and conned four fellow medievalist friends into a stop at Caerleon. Though there is no evidence of Arthur left and much of the town focuses on its Roman heritage, it was still an incredible place to spend a moment and think that, for centuries, people believed Arthur was crowned here. As an Arthurian scholar, the stop was a bit of a pilgrimage, and the perfect place for a silly dance.


Citations
Curley, Michael J. Geoffrey of Monmouth (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994)
Fields, P.J.C. "Malory and Cardiff." Arthuriana 16.2 (2006), 45-48.
Malory, Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Sacred Texts, www.sacred-texts.com/neu/mart/index.htm. Accessed 23 October 2016.

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