England after Arthur’s reign

England after Arthur’s reign is the uncertain political aftermath of the Round Table’s collapse: Constantine, son of Cador, is chosen king and rules the realm, but Arthur’s fellowship does not return. The ending grants England a successor while making clear that the communal world associated with Arthur has dispersed.

The Kingdom Arthur Leaves Behind

The succession crisis begins before Arthur’s final departure. At his death, Uther Pendragon had publicly blessed Arthur as his heir and charged him to claim the crown; after Uther died, however, powerful lords strengthened themselves and many sought the kingship. Arthur’s own accession had answered that disorder through the sword in the stone: at Pentecost he alone drew it, the commons acclaimed him, and he forgave those who had delayed him. His coronation joined a recognized sign of rightful rule to an oath to govern justly.

That settlement had never made the realm free of challenges to royal authority. Eleven kings once swore to destroy Arthur and assembled a force of fifty thousand mounted men and ten thousand on foot; later, Roman ambassadors demanded Britain’s tribute in the name of Emperor Lucius. Arthur rejected the demand, denied owing tribute to any earthly prince, and declared his intention to claim the empire. These episodes frame the kingdom as a polity whose sovereignty is repeatedly asserted against rival claims, not as an inheritance secured once and for all.

The Final Break in Succession

The last crisis is domestic as well as political. Mordred assumes the title of king of England and seeks to marry Guenever, Arthur’s wife. The attempted seizure of the throne turns the question of succession into open conflict within the royal circle, undoing the allegiance on which Arthur’s rule depended.

After Arthur’s death, Constantine, Cador’s son, is chosen king of England. The account describes him as a noble knight who rules the realm honorably. His selection supplies a new monarch, but the text gives no account here of a renewed coronation or of a settlement that restores the former fellowship; the emphasis falls instead on the kingdom’s reduced, post-Arthurian condition.

The Dispersal of the Fellowship

The aftermath is measured through the surviving knights. Constantine would have them remain with him, but they decline and withdraw to their own countries. The account names Sir Bors de Ganis, Sir Ector de Maris, Sir Blamor, and Sir Bleoberis among the knights who go to the Holy Land, where they fight the Turks and die on Good Friday. The text also notes a competing English-book tradition that says the knights never left England, then distinguishes it from the French account it treats as authoritative.

The bishop of Canterbury, who had been with the survivors at the hermitage, is restored to his bishopric at Constantine’s request. Sir Bedivere remains a hermit for the rest of his life. These different endings—return to office, withdrawal into religious life, departure abroad, and death—show how little of the old company can be gathered into the new king’s service.

The End of Arthur’s Political World

The book closes by recalling that the Round Table, when its members were whole together, numbered one hundred and forty. That total makes the final dispersal more than the loss of a few named champions: the fellowship itself, once the visible body of Arthur’s rule, is no longer intact. Constantine’s honorable reign preserves a king in England, but not the Round Table’s collective presence.

The transition therefore holds continuity and rupture together. England has a successor, and the account credits him with governing well; yet the knights refuse his summons, the bishop’s return does not restore the hermitage community, and the remaining companions follow separate paths. The ending presents political succession as possible even when the social and chivalric order that gave Arthur’s reign its distinctive shape has come to an end.