Constantine Succeeds to the English Crown

Constantine Succeeds to the English Crown is the closing political succession in the account of King Arthur and the Round Table. Chosen after Sir Launcelot’s death, Constantine is identified as the son of Sir Cador and praised as a noble knight who rules England honorably; his accession restores a king to the realm but does not restore the fellowship that had once sustained Arthur’s court.

Accession after Launcelot’s Death

Sir Launcelot’s companions keep his body for fifteen days before burying him with great devotion. They then spend more than a month with the Bishop of Canterbury at his hermitage. Only after this period of mourning does the narrative report that Constantine, Sir Cador’s son from Cornwall, is chosen king of England. The succession therefore follows directly upon the death and burial of the Round Table’s foremost knight, amid a gathering of survivors rather than a renewal of Arthur’s court.

The account presents Constantine’s selection briefly and without describing a contested election, coronation, or claim to the crown. It names his parentage and origin, then characterizes him as a noble knight who rules the realm honorably. The emphasis falls less on the mechanics of succession than on the quality of the new king’s rule and the fate of those who remain from Arthur’s company.

The Survivors and the New Reign

The Bishop of Canterbury is restored to his bishopric after Constantine hears where he has been. Sir Bedivere, by contrast, remains a hermit for the rest of his life. Several surviving knights—including Sir Bors de Ganis, Sir Ector de Maris, Sir Blamor, and Sir Bleoberis—do not remain in England, although Constantine would have had them stay with him. The narrative thus distinguishes between the king’s wish to retain them and their decision to depart.

The account also preserves competing versions of where the knights went. Some English books say they never left England after Launcelot’s death, but the narrator dismisses this as the makers’ favor. The French book, described as authoritative, says that Sir Bors, Sir Ector, Sir Blamor, and Sir Bleoberis first settled their lands and then traveled to the Holy Land, as Launcelot had commanded before his death. They fought the Turks there and died on Good Friday. This departure gives Launcelot’s final instruction a consequence beyond his own death: the remaining knights carry their service away from the English realm.

Succession and the Ending of the Book

Constantine’s reign provides a final instance of political order after the catastrophe that ended Arthur’s rule, but it cannot reunite the Round Table. The knights who had once formed its fellowship are scattered: Bedivere remains in religious retreat, while others return to their countries or travel overseas. The new king’s authority succeeds Arthur’s, yet the account’s conclusion rests on dispersal and death rather than a restored community.

The book’s closing notice broadens this succession into an ending for the whole Arthurian narrative. It declares the end of the book of King Arthur and his noble knights, recalling their adventures and the achievement of the Holy Grail before naming their sorrowful deaths and departure from the world. Constantine’s accession therefore serves as the last political aftermath, not as a continuation of the Round Table’s former greatness.