Tea at Trianon: How Did the Fall of Roman Britain Create King Arthur?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, November 7, 2025

How Did the Fall of Roman Britain Create King Arthur?

boys king rthur wyeth

From The Collector:

A man named Vortigern (whether this be nomenclature or titular is uncertain) emerged as a leader of the rump council governing Britain. He seems to have been one of the remaining Brittonic tribal kings, perhaps one of the Demetae, who rose to prominence in the absence of Roman power. Vortigern sought help from the Saxons against the Picts and Scots.

Bede names the mythical brothers Hengist & Horsa as leaders of this mercenary force. Bede also adds the Angles and Jutes to the tribes coming to Britain’s aid. However, it seems the Germanic force soon became enamored with the province, and betrayed Vortigern and the Romano-Britons, conquering and settling parts of the island for themselves. Vortigern’s miscalculation brings to the stage another Romano-British leader, a legendary, though likely real figure, named Ambrosius Aurelianus.

Ambrosius was probably a Romano-British patrician, likely having had both Roman and British ancestors. After Vortigern’s failures, Ambrosius seems to have been able to rally the Romano-Britons to the defense of their island. Ambrosius began a campaign against the Saxon invaders which culminated in a victory at the Battle of Badon Hill, although it is unclear whether Ambrosius actually fought there. Other than its name, the details of the Battle of Badon remain largely guesswork. The most popular estimates place the battle 44 years prior to Gildas’ writings (itself of an unknown date) during the early 6th century and somewhere in the region of modern Bath. (Read more.)