Geoffrey+of+Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth was born in 1100 and died 1155. Over the course of his life Geoffrey was known as the legend maker for the many stories that came from Welsh Celtic legends and myths. Books only give glimpses of Geoffrey's life besides that his father was named Arthur. In his early years he was a Benedictine monk at Monmouth Priory. Then later went to study at University of Oxford. 15 years before he died he was appointed Archdeacon of Llandsaff which is basically someone who delegates responsibilities of Llandsaff.

He was more famous for his writing like in his books //History of the Kings of Britain// and //The Vita Merlini//. His stories were among the first to collect and give credence to the Arthurian legends of King Arthur and Camelot. A lot of his writings were on Welsh Celtic myths and legends and their authenticity, and his expertise has led a lot of scholars to see quite a few connections between King Arthur and a Celtic legend named Fionn MacCumhal or Finn McCool. In his stories, which were written in Latin, Geoffrey of Monmouth tells a history of Britain - it isn't entirely factual. Not only does he tell one of the first Arthur stories, but he claims Britain was first settled by a man named Brutus, a direct descendant of Aeneas (the Trojan War hero from an ancient Greek story called //The Aenied// by a poet named Virgil), as well as giving the history of two kings of Britton named Leir and Cymbeline - both of which were later immortalized in the plays of William Shakespeare.

Geoffrey wrote several works of interest, all in Latin, the language of learning and literature in Europe during the medieval period. His major work was the // [|Historia Regum Britanniae]  // ( // History of the Kings of Britain // ), the work best known to modern readers. It relates the purported history of [|Britain], from its first settlement by [|Brutus] , a descendant of the [|Trojan] hero [|Aeneas] , to the death of [|Cadwallader] in the 7th century, taking in [|Julius Caesar] 's invasions of Britain, two kings, [|Leir] and [|Cymbeline] , later immortalized by [|William Shakespeare] , and one of the earliest developed narratives of [|King Arthur].

Geoffrey's importance to England was how he went to the University of Oxford and his writing pieces on British history as well as His Contribution s to the authenticity of Welsh Celtic myths and legends. His most famous being about the Arthurian legends of king Arthur and Camelot.