Editing Constantine (Briton) (section)

==Geoffrey of Monmouth and the chronicle tradition==

===Historia Regum Britanniae===
[[File:History of the Kings (f.75.v) King Arthur.jpg|thumb|[[King Arthur]] from a 15th-century Welsh adaptation of [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]''. Geoffrey made Constantine Arthur's successor]]
[[Geoffrey of Monmouth]] includes Constantine in a section of his ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' adapted from Gildas. As he does throughout the work, Geoffrey alters his source material, recasting Gildas' reproved kings as successors, rather than contemporaries as in ''De Excidio''.<ref name=Wright>Wright, p. 10.</ref> In addition to Gildas, Geoffrey evidently knew the Dumnonian genealogy essentially as it appears in ''Geraint and Enid'' and similar sources. He further adds a number of other details not found in earlier sources, identifying Constantine as a son of [[Cador]], a Cornish ruler known in Welsh tradition as Cadwy mab Geraint. Notably, Geoffrey's Constantine is [[King Arthur]]'s kinsman and succeeds him as [[King of the Britons]].<ref name=Bromwich319>Bromwich, p. 319.</ref> [[Norris J. Lacy]] and [[Geoffrey Ashe]] suggest Geoffrey made this Arthurian connection based on an existing tradition locating Arthur's birthplace in southwest Britain.<ref>Lacy, Ashe, and Mancoff, p. 301.</ref> However, noting that the earliest references place Arthur in northern Britain rather than the southwest, [[Rachel Bromwich]] considers the connection an arbitrary invention by Geoffrey, perhaps suggested by his earlier inventions of familial ties between Arthur and [[Constantine the Great]] and the usurper [[Constantine III (Western Roman Emperor)|Constantine III]].<ref>Bromwich, p. 319, 358.</ref> Geoffrey calls Constantine Arthur's ''cognatus'', or blood relative, but does not specify the exact relation, causing much confusion for later writers.<ref>Moll, p. 166.</ref>

In Geoffrey, Arthur passes his crown to his relative Constantine after being mortally wounded by the traitor [[Mordred]] in the [[Battle of Camlann]]. Geoffrey identifies Gildas' "royal youths" as [[Mordred#Offspring|Mordred's two sons]], who, along with their [[Saxons|Saxon]] allies, continue their father's insurrection after his death. After "many battles" Constantine routs the rebels, and Mordred's sons flee to London and [[Winchester]], where they hide in a church and a friary, respectively. Constantine hunts them down and executes them before the altars of their sanctuaries. Divine retribution for this transgression comes three years later when Constantine is killed by his nephew [[Aurelius Conanus]] (Gildas' Aurelius Caninus), precipitating a civil war. He is buried at [[Stonehenge]] alongside other kings of Britain.<ref>[[s:History of the Kings of Britain/Book 11|''Historia Regum Britanniae'', Book 11, ch. 2–4.]]</ref>

Latin scholar Neil Wright considers Geoffrey's changes to Gildas to be deliberate reformulations that produce a more sympathetic picture of Constantine and his successors. For Wright, identifying the "royal youths" as traitors justifies the killing, reducing Constantine's offence from murder to sacrilege (for killing the traitors in sanctuary).<ref name=Wright/> Overall, scholars regard Geoffrey's depiction of Constantine as pessimistic, highlighting how little of Arthur's legacy survives his death.<ref name=Morris138>Morris, p. 138.</ref>

===Later chronicles===
Geoffrey returned to Constantine's struggles and untimely murder in his later work ''[[Vita Merlini]]''. The text, set during the reign of Aurelius Conanus, recounts how Constantine gave Mordred's sons a "cruel death" and ended their destructive rebellion, omitting details of the killing. According to the ''Vita'', Constantine ruled only briefly before Conanus rose up, killed him, and seized the kingdom he now governs poorly. Rosemary Morris writes that ''Vita Merlini'' reinforces the ''Historia'''s message that Constantine was unable to perpetuate the glories of Arthur's reign.<ref name=Morris138/><ref>Geoffrey of Monmouth, ''Vita Merlini'' lines 1128–1135. See: {{cite web |url= http://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/geoffrey-of-monmouth-arthur-vita-merlini-translation |title= Arthur from the Vita Merlini |author=Geoffrey of Monmouth |editor1-last  = Huber| editor1-first =  Emily Rebekah|year= 2007 |website= The Camelot Project |publisher= [[University of Rochester]] |access-date= 22 September 2014}}</ref>

Variants of Geoffrey's version of Constantine appeared in the numerous later adaptations of the ''Historia'', which were widely regarded as authentic in the Middle Ages. Such variants include [[Wace]]'s Anglo-Norman ''[[Roman de Brut]]'', the Welsh ''[[Brut y Brenhinedd]]'', and [[Layamon]]'s English ''[[Layamon's Brut|Brut]]''.<ref name=BruceConstantine>Bruce, p. 218.</ref> These typically reflect Geoffrey's cynicism about the character. Layamon, however, adds a touch of optimism, writing that Constantine successfully if briefly answered Arthur's charge to rule in his manner.<ref name=Morris138/> Following Geoffrey, many of these works do not expand upon Constantine's relation to Arthur, though others elaborate that he is Arthur's nephew. Taking hints from Geoffrey's version of Arthur's family tree, these writers make Constantine's father Cador a brother, or half-brother, of Arthur through Arthur's mother [[Igraine]].<ref>Molchan, pp. 31, 38, and notes.</ref><ref>Blaess, pp. 70–71.</ref>