Editing Camelot (section)

== Medieval literature ==
Arthur's court at Camelot is mentioned for the first time in Chrétien's poem ''[[Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart]]'', dating to the 1170s, though it does not appear in all the manuscripts. In the C manuscript (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fonds français 794, folio 27r), which might in fact contain the proper reading of Chretien's original text,<ref>Wolfgang, Lenora D., "[https://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/GCMS/RMS-1991-01_L._D._Wolfgang,_Chretien's_Lancelot_Love_and_Philology.pdf Chretien's Lancelot: Love and Philology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206015028/https://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/GCMS/RMS-1991-01_L._D._Wolfgang%2C_Chretien%27s_Lancelot_Love_and_Philology.pdf |date=2020-12-06 }}", Reading Medieval Studies, 17 (1991), pp. 3-17 (pp. 11-12), {{ISBN|978-0704904415}}.</ref> instead of the place name there is the [[Old French]] phrase ''con lui plot'', meaning "as he pleased". The other manuscripts spell the name variously as ''Chamalot'' (MS A, f. f. 196r), ''Camehelot'' (MS E, f. 1r), ''Chamaalot'' (MS G, f. 34f), and ''Camalot'' (MS T, f. 41v); the name is missing, along with the rest of the passage containing it, in MS V (Vatican, Biblioteca Vaticana, Regina 1725).<ref name="Lacy"/><ref>[http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/cammenu.htm "Camelot"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716015924/http://www.lib.rochester.edu/Camelot/cammenu.htm |date=2007-07-16 }}. From the Camelot Project. Retrieved October 9, 2008.</ref> Camelot is mentioned only in passing and is not described:

{{Blockquote|''A un jor d'une Acenssion / Fu venuz de vers Carlion / Li rois Artus et tenu ot / Cort molt riche a Camaalot, / Si riche com au jor estut.''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/ARTFL/projects/charrette/mirror/lancelo2.html |title=Le Chevalier de la Charrette (Lancelot) |last=Uitti |first=K. D. |date=n.d. |website=The Charrette Project: Old French Version |publisher=The University of Chicago Library |page=vv. 31–35 |no-pp=yes |access-date=23 March 2018 |archive-date=1 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101214014/http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/ARTFL/projects/charrette/mirror/lancelo2.html |url-status=live }}</ref><br>King Arthur, one Ascension Day, had left Caerleon and held a most magnificent court at Camelot with all the splendour appropriate to the day.<ref>{{cite book |author=Chrétien de Troyes |translator-last=Owen |translator-first=D. D. R. |year=1987 |title=Arthurian Roamnces |location=London |publisher=Dent |page=[https://archive.org/details/arthurianromance00chre/page/185 185] |isbn=0460116983 |url=https://archive.org/details/arthurianromance00chre/page/185 }}</ref>}}

Nothing in Chrétien's poem suggests the level of importance Camelot would have in later romances. For Chrétien, Arthur's chief court was in [[Caerleon]] in [[Wales]]; this was the king's primary base in [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' and subsequent literature.<ref name="Lacy"/> Chrétien depicts Arthur, like a typical medieval monarch, holding court at a number of cities and castles.

It is not until the 13th-century French prose romances, including the [[Lancelot-Grail|Vulgate]] and [[Post-Vulgate Cycle|Post-Vulgate]] cycles, that Camelot began to supersede Caerleon, and even then, many descriptive details applied to Camelot derive from Geoffrey's earlier grand depiction of the Welsh town.<ref name="Lacy"/> Most Arthurian romances of this period produced in English or Welsh did not follow this trend; Camelot was referred to infrequently, and usually in translations from French. One exception is ''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]'', which locates Arthur's court at "Camelot";<ref>''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'', line 37.</ref> however, in Britain, Arthur's court was generally located at Caerleon, or at [[Carlisle]], which is usually identified with the "Carduel" of the French romances.<ref>Ashley, pp. 612–613.</ref>

{{multiple image
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| image1 = Siedlęcin Wieża Książęca Gotyckie malowidła ścienne Zamek Camelot i Królowa Ginewra.JPG
| image2 = Raimund von Wichera - Guinevere and the Court at Camelot.jpg
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| caption1 = Guinevere at Camelot in a 14th-century fresco at [[Siedlęcin Tower]]
| caption2 = Raimund von Wichera's ''Guinevere and the Court at Camelot'' (1900)
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| image1 = The Great Hall, Camelot, Act IV.png
| image2 = The Tournament at Camelot.png
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| caption1 = The Great Hall of Camelot, a scene painting by [[Hawes Craven]] (1895)
| caption2 = A jousting tournament at Camelot, an ''[[Idylls of the King]]'' illustration by George and [[Louis Rhead]] (1898)
}}

The ''[[Lancelot-Grail]]'' cycle and the texts it influenced depict the city of Camelot as standing along a river, downstream from [[Astolat]]. It is surrounded by plains and forests, and its magnificent cathedral, [[Saint Stephen|St. Stephen's]], originally established by [[Josephus of Arimathea|Josephus]], the son of [[Joseph of Arimathea]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/frequently-asked-questions|title=Frequently Asked Questions about the Arthurian Legends {{!}} Robbins Library Digital Projects|website=d.lib.rochester.edu|access-date=2019-06-27|archive-date=2020-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128200322/https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/frequently-asked-questions|url-status=live}}</ref> is the religious centre for Arthur's [[Knights of the Round Table]]. There, Arthur and Guinevere are married and there are the tombs of many kings and knights. In a mighty castle stands the [[Round Table]], created by [[Merlin]] and [[Uther Pendragon]]; it is here that [[Galahad]] conquers the [[Siege Perilous]], and where the knights see a vision of the [[Holy Grail]] and swear to find it. [[Jousting|Jousts]] are often held in a meadow outside the city.

Its imprecise geography serves the romances well, as Camelot becomes less a literal place than a powerful symbol of Arthur's court and universe.<ref name="Lacy" /> There is also a Kamaalot featured as the home of [[Percival]]'s mother in the romance ''[[Perlesvaus]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.celtic-twilight.com/camelot/bruce_dictionary/index_k.htm|title=Arthurian Name Dictionary|website=www.celtic-twilight.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102212201/http://www.celtic-twilight.com/camelot/bruce_dictionary/index_k.htm|archive-date=2015-01-02|url-status=deviated}}</ref> In [[Palamedes (romance)|''Palamedes'']] and some other works, including the Post-Vulgate cycle, King Arthur's Camelot is eventually razed to the ground by the treacherous King [[Mark of Cornwall]] (who had besieged it earlier) in his invasion of [[Logres]] after the Battle of Camlann.<ref name="Lacy" /> In the ''[[Tavola Ritonda]]'', Camelot is abandoned and falls to ruin after the death of Arthur.

From Geoffrey's grand description of Caerleon, Camelot gains its impressive architecture, its many churches and the [[chivalry]] and courtesy of its inhabitants.<ref name="Lacy" /> Geoffrey's description in turn drew on an already established tradition in Welsh oral tradition of the grandeur of Arthur's court. The tale ''[[Culhwch and Olwen]]'', associated with the ''[[Mabinogion]]'' and perhaps first written in the 11th century, draws a dramatic picture of Arthur's hall and his many powerful warriors who go from there on great adventures, placing it in [[Celliwig]], an uncertain locale in [[Cornwall]].

Although the court at Celliwig is the most prominent in remaining early Welsh manuscripts, the various versions of the [[Welsh Triads]] agree in giving Arthur multiple courts, one in each of the areas inhabited by the [[Celtic Britons]]: Cornwall, Wales and the [[Hen Ogledd]]. This perhaps reflects the influence of widespread oral traditions common by the 9th century which are recorded in various place names and features such as [[Arthur's Seat]], indicating Arthur was a hero known and associated with many locations across [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] areas of Britain as well as [[Brittany]]. Even at this stage Arthur could not be tied to one location.<ref name="Cadbury">[[Geoffrey Ashe|Ashe, Geoffrey]] (1991). "Topography and Local Legends". In Norris J. Lacy (Ed.), ''The New Arthurian Encyclopedia'', pp. 455–458. New York: Garland. {{ISBN|0-8240-4377-4}}.</ref> Many other places are listed as a location where Arthur holds court in the later romances, Carlisle and [[History of London|London]] perhaps being the most prominent.

In the 15th century, the English writer [[Thomas Malory]] created the image of Camelot most familiar today in his ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'', a work based mostly on the French romances. He firmly identifies Camelot with [[Winchester]] in England, an identification that remained popular over the centuries, though it was rejected by Malory's own editor, [[William Caxton]], who preferred a Welsh location.<ref name="Caxton">Malory, ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', p. xvii.</ref> {{clear}}