Ar∣thur.
[ B] ¶Arthur sone to Vter pendragon as galfri¦dus writith was next kynge of ye britteyns the yere of cryst .v.Cxviii / of thys Arthur is rehersyd by galfryde a lōg story whych from other wry∣ters is gretly dyscordant / how beit Beda that wrot Eclesiastica historia gentis anglorū about ye yere of cryst .vii.C.xx whych wrote of the bryttayne kyngys reynyng both before the tyme of Arthur and at the tyme of Arthur supposyd and of the britteynis kyngis after the tyme of Artur and also of the saxō kyngys reynyng both before ye tyme & after & yet he spekyth nothyng of Arthur / And willm̄s de regibus seyth that this Artur is he of whom the welchemen tell fantasies and fablys / but yet this gal∣fridus a wrytyth that thys Arthur fought .xii. batteylls agaynst the saxons & in all those had the vyc∣tory / but yet he myght not clerely auoyed them the lande but that they kepte theyr cūtreys for both in Arthurs tyme and after they styll incresyd / but some wryters aferm that they held theyr cuntreys as trybutaryes to Arthur / This Arthur slew in one daye as galfridus wrytyth .C.xl. saxons by help of our lady whose Image he bare in his shylde / In the .v. yere of Arthur supposyd the yere of cryst .v.C.xxii. the kyngdome of westsaxons began vnder a saxon callyd Cerdicus whiche reynyd long kyng there & kenricus hys sonne reynyd after hym / wyth thys Cerdicus Arthur had great war long tyme but finally he gaue to the seyd Cerdicus as apperyth in polycronycon .ii. cuntreyes Hampshyre and Somerset / Thys Arthur had great war contynually wyth the the saxons / but at the last as apperyth by the seyd galfridus wrytyng he brought them in to suche frame that he was accōptyd for chefe lord of all brytteyn / & whē he had set the land in some quietnes he gaue the rule therof to hys neuew Mor∣dred & with a grete army saylyd in to fraūce where as galfride wrytyth he wrought wonders / but the french cronycles & the wryters of the romayns speke nothyng therof nor that he shuld slee Luci{us} the emperours lieutenaunt / for they sey ther was no such Lucius lieutenaunt to the emperour at that tyme nor long before nor long after / therfore some suppose that galfryde wrote that story for affecciō because he was a welchman borne in the tyme of kyng Henry the .ii. syth the cōquest / And yet he that wyll now go to the shryne of seynt Edward at westmynster shall there fynd hēgyng in the shryne the prynt of ascale in red wax about the border wherof is wryttyn thus / Arthurus patricius Brittānie Gallie & Dacie ī{per}ator which they afferm was the seale takyn from an old dede of some gyft or graūt made to ye house by kīg Arthur wherof ye perchemēt & wrytīg for age is wastyd & putrefyed / but yet∣some mēthnyk it but a thyng faynyd of late by some mā hauyng effecciō to Arthur & that for dyuers [ B]
| k | Otta | k | |
| S | S | ||
| A | A | ||
| Cerdreus | w |
[ F] from heuyn for his armys & also a stāderd of red sylk whych they euer syth vse to bere in theyr batells [ F] whych before bare in theyr armis .iii. todys / & thys Clouys made war agaynst the gotys folowars of the sekt of the aryens & wan of them Gascoyn & Guyon.
[ T] of fraune & vnder him rulyd gall belgyke and of his name it was furst callyd austry [ T]