The Rightful King of Britain

Britain came under the leadership of a man named Arthur at the end of the 5th century. He was a real man, but we know little about him except for the legends. A monk named Nennius wrote a document about Arthur, who fought 12 great battles against the Saxons. The most important of these was his amazing victory at the Battle of Mount Badon. Some people think this was somewhere near Bath in Somerset. The Saxons then stayed within their small settlements and did not move into new areas for a whole generation. A document called the Welsh Annals records that Arthur died at the Battle of Camlann. He was either fighting alongside or against a man named Medrod. No-one knows where this battle took place. As well as the documents, we have a lot of popular legends about Arthur. The most popular ones say that Arthur was the son of King Uther Pendragon and Igraine of Cornwall. Because of the attacks by the Saxons, King Uther gave his son to Merlin, a wise magician, for safety. Arthur lived in a big castle called Camelot. When King Uther died, a mysterious stone with a message on it appeared in the churchyard of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The message said, ‘Whoever pulls the magic sword, Excalibur, from the stone is the rightful King of Britain’. According to the legends, Arthur pulled it out easily.