The History of the Kings of Britain

Brutus is Britain’s mythic founder. His journey to Britain parallels journeys undertaken by mythic Greek and Roman heroes such as Odysseus and Aeneas. Further, Brutus links Britain both to ancient Rome (his shared Trojan ancestry) and Greece (through his marriage to Greek princess Ignoge).

In Geoffrey’s rendering, Brutus is the son of Trojan royalty, and his story parallels that of his grandfather Aeneas, a mythical founder of Rome. Aeneas fled the fall of Troy with his young son Ascanius (Brutus’ father), wandered, received a prophecy, and fulfilled it by founding Rome. Accordingly, a prophecy is made about Brutus, asserting that he will cause his parents’ deaths, endure exile and a period of wandering, and finally “rise to the highest honor” (42). This prophecy is fulfilled when his mother’s dies in childbirth and his father perishes by an errant arrow during a hunting expedition. Brutus is expelled from Italy and wanders through Greece, where he encounters a community of enslaved Trojans. He leads them to freedom by defeating in battle the Greek king Pandrasus’ forces. Realizing it would be unwise to stay among the defeated people, for they would eventually rise up against him, Brutus sails away after marrying Pandrasus’ daughter, Ignoge.

Arriving at an uninhabited island, Brutus and his party discover a temple of Diana. They prepare libations and sacrifices then ask the goddess to reveal where they should travel to next. When Brutus falls asleep, he experiences a visit with Diana, during which she tells him to travel to a currently uninhabited island beyond Gaul, which he should make his new home. During a long and winding journey, he overcomes numerous challenges and hardships, Brutus encounters and forms an alliance with fellow Trojan exiles, with whom he battles and defeats the Aquitanians. Brutus then leads his group to an island called Albion, which he subsequently names Britain, after himself. He founds Troia Nova (“New Troy”) and establishes a code of laws that enable the people to live together in peace.

Belinus and Brennius are brothers whose most notable accomplishment in The History of the Kings of Britain is their capture of Rome. Their reigns occur before the Romans come to Britain and, along with Brutus, form the basis of Britain’s objection to Roman domination. Where Brutus shares the Romans’ Trojan legacy, Belinus and Brennius show that British kings can be equal in strength and leadership to Romans.

Belinus and Brennius are the sons of Dunvallo—a king of Cornwall who developed laws that promoted safety—and, according to Geoffrey, continue to be observed at the time of his writing. Initially, the brothers vie for control of their father’s kingdom but eventually become reconciled through the efforts of their friends. Discord resurfaces after Brennius’ advisors convince him to reject accepting a position subservient to his brother’s position. Through his Norwegian wife, Brennius raises an army to battle his brother for control of Britain. After defeating Brennius, who flees to France, Belinus establishes peace and justice. Meanwhile, Brennius continues to wage war against his brother until their mother intervenes to bring peace between them. Reconciled, the brothers invade and capture Gaul, plunder communities across Italy, and finally march to Rome. After a fierce battle, Belinus and Brennius capture the city. Brennius stays in Italy while Belinus return to Britain to reign in peace and prosperity.

Maximianus is the Roman senator who is British on his father’s side and Roman on his mother’s. He marries a British princess and holds the British crown. He is infamous for denuding Britain of its best soldiers in order to invade distant territories. His decision leaves the island unprotected and vulnerable to attacks by the Picts and Huns. Geoffrey decries his “madness” that leads to a period of decline for Britain (122). His leadership provides a cautionary tale about the importance of balancing empiric aspirations with local concern, which Arthur exemplifies later in the book.

After expelling Roman forces from Britain, Octavius marries his daughter to Maximianus in hopes of establishing a lasting peace with Rome. After making peace with Octavius’ nephew Conanus, who battled him for the throne, Maximianus sets his sights on the kingship of Gaul. He crosses the Channel, slaughters the Franks, captures Rennes, and massacres any men whose paths he crosses. After establishing a Little Britain, which he gifts to Conanus, he proceeds to Rome, killing one emperor and driving out the other. Meanwhile, hearing that Britain’s soldiers have left the island, the Picts and Huns invade and slaughter the population. Maximianus sends Gracianus to retake the island before being killed in Rome, leaving the Britons at home under the Gracianus’ tyrannical leadership.

Geoffrey assumes credit for introducing and popularizing the character of Merlin—though he is believed to be a blend of pre-existing mythical and historical figures. In Geoffrey’s version, Merlin predicts and enables Arthur’s birth, but does not directly interact with him. Mystery surrounds Merlin's birth, and in addition to his prophetic abilities, he possesses prodigious engineering skills. Merlin singlehandedly figures out how to transport the Giants' Ring (which Geoffrey later calls Stonehenge) from Ireland to Britain.

Merlin enters the narrative in Part 4 when Vortigern struggles to build a fortress and is advised to find a fatherless boy and sprinkle his blood on the fortress’ foundation. Vortigern’s men duly produce Merlin, whose is of indeterminate birth. His mother claims that he is the product of her union with an invisible man. One of Vortigern’s advisors suggests Merlin’s father may have been an incubus demon—part man and part angel. Merlin quickly impresses Vortigern with his ability to divine events. Without being told, he realizes that Vortigern’s magicians intend to sacrifice him and chastises them for their ignorance. He instructs Vortigern’s men to dig beneath the fortress where he predicts they will find a pool of water that is responsible for the unstable foundation. He further predicts that within the pool are two stones, each of which contains a sleeping dragon. He is proven correct, and earns Vortigern’s trust and admiration. Geoffrey’s readers would have recognized some of Merlin’s prophecies for Britain as having been fulfilled. Others remain obscure.

Merlin’s final appearance in the text occurs in Part 6, when Utherpendragon seeks a means of possessing Ygerna, the wife of Gorlois, one of Utherpendragon’s dukes. Merlin transforms Utherpendragon into Gorlois’ exact likeness, which enables him to present himself to Ygerna as her husband. They conceive Arthur, and Merlin disappears from the text.

Despite covering some 1,900 years of British monarchs, Geoffrey devotes a significant portion of his overall narrative to Arthur. His depiction of Arthur propelled the mythical king into popular lore and almost immediately inspired retellings and adaptations that continue into the present.

Although he is only 15, due to his many virtues which endeared him to the people, Arthur is crowned king. Arthur battles and defeats, in turn, Saxons, Picts, and Huns. He restores churches that the Saxons burned and marries Guinevere. At a feast to celebrate Pentecost, Arthur receives a letter from Rome’s Lucius Hiberius rebuking him for failing to pay tribute and ordering him to appear before the Senate. Arthur refuses by citing Belinus and Brennius as precedents that demonstrate Britons are Romans’ equals. A fierce battle ensues between the Britons and the Romans, indicative of their equal status, and Lucius Hiberius is killed. Arthur returns his body to Rome with a message that the Romans should expect no further tribute from the Britons. Arthur prepares to attack Rome but receives news that his nephew Mordred has seized the throne and is living with Guinevere. Cancelling his Roman expedition, Arthur hurries home to face Mordred, and in the ensuing battle, both are mortally wounded. Arthur is spirited to the Isle of Avalon, his reign over.

Arthur’s return to Britain to face Mordred demonstrates that Arthur recognizes the importance of protecting his homeland. He does not, as Maximianus did before him, sacrifice Britain’s security and stability in pursuit of foreign land. In the battles he fights, he shows bravery but also receives good luck—perhaps representative of divine favor. What becomes of Arthur at Avalon is never discussed, which bestows a mythological end to his reign.