The Real Life Background to the Legendary Tales of King Arthur
In an earlier entry, we discussed some of the legends about King Arthur, but what about the real figure behind those legendary accounts? Was there ever a real King Arthur? Evidence indicates that there was a real person behind the legendary one. His origin story began in the early fifth century, when the Roman Empire found itself under massive pressure from barbarian invaders on multiple fronts. So the Romans withdrew their forces from the far off province of Britain, to use them in an attempt to hang on to territories they viewed as more vital.
It is unclear if the Romans at the time viewed the withdrawal from Britain as permanent, or just a temporary pullback, with plans to return once things settled down. As things turned out, the legions never returned, and Roman Britain was left on its own. The Romano-Britons were beset by their own invaders, most significantly the Picts in Scotland, and Saxons from across the North Sea. In response, the locals implemented what turned out to be a bad idea of epic proportions. Perhaps reasoning that it takes a thief to catch a thief, they decided to hire Saxon mercenaries and settle them in Britain, to defend them from other Saxons and similar barbarians. As seen below, that did not end well for the locals.
