67-568: The Prophetiæ Merlini is a Latin work of Geoffrey of Monmouth circulated, perhaps as a libellus or short work, from about 1130, and by 1135. Another name is Libellus Merlini . The work contains a number of prophecies attributed to Merlin , the wizard of legend, whose mythical life is often regarded as created by Geoffrey himself, although Geoffrey claims to have based the figure on older Brittonic traditions, some of which may have been oral but now are lost. The Prophetiae preceded Geoffrey's larger Historia Regum Britanniæ of c. 1136, and
134-650: A Protestant slant, used in particular by John Dee to develop the concept of the British Empire in the New World. By the 17th century Geoffrey's history in general, and Merlin's prophecies in particular, had become largely discredited as fabrications, for example as attacked by William Perkins . But the politics of the Union of the Crowns of 1603 gave the prophecies a short new lease of life (see Jacobean debate on
201-599: A character of Arthurian legend: it also created a distinctively English style of political prophecy, called Galfridian , in which animals represent particular political figures. Political prophecy in this style remained popular for at least 400 years. It was subversive, and the figure of the prophetic Merlin was strongly identified with it. The Prophetiae is the work that introduced the character of Merlin (Merlinus), as he later appears in Arthurian legend . He mixes pagan and Christian elements. In this work Geoffrey drew from
268-619: A claim outright. Much of it is based on the Historia Britonum , a 9th-century Welsh-Latin historical compilation, Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of the English People , and Gildas 's 6th-century polemic De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae , expanded with material from bardic oral tradition and genealogical tracts, and embellished by Geoffrey's own imagination. In an exchange of manuscript material for their own histories, Robert of Torigny gave Henry of Huntingdon
335-482: A copy of History , which both Robert and Henry used uncritically as authentic history and subsequently used in their own works, by which means Geoffrey's fictions became embedded in popular history. The History of the Kings of Britain is now usually considered a literary forgery containing little reliable history. This has since led many modern scholars to agree with William of Newburgh , who wrote around 1190 that "it
402-402: A fierce struggle, Louis took the castle and burned it to the ground, taking Hugh prisoner. Rashly, Louis released Hugh, and while Louis was engaged in war with Henry I of England and Theobald, Hugh raised another band of brigands and began ravaging the country again. When Louis returned his attention to Hugh, he found Le Puiset rebuilt and Hugh receiving aid from Theobald. Hugh held out against
469-462: A lasting contribution to centralizing the institutions of royal power. He spent much of his twenty-nine-year reign fighting either the " robber barons " who plagued the Ile de France or Henry I of England for his continental possession of Normandy . Nonetheless, Louis VI managed to reinforce his power considerably, often resorting to force to bring lawless knights to justice, and was the first member of
536-562: A priest at Westminster 10 days before. According to Lewis Thorpe , "There is no evidence that he ever visited his see, and indeed the wars of Owain Gwynedd make this most unlikely." He appears to have died between 25 December 1154 and 24 December 1155 according to Welsh chronicles, when his successor took office. Geoffrey's structuring and shaping of the Merlin and Arthur myths engendered their vast popularity which continues today, and he
603-617: A significant afterlife in a variety of forms, including translations and adaptations such as Wace 's Old Norman-French Roman de Brut , Layamon 's Middle English Brut , and several anonymous Middle Welsh versions known as Brut y Brenhinedd (" Brut of the Kings "). where it was generally accepted as a true account. In 2017, Miles Russell published the initial results of the Lost Voices of Celtic Britain Project established at Bournemouth University . The main conclusion of
670-403: A succession crisis. Soon a number of relatives raised claims, including William of Ypres , popularly thought to be complicit in the murder; Thierry of Alsace ; and Arnold of Denmark, nephew of Charles who seized Saint-Omer ; Baldwin, Count of Hainault , who seized Oudenarde , and Godfrey I, Count of Louvain and Duke of Brabant . Louis then moved decisively to secure Flanders, apprehending
737-584: Is generally viewed by scholars as the major establisher of the Arthurian canon. The History' s effect on the legend of King Arthur was so vast that Arthurian works have been categorised as "pre-Galfridian" and "post-Galfridian", depending on whether or not they were influenced by him. Geoffrey wrote several works in Latin, the language of learning and literature in Europe during the medieval period. His major work
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#1732782781413804-520: Is no evidence that he was of either Welsh or Cambro-Norman descent. He may have come from the same French-speaking elite of the Welsh border country as Gerald of Wales , Walter Map , and Robert, Earl of Gloucester , to whom Geoffrey dedicated versions of his History . Frank Merry Stenton and others have suggested that Geoffrey's parents may have been among the many Bretons who took part in William
871-401: Is quite clear that everything this man wrote about Arthur and his successors, or indeed about his predecessors from Vortigern onwards, was made up, partly by himself and partly by others." Other contemporaries were similarly unconvinced by Geoffrey's History . For example, Giraldus Cambrensis recounts the experience of a man possessed by demons: "If the evil spirits oppressed him too much,
938-623: The Duchy of Normandy and quickly took possession of the castle at Gisors , a fortress of strategic importance on the right bank of the Epte , commanding the road between Rouen and Paris. This violated an earlier agreement between Henry and the French King that Gisors should remain in the hands of a neutral castellan , or else be demolished. This move threatened the Capetian domain and Louis
1005-713: The Gospel of St John was placed on his bosom, when, like birds, they immediately vanished; but when the book was removed, and the History of the Britons by 'Geoffrey Arthur' [as Geoffrey named himself] was substituted in its place, they instantly reappeared in greater numbers, and remained a longer time than usual on his body and on the book." Geoffrey's major work was nevertheless widely disseminated throughout medieval Western Europe; Acton Griscom listed 186 extant manuscripts in 1929, and others have been identified since. It enjoyed
1072-623: The Low Countries and an invasion of Northern France would enable him to strengthen his ambitions in Flanders, as well as support his father-in-law. Thus in 1124, Henry V assembled an army to march on Rheims . It never arrived. In testament to how far Louis had risen as national protector, all of France rose to his appeal against the threat. Henry V was unwilling to see the French barons united behind their King, who now identified himself as
1139-486: The Oxford area, sometimes styled magister (teacher). He was probably a secular canon of St. George's college . All the charters signed by Geoffrey are also signed by Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford , a canon at that church. Another frequent co-signatory is Ralph of Monmouth, a canon of Lincoln . Archbishop Theobald of Bec consecrated Geoffrey as Bishop of St Asaph at Lambeth on 24 February 1152, having ordained him
1206-529: The Prophetiae around 1134–5. At much the same time, and in the same area, Abbot Suger copied some of the prophecies almost exactly in his Life of Louis the Fat , for the purpose of praising Henry I of England . In the 1140s or early 1150s John of Cornwall produced another work collecting prophecies, that drew on the Prophetiae . It contained elements from other sources, however, which predominate. This work
1273-525: The Saxons . The Saxons would be victorious. A long prophetic sequence forms the body of the work, relating mainly to the wars. Many of its prophecies referring to historical and political events up to Geoffrey's lifetime can be identified – for example, the sinking of the White Ship in 1120, when William Adelin , son of Henry I , died. Geoffrey apparently introduced the spelling "Merlin", derived from
1340-517: The house of Capet to issue ordonnances applying to the whole of the kingdom of France. Louis was a warrior-king, but by his forties his weight had become so great that it was increasingly difficult for him to lead in the field (hence the epithet "le Gros" ). Details about his life and person are preserved in the Vita Ludovici Grossi Regis , a panegyric composed by his loyal advisor, Suger , abbot of Saint Denis. Louis
1407-516: The peace included Henry's heir, William Adelin , doing homage to Louis for Normandy, a return of all territories captured by both kings with the painful exception of Gisors itself, which Louis was forced to concede to Henry. On 2 March 1127, the count of Flanders , Charles the Good , was assassinated in St. Donatian's Cathedral at Bruges . It was a scandal in itself but made worse because it precipitated
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#17327827814131474-614: The Conqueror 's conquest and settled in the southeast of Wales. Monmouth had been in the hands of Breton lords since 1075 or 1086, and the names Galfridus and Arthur were more common among the Bretons than the Welsh. He may have served for a while in the Benedictine Monmouth Priory , but most of his adult life appears to have been spent outside Wales. Between 1129 and 1151, his name appears on six charters in
1541-518: The Counts of Anjou , Brittany, and Nevers . Louis seized the fortress of Pont-du-Chateau on the Allier , then attacked Clermont, which William was forced to abandon. Aimeri was restored. Four years later William rebelled again and Louis, though his increasing weight made campaigning difficult, marched again. He burned Montferrand and seized Clermont a second time, captured William, and brought him before
1608-619: The English crown, reneging on the oath he had sworn to Henry I to support Matilda. Stephen was thus in no position to bring the combined Anglo-Norman might against the French crown. Louis had also made great strides in exercising his royal authority over his barons, and even Theobald II had finally rallied to the Capetian cause. Finally, on 9 April 1137, a dying William X, Duke of Aquitaine appointed Louis VI guardian of his fifteen-year-old daughter and heiress, Eleanor of Aquitaine . Eleanor
1675-625: The Green, Archbishop of Rheims , sent envoys to challenge the validity of the coronation and anointing, but to no avail. When Louis ascended the throne, the Kingdom of France was a collection of feudal principalities. Beyond the Isle de France the French kings had limited authority over the great duke and counts of the realm but slowly Louis began to change this and assert Capetian power. This process would take two centuries to complete but began in
1742-623: The King until Theobald abandoned him. Once again Louis razed Le Puiset and Hugh, who had sworn never to return to his brigandage, rebuilt the castle and resumed terrorizing his neighbours. At the third attempt, Louis finally defeated Hugh and stripped him of his possessions for the last time. Hugh later died on an expiatory pilgrimage to the Holy Land . These were just some of the recalcitrant nobles Louis contended with. There were many more, and Louis
1809-523: The Union ). The Whole Prophesie of Scotland of that year treated Merlin's prophecies as authoritative. James Maxwell , a student of prophecy who put it to political use in the reign of James VI and I , distinguished between the Welsh and "Caledonian" Merlins. Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( Latin : Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus ; Welsh : Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy ; c. 1095 – c. 1155 )
1876-461: The Welsh " Myrddin ". The Welsh scholar Rachel Bromwich observed that this "change from medial dd > l is curious. It was explained by Gaston Paris as caused by the undesirable associations of the French word merde ". Alternatively this may preserve the Breton or Cornish original to which he may have been referring; John of Cornwall 's (1141–55) version is notable for its localisation in
1943-468: The additional effort meant he could not defeat the English monarch as well or force him to abandon Gisors, and in March 1113 Louis was forced to sign a treaty recognizing Henry I as suzerain of Brittany and Maine. Peace of sorts lasted three years until April 1116 when hostilities renewed in the French and Norman Vexins , with each king making gains from his rival. By 1119, buoyed by several successes and
2010-636: The attribution to Geoffrey appears in only one late 13th-century manuscript, but it contains recognisably Galfridian elements in its construction and content, and most critics recognise it as his. Notes Bibliography Louis the Fat Louis VI (1 December 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat (French: le Gros ) or the Fighter (French: le Batailleur ), was King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137. Like his father Philip I , Louis made
2077-583: The book is a translation of an "ancient book in the British language that told in orderly fashion the deeds of all the kings of Britain", given to him by Walter , Archdeacon of Oxford, but modern historians have dismissed this claim. It is likely, however, that the Archdeacon did furnish Geoffrey with some materials in the Welsh language which helped inspire his work, as Geoffrey's position and acquaintance with him would not have permitted him to fabricate such
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2144-624: The capture (through treachery) of Les Andelys , Louis felt ready for a final encounter to end the war. In the fierce Battle of Bremule , in August 1119, Louis's troops broke and were routed, abandoning the royal banner and sweeping the King along with them in retreat to Les Andelys. A counterattack through Évreux to seize Breteuil failed, and Louis, his health failing, looked for peace. He appealed to Pope Calixtus II , who agreed to help and met with Henry at Gisors in November 1120. The terms of
2211-467: The court at Orléans to answer for his crimes. Some of the outlaws became notorious for their cruelty, the most notable being Thomas, Lord of Coucy , who was reputed to indulge in torture of his victims, including hanging men by their testicles, cutting out eyes, and chopping off feet. Guibert of Nogent noted of him, "No one can imagine the number of those who perished in his dungeons, from starvation, from torture, from filth." Another notable brigand
2278-412: The daughter of his father's seneschal , in 1104, but repudiated her three years later. They had no children. On 3 August 1115 Louis married Adelaide of Maurienne , daughter of Humbert II of Savoy and of Gisela of Burgundy , and niece of Pope Callixtus II . They had eight children. Adelaide was one of the most politically active of all France's medieval queens. Her name appears on 45 royal charters from
2345-520: The established bardic tradition of prophetic writing attributed to the sage Myrddin , though his knowledge of Myrddin's story at this stage in his career appears to have been slight. In the preface Vortigern asks Ambrosius (Merlin) to interpret the meaning of a vision. In it two dragons fought, one red and one white. Merlin replies that the Red Dragon meant the British race, the White Dragon
2412-613: The information and smoothing out apparent inconsistencies in order to create a single grand narrative which fed into the preferred narrative of the Norman rulers of Britain. Much of the information that he used can be shown to be derived from two discrete sources: Stretching this source material out, chopping, changing and re-editing it in the process, Geoffrey added not just his own fictions but also additional information culled from Roman and early medieval histories and early medieval writers such as Gildas and Bede. Geoffrey's earliest writing
2479-496: The king of the English, William Rufus , when he attacked Louis' inherited kingdom." In 1098, Louis was knighted by Guy I of Ponthieu . On Christmas Day 1100 he attended the royal court of Henry I of England in London, where according to Symeon of Durham , Louis appeared as "king elect of the Franks". By 1103 his father Philip I had already associated him with the government of the kingdom. Louis married Lucienne de Rochefort ,
2546-658: The lords of Montfort-l'Amaury . Amaury III de Montfort held many castles which, when linked together, formed a continuous barrier between Louis and vast swathes of his domains, threatening all communication south of Paris. In 1121, Louis established the marchands de l'eau, to regulate trade along the Seine . In 1122, Aimeri, Bishop of Clermont , appealed to Louis after William VI, Count of Auvergne , had driven him from his episcopal town. When William refused Louis' summons, Louis raised an army at Bourges , and marched into Auvergne, supported by some of his leading vassals, such as
2613-449: The lordship of Bourbon from his nephew, Archambaud, a minor. Louis demanded the boy be restored to his rights but Aymon refused the summons. Louis raised his army and besieged Aymon at his castle at Germigny-l'Exempt , forcing its surrender. In early 1109, Louis besieged his half-brother, Philip, the son of Bertrade de Montfort , who was involved in brigandry and conspiracies against the King, at Mantes-la-Jolie . Philip's plots included
2680-439: The moment was gone. The people of Bruge rejected him and recognized Thierry of Alsace as their Count, and he quickly moved to enforce his claim. Louis called a great assembly at Arras, whereby the archbishop of Reims excommunicated Thierry and laid an interdict over the city of Lille. Louis abandoned William of Clito, who died during a siege at Alost on 27 July 1128, and after the whole country finally submitted to Thierry, Louis
2747-415: The murderers of Charles the Good and ousting the rival claimants. On 2 April he took Ghent , on 5 April Bruges, on 26 April he took Ypres , capturing William of Ypres and imprisoning him at Lille . He then quickly took Aire, Cassel and all the towns still loyal to William of Ypres. Louis's final act before leaving for France was to witness the execution of Charles the Good's murderers. They were hurled from
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2814-513: The other works. Here he is known as Merlin of the Woods ( Merlinus Sylvestris ) or Scottish Merlin ( Merlinus Caledonius ) and is portrayed as an old man living as a crazed and grief-stricken outcast in the forest. The story is set long after the timeframe of the History ' s Merlin, but the author tries to synchronise the works with references to the mad prophet's previous dealings with Vortigern and Arthur. The Vita did not circulate widely, and
2881-438: The peasantry and loot churches and abbeys, the latter deeds drawing the ire of the writers of the day, who were mostly clerics. In 1108, soon after he ascended the throne, Louis engaged in war with Hugh of Crécy , who was plaguing the countryside and had captured Eudes, Count of Corbeil, and imprisoned him at La Ferté-Alais . Louis besieged that fortress to free Eudes. Also in 1108, a seigneur named Aymon Vaire-Vache seized
2948-407: The place-names of the region. Geoffrey was known to his contemporaries as Galfridus Arturus or variants thereof. The "Arthur" in these versions of his name may indicate the name of his father or a nickname based on his scholarly interests. Earlier scholars assumed that Geoffrey was Welsh or at least spoke Welsh . His knowledge of this language appears to have been slight, however, and there
3015-517: The preface to the prophecies (under a variant name): there is then a confusion made between Ambrosius and Merlin, deliberately done. When Geoffrey's Historia was largely translated by Wace into the Roman de Brut , he omitted the material on Merlin's prophecies, though he does profess knowledge of them. It was still read in Latin, but was displaced for readers in French, and then English, by other political prophecy. This work not only launched Merlin as
3082-608: The reign of Louis VI and his father Philip I. The second great challenge facing Louis was to counter the rising power of the Anglo-Normans under their capable new king, Henry I of England . From early in his reign (and during his father's reign) Louis faced the problem of the robber barons who resisted the King's authority and engaged in brigandry, making the area around Paris unsafe. From their castles, such as Le Puiset , Châteaufort , and Montlhéry , these barons would charge tolls, waylay merchants and pilgrims, terrorize
3149-403: The reign of Louis VI. During her time as queen (1115–1137), royal charters were dated with both her regnal year and that of the king. Suger became Louis's adviser even before he succeeded his father as king at the age of 26 on 29 July 1108. Louis's half-brother prevented him from reaching Rheims , and so Daimbert, Archbishop of Sens , crowned him in the cathedral of Orléans on 3 August. Ralph
3216-415: The roof of the church of Saint Donatian where they had committed their crime. Louis had his own candidate in mind and marched into Flanders with an army and urged the barons to elect William Clito , son of Robert Curthose , who had been disinherited of Normandy by his uncle Henry I of England , as their new Count. He had no better claim to Flanders than being the King's candidate but on 23 March 1127 he
3283-848: The soon to be Angevin Empire that would come to overshadow his successor, its seeds sown in the marriage between the Empress Matilda and Geoffrey Plantagenet and realised through their son, Henry II of England . Louis VI was interred in the Basilica of St Denis in Paris. He married in 1104: 1) Lucienne de Rochefort — the marriage was annulled on 23 May 1107 at the Council of Troyes by Pope Paschal II . Louis married in 1115: 2) Adélaide de Maurienne (1092–1154) With Marie de Breuillet , daughter of Renaud de Breuillet de Dourdan, Louis VI
3350-564: The southwestern region known to Gildas and Nennius as Dumnonia . The first work about the prophet Myrddin in a language other than Welsh , the Prophetiae was widely read — and believed — much as the prophecies of Nostradamus were centuries later; John Jay Parry and Robert Caldwell note that the Prophetiae Merlini "were taken most seriously, even by the learned and worldly wise, in many nations", and list examples of this credulity as late as 1445. Ordericus Vitalis quoted from
3417-568: The study was that the Historia Regum Britanniae appears to contain significant demonstrable archaeological fact, despite being compiled many centuries after the period that it describes. Geoffrey seems to have brought together a disparate mass of source material, including folklore, chronicles, king-lists, dynastic tables, oral tales, and bardic praise poems, some of which was irrevocably garbled or corrupted. In doing so, Geoffrey exercised considerable editorial control, massaging
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#17327827814133484-591: The vassal of St. Denis , the patron saint of Paris, whose banner he now carried and the proposed invasion was abandoned. Henry V died a year after the aborted campaign. In 1128 Henry I married his sole surviving legitimate child, the dowager Empress Matilda, to Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou . This would prove to be a dangerous alliance for the French monarchy during the reign of his successor, Louis VII of France . As Louis VI approached his end, there seemed to be reasons for optimism. Henry I of England had died on 1 December 1135 and Stephen of Blois had seized
3551-582: The war went well for Louis until the influential Theobald II, Count of Champagne , switched to Henry's side. By early 1112 Theobald had succeeded in bringing together a coalition of barons with grievances against Louis: Lancelin of Bulles, Ralph of Beaugency, Milo of Bray-sur-Seine, Hugh of Crecy, Guy of Rochfort, Hugh of Le Puiset and Hugh, Count of Troyes . In response Louis formed an alliance with Fulk V of Anjou and several Norman lords, including Amaury III de Montfort , Guillaume Crinspin and Robert of Bellême . Louis defeated Theobald's coalition but
3618-482: Was Hugh, Lord of Le Puiset , who was ravaging the lands around Chartres . In March 1111, Louis heard charges against Hugh at his court at Melun from Theobald II, Count of Champagne , the Archbishop of Sens , and also from bishops and abbots. Louis commanded Hugh to appear before him to answer these charges, but Hugh evaded the summons. Louis stripped him of his lands and titles and laid siege to Le Puiset. After
3685-419: Was a Catholic cleric from Monmouth , Wales , and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur . He is best known for his chronicle The History of the Kings of Britain ( Latin : De gestis Britonum or Historia Regum Britanniae ) which was widely popular in its day, being translated into other languages from its original Latin. It
3752-420: Was also named Prophetiae Merlini . Gunnlaugr Leifsson made an Icelandic translation of the prophecies, Merlínússpá . There is a 15th-century English manuscript commentary on Geoffrey's work. In the 16th century the founding legends of British history came under strong criticism, in particular from Polydore Vergil . On the other hand, they had their defenders, and there was a revival of Arthurian lore with
3819-440: Was born around 1081 in Paris, the son of Philip I of France and Bertha of Holland . Abbot Suger of Saint Denis, who wrote a biography of Louis VI, tells us: "In his youth, growing courage matured his spirit with youthful vigour, making him bored with hunting and the boyish games with which others of his age used to enjoy themselves and forget the pursuit of arms." And "How valiant he was in youth, and with what energy he repelled
3886-669: Was elected Count by the Flemings . It was a triumph for Louis and demonstrated how far the Crown had come under his leadership, but it was a brief triumph. The new young Count fared badly, opposition was growing in the towns as a result of Clito's increasingly incompetent treatment of Flemish burghers. William's knights ran amok and the Flemings rebelled against Louis's candidate. Ghent and Bruge appealed to Thierry, Count of Flanders to Arnold of Denmark. Louis attempted to intervene again but
3953-635: Was given historical credence well into the 16th century, but is now considered historically unreliable. Geoffrey was born between about 1090 and 1100, in Wales or the Welsh Marches . He had reached the age of majority by 1129 when he is recorded as witnessing a charter. Geoffrey refers to himself in his Historia as Galfridus Monemutensis (Geoffrey of Monmouth), which indicates a significant connection to Monmouth , Wales, and may refer to his birthplace. His works attest to some acquaintance with
4020-463: Was in constant motion against them, leading his army from castle to castle, bringing law and order to his domains. The result was increased recognition of the King's authority and the Crown's ability to impose its will, so that all sectors of French society began to see the King as their protector. After seizing the English Crown, Henry I of England deprived his brother, Robert Curthose , of
4087-555: Was mostly incorporated in it, in Book VII; the prophecies, however, were influential and widely circulated in their own right. According to Geoffrey, he was prompted by Alexander of Lincoln to produce this section of his larger work separately. The Prophetiæ is in some ways dependent on the De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniæ of Gildas . From Gildas and Nennius Geoffrey took the figure of Ambrosius Aurelianus , who figures in
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#17327827814134154-402: Was obliged to confirm his claim. On 25 November 1120, Louis' fortunes against Henry I of England were raised when Henry's heir, William Ætheling , drunkenly perished aboard the White Ship en route from Normandy to England, putting the future of Henry's dynasty and his position in doubt. By 1123 Louis was involved with a coalition of Norman and French seigneurs opposed to Henry. The plan
4221-564: Was outraged, demanding Henry, as his vassal , appear before him to account for his actions. The two kings met, in force, in March 1109 at the borders of their respective territories at the bridge of Neauphle on the Epte. Henry refused to relinquish Gisors. Louis challenged the English King to single combat to settle the issue. When Henry refused, war was inevitable, a war which would last, on and off, for twenty years. The first years of
4288-567: Was probably the Prophetiae Merlini ( Prophecies of Merlin ) which he wrote before 1135, and which appears both independently and incorporated into The History of the Kings of Britain . It consists of a series of obscure prophetic utterances attributed to Merlin which he claimed to have translated from an unspecified language. The third work attributed to Geoffrey is the hexameter poem Vita Merlini ( Life of Merlin ), based more closely on traditional material about Merlin than
4355-576: Was suddenly the most eligible heiress in Europe, and Louis wasted no time in marrying her to his own heir, the future Louis VII, at the Cathedral of Saint-André in Bordeaux on 25 July 1137. At a stroke Louis had added one of the most powerful duchies in France to the Capetian domains. Louis died of dysentery 7 days later, on 1 August 1137. Despite his achievements, it would be the growing power of
4422-558: Was the Historia Regum Britanniae ( The History of the Kings of Britain ), the work best known to modern readers. It relates the purported history of Britain, from its first settlement by Brutus of Troy , a descendant of Trojan hero Aeneas , to the death of Cadwaladr in the 7th century, covering Julius Caesar 's invasions of Britain , Kings Leir and Cymbeline , and one of the earliest developed narratives of King Arthur . Geoffrey claims in his dedication that
4489-589: Was to drive the English King from Normandy and replace him with William Clito. Henry, however, easily defeated this coalition then instigated his son-in-law, Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor , to invade France. Henry V had married the Empress Matilda , the English King's daughter and the future mother of Henry II of England , 9 years earlier, in hopes of creating an Anglo-German empire, though the couple remained childless. Like Louis, Henry V had designs on
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