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Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur.
Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, after the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world.
The stories locate it somewhere in Great Britain and sometimes associate it with real cities, though more usually its precise location is not revealed. Most scholars regard it as being
entirely fictional, its geography being perfect for chivalric romance writers. Nevertheless, arguments about the location of the real Camelot have occurred since the 15th century and continue to rage today in popular works and for tourism purposes.
The name's derivation is uncertain. It has numerous different spellings in medieval French Arthurian romance, including: Camaalot, Camalot, Chamalot, Camehelot, sometimes read as Camchilot, Camaaloth, Caamalot, Camahaloth, Camaelot, Kamaalot, Kamaaloth, Kaamalot, Kamahaloth, Kameloth, Kamaelot, Kamelot, Kaamelot, Cameloth, Camelot and Gamalaot. Some suggested that it was a corruption of the site of Arthur's final battle, the Battle of Camlann, in Welsh tradition.
Others believed it was derived from Cavalon, a place name that he suggested was a corruption of Avalon, under the influence of the Breton place name Cavallon. He further suggested that Cavalon/Camelot became Arthur's capital due to confusion with Arthur's other traditional court at Carlion, Caer Lleon in Welsh.
Others believed it was derived from Cavalon, a place name that he suggested was a corruption of Avalon, under the influence of the Breton place name Cavallon. He further suggested that Cavalon/Camelot became Arthur's capital due to confusion with Arthur's other traditional court at Carlion, Caer Lleon in Welsh.
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Some have suggested a derivation from the British Iron Age and Romano-British place name Camulodunum, one of the first capitals of Roman Britain and which would have significance in Romano-British culture.
Others say that as the descendants of Romanized Britons looked back to a golden age of peace and prosperity under Rome, the name Camelot of Arthurian legend may have referred to the capital of Britannia, Camulodunum, modern Colchester, in Roman times.
It is unclear, however, where Chrétien de Troyes would have encountered the name Camulodunum, or why he would render it as Camaalot. It is argued that Chretien had access to Book 2 of Pliny's Natural History, where it is rendered as Camaloduno.
Given Chrétien's known tendency to create new stories and characters, being the first to mention the hero Lancelot's love affair with Queen Guinevere for example, the name might also be entirely invented.
Arthur's court at Camelot is mentioned for the first time in Chrétien's poem Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, dating to the 1170s, though it does not appear in all the manuscripts. Nothing in Chrétien's poem suggests the level of importance Camelot would have in later romances.
For Chrétien, Arthur's chief court was in Caerleon in Wales; this was the king's primary base in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and subsequent literature. Chrétien depicts Arthur, like a typical medieval monarch, holding court at a number of cities and castles.
Others say that as the descendants of Romanized Britons looked back to a golden age of peace and prosperity under Rome, the name Camelot of Arthurian legend may have referred to the capital of Britannia, Camulodunum, modern Colchester, in Roman times.
It is unclear, however, where Chrétien de Troyes would have encountered the name Camulodunum, or why he would render it as Camaalot. It is argued that Chretien had access to Book 2 of Pliny's Natural History, where it is rendered as Camaloduno.
Given Chrétien's known tendency to create new stories and characters, being the first to mention the hero Lancelot's love affair with Queen Guinevere for example, the name might also be entirely invented.
Arthur's court at Camelot is mentioned for the first time in Chrétien's poem Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, dating to the 1170s, though it does not appear in all the manuscripts. Nothing in Chrétien's poem suggests the level of importance Camelot would have in later romances.
For Chrétien, Arthur's chief court was in Caerleon in Wales; this was the king's primary base in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and subsequent literature. Chrétien depicts Arthur, like a typical medieval monarch, holding court at a number of cities and castles.
More information: Historic UK
It is not until the 13th-century French prose romances, including the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-Vulgate Cycle, that Camelot began to supersede Caerleon, and even then, many descriptive details applied to Camelot derive from Geoffrey's earlier grand depiction of the Welsh town.
Most Arthurian romances of this period produced in English or Welsh did not follow this trend; Camelot was referred to infrequently, and usually in translations from French.
One exception is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which locates Arthur's court at Camelot; however, in Britain, Arthur's court was generally located at Caerleon, or at Carlisle, which is usually identified with the Carduel of the French romances.
In the late 15th century, Thomas Malory created the image of Camelot most familiar to English speakers today in his Le Morte d'Arthur, a work based mostly on the French romances.
He firmly identifies Camelot with Winchester in England, an identification that remained popular over the centuries, though it was rejected by Malory's own editor, William Caxton, who preferred a Welsh location.
The Lancelot-Grail Cycle and the texts it influenced depict the city of Camelot as standing along a river, downstream from Astolat. It is surrounded by plains and forests, and its magnificent cathedral, St. Stephen's, is the religious centre for Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. There, Arthur and Guinevere are married and there are the tombs of many kings and knights. In a mighty castle stands the Round Table; it is here that Galahad conquers the Siege Perilous, and where the knights see a vision of the Holy Grail and swear to find it. Jousts are held in a meadow outside the city.
More information: The Telegraph
In the Palamedes and other works, the castle is eventually destroyed by King Mark of Cornwall after the loss of Arthur at the Battle of Camlann. However maddening to later scholars searching for Camelot's location, its imprecise geography serves the romances well, as Camelot becomes less a literal place than a powerful symbol of Arthur's court and universe. There is a Kamaalot featured as the home of Perceval's mother in the romance Perlesvaus.
The romancers' versions of Camelot drew on earlier descriptions of Arthur's fabulous court. From Geoffrey's grand description of Caerleon, Camelot gains its impressive architecture, its many churches and the chivalry and courtesy of its inhabitants. Geoffrey's description in turn drew on an already established tradition in Welsh oral tradition of the grandeur of Arthur's court.
The tale Culhwch and Olwen, associated with the Mabinogion and perhaps written in the 11th century, draws a dramatic picture of Arthur's hall and his many powerful warriors who go from there on great adventures, placing it in Celliwig, an uncertain locale in Cornwall.
The tale Culhwch and Olwen, associated with the Mabinogion and perhaps written in the 11th century, draws a dramatic picture of Arthur's hall and his many powerful warriors who go from there on great adventures, placing it in Celliwig, an uncertain locale in Cornwall.
Although the court at Celliwig is the most prominent in remaining early Welsh manuscripts, the various versions of the Welsh Triads agree in giving Arthur multiple courts, one in each of the areas inhabited by the Celtic Britons: Cornwall, Wales and the Hen Ogledd. This perhaps reflects the influence of widespread oral traditions common by 800 which are recorded in various place names and features such as Arthur's Seat, indicating Arthur was a hero known and associated with many locations across Brittonic areas of Britain as well as Brittany.
Even at this stage Arthur could not be tied to one location. Many other places are listed as a location where Arthur holds court in the later romances, Carlisle and London perhaps being the most prominent.
It is commented by Arthurian experts that Camelot, located no where in particular, can be anywhere. The romancers' versions of Camelot draw on earlier traditions of Arthur's fabulous court. The Celliwig of Culhwch and Olwen appears in the Welsh Triads as well; this early Welsh material places Wales' greatest leader outside its national boundaries. Geoffrey's description of Caerleon is probably based on his personal familiarity with the town and its impressive Roman ruins; it is less clear that Caerleon was associated with Arthur before Geoffrey.
Several French romances, Perlesvaus, the Didot Perceval attributed to Robert de Boron, and even the early romances of Chrétien such as Erec and Enide and Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, have Arthur hold court at Carduel in Wales, a northern city based on the real Carlisle.
Malory's identification of Camelot as Winchester was probably partially inspired by the latter city's history: it had been the capital of Wessex under Alfred the Great, and boasted the Winchester Round Table, an artifact constructed in the 13th century but widely believed to be the original by Malory's time.
Caxton rejected the association, saying Camelot was in Wales and that its ruins could still be seen; this is a likely reference to the Roman ruins at Caerwent.
In 1542, John Leland reported the locals around Cadbury Castle, formerly known as Camalet, in Somerset considered it to be the original Camelot. This theory, which was repeated by later antiquaries, is bolstered, or may have derived from, Cadbury's proximity to the River Cam and the villages of Queen Camel and West Camel, and remained popular enough to help inspire a large-scale archaeological dig in the 20th century.
These excavations, led by archaeologist Leslie Alcock from 1966–70, were titled Cadbury-Camelot and won much media attention. The dig revealed that the site seems to have been occupied as early as the 4th millennium BC and to have been refortified and occupied by a major Brittonic ruler and his war band from c. 470. This early medieval settlement continued until around 580. The works were by far the largest known fortification of the period, double the size of comparative caers and with Mediterranean artifacts representing extensive trade and Saxon ones showing possible conquest.
More information: Science Alert
The use of the name Camelot and the support of Geoffrey Ashe helped ensure much publicity for the finds, but Alcock himself later grew embarrassed by the supposed Arthurian connection to the site. Following the arguments of David Dumville, Alcock felt the site was too late and too uncertain to be a tenable Camelot. Modern archaeologists follow him in rejecting the name, calling it instead Cadbury Castle hill fort. Despite this, Cadbury remains widely associated with Camelot.
The name of the Romano-British town of Camulodunum in Essex was derived from the Celtic god Camulus. However, it was located well within territory usually thought to have been conquered early in the 5th century by Saxons, so it is unlikely to have been the location of any true Camelot. The town was definitely known as Colchester as early as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 917.
Even Colchester Museum argues strongly regarding the historical Arthur: It would be impossible and inconceivable to link him to the Colchester area, or to Essex more generally, pointing out that the connection between the name Camulodunum and Colchester was unknown until the 18th century. It is suggested that another Camulodunum, a former Roman fort, is a likely location of King Arthur's Camelot and that Slack, on the outskirts of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, is where Arthur would have held court.
This is because of the name, and also regarding its strategic location: it is but a few miles from the extreme South-West of Hen Ogledd, also making close to North Wales, and would have been a great flagship point in starving off attacks to the Celtic kingdoms from both the Angles and other attackers.
Other places in Britain with names related to Camel have also been suggested, such as Camelford in Cornwall, located down the River Camel from where Geoffrey places Camlann, the scene of Arthur's final battle. The area's connections with Camelot and Camlann are merely speculative. Further north Camelon and its connections with Arthur's O'on have been mentioned in relation to Camelot, but Camelon may be an antiquarian neologism coined after the 15th century, with its earlier name being Carmore or Carmure.
Even Colchester Museum argues strongly regarding the historical Arthur: It would be impossible and inconceivable to link him to the Colchester area, or to Essex more generally, pointing out that the connection between the name Camulodunum and Colchester was unknown until the 18th century. It is suggested that another Camulodunum, a former Roman fort, is a likely location of King Arthur's Camelot and that Slack, on the outskirts of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, is where Arthur would have held court.
This is because of the name, and also regarding its strategic location: it is but a few miles from the extreme South-West of Hen Ogledd, also making close to North Wales, and would have been a great flagship point in starving off attacks to the Celtic kingdoms from both the Angles and other attackers.
Other places in Britain with names related to Camel have also been suggested, such as Camelford in Cornwall, located down the River Camel from where Geoffrey places Camlann, the scene of Arthur's final battle. The area's connections with Camelot and Camlann are merely speculative. Further north Camelon and its connections with Arthur's O'on have been mentioned in relation to Camelot, but Camelon may be an antiquarian neologism coined after the 15th century, with its earlier name being Carmore or Carmure.
More information: Ancient Fortresses
Ask ev'ry person if he's heard the story;
And tell it strong and clear if he has not:
That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory
Called Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
And tell it strong and clear if he has not:
That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory
Called Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
Anonymous
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