A twelfth-century cleric of whom little is known, writing British historiography in Latin for Norman patrons, Geoffrey of Monmouth achieved widespread and long-lasting success through introducing to a wide audience two figures from Welsh legend: Arthur and Merlin. As he hailed from a border-town, his origins could have been either Breton (Monmouth was ruled by Bretons after 1075) or Welsh. By 1129 he had moved to Oxford, where he was probably a secular canon at the College of St George, and allegedly received an “old British book” from the town's archdeacon. His death probably occurred before 1155.

Geoffrey wrote three works dedicated to a group of politically important men: Robert of Gloucester, king Stephen and Alex

This article in full comprises 825 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

First published 24 January 2002

Citation: Weiss, Judith. "Geoffrey of Monmouth". The Literary Encyclopedia. 24 January 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1715, accessed 20 November 2009.]