The Origins of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

• King Arthur is based on the leader of the Britons who kept a Saxon invasion at bay until the Britons were forced back into Cornwall and Wales.
• The first literary remnants of King Arthur are found in Historia Brittanum, a text wrote by a 9th century Welsh monk by the name of Nennius. This text refers to Arthur as warrior rather than a king in descriptions of 12 battles including the Battle of Mount Badon where supposedly "940, fell by his hand alone".
• Nennius' text is largely considered to be greatly exaggerated and there are several incorrect dates and geographical features cited as well. However, the fact that he had access to 5th century texts is taken into account and used by historians.
• In 1133 AD a Welsh Cleric named Geoffrey Monmouth really solidified the Arthurian Legends in his work Historia Regum Britaniae. Even though his work was largely based on Celtic lore, he intended his text to be a work of nonfiction. Regardless of its factuality, his work inspired many fictional stories about Arthur all across Europe.
• Later, French authors Maistre Wace, Chretien de Troyes, and Robert de Boron created key ideas of the "Round Table", chivalry, and The Quest for the Holy Grail
• Finally, in 1450 Sir Thomas Malory published eight stories which condensed the former ideas of King Arthur into the accounts that we are familiar with today.