Arthur was the first born son of King Uther Pendragon and heir to the throne. However these were very troubled times and Merlin, a wise magician, advised that the baby Arthur should be raised in a secret place and that none should know his true identity.
As Merlin feared, when King Uther died there was great conflict over who should be the next king. Merlin used his magic to set a sword in a stone. Written on the sword, in letters of gold,  were these words: "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone is the rightwise born king of all England." Of course all the contenders for the throne took their turn at trying to draw the sword, but none could succeed. Arthur, quite by chance, withdrew the sword for another to use in a tournament. Following this he became King.

He gathered Knights around him and fought back against the Saxons who, since the Romans left Britain, were slowly but surely taking the country over. After many great battles and a huge victory at Mount Badon the Saxons' advance was halted.

Arthur's base was at a place called Camelot. Here he built a strong castle. His knights met at a Round Table. They carried out acts of chivalry such as rescuing damsels in distress and fought against strange beasts. They also searched for a lost treasure, which they believed would cure all ills - this was the 'Quest for the Holy Grail'.
Under the guidance of Merlin, Arthur had obtained a magical sword from The Lady Of The Lake. This sword was called 'Excalibur" and with this weapon he vanquished many foes.

Queen Guinevere, Arthur's beautiful wife brought romance to the story while his equally beautiful half sister Morgan le Fay added a dark side.

Unfortunately, as peace settled over the country things turned sour within the court of Camelot and civil war broke out. In the final battle at Camlan both Arthur and Mordred, Arthur's traitorous nephew, were mortally wounded. Arthur was set upon a boat and floated down river to the isle of Avalon. Here his wounds were treated by three mysterious maidens. His body was never found and many say that he rests under a hill with all his knights - ready to ride forth and save the country again.
How The Legend Developed
During the years 500 - 550AD the Britons appear to have held back the Saxon advance. However, in the following years they were forced back into Cornwall and Wales. The territory held by the Saxons eventually became known as England and the people in Wales were called 'Welsh' from the Saxon word 'weala' meaning 'foreigners'. (It's worth noting that the Welsh called themselves 'Cymry' meaning 'fellow countrymen' and their country 'Cymru'.) Now, the importance of this division is that the Saxon conquerors were hardly likely to be interested in the exploits of a 'foreign' leader who was successful in holding them at bay. Maybe it is for this reason that Arthur is not mentioned in early English chronicles while his name occurs in Welsh ones.
The first reliable reference to Arthur is in the 'Historia Brittonum' written by the Welsh monk Nennius around the year 830AD. Surprisingly he refers to Arthur as a warrior - not a king. He lists twelve battles fought by Arthur including Mount Badon and the City Of The Legion.
Arthur is mentioned in early Welsh literature, however the surviving manuscripts which refer to him date from after the legend was firmly established. These documents, though interesting, do not help us understand the roots of the legend.
It was the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth, another Welsh cleric, which really set down the foundations of the Arthurian legends. Other subsequent writers have expanded his themes and added new strands to the story. His work, 'Historia Regum Britaniae' was written in the year 1133AD. He claimed to have based the work on an ancient Celtic document in his possession. It became a 'best seller' and still survives in two hundred manuscripts.
Geoffrey's work was intended to be an historical document. Within fifty years of its completion it had fired the imagination of writers of fiction across Europe. Many of these added new strands to the story which subsequently became essential elements:
In 1155 the French poet Maistre Wace added The Round Table.
Chretien de Troyes, also French, wrote five Arthurian stories between the years 1160 and 1180. He developed the theme of chivalry and dwelt on the subtleties of courtly romance.
Another French man, Robert de Boron from Burgundy, developed the idea of the Quest for the Holy Grail.
Back in England at about the same time, (around 1200AD) the priest Layamon wrote the story in English - the first time it had appeared in this language. In his version Arthur did not die from his wounds, he remained on the Isle of Avalon - to return some time in the future.
In 1485 William Caxton published 'Le Morte Darthur' - one of the first printed books. Written by Sir Thomas Malory, this was a collection of eight stories which brilliantly drew together the whole saga and gave us the account we know today.
It is interesting that writers placed Arthur in their own times. In fact the way the whole story develops tells us far more about the times in which the author lived than the era referred to.
Prior to the Norman invasion the Vikings were attacking and settling just as the Saxons had done 400 years before.  People must surely have looked around for a saviour. Times were right for telling stories of a powerful leader.
The Norman conquerors must have welcomed Geoffrey's account. This suggested that the rightful heir to the throne of England was driven out by the Saxons - maybe to Northern France.  They could claim a direct blood-line to previous kings.
Geoffrey dedicated his book to Robert, Earl of Gloucester, Lord of the Gwent Marches. Robert was unusual among the Norman Lords in as much as he encouraged an intellectual movement in Wales. It is said that he gathered a brilliant body of learned men in his court. He must have welcomed Geoffrey's account which located important events in Caerleon (part of the Gwent Marches) and stated: "the city contained a college of two hundred learned men, who were skilled in astronomy and the other arts and so by their careful computations prophesied for King Arthur any Prodigies due at that time." Geoffrey later became Archdeacon of Monmouth!
Geoffrey's writing obviously touched a nerve particularly in France. Maybe it was because it harkened to a 'better time'. In reality life must have been very different from that depicted in the legend that developed.
The story as we know it was written by Malory in 1470. He very clearly set the events in the Middle Ages.
What is the truth? Is there such a thing as the truth? Locating facts is very difficult. Geoffrey was writing some 600 years after the events. His main source is not known. Until relatively recently there was no standard spelling for even common words - names of people and places in particular took many forms. So 'creative' researchers can find what they want to find, while sceptics find nothing they can call concrete evidence. The deeper you dig, the less you see. Remember the words of a popular song:
"Don't push too far, your dreams are china in your hand."
The Times
The Romans left Britain in around 400AD. For a time the country continued to be governed in much the same way as it had for the 350 years of Roman occupation. Then chiefs of local tribes began a struggle for power, the country split into several kingdoms. Added to this, Saxon invaders attacked the country with more confidence. Some Saxons were even employed as mercenaries by British leaders to help in the fight against the raiders. These mercenaries settled in the South East and later rebelled against the Britons who had asked for their help.
Saxon influence extended over much of the South East of England by the year 450 AD. As more and more invaders settled, the Britons were pushed westwards into Wales and the South West. To the Romanised Britons these Saxons must have been barbarians. Under the Romans many of the population had become Christians. The pagan customs of the invaders must have added extra impact to the shockwave rippling across the country ahead of their advance. The time was right for a powerful leader to unite the Britons against these outsiders.
Indeed, between the years 500 and 550AD the Saxon advance was halted and a stalemate existed between the Saxons and Britons. It is during this period that Arthur is thought to have existed.
This can come as a shock, for most of us probably picture Arthur riding out from a huge, imposing stone castle ahead of his knights in shining armour.  Instead his castle would have been a hill fort, there were many iron age camps which could be quite easily fortified by building wooden palisades and gateways. The armour and weapons would have been modelled on those used by the Romans, in fact some troops may have used actual old Roman equipment.




Caerleon And Arthur
In 830AD Nennius wrote Historia Brittonum. It included a list of Arthur's battles one of which he located at 'The City Of The Legion' - this could well be Caerleon. Caerleon is known to have had a large civilian population living immediately outside the fortress walls so it certainly would have been considered as being a city.
It was Geoffrey of Monmouth's writing (1133) that set writers weaving new versions of the legend right across Europe. Monmouth is just twenty miles from Caerleon, and as a historian he must have been impressed by the splendid Roman remains which we know existed then. In his work Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain) he described how Arthur held court at Caerleon. This, he told us, was attended by many leaders from Britain and areas of Europe under his control. He called this place 'City Of The Legion' (maybe taken from Nennius) but then went on to make it very clear to the reader that he was writing about Caerleon:
"When the feast of Whitsuntide began to draw near, Arthur, who was quite overjoyed by his great success, made up his mind to hold a plenary court at that season and place the crown of the kingdom on his head. He decided too, to summon to this feast the leaders who owed him homage, so that he could celebrate Whitsun with greater reverence and renew the closest pacts of peace with his chieftains. He explained to the members of his court what he was proposing to do and accepted their advice that he should carry out his plan in The City Of The Legions.
Situated as it is in Morgannwg (Glamorgan), on the River Usk, not far from the Severn Sea, in a most pleasant position, and being richer in material wealth than other townships, this city was eminently suitable for such a ceremony. The river which I have named flowed by it on one side, and up this the kings and princes who were to come from across the sea could be carried in a fleet of ships. On the other side, which was flanked by meadows and wooded groves, they had adorned the city with royal palaces, and by the gold-painted gables of its roofs it was a match for Rome."
In another part of his work Geoffrey stated that Caerleon had an archbishop - and from the context we can deduce that this was a man with considerable power and influence:
"After the death of Uther Pendragon, the leaders of the Britons assembled from their various provinces in the town of Silchester and there suggested to Dubricus, the archbishop of the City Of The Legions, that as their King he should crown Arthur, son of Uther. He called the other bishops to him and bestowed the crown of the kingdom upon Arthur. Arthur was a young man only fifteen years old ..."
So in Geoffrey's account Caerleon was an important location even before Arthur (it had an archbishop who crowned the king), it was a splendid place and it was where Arthur held a very important court. Geoffrey does not make any mention of Camelot.
The first occurrence of this placename is in the poetry of Chretien de Troyes written some fifty years after Geoffrey. It is almost inconceivable that the inspiration for this creation was not the Caerleon described by Geoffrey.
Had Arthur made Caerleon his base it is unlikely he would have used the Roman site. This would have been too large to defend. The castle mound inside the Mynde dates from a later time - around 1085 - although there is an interesting story which links this to Arthur. His most likely course of action would have been to re-use the substantialIron Age hill fort just a short distance away.
While many will argue about the location, even the existence, of Camelot few could disagree that Geoffrey's description of the court held at Caerleon was the inspiration for others to later develop this theme.
It was to Caerleon that Tennyson turned when he was writing Idylls of the King in 1856. He lodged in the Hanbury Arms, where he could look out over the River Usk, and went on long walks through the surrounding countryside to draw inspiration.
Visitors can still sit in 'Tennyson's Window' - here it doesn't take much imagination (or liquid refreshment) to wander back through time ...
Camelot
The place name 'Camelot' does not occur in early versions of the story of Arthur. However, Geoffrey of Monmouth (1133AD) tells how Arthur held court at 'The City Of The Legions' and leaves us in little doubt that this was Caerleon. Certainly Caerleon would have been a most impressive location for Arthur to hold court for important rulers, with its splendid roman remains. Equally, we can be sure that only a professional army could defend the Roman fortress ruins. If Caerleon was more than just a meeting place for Arthur we must look to the surrounding hill tops for the location of his 'castle'.  Sure enough such a site exists less than a mile North of the village - a fortification known as 'Belinstocke'.
Caxton, in his preface to one of the first printed books (Le Morte d'Arthur), refers to Camelot being in Wales and describes the ruins of a city which sounds very much like Caerleon, "in Camelot, the great stones and the marvellous works of iron lying underground, and the royal vaults which many now living have seen." The author of this book (Mallory 1485) however locates Camelot at Winchester. He does though make many references to Caerleon, including stating that this is where Arthur's coronation took place.
Cadbury Castle in Somerset has long been associated with the legend of Arthur and there are good reasons for supposing that this could be the location of Camelot. Coins minted on the site in the eleventh century are marked 'CADANBYRIC' which does sound much like 'Cadbury'. Excavations by Leslie Alcock revealed that the ancient site was massively refortified around the year 500AD by a leader of great wealth and power - Arthur maybe?