King arthur historical biography research

Debate about whether King Arthur was a historical person

The historicity of King Arthur has been debated both by academics and popular writers.

While there have been many claims that King Arthur was a real historical person, the current consensus among specialists on the period holds him to be a mythological or folkloric figure.^[1][2]

The first definite mention of Arthur appears circa 828 in the Historia Brittonum,^[3] where he is presented as a military leader fighting against the invading Saxons in 5th- to 6th-century Sub-Roman Britain at the Battle of Badon, written more than three centuries after the events depicted.

He develops into a legendary figure in the Matter of Britain from the 12th century, following Geoffrey of Monmouth's influential but largely fictional Historia Regum Britanniae.

Historians propose a variety of possible sources for the myth of Arthur, perhaps as a composite character.

Historical f