Editing Merlin (section)

===Merlin's prophecies===

The works dealing with Merlin's prophecies did not end with Geoffrey's ''Prophetiae''. Particularly in Britain, Merlin remained as much as a prophet as a magician up to and including the 16th century, when political content in the style of [[Agrippa d'Aubigné]] continued to be written using Merlin's name to guarantee their authenticity.<ref name="ab"/> For instance, [[John of Cornwall]]'s 12th-century Latin poem ''[[Prophecy of Merlin]]'' contains a selection of 'updated' prophecies from Geoffrey's ''Prophetae'' that come with the author's interpretations relating them to his contemporary Cornish and English political affairs.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mlf9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT64|title=The Book of Merlin: Magic, Legend and History|first=John|last=Matthews|date=September 15, 2020|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-9921-9 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The late medieval ''Vita di Merlino con le sue Profetie'' (1379), combining Merlin romance material and prophecies related to the author's recent contemporary history and politics, became the first Arthurian text printed in Italy.<ref name=ita/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9isAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA118|title=The Arthurian Handbook: Second Edition|first1=Norris J.|last1=Lacy|first2=Geoffrey|last2=Ashe|first3=Debra N.|last3=Mancoff|date=January 14, 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-77744-1 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The influential ''Prophéties de Merlin'' (later abridged and clarified in Pieri's ''Storia'') was written in French but obviously by an Italian in Venice (falsely claiming to be one "Richard from Ireland") on the bidding of [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor]] and to propagate on his behalf. It contains long prophecies mostly concerned with 11th to 13th-century history and contemporary politics relating to Italy and the [[Holy Land]], some supposedly told by Merlin's ghost after his death, interspersed with episodes relating Merlin's deeds and with assorted Arthurian adventures in which Merlin does not appear at all.<ref name=ita>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CpWNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA186|title=Merlin: A Casebook|first=Peter H.|last=Goodrich|date=June 24, 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-58340-8 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WaoqAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA45|title=The Arthurian Legend in Italian Literature|first=Edmund G.|last=Gardner|date=April 24, 1930|publisher=J.M. Dent & Sons Limited|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DyZzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA97|title=Merlin: Knowledge and Power through the Ages|first=Stephen|last=Knight|date=October 18, 2018|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-1-5017-3292-8 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The German ''Sagen von Merlin'' from the same era, which included the [[War of the Keys]] between Frederic II and the Papacy, contains prophecies directed against the Popes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJ0LtuEYbDwC&pg=PR8-IA24|title=Merlin: Or, The Early History of King Arthur: a Prose Romance (about 1450-1460 A.D.)|first=Henry Benjamin|last=Wheatley|date=April 24, 1865|publisher=Early English Text Society|via=Google Books}}</ref> The widely circulated short political tract ''Expositio Abbatis Joachimi super Sibillis et Merlino'' (c .1240), falsely attributed to [[Joachim of Fiore]], contains the praise of Frederick II's miraculous birth, which backfired, making it look like the coming of Antichrist.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j9QYDQAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PT57|title=Joachim of Fiore and the Influence of Inspiration: Essays in Memory of Marjorie E. Reeves (1905-2003)|first=Julia Eva|last=Wannenmacher|date=September 17, 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-11088-0 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fJaNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT398|title=Merlin: A Casebook|first=Peter H.|last=Goodrich|date=June 1, 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1-135-58339-0 |via=Google Books}}</ref> 

During the 15th century, old Welsh works predicting the Celtic revenge and victory over the Saxons were recast as Merlin's (Myrddin's) prophecies and used along with Geoffrey by the propaganda of the Welsh-descended [[Henry VII of England]] (who fought under the red dragon banner) of the [[House of Tudor]], which claimed to trace its lineage directly to Arthur. Later, the Tudors' Welsh supporters, including bards, interpreted the prophecy of [[King Arthur's messianic return|King Arthur's return]] as having been fulfilled after the Tudors' ascent to the throne of England that they sought to legitimize following the [[Wars of the Roses]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brinkley |first=Roberta Florence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4DZHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |title=Arthurian Legend in the Seventeenth Century |date=13 August 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317656890 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Thornton |first=T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y1xxc0qtEq0C |title=Prophecy, Politics and the People in Early Modern England |publisher=Boydell |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84383-259-1 |page= |access-date=5 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605094642/https://books.google.com/books?id=y1xxc0qtEq0C |archive-date=5 June 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cooper |first=John P. D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C37l-enYEScC&pg=PA108 |title=Propaganda and the Tudor State: Political Culture in the Westcountry |date=8 June 2003 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-926387-5 |access-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603152820/https://books.google.com/books?id=C37l-enYEScC&pg=PA108 |archive-date=3 June 2023 |url-status=live |via=Google Books}}</ref> Prophecies attributed to Merlin have been also previously used by the 14th-century Welsh hero [[Owain Glyndŵr]] in his fight against the English rule.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davies |first=Jonathan Ceredig |date=8 June 1911 |title=Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9CTaAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA267 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603152821/https://books.google.com/books?id=9CTaAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA267 |archive-date=3 June 2023 |access-date=3 June 2023 |publisher=Printed at the "Welsh gazette" offices |via=Google Books}}</ref> The vagueness of Merlin's prophecies enabled British monarchs and historians to continue using them even in the early modern period. Notably, the King of Scotland and later also of England and Ireland, [[James VI and I]], claimed his 1603 unification of Britain into the United Kingdom had been foretold by Merlin.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 June 2021 |title=What are Merlin's Prophecies? |url=https://www.medievalists.net/2021/06/what-merlins-prophecies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101202232/https://www.medievalists.net/2021/06/what-merlins-prophecies/ |archive-date=1 November 2023 |access-date=17 September 2023}}</ref>