As a child, our parents used to tell us various folk tales about animals, kind and unkind people at night. But in England, a person will be laughed at if he does not know who King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are. Since childhood, the inhabitants of this country have been instilled with a love for the famous exploits of the English knights. If our children in childhood play wars and imagine themselves as Alyosha Popovich or Ilya Muromets, then the English fight with artificial swords, imagining themselves as Lancelot or Arthur.
"Power is not justice, justice is power."
How did it all start? If you believe the legends, in which reality is mixed with fiction, then the Knights of the Round Table trace their history from the Cornish castle of Tintagel. According to legend, the courageous knight Gorlois lived in it with his wife Igren, who conquered King Uther Pendragon with her beauty. Unable to make a woman fall in love with him, the king resorts to charms and asks for help from the wizard Merlin, who lived in time ago. He turned Uther's appearance into that of Gorlois. And only then did he achieve the location of the girl, and soon a boy was born from their connection,named Arthur.
Even before his birth, he was destined to become a courageous and wise king, because the wizard himself took care of his birth. The famous knight and his wife Guinevere settled in Camelot Castle. It was there that the Knights of the Round Table climbed in for the first time. The idea followed the example of the Last Supper. King Arthur intended to make honor, nobility and exploits the main feature of the kingdom. Gathered at a round table, they resolved issues related to the kingdom, it was a kind of body of legislative, executive and judicial power.
Renunciation of nobility
Arthur's kingdom was not destined to be a model of nobility for a long time. First, the knight Tristan fell in love with the wife of the Irish king Mark - Iseult, and then Arthur suffered setbacks from love. One of the knights of Lancelot was inflamed with a hot feeling for Guinevere, who answered him. Arthur managed to carry the nobility through his whole life, and did not lose it even in this situation, thus setting an example for others. All the knights of the Round Table knew about the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere, but Arthur was silent so as not to provoke the destruction of the brotherhood. It turns out that not all knights were so noble and worthy of this title. Modred convinced Arthur to go hunting in the hope that the lovers would make an appointment. And so it happened, but the insidious Modred did not stop there and burst into Guinevere's bedroom. Upon learning of this, Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were forced to react. Their sentence was cruel: to burn the unfaithful wife at the stake. Guinevere was tied to a postthe executioner prepared and waited for Arthur's order, but he hesitated. And finally, Lancelot appeared, who stole Guinevere. This is exactly the denouement Arthur was waiting for.
As a result, the brotherhood had to go on a campaign against the Franks, and the same Modred took advantage of Arthur's absence and decided to seize power. Upon learning of this, the king immediately turned his army home. Near the Comblanc River, a fierce battle took place between Arthur and Modred, as a result of which many glorious knights died. Modred was also killed by Arthur, but before his death, he managed to injure the king. Lying near the river, Arthur asked the knight Bodivers to throw his sword into Comblanc so that the sword would die with its owner and no one could stain it with renunciation of honor, injustice and meanness. From the river appeared the hand of a woman who took the famous sword. Aruthra's noble life ended in an equally noble death.
Where is the truth and where is the fiction?
There is a lot of controversy about the existence of Arthur and his knights. Were the Knights of the Round Table really as noble as they are portrayed now, and did these people even exist? Many castles, in particular Tintagel, where Arthur was born, still exist, although only ruins remain of them. Documents of that time also confirm the existence of Arthur, Lancelot and other knights. But whether they were actually so noble is unknown, and what's the difference. The main thing is that this beautiful legend has an instructive meaning, andKnights of the Round Table equal all young people.
