Arthur the bastard king

Abstract

This thesis examines three works of Arthurian literature, Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Reggum Britannie, the 12th century Of Arthour and Merlin, and Thomas Malory's La Morte Darthur, correlating the depiction of the circumstances of Arthur's siring, birth, and accession with the laws and attitudes concerning primogeniture in medieval England. The thesis seeks to prove that Arthur is a figure whose dubious birth tale is seized by authors with political agendas and used as a means of commenting upon and arguing against the system of primogeniture, revealing it to be a construct insufficient to produce kings and heirs fit to rule England.