James Knowles

The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights James Knowles

Publisher Marketing: King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians. The sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthur's name also occurs in early poetic sources such as Y Gododdin. The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through the popularity of Geoffrey of Monmouth's fanciful and imaginative 12th-century Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain). Some Welsh and Breton tales and poems relating the story of Arthur date from earlier than this work; in these works, Arthur appears either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatural enemies or as a magical figure of folklore, sometimes associated with the Welsh Otherworld, Annwn. How much of Geoffrey's Historia (completed in 1138) was adapted from such earlier sources, rather than invented by Geoffrey himself, is unknown. Contributor Bio:  Knowles, James Sir James Knowles (1831 - 13 February 1908) was an English architect and editor. He was born in London, the son of architect James Thomas Knowles and himself trained in architecture at University College and in Italy. He designed, amongst other buildings, three churches in Clapham, Lord Tennyson's house at Aldworth, the Thatched House Club, the Leicester Square garden (as restored at the expense of Baron Albert Grant), and Albert Mansions, Victoria Street, Westminster. However, his preferences led him simultaneously into a literary career. In 1860 he published The Story of King Arthur. In 1866 he was introduced to Alfred Lord Tennyson and later agreed to design his new house, Aldworth, on condition there was no fee; this led to a close friendship, Knowles assisting Tennyson in business matters and, among other things, helping to design scenery for The Cup when Henry Irving produced that play in 1880.