King Arthur & the Matter of Britain
History & Archaeology ·
Welsh Bards ·
Tristan & Iseult ·
Elaine of Astolat
the Arthurian source sites concentrate on literature,
fiction, and film. This page is a guide to researching the historical
Arthur, Dux Bellorum or King at Camelot:
Dark Age Britain
Britain: An Introduction by Christopher Snyder. This essay is part
of the ORB Encyclopedia at The ORB, the Online Reference
Book for Medieval Studies. This article is mirrored at Voritgern Studies.
The Age of Arthur: Some Historical and Archaeological Background
by Christopher Snyder, from Issue 1 of
The Heroic Age, a free
online journal dedicated to the study of the
Northwestern Europe from the Late Roman Empire to the advent of the
Norman Empire. New !
Archeological Quest for the 'real' King Arthur surveys the
the general landscape, part of The
Quest at the University of Idaho.
Saxonum, a discussion of the Saxon Invasion of Britain,
by Michael Veprauskas, at Britannia.
British Kingdoms, by David Nash Ford, also at Britannia,
covers the British kingdoms that flourished between Roman rule and the
Ruin and Conquest of Britain 400 A.D. - 600 A.D.,
a "reconstruction" from primary sources by Howard Wiseman. This article is
mirrored at Mythic Crossroads.
Last of The Romans: The life and times of Ambrosius Aurelianus by
Kurt Hunter-Mann argues that Ambrosius Aurelianus was a more important figure than Arthur in fifth/sixth-century Britain.
From Issue 4 of
The Heroic Age. New !
British History 400-600, based in the Netherlands, is "dedicated
to the study of the period between the Roman occupation of
Britain and the Early Middle Ages," focusing on the historical Vortigern
rather than the "legendary" Arthur.
and Historicisation of Arthur by Thomas Green includes "The Historical Arthur:
an Analytical and Bibliographic Survey". A dense, scholarly summation of
current thinking on the historical Arthur, at Green's Arthurian Resources site.
A Guide to Arthurian Archaeology, also at
Thomas Green's Arthurian Resources.
Gazetteer of Sub-Roman Britain (AD 400-600) by Christopher A.
Snyder includes an introductory essay on the use of archaelogical evidence
for Dark Age Britain. The searchable gazetteer with
clickable maps is no longer free, but can be purchased online.
Thanks to Robert Vermaat of Vortigern Studies for the updated information.
The Great Famine and the
Collapse of the Pax Britannica. Toby D. Griffin explores the
effects of a climatological catastrophe in the British Isles
in the mid-sixth century on the
historical developments of the period and their possible
influences on Arthurian legend, at Celtic Cultural Studies.
A Short History of
Arthurian Archaeology by Michelle L. Biehl.
is a quarterly specialist journal of archaeological research, which
maintains the full content of its six most recent issues on the web.
Notes on the Illustrations ·
10 July 2004