In some of his writings, Geoffrey of Monmouth
refers to himself as Gaufridus Monemutensis,
which suggests he was born in Monmouthshire.
Probably of Breton origin, he was raised in Wales.
From 1129 to 1151, he lived in Oxford and was
thought to have been a canon of the secular college
of St. George. During his time there, he wrote his
two well-known literary works, Historia Regum
Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain, 1136)
and Life of Merlin (1148), both in Latin. His
Prophecies of Merlin, first written as a separate
piece, was later incorporated into the History.
In 1151, Geoffrey became bishop-elect of St.
Asaph, in northern Wales. He was ordained priest
at Westminster in 1152 and consecrated the same
year at Lambeth by Archbishop Theobald.According
to the Welsh Chronicles, he died in 1155.
Geoffrey’s History of the Kings of Britain has
held an important place in English literature since
its completion. It is alternately a mere genealogy
of royal primogeniture, a terse chronicle, a detailed
sequence of dynastic lore, and a stirring narrative
of an event or anecdote. Though the form and
content of the History vary, the work as a whole is
an epic tale spanning nearly 2,000 years. It begins
with the fall of Troy in 1240 B.C. and tells the story
of Brutus, great-grandson of the Trojan Aeneas,
who was the first king of Britain and reigned for 23
years in the 12th century B.C. The epic ends with
the death of the last British King Cadwallader in
A.D. 689, after which the country was abandoned to
the Saxons.
Geoffrey’s remarkably vivid prose grips the
reader and is as exciting today as it was in the 12th
century. His purpose for writing the History was
to highlight the story of the Breton and Welsh
peoples, who were driven from the mainland by
the Saxons, and to describe the dominions and
ambitions of the Norman kings.
Some of Geoffrey’s writings are rooted in facts
he culled from various existing and authentic
sources, including BEDE’s Ecclesiastical History of
the English People, the British History by Nennius,
and Concerning the Ruin of Britain by Gildas.However,
what material he couldn’t find he simply
made up.
To this day, Geoffrey is remembered for the romantic
and heroic stories of valor, CHIVALRY, and
mystery in his History. These stories occupy an important
place in English literature through Geoffrey’s
well-paced, well-crafted, emotionally skillful
handling of characters, places, and events. Readers
of all ages continue to delve into his tales of King
Arthur, Camelot, Avalon, the Knights of the
Round-Table, Queen Guinevere, Lancelot, Mordred,
and Merlin the Magician.
English Versions of Works by
Geoffrey of Monmouth
The Historia Regum Brittanie of Geoffrey of Monmouth:
Gesta Regum Britannie, Vol. 5. Edited by
Neil Wright. Rochester, N.Y.: Boydell & Brewer,
1985.
The History of the Kings of Britain. Translated by
Lewis Thorpe. New York: Penguin Classics, 1977.
Works about Geoffrey of Monmouth
Cooper, Helen. Romance in Time: Transforming Motifs
from Geoffrey of Monmouth to the Death of Shakespeare.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Curley, Michael J. Geoffrey of Monmouth. New York:
Macmillan Library References, 1994.
Parry, John J. and Robert A. Caldwell. “Geoffrey of
Monmouth.” In Arthurian Literature in the Middle
Ages: A Collaborative History, edited by Roger
S. Loomis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.