Editing Constantine (Briton) (section)

===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>