Constantine Succeeds Arthur as King is the closing political succession in Le Morte Darthur: after Sir Launcelot’s death, Constantine, Sir Cador’s son, is chosen to rule England. The change of king restores a named ruler to the realm, but it does not restore the fellowship that had sustained Arthur’s reign; the surviving knights depart, and the book closes on the dissolution of their company.

The Succession

The succession follows Sir Launcelot’s death and burial. His body is kept on a loft for fifteen days before it is buried with great devotion. Those gathered then spend more than a month with the bishop of Canterbury at his hermitage. Only after this interval does the narrative turn to the choice of a new king: Constantine, identified as Sir Cador’s son and a noble knight, is selected to rule England.

The account offers no contest for the crown or detailed procedure of selection. Instead, Constantine’s accession is presented as a settlement following mourning and retreat. The narrative marks his character through praise of his nobility and through the judgment that he rules the realm honorably.

A Kingdom After Arthur

Constantine’s reign begins in the shadow of a broken political order. The book’s earlier account of Arthur’s death describes England as exposed to disorder and struggle over power: after Uther Pendragon dies, powerful lords strengthen themselves, and many aspire to be king. Arthur’s own accession is framed differently. At Pentecost, he alone draws the sword before the lords and commons; they acclaim him, he forgives those who had delayed him, and he is crowned after swearing to rule with justice.

That earlier model makes the ending’s brevity significant. Constantine is chosen and praised as a ruler, but the closing passage does not describe a public sign of divine approval, a coronation, or a renewed political settlement on the scale of Arthur’s. Its emphasis falls instead on what remains after the old king’s fellowship has ended.

The Survivors and the End of the Fellowship

The bishop of Canterbury is restored to his bishopric by Constantine after the new king learns where he is. Sir Bedivere, by contrast, remains at the hermitage for the rest of his life. The surviving knights do not gather around the new ruler: Constantine would have kept them with him, but they refuse to stay in England and return to their own lands.

The account distinguishes versions of their fate. Some English books say that the knights never left England after Sir Launcelot’s death, but the narrator rejects that as a later favor of makers. The French book, described as authoritative in this passage, says that Sir Bors, Sir Ector de Maris, Sir Blamor, and Sir Bleoberis went to the Holy Land after establishing their lands. There, as Sir Launcelot had instructed them before his death, they fought the Turks and died on Good Friday.

Meaning of Constantine’s Accession

Constantine’s succession supplies England with a noble and honorable king, yet the closing movement refuses to equate political continuity with the survival of Arthur’s world. The bishop resumes his office and the kingdom has a ruler, while Bedivere chooses lifelong religious retreat and the other named knights disperse. The Round Table, once described as numbering one hundred and forty when its members were together, is no longer a living company. Constantine inherits the realm, but not the fellowship whose loss gives the succession its final, elegiac force.