TNTL 114

Thea Summerfield

Simon de Montfort, Edward I en de Ronde Tafel van koning Arthur in Lodewijk van Velthems Voortzetting van de Spiegel historiael

Abstract -- Lodewijk van Velthem's account of events involving Simon de Montfort and Lord Edward, the later Edward I, has frequently incited the scorn of scholars on account of its historical inaccuracy. Similarly, it has generally been assumed that Velthem's report of an Arthurian Round Table on the occasion of Edward's first marriage is based on confusion with other Arthurian festivities which Edward is known to have organized. In this article the question whether or not Velthem's account is historically accurate is abandoned in favour of an approach which combines an analysis of the text based on close reading with a consideration of the political situation in Brabant at the time of writing. It is shown that the Edward/Montfort episodes and the Arthurian episodes belong together. It is by means of the resulting aggregate of episodes that Velthem expounds, in a narrative manner, ideas on kingship which were of particular relevance to his aristocratic, Brabantine audience around 1315.