Battle of Camlann

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Battle of Camlann

Part of the Sovereignty of Britain by legend; local feud by other traditions

Date	537 (traditional date)
Location	Unknown; perhaps South Somerset or near the western section of Hadrian's Wall; several places named Camlan(n) or containing the word exist in Welsh tradition
Result	Arthurian Victory, but Indecisive; no effective succession.

Commanders

King Arthur †

Mordred †

"How Mordred was Slain by Arthur, and How by Him Arthur was Hurt to the Death", by Arthur Rackham

“Camlann” redirects here. For the open air museum, see Camlann Medieval Village.

The Battle of Camlann is best known as the final battle of King Arthur, where he either died in battle, or was fatally wounded. As the surviving accounts of this battle are all generally little more than legend or myth (and all versions exhibit traces of folklore), some historians doubt this battle even took place. In most non-contemporary accounts, the battle was caused by a knight on one side who drew blade against orders to kill a snake. As the unsheathing of cold steel was against the rules of the truce, and the metal shone, one army thought the other was breaking the truce. Both armies subsequently charged at each other, beginning the battle in earnest. Older Welsh tradition has the battle as the outcome of a feud between Arthur and Medrod (Mordred) with its origins in a quarrel between Arthur's wife Gwenhwyfar (later Guinevere) and her sister Gwenhwyfach.

The earliest known reference to this battle, however, is the entry in the Annales Cambriae for the year 537, which does not specify that Arthur and Mordred were on opposite sides:

Gueith camlann in qua Arthur et Medraut corruerunt.

(The Strife of Camlann in which Arthur and Medraut (Mordred) perished".)

Later accounts of this battle are in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, the Alliterative Morte Arthure, and in the 13th century Welsh tale The Dream of Rhonabwy.

The location of the battle is unknown, but several candidates exist. One possible site is Queen Camel in Somerset which is close to the hill fort near South Cadbury (identified by some with King Arthur's Camelot), where the River Cam flows beneath Camel Hill and Annis Hill. The site most consistent with the theory of a northern Arthur is the Roman fort called, in Latin, 'Camboglanna'. When this theory was first put forward, this was identified as Birdoswald, but has since been accepted as nearby Castlesteads. Other identifications have been offered, the River Camel along the border of Cornwall, and the River Camlann in Eifionydd in Wales.