Table Of ContentTHE HISTORIA REGUM BRITANNIE
OF GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH
V. Gesta Regum Britannie
Neil Wright
s
Digitized by the Internet Archive
In 2022 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/historiaregumbri0000geof
THE
HISTORIA REGUM BRITANNIE
OF GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH
V
Gesta Regum Britannie
The Gesta Regum Britannie, a Latin poem comprising nearly five
thousand hexameters, is a vital but little known witness to the
reception of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britannie.
Written shortly before the middle of the thirteenth century, the
poem is dedicated to Cadioc, bishop of Vannes in Brittany, and so
testifies to the Breton reaction to and enthusiasm for Geoffrey's
immensely popular pseudo-history. The poem also provides im-
portant evidence for the literary culture of thirteenth-century Brit-
tany, for its author was widely read in Latin verse and was
particularly influenced by Walter of Chátillon's Alexandreid, one
of the best known of all medieval epic poems. The author's fusion
of Geoffrey's narrative with the conventions of hexameter poetry
results in a reworking of the Historia which is more than a simple
verse paraphrase, laying as it does a special emphasis on the tragic
side of Britain's decline. Much in the poem is original and this
new edition will bring it before a wider audience so that it may be
read in conjunction with the more familiar vernacular verse ver-
sions of Geoffrey's Historia.
The poem has previously been available only in a faulty and
unreliable edition published over a hundred years ago; until now,
it has never been translated. The present volume offers a compre-
hensive critical edition based on all three known manuscript wit-
nesses; it also contains a complete conspectus fontium cataloguing
the poet's sources, and a modern English translation. The edition
will be standard for future work on the text.
NEIL WRIGHT is a Senior Member of Wolfson College, Cam-
bridge, and editor of the Geoffrey of Monmouth project; his pub-
lished work includes numerous articles on mediaeval Latin.
THE
HISTORIA REGUM BRITANNIE
OF GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH
ISSN 0267-2529
I
Bern, Burgerbibliothek, MS. 568
Edited by Neil Wright
II
The First Variant Version: a critical edition
Edited by Neil Wright
III
A Summary Catalogue of the Manuscripts
Julia C. Crick
IV
Dissemination and Reception in the Later Middle Ages
Julia C. Crick
LEE
HISTORIA REGUM BRITANNIE
OF GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH
V
Gesta Regum Britannie
Edited and translated by Neil Wright
From the library of
Marion
Archibald
D. S. BREWER
Introduction, translation and editorial matter © Neil Wright 1991
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
First published 1991 by D. S. Brewer, Cambridge
D. S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
PO Box 41026, Rochester, NY 14604, USA
ISBN 0 85991 2140
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
The “Historia Regum Britannie” of Geoffrey of Monmouth: Vol
V. Gesta Regum Britannie. — (The “Historia Regum Britannie”
of Geoffrey of Monmouth)
I. Wright, Neil II. Series
871
ISBN 0-85991-214—0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
(Revised for vol. 5)
Geoffrey, of Monmouth, Bishop of St. Asaph, 11007-1154.
The Historia regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth.
Text in Latin; editorial matter in English.
Vol. 5: Latin text, parallel English translation.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Contents: 1. Bern, Burgerbibliothek, MS. 568 —
— 5. Gesta regum Britannie.
1. Great Britain - History - To 1066. 2. Arthurian romances
— Sources. 3. Legends - Great Britain. 4. Britons — History.
I. Wright, Neil. II. Burgerbibliothek Bern. Manuscript. 568.
III. Title.
DA140.G353 1985 941.01 84—24170
ISBN 0—85991-211-6 (v. 1)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information Sciences —
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984
Printed in Great Britain by
Woolnough Bookbinding Ltd, Irthlingborough, Northants
CONTENTS
vii
EDITOR’S PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
Date and Authorship
The Poem and its Sources
Prosody and Metrics
Manuscripts
«aBEdHiti"on s and Text
BIBLIOGRAPHY
GESTA REGUM BRITANNIE: TEXT AND TRANSLATION
Book I
Book II
Book III
Book IV
Book V
Book VI
Book VII
Book VIII
Book IX
Book X
CONSPECTUS FONTIUM
INDEX NOMINUM
INDEX LOCORUM
INDEX FONTIUM
