James Baquet

    In the 12th century, a French poet declared that the literature of Europe could be divided into three “matters,” a word that here could mean “subject” or “topic,” but might also refer to the actual material of a book, the “printed matter.”

    Jean Bodel (about 1165-1210) wrote:

    “There are but three literary cycles that no one should be without:

    the matter of France, of Britain, and of great Rome.”

    The “matter of France” includes the songs, poems, and stories centering on the historical figure of Charlemagne such as the “Song of Roland” we looked at recently. And the “matter of Rome” focuses on the classical myths, stories of the Roman (and Greek) gods and goddesses.

    Now we come to the “matter of Britain.” Of course there were many other national literatures, but from Bodel’s perspective, these were all.

    The matter of Britain is the body of stories about King Arthur and his “Knights of the Round Table.”

    Arthur is best known through the relatively late work “Le Morte d’Arthur” by Thomas Malory, published in 1485. But the “matter” goes back to legendary histories such as the 9th-century “Historia Britonum,” said to be by Nennius. It tells of the battles of a Celtic war leader named Arthur and his resistance to the invasions of the Saxons.

    Nennius also tells us that England was first settled by Brutus of Troy, also called Brutus of Britain, who was descended from Aeneas. Aeneas, in turn, is the escapee from the destruction of Troy who is the focus of the Roman poet Virgil’s “Aeneid.” This is all, of course, spurious. Nennius tells us the name “Britain” comes from Brutus’ name!

    Around 1136, Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote “The History of the Kings of Britain,” adding further stories of Arthur, as well as accounts of ancient kings like Leir and Cunobeline, seen later in Shakespeare’s plays “King Lear” and “Cymbeline.”

    Next time we’ll take a look at stories by non-British authors who also contributed to literature about King Arthur.

    Vocabulary:

    Which word above means:

    1. not genuine, counterfeit

    2. groups of stories, songs, poems, etc.

    3. being the children, grandchildren, etc., of

    4. opposition, fighting against

    5. stated, announced

    6. referring to the peoples who lived in Europe before the arrival of the modern Germanic, Latinate, and others

    7. comparatively, more or less

    8. with some truth, but largely made up

    9. entering of a territory by force

    10. one who gets away from