King Coilus Ap Marius King of Britain Family Tree

12th century pseudo-historical king

Leir was a legendary king of the Britons whose story was recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his pseudohistorical 12th-century History of the Kings of Britain.^[1] According to Geoffrey'due south genealogy of the British dynasty, Leir's reign would accept occurred around the eighth century BC, around the time of the founding of Rome. The story was modified and retold by William Shakespeare in his Jacobean tragedy King Lear.^[2]

Name [edit]

Geoffrey of Monmouth identified Leir equally the eponymous founder of the city of Leicester (Ligoraceastre in One-time English language; Former Welsh: Cair Lerion,^[3] Welsh: Caerlŷr), which he called (using the Old Welsh form of the city's proper name) Kaerleir ("City of Leir").^[4]

Leir, Lerion, and Ligora(ceastre) all derive from the onetime Brittonic proper noun of the River Soar, *Ligera or *Ligora.^{[5] [6] [seven]}

Fable [edit]

Reign [edit]

Leir'due south story was commencement recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouth'southward History of the Kings of United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland. In it, Leir is part of the dynasty of Brutus of Britain and succeeded to the throne later on his father Bladud died while attempting to fly with artificial wings. The dating is inexact, merely Geoffrey fabricated Bladud a contemporary of the biblical prophet Elijah. Leir was given the longest reign of Geoffrey's kings, ruling for lx years.^[4] Geoffrey claimed he was the eponymous founder of Leicester in England.^{[5] [half-dozen] [7]}

Abdication [edit]

Leir was said to accept been the end of Brutus of Troy's male line of descent, siring three daughters: Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. As he neared his death, he divided his kingdom among them. Goneril and Regan flattered their father and, at the communication of Leir's nobles, were married off to the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall, respectively. Cordelia, despite existence her father's favourite, refused to flatter the rex, feeling that she should not need to make special assurances of her love, and was given no land to dominion. King Aganippus of the Franks courted and married Cordelia, despite Leir'due south refusal to pay a dowry.^[iv] Leir then gave Goneril and Regan half his kingdom, planning to bequeath them the balance at his death; instead, his sons-in-law rebelled and seized the whole of it. Knuckles Maglaurus of Albany, Goneril'due south married man, maintained Leir with a retinue of sixty knights, but his married woman reduced this past half after two years. Leir and then fled to Regan, who reduced his entourage to only 5 men. Returning to Albany and pleading with Goneril, Leir was left with a single knight for protection.^[8]

Restoration [edit]

At this point, Leir feared both his older daughters and fled to France.^[8] He sent Cordelia a messenger when he was outside her court at Karitia. She had him bathed, royally clothed, and assigned a fittingly large band of retainers. He was and then officially received by the king and fabricated regent of France, with the Frankish nobles vowing to restore him to his old celebrity.^[ix] Leir, Cordelia, and her husband invaded Britain and successfully overthrew his other daughters and sons-in-law. Leir ruled three years and so died. Cordelia succeeded him and cached him in an undercover shrine to the god Janus below the River Soar near Leicester—allegedly the current site of the city'south Jewry Wall.^[10] An almanac feast was held nearby in his honour.^[eleven]

Family tree of the House of Brutus of Troy
Corineus Brutus Gwendolen Locrinus Albanactus Kamber Maddan Mempricius Malin Ebraucus Brutus Greenshield Nineteen other sons 30 daughters Leil Rud Hud Hudibras Bladud Leir Gonorilla Regan Cordeilla Marganus Cunedagius Rivallo Gurgustius unknown Sisillius Jago Kimarcus Gorboduc Judon Ferrex Porrex

In culture [edit]

Leir'due south life was dramatised on the Elizabethan stage in an anonymous play, King Leir, which was registered in 1594 and published in 1605 nether the title The Truthful Chronicle History of Rex Leir, and his iii daughters, Gonorill, Ragan, and Cordella. This precursor to Shakespeare's tragedy was a comedy, repeating Geoffrey'south story and ending happily with Leir'due south restoration to power. The story also appears in John Higgins's Mirror for Magistrates,^[12] Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene,^[thirteen] and other works.^[14]

References [edit]

1. ^ Galfridus Monemutensis [Geoffrey of Monmouth]. Historia Regum Britanniæ. c.  1136. (in Latin) J.A. Giles & al. (trans.) as History of the Kings of United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland in 6 Erstwhile English Chronicles. 1842. Hosted at Wikisource.
2. ^ Mabillard, Amanda. "Shakespeare's Sources for King Lear" at Shakespeare Online. Retrieved February 2010.
3. ^ Nennius (attrib.). Theodor Mommsen (ed.). Historia Brittonum, VI. Equanimous afterward Advertizement 830. (in Latin) Hosted at Latin Wikisource.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Geoffrey, Vol. II, Ch. 11.
5. ^ ^{a b} Stevenson, W. H. "A note on the derivation of the name 'Leicester'" in The Archaeological Periodical, Vol. 75, pp. 30 f. Royal Archaeological Institute (London), 1918.
6. ^ ^{a b} Ekwall, Eilert. English language River-Names, p. xlii. Clarendon Press (Oxford), 1928.
7. ^ ^{a b} Jackson, Kenneth. Language and HIstory in Early Britain, p. 459. (Edinburgh), 1953.
8. ^ ^{a b} Geoffrey, Vol. II, Ch. 12.
9. ^ Geoffrey, Vol. Two, Ch. 13.
10. ^ Thompson, James (1851). "On the Jewry Wall at Leicester". Journal of the British Archaeological Association. six (iv): 393–402. doi:x.1080/00681288.1851.11886941.
11. ^ Geoffrey, Vol. 2, Ch. 14.
12. ^ Higgins, John (1815). "How Queene Cordilia in despaire slew her selfe, The yeare before Christ, 800". In Haslewood, Joseph (ed.). Mirror for magistrates: in five parts. Vol. one. Lackington, Allen, and Company. pp. 123–142.
13. ^ Spenser, Edmund. The Faerie Queene, Vol. Ii, §10, ll. 27–33.
14. ^ Halio, Jay L. Male monarch Lear: A Guide to the Play, pp. xx f. Greenwood Printing, 2001.

Legendary titles
Preceded past Bladud	Rex of U.k.	Succeeded past Cordelia

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leir_of_Britain

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