Mort d’Arthur

542 CE According to tradition, King Arthur of England, who might or might not ever have existed, died on this day.

According to legend, Arthur was the son of King Uther Pendragon and Igerna, wife of Corlois, Duke of Cornwall, who Uther had cuckolded. They later married when Corlois died in battle. It is unlikely Arthur really existed, and he is not found in chronicles before Norman times, five centuries after his supposed death.

On the death of Uther, Arthur became king. He went to war against the Anglo-Saxons, whom he defeated with great slaughter in a place called Mount Badon. He then went on to defeat the Scots and Picts, then conquered Ireland, Iceland, Gothland and the Orcades, followed by Denmark, Norway and Gaul. He supposedly defeated the Gallic governor Flollo at Paris, after nine years of trying to subdue the Gauls ...

Categories: uk, history, folklore, monarchy, legend