Britain in the Age of Arthur: A Military History

by Ilkka Syvänne

Overview

King Arthur is one of the most controversial topics of early British history. Are the legends based on a real historical figure or pure mythological invention? Ilkka Syvanne’s study breaks new ground, adopting a novel approach to the sources by starting with the assumption that Arthur existed and that Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account has preserved details of his career that are based on real events. He then interprets these by using ‘common sense’ and the perspective of a specialist in late Roman military history to form a probable picture of what really happened during the period (roughly AD 400-550). This approach allows the author to test the entire literary evidence for the existence of Arthur to see if the supposed events of his career match what is known of the events of the period, the conclusion being that in general they do. Arthur’s military career is set in the context of the wider military history of Britain and Europe in this period and along the way describes the nature of armies and warfare of the period.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781473895201
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	12/26/2019
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Dr. Ilkka Syvänne gained his doctorate in history in 2004 from the University of Tampere in his native Finland. Since then he has written extensively about ancient and medieval warfare and his publications include: 'The Age of Hippotoxotai, Art of War in Roman Military Revival and Disaster 491-636' (Tampere UP 2004), 'The Reign of Gallienus' (Pen & Sword, 2019), the multivolume 'Military History of Late Rome' published by Pen & Sword and the critically acclaimed Caracalla. He is the co-author with Professor Katarzyna Maksymiuk of the 'Military History of Third Century Iran' (Siedlce UP, 2018) and the 'Military History of Fifth Century Iran' (Siedlce UP, 2019). He was Vice Chairman of the Finnish Society for Byzantine Studies from 2007 until 2016. He has been an Affiliated Professor of the University of Haifa since 2016. He lives in Kangasala, Finland.

Table of Contents

List of Plates vii

List of Maps ix

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction xii

Abbreviations xiii

Chapter 1 A Bit of Polemics 1

Chapter 2 The Introduction 10

Chapter 3 The Main Narrative with Geoffrey of Monmouth Included: The Creation of the British Commonwealth, 406-445 51

Chapter 4 Vortigern and the Rise of the Saxons 76

Chapter 5 Ambrosius Aurelius/Aurelianus, the Dux Bellorum and the Boar of Cornwall in 451/452-462 82

Chapter 6 Ambrosius Aurelius/Aurelianus, the Utherpendragon (A Dragon's Head/The Dragon Pennon Head) in 462-464 96

Chapter 7 Aurelius/Aurelianus Ambrosius, the Arthur/Arthurus (The Bear) 464-466 104

Chapter 8 The Reorganization of the Realm in 465/466 120

Chapter 9 Ireland, the Orkneys, Iceland and Gothland/Götaland in 466/467 122

Chapter 10 Norway and Jutland/Denmark in 468 125

Chapter 11 Campaigns in Gaul in 469/470 (Geoffrey 9.11ff.) 131

Chapter 12 The Crowning as High King/Augustus in 471 (Geoffrey 9.12-15) 140

Chapter 13 The War in Gaul in 471/472 (Geoffrey 9.15ff.) 143

Chapter 14 The Revolt of Mordred and Arthur's Last Campaign in 472 169

Chapter 15 Arthur's Immediate Successors 179

Chapter 16 Arthur the Once and Future King 182

Appendix I The Reign of Frothi III the Magnificent 184

Appendix II Swedish Rock Carvings and Naval Tactics 214

Appendix III Odin the Man 216

Appendix IV Saint Patrick and the 'Spiritual' Conquest of Ireland 229

Bibliography 242

Notes 245

Index 259