In England, Scotland, and Wales: Texts, Purpose, Context, 1138-1530

Victoria Shirley The Galfridian Tradition(s) in England, Scotland, and Wales: Texts, Purpose, Context, 1138-1530 A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Literature Cardiff University 2017 i Abstract This thesis examines the responses to and rewritings of the Historia regum Britanniae in England, Scotland, and Wales between 1138 and 1530, and argues that the continued production of the text was directly related to the erasure of its author, Geoffrey of Monmouth. In contrast to earlier studies, which focus on single national or linguistic traditions, this thesis analyses different translations and adaptations of the Historia in a comparative methodology that demonstrates the connections, contrasts and continuities between the various national traditions. Chapter One assesses Geoffrey’s reputation and the critical reception of the Historia between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, arguing that the text came to be regarded as an authoritative account of British history at the same time as its author’s credibility was challenged. Chapter Two analyses how Geoffrey’s genealogical model of British history came to be rewritten as it was resituated within different narratives of English, Scottish, and Welsh history. Chapter Three demonstrates how the Historia’s description of the island Britain was adapted by later writers to construct geographical landscapes that emphasised the disunity of the island and subverted Geoffrey’s vision of insular unity. Chapter Four identifies how the letters between Britain and Rome in the Historia use argumentative rhetoric, myths of descent, and the discourse of freedom to establish the importance of political, national, or geographical independence. Chapter Five analyses how the relationships between the Arthur and his immediate kin group were used to challenge Geoffrey’s narrative of British history and emphasise problems of legitimacy, inheritance, and succession. Chapter Six examines how the linguistic change of place names, and the reconfiguration of the insular landscape, undermine claims of British sovereignty and legitimise the transition of power between the Britons and the Saxons. Finally, the conclusion addresses how translators, adaptors, and compilers used the strategies of evaluation, quotation, translation, imitation, and revision to determine the authority of Geoffrey’s narrative of British history. ii Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank my supervisors, Rob Gossedge and Megan Leitch, for their support, guidance, and encouragement over the past four years. This thesis has greatly benefited from their advice. I would also like to thank Martin Coyle for his comments and feedback on earlier drafts of my work, and Becky Munford for her confidence and reassurance. Special thanks are due to Rhian Rattray who has been an invaluable source of help and information. For financial assistance, I am grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for the receipt of a three-year doctoral studentship award, as well to as the School of English, Communication, and Philosophy for funding to present my research at conferences in Liverpool, Harvard, Leeds, Kalamazoo, Birmingham, and Würzburg. Thank you to all the members of the MEMORI Reading Group for the opportunity to discuss my research in a friendly and supportive environment. I am especially grateful to my fellow medievalist, Sheri Smith, for her friendship, good company, and helpful advice. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents, Elizabeth and Ronald, and my best friend, Isabelle Roberts, for proof reading my chapters and supporting me in the final stages of writing my thesis. iii Contents Declaration and Statements Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Contents iii Introduction 1 1. The auctoritas of Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Critical Reception of the Historia regum Britanniae, 1138-1573 16 Commentary and Criticism: Geoffrey’s Twelfth-Century Reputation 18 Henry of Huntingdon 20 Alfred of Beverley 23 Gerald of Wales 26 William of Newburgh 34 Translation and Quotation: Reshaping Geoffrey’s Authority in Vernacular Histories and Latin Chronicles 39 Wace, Laȝamon, and Mannyng: Translating the Historia in England 40 The Brut y Brenhinedd: Translating the Historia in Wales 44 ‘According to Geoffrey’: Geoffrey and the English Latin Chroniclers 48 ‘Thus Geoffrey Speaks’: Quoting from the Historia in Scotland 51 The Battle of the Books: Defending Geoffrey in the Sixteenth Century 55 John Leland 57 John Prise 62 Conclusion 66 2. ‘Brutus down to Cadualadrus, son of Caduallo’: Genealogy, Time, and Origins in the Galfridian Tradition 68 iv Constructing Genealogical Time in the Historia regum Britanniae 71 The Origins of Genealogical Time 72 The Limits of Genealogical Time 76 Before Galfridian Time: Origins and Ancestry 81 Brutus and Albina: Des Grantz Geanz 82 Brutus and Aeneas: Y Bibyl Ynghymraec and Ystorya Dared 86 Brutus and Scota: the Chronica gentis Scotorum 90 Beyond Galfridian Time: Temporal Thresholds and Textual Genealogies 96 British and English History in the Prose Brut Tradition 98 British and Welsh History in the Brut y Tywysogyon 103 British and Scottish History in the Chronica gentis Scotorum 108 Conclusion 114 3. ‘Britain, best of islands’: The Rhetorical and Ideological Functions of the Description and Division of Britain 116 Text and Intertext: The Description of Britain in its Insular Latin Context 120 Union and Disunion: The Political Landscape of Britain 129 Albion, Britain, and England: Domination and Conquest 130 Britain, Albion and Scotland: Borders and Boundaries 135 The Division of Britain: Locrinus, Albanactus, and Kamber 141 Dominion and Sovereignty: Asserting Locrinus’ Right to Scotland 143 Freedom and Autonomy: Rejecting Locrinus’ Right to Scotland 148 Conclusion 153 4. ‘We will fight for our freedom and our country’: Letter Writing, Community, and the Discourse of Freedom 156 Ars Dictaminis: Theory and Practice 159 The Theory of Ars Dictaminis in the Rationes Dictandi 161 The Practice of Ars Dictaminis in the Historia regum Britanniae 163 Translation and Imitation: Challenging Political Authority 168 Resistance and Rebellion: The Letter from the Britons to Caesar 169 Freedom and Independence: The Letters from the Scots and the Picts to Caesar 174 Arthur and Lucius: Epistolary and Rhetorical Warfare 181 Titles and Pronouns in the Anglo-Norman Prose Brut 184 v Law and Order in John Hardyng’s Chronicle 187 Conclusion 191 5. ‘ruler of the island by lawful inheritance’: Succession, Legitimacy, and Collateral Kinship in the Arthurian Narrative 193 Arthur, Anna, and Modred: Consanguinity and Right of Succession 196 Arthur and Anna: Brother and Sister 197 Anna and Arthur: Aunt and Nephew 202 Arthur, Modred, and Guinevere: Kinship, Affinity and Horizontal Bonds208 Arthur and Modred: Uncle and Nephew 209 Arthur and Guinevere: Husband and Wife 214 Arthur, Modred, and Constantine: Collateral Kinship and Succession 220 Arthur and Constantine: Legitimate Succession 221 Modred and Constantine: Contested Succession 225 Conclusion 230 6. ‘as time passed and languages changed’: Etymologies, Geography, and British Sovereignty 232 The Cities of Britain: Etymologies and Local Histories 235 Nennius and Henry of Huntingdon 236 Geoffrey of Monmouth 239 Palimpsest Landscapes: Conquest, Coexistence, Change 244 Loegria, Anglia, England: The Renaming and Remapping of Britain 252 Hengist and the Foundation of England 253 The Passage of Dominion and the Division of England 260 Conclusion 268 Conclusion 270 Bibliography 277 1 Introduction The Historia regum Britanniae (‘The History of the Kings of Britain’, c. 1138), which records the reigns of ninety-nine British kings from Brutus to Cadwaladr, was one of the most popular and influential histories produced in the Middle Ages. Written by Geoffrey of Monmouth, a secular canon at Saint George’s College, Oxford, the Historia was commissioned by Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, and dedicated to Robert of Gloucester, one of the illegitimate sons of Henry I.1 The Latin text of the Historia survives in 217 manuscripts, demonstrating the contemporary and continued interest in Geoffrey’s narrative of British history throughout the Middle Ages.2 Indeed, between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, manuscripts of the Historia were produced and disseminated across medieval Europe – most notably in England, Champagne, France, Germany, Italy, and Normandy.3 In addition to the large number of extant manuscripts, the Historia also survives in multiple translations and adaptations. Within twenty years of its composition, an unknown author produced a Latin reworking of the vulgate Historia 1 Some manuscripts of the Historia include double dedications: nine witnesses are dedicated to Robert of Gloucester and Waleran of Meulan, while a single witness is dedicated to King Stephen and Robert of Gloucester. Sixteen witnesses omit the introductory chapters altogether, and twenty-seven witnesses do not name a dedicatee; see Julia C. Crick, The Historia regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth, IV: Dissemination and Reception in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge, Brewer, 1991), pp. 116-20. 2 See Julia C. Crick, The Historia regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth, III: A Summary Catalogue of the Manuscripts (Cambridge: Brewer, 1989). 3 On the circulation and readership of the Historia, see Crick, The Historia regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth, IV, pp. 196-217. 2 now known as the First Variant.4 In the mid-twelfth century, the cleric Robert Wace used the vulgate and

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